It’s Time to Take Main Stream Media (MSM) to Task!

What you sow, you reap. When the FCC allowed the major corps to basically corner the media markets, we, as citizens, lost the valuable “fourth column” that protects our freedoms and our liberty.

However, it is time we stand to demand our media do its job. We do have power, and it is called consumer power. We don’t have to watch and we don’t have to buy what they are selling and they are selling propaganda and crap.

Let me give some examples here:

1). Ever heard of the Freedom Act? No? Me either until I watched a session of the EU parliament last week, where I heard Republican Representative James Sensenbrenner, former Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and representative from Wisconsin’s 5^th District since 1979, testify to the EU parliament concerning a bill he co-sponsored with Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat from Vermont, who is U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman that would end the NSA’s total collection of all our private data.  As you know the EU is very angry at learning of the extent of NSA’s abilities and actual data collection, including all of our emails, phones calls, and social media activity. It has damaged our relationship with our allies more than any other act we have taken since World War II. Yet not one word on this in our media! Hell the fact that a Democrat and Republican joined on any bill would be news! The reason we don’t hear about it is because of the complicity our media has with the NSA in collecting the data and more importantly supporting the collection of data in the Op Eds both on TV and in the printed media.

2). We are in economic recovery! This is just an outright lie. The facts are we are no better off, and maybe even in worse shape than just after the crash in 2008. Here are the real facts that are not being printed in MSM. The employment-population ratio measures the percentage of the working age population that actually has a job.  As you can see by the chart below, this number fell dramatically during the last recession and since the end of 2009 it has remained remarkably flat.  In fact, it has stayed between 58 and 59 percent for 50 months in a row…So how is the government getting the unemployment rate to go down? Well, they are accomplishing this by pretending that millions upon millions of unemployed Americans have disappeared from the labor force.

At the moment, the employment-population ratio is just one-tenth of one percent above the lowest level that it has been throughout this entire crisis. So are we in an “employment recovery”? Absolutely not, and anyone that tries to tell you that is lying to you. According to the government, the percentage of Americans that want to work is now supposedly at a 35 year low. You actually have a better statistical chance of getting into Harvard than you do of being hired at a new Wal-Mart that is opening up in the Washington D.C. area. The store is currently combing through more than 23,000 applications for 600 available positions.

3). Inflation is low. Again this is another outright lie that is being not reported by MSM. Anyone that goes to the grocery store or pays bills on a regular basis knows that there is plenty of inflation in the economy.  And if we were being given honest numbers, they would show that.

According to John Williams of shadowstats.com, if the U.S. inflation rate was still calculated the exact same way that it was back when Jimmy Carter was president, the official rate of inflation would be somewhere between 8 and 10 percent today. But the Federal Reserve certainly doesn’t want everyone running around talking about “Jimmy Carter” and “stagflation” because then people would really start pressuring them to end their wild money printing schemes. And without a doubt, what the Fed is doing is absolutely insane.  The chart posted below shows that the M1 money supply has nearly doubled since the beginning of 2008.

In fact, a recent former Federal Reserve official that helped manage the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program during 2009 and 2010 is publicly apologizing to the rest of the country for being involved in “the greatest backdoor Wall Street bailout of all time”…

“I can only say: I’m sorry, America. As a former Federal Reserve official, I was responsible for executing the centerpiece program of the Fed’s first plunge into the bond-buying experiment known as quantitative easing. The central bank continues to spin QE as a tool for helping Main Street. But I’ve come to recognize the program for what it really is: the greatest backdoor Wall Street bailout of all time.”

Again, this points to the fact that MSM is owned by major corporations who in some cases are owned by the banks who are the beneficiaries of the so-called stimulus money, and we ,the sluggos, on the line to pay for all of this are kept in the dark as much as possible.

4). Obamacare Is Going To Be Good For Middle Class Americans. Well, while all we are hearing in MSM is how the web site sucks, the facts are not being reported. At this point, approximately 4 million Americans have already had their health insurance plans canceled due to Obamacare, and according to Forbes that number could ultimately reach 93 million. According to one study, health insurance premiums for men are going to go up by an average of 99 percent under Obamacare and health insurance premiums for women are going to go up by an average of 62 percent under Obamacare.

And so far only about 100,000 Americans have actually signed up for Obamacare, so that means that the number of Americans with health insurance has dropped by about 3.9 million since the beginning of October!

These are just a few examples of how MSM has failed to keep us informed about the really important issues we need to be informed about so we can take the actions politically we need to take to insure our personal prosperity and safety. All of this, and I mean all of this is because of two factors. Corporate greed and the influence it has on government and the media. Therefore our trusted “fourth column” has been totally comprised. We cannot allow this to continue.

To make this point even clearer and to demonstrate the mentality to which I allude, consider this.

Bloomberg News got some attention last week after it came out that the editor-in-chief had told reporters to kill a series of stories “that might anger China” and then defended that decision by arguing it was similar to appeasing the Nazis. I’m not joking.

In the call late last month, Mr. Winkler defended his decision, comparing it to the self-censorship by foreign news bureaus trying to preserve their ability to report inside Nazi-era Germany, according to Bloomberg employees familiar with the discussion.

Apparently, the main story that was killed was by reporter Michael Forsythe, who had been working on it for nearly a year. And, oh yeah, it was scheduled to run the very same month that Bloomberg’s CEO was “visiting China to strengthen business ties between the media-sensitive country and the financial services company.”

Without an honest media, we are doomed to whatever whims the government and corporate America wish to foist upon us. We need to act in concert. One thing media is sensitive to is publicity. We need to show up in front of our local affiliate NBC, CBS, FOX, and ABC television stations demanding better coverage of the real issues affecting our lives. We need to show up in front of our major metropolitan newspaper offices demanding access to the OP ED sections of the paper. Let’s let them know we aren’t fools. Sure we can try and get our news from alternative media, but as a NSA operative recently bragged, we are really good at corrupting social media and alternative news. We own it!

Think about this because I cannot think of anything more important than how we get our information and what the content of that information is…Can you?

The Purpose of the Modern Monopolized Press is not to Inform but to Generate and Maintain the Consent of the Governed.

When we look at the events of the last month especially, it should have become more apparent, even to the casual and unawakened people that this is our reality.  Here are just a few examples of major events that have been grossly unreported in MSM.

Fireballs, meteor, and meteorites are raining down like a spring shower, at more than twice the normal rate, and are associated with more and more intense sonic booms (meaning they are low in the atmosphere) and many witnessed fragmentation and explosions occurring.  Yet MSM may report some of the individual events that they couldn’t ignore, but they are going out of their way to not have us link these events as something more specific.  An interesting side note to this is a few alternative news reporters sought information from the Air Force Space Command as to whether or not they “detected” any of the incoming salvo.  Their response was that was “classified information”.  What? After these reports were published yesterday, some attempts have been made to explain that this response was made because the AFSC and more importantly the NRO does not want to reveal the nature of their technology now operating. Interesting, huh?

The true reasons for the Pope’s resignation are not even being mentioned, even though there was specific acknowledgement by the Vatican.  The fact that the Pope would be arrested by Italian authorities for money laundering has not been mentioned.  Check it out for yourself, the arrest warrant is a matter of public record. This also accounts for the fact that the Pope will be cloistered within the walls of the sovereign Vatican nation. If he were to leave, he would be subject to immediate arrest.  There are also the issues of sex crimes against children, and maintaining secret accounts for various politicians and corporate moguls, but that is a whole other story.

There is a major magma pool rising under the Solomon Island, and is being heralded by huge swarms of 5+ earthquakes over the past three weeks.  This is similar in size to the “Jellystone” caldera, being nearly 600 square kilometers in size and sitting on a major Pacific plate conjunction zone. If this were to erupt, the tsunamis generated could have global effects as these would literally travel around the world and affect all oceans.  The steam volume sent into the atmosphere by such an eruption could literally create giant rivers of atmospheric water that would create massive rainfalls inland on all continents.  Not a word said in MSM.

Currency wars are beginning to erupt as central banks and nations try to stave off the coming financial collapse.  The concern of course is that historically when currency wars do erupt (and they have officially begun), global war is not far behind.  Yet MSM is talking about “the fiscal cliff” approaching in the US. Speaking of CONgress, we did have one humorous insight this week. Did you know that the correct term for a large group of baboons is a congress of baboons. Hmmm, that explains a lot.

Then, of course, we have this developing debate concerning gun control. The monopoly media is reporting these stories from within the confines of the false Left/Right paradigm and is ignoring the written purpose of the 2nd Amendment by attempting to frame the debate as one of crime and an irrational fear of violence. We see endless discussions from collectivists insisting that citizens do not “need” military type weapons for hunting or self defense – the System’s accepted purpose for your irrational desire to own firearms. So called assault weapons are evil and unnecessary, therefore only the police should be thus armed. The so called Right counters that gun bans do nothing but make crime worse and that citizens must be able to defend themselves, with these weapons if need be.

Both are false premises because the 2nd Amendment was clearly written as an individual right so that citizen’s militias would be independent of the State. A counter balance the founders left us to prevent what has arisen: a State monopoly in the legitimate use of force. A doomsday provision that would never be needed until the State tried to take it. Even though this element does not seem to be the debate in MSM, the people seem to have understood clearly what’s up as the latest monthly volumes of gun and ammunition sales has skyrocketed, setting records.

These events and others affecting all of us directly and globally are simply not being reported or to find the kind way of saying it, grossly under-reported by MSM.  If there is any good news in this, people have been migrating to alternative news sources that are doing their best to report these issues in the light of what is really going on.  However, these venues are also loaded with disinformation specialists and shills, so it does take effort to sort the rat poop from the pepper. We do have one question that may be relevant. Are there any journalists out there in MSM with the courage or ability to do the right thing.  I know from many sources you are out there and frustrated, find a way to collectively “do the right thing”.

So here is the lesson. If it does resonate with you, don’t accept it.  If you don’t accept it, make an effort to find the “truth” of the issues on your own as best you can. You won’t always be successful given the fact this is very time consuming, but make the effort.  Share what you find with as many people as possible. Finally, as we are seeing in the Arab Spring, Anonymous, and Occupy efforts, withhold your consent to be governed and managed in this manner.  This only continues if we consent to let it continue. The oldest law of civilized communal living is that those who govern only really can do so by the consent of the people.

Revolution is Coming..But Let’s Do It Right This Time!

Since April of 2009, I have been doing my best to expose the criminal nature of our greedy banksters, traders, and politicians that have been enriching themselves at the cost of the world’s entire economy and off the backs of us who are the real economic engines in society.  Finally, we are beginning to see some actions to finally bring these slugs to justice.

During the next few months many things are going to come to light that will outrage us and we will want to revolt in sometimes violent ways when we understand the level of enslavement we have been subjected to and what the plans of the uber-elite were in relation to population reduction, war making, and false flag operations of all kinds.

We have seen how these same elites have geared up our police forces and armies everywhere to deal with what they anticipate is our violent reaction to the revelation of the truth of what is really going on in relationship to their plans to accomplish this final step in their enslavement plans.

However, we must not fall into this trap as we have in centuries past, as we will only wind up with a false and temporary victory and would soon return to the same conditions that we now find ourselves.

Anger, revenge, violence, and armed revolt are lower aspects of ourselves that cling onto us as if they need a host body to survive, and it is us, in our weaker states, our weaker moments that provide these aspects of ourselves the energy that fuels their prolonged survival. We do not need these lower aspects of ourselves to learn from them any longer, as we have reached a point where their lower vibrations now only serve to weigh us down and keep us bogged down in a lower dimensional state than the dimensional state that now fits us more suitably.

When I saw the rebels in Syria summarily execute those Assad soldiers, I had to shed a tear realizing that although the rebel cause in Syria is a just cause, they had just become the same people that they were so justly resisting.

If there is anything true about 2012 and the New AGE it is we are being called now back to our higher state, our higher self, and unwanted and unneeded aspects of our lower dimensional journey are not invited, are not called, are not necessary any longer for us as a learning tool and to measure ourselves on our progress and our development.

We need to discuss where there is room for improvement in the ways in which we communicate with each other. This is a very important subject, and this is one area of ourselves and of our lives that needs to be corrected, upgraded, raised to higher dimensional levels and standards. Far too often we read negative comments, insults and defamation fired upon one another throughout our MSM and online communities, and I say to you enough of this already, this has gone on too long now. We need to find ways for all of us to better communicate with each other and we need to look harder to find more ways to effectively, politely and appropriately communicate with each other and respond to those who have led personal attacks on us and our choices and points of view.

Please think about this each and every time you feel emotions rising within you that are causing you to lash out at others sometimes rather violently, certainly disrespectfully, many times insultingly, often times hurtful and always unproductive. Please choose your words and your methods of delivery a little more carefully, a little more kindly, a little more respectfully, less attacking, less opinionated, less stubbornly, as none of us has all the answers and there are always possibilities that may hold truth in the end that may surprise us today. Remember, we are always learning and growing, and if this is true, then each and every one of us today does not know something we may know tomorrow.

In light of this, how can we be so sure that so much of what we claim to be fact and force upon another is truth or will be our truth come tomorrow?  We cannot know this, for none of us knows this. This is why we are here in this universe, to learn from these experiences and to grow from the learning of these lessons. This is what it is all about. So to believe so convincingly that our perspective, our point of view is the only correct interpretation of anything is certainly unproductive and an aspect of us that needs to be focused upon and released, as it is not an aspect of ourselves that is welcomed into the higher dimensions.

There are so many more polite and respectful ways to reply to others, no matter what it is they are saying to you, whether they are insulting you, threatening you, or simply treating you disrespectfully and impolitely.

With that said, let’s look at what is really coming to light and the progress that is already underway.

Source: Washington’s Blog

Preface:  Not all banks are criminal enterprises.  The wrongdoing of a particular bank cannot be attributed to other banks without proof.  But – as documented below – many of the biggest banks have engaged in unimaginably bad behavior.

Here are just some of the improprieties by big banks:

• Funding the Nazis

• Laundering money for terrorists

• Financing illegal arms deals, and funding the manufacture of cluster bombs (and see this and this)  and other arms which are banned in most of the world

• Launching a coup against the President of the United States

• Handling money for rogue military operations

• Laundering money for drug cartels. See this, this, this and this (indeed, drug dealers kept the banking system afloat during the depths of the 2008 financial crisis)

• Engaging in mafia-style bid-rigging fraud against local governments. See this, this and this

• Shaving money off of virtually every pension transaction they handled over the course of decades, stealing collectively billions of dollars from pensions worldwide. Details here, here, here, here, here,here, here, here, here, here, here and here

• Artificially suppressing gold prices

• Charging “storage fees” to store gold bullion … without even buying or storing any gold . And raiding allocated gold accounts

• Committing massive and pervasive fraud both when they initiated mortgage loans and when they foreclosed on them (and see this)

• Pledging the same mortgage multiple times to different buyers. See this, this, this, this and this. This would be like selling your car, and collecting money from 10 different buyers for the same car

• Cheating homeowners by gaming laws meant to protect people from unfair foreclosure

• Committing massive fraud in an $800 trillion dollar market which affects everything from mortgages, student loans, small business loans and city financing

• Manipulating the hundred trillion dollar derivatives market

• Engaging in insider trading of the most important financial information

• Pushing investments which they knew were terrible, and then betting against the same investments to make money for themselves. See this, this, this, this and this

• Engaging in unlawful “frontrunning” to manipulate markets. See this, this, this, this, this and this

• Engaging in unlawful “Wash Trades” to manipulate asset prices. See this, this and this

• Otherwise manipulating markets. And see this

• Participating in various Ponzi schemes. See this, this and this

• Charging veterans unlawful mortgage fees

• Helping the richest to illegally hide assets

• Cooking their books (and see this)

• Bribing and bullying ratings agencies to inflate ratings on their risky investments

The executives of the big banks invariably pretend that the hanky-panky was only committed by a couple of low-level rogue employees. But studies show that most of the fraud is committed by management.

We need to ensure these activities do not continue and we need to be determined to bring all of those who would perpetrate such atrocities on us be brought to justice.  We cannot and should tolerate this sociopathic behavior in our positions of economic or political hierarchy.  However, this should be accomplished by persistent public awareness , peaceful protest, and quiet but persistent resolve to educate ourselves.  However, those who call for armed revolts or militia actions should be ignored.  Our most effective weapons are our wallets and our votes.  Indeed, these are the only weapons we have total control of in our lives.

Be encouraged, be hopeful and optimistic, because indeed progress is being achieved, but do so in a calm and confident determination that enough is enough.  Enjoy this brief video I found on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmOZ3jtGtCc&feature=player_embedded

So For Our Families, So for The World – The Standards We Should be Demanding

Higher standards of any ADVANCED community are based on ease and pleasure, efficiency and safety, cleanliness and health, love and friendship, cooperation, spirit, community and togetherness. These are the elements of a higher dimensional society, and these are the seeds that we should be demanding be the planks of any government.  All parents want to guide, nurture, look after, and protect their children as they grow and mature. Throughout the world there are no exceptions to this reality.

Children who have the opportunity and now, in this dysfunctional society, the privilege to grow up in such a nurturing family go on to achieve great things in their lives.  Ask any Nobel Prize winner, great athlete, or great leader that we admire and they all point to their parents and teachers as those who inspired them to achieve the goals they eventually do achieve. It is this very environment we should now demand for our global society.  As I pointed out in my article on the myth of scarcity, we can create a “norm” for our global community where such a nurturing environment for the next generation and beyond is a reality.  It is simply a matter of equal distribution of wealth and a strong universal desire to make it so.

When you examine the current state of affairs in the world, all of the uncertainty, danger, and suffering is based on greed, power struggles, and hubris of “being special”, whether that is because of station or religion. Really, what is wrong about being equal and equally entitled to being able to achieve what we dream to be or do? It’s a simple question with a simple answer-nothing!

Let’s consider for a moment how we protect our families. We wish no harm to ever really come to ourselves, our loved ones or friends, and we try to ensure this by acting in concert. Our little one gets bullied at school and big brother shows up to stop it.  Someone in the family loses their job and they move in with relatives, or at least we all make sure they have food, etc.  It is simply what family is all about.  Now tell me why we can’t seem to extend this attitude to city, state, country, or global?  What are the real barriers?  We know what the “created barriers are (artificial borders and religion mostly), but what are the real physical barriers to achieving this goal? It really is just a matter of our mindset.

When one really does a sincere self-reflection on these questions, you are confronted with some self disturbing questions like why is right for my child to have health care, but not the child in Africa? More importantly why do we argue the contrary to that right?  Why do we feel entitled, but the family in the ghetto is somehow less entitled to opportunity.  The real answer is disturbing because it is an intentional programmed propaganda very subtly administered. By whom and for what purpose is the question.  There are two elements to this successful load of crap.  One, the real purpose behind it is that it creates the elite, and two, the reality we “buy into it” because we secretly desire and hope someday to be the “elite”.  The reality is there wouldn’t be an elite class if the 99% were elite, would it?  Get it!

The elements of our world that have caused us so much pain, grief, destruction, destitution, hardship and struggle are not necessarily unavoidable or without purpose.  However, these realities should not be permanent in our lives, but instead, a means to achieve a goal.  So what is the goal?

As we begin to awake we should realize we are internally and spiritually bound to uphold the ideals, morals and the integrity of our personal efforts and actions which are the vital bloodline through the life of any civilization. There are no civilizations in this universe without means to share information from being to being, from culture to culture, nation to nation or any point on a planet. This world is not unique in its infrastructure of media and communications, this is a surety.  What is unique to this world is the level in which the media has been controlled by the elite, this we can also say for a certainty. How many avenues of media and communications are completely contained within a pyramidal structure of power, control, influence and persuasion?

Here is a real place we all can do something to begin developing the society we all have a vision of within our being.  We need to start demanding equal time for the good things that are going on all over the world.  99% of the news is doom, gloom, blood and gore, or fame and bling bling. We need to retake control of the “content” of the news.  How? Don’t watch what’s on and support any efforts for alternative media.  Let sponsors know we don’t like the unbalanced “news” we are now watching.  We want the truth about the banking scandals, the corruption of the political process, and the justice system that fails us.  We need reporters who have the journalistic integrity to demand of their employers the freedom to report what they find and see.  We need commentators that will tell it like it is.  A little like this:  Telling the Truth

Do We Understand How Far We Have Come?

As the issues of the world continue to unfold, it can look like a glass half empty or a glass half full.  I think we suffer from several classes of amnesia.  In its shortest frame it called the 30 second average attention span that many from marketing and politics count on, or it is generational type, where none of the current generation remember the JFK assassination or the Vietnam War or dial phones for that matter.  At the long end of the spectrum there is the ERA gap.  You have to be a scholar to appreciate where we are now as compared to say 18^th or 19^th century is any terms you would like to measure. I think we can all agree on these points.

However, events unfolding here and now globally are not entering our consciousness by deliberate efforts of MSM to not report them, as they faithfully obey orders.  The truth is people all over the world are beginning to free themselves from their economic bonds in the most miraculous ways.  Isn’t strange that you are not hearing what is transpiring in Iceland, and are barely aware of the importance of what has happened with the elections in Greece and France?

As we begin the political debates in the US, in the most generalized of terms, the debate seems to be the arguments of AUSTERITY vs. SOCIALISTIC government.  The inference is we need to cut deficits vs. spending on infrastructure and social programs that will generate jobs and much needed tax revenue.  On its surface, that seems to be a logical argument, but when examined closely it is somewhat comparing apples to oranges.  Isn’t it odd that you don’t seem at this moment to understand why not?

What has actually happened in the world after the 2008 crash was both philosophies were applied by various governments.  So it seems also logical to look at the results so far.  The EU and the UK applied severe austerity programs.  These programs brought Ireland, Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal nearly to anarchy.  Unemployment sky-rocketed, growth stagnated and even went negative.  The austerity programs did not result in deficit reduction.  Quite the contrary, deficits increased because tax revenue contracted dramatically.  One only has to ask, who benefits from austerity programs?

Then, within the last year a revolution began. Not a revolution in the street, although riots in Greece, Spain, UK, Italy, Ireland, and the US with the Occupy Movement did occur, but within the political and governmental institutions.  Iceland led the way.

In Iceland, the people have made the government resign, the primary banks have been nationalized, and by referendum, it was decided to not pay the debt that these political criminals created with Great Britain and Holland due to their bad financial policies.  Further, a public assembly has been created to rewrite the constitution, and all of this was accomplished in a peaceful way. A whole country revolution against the powers that  created the current global crisis in the first place. This is why there hasn’t been any publicity concerning this during the last two years.

This was accomplished by 25 citizens being chosen, with no political affiliation, out of the 522 candidates. For candidacy all that was needed was to be an adult and have the support of 30 people. The constitutional assembly started in February of 2011 to present the ‘carta magna’ from the recommendations given by the different assemblies happening throughout the country. It must be approved by the current Parliament and by the one constituted through the next legislative elections.

So in summary here are the accomplishments of the Icelandic revolution:
-resignation of the whole government
-nationalization of the bank.
-referendum so that the people can make the economic decisions of the country.
-incarcerating the responsible parties
-rewriting of the constitution by its people

WOW! Isn’t strange you hear nothing of this?  Really if there is anything of reality left, one must at minimum begin to suspect we are “being managed”.  However, enough people were following what was happening in Iceland and these past elections in Greece and France, the “Managers” were handed their heads.  I think these ideas will spread to the rest of the EU and the UK this summer.

In the US, the debate seems more about empowering women and the LGBT population, or is that the distraction?  All freedom and opportunity extends from economic freedom.  THIS IS THEN THE DEBATE that needs to occur.  While the US response so far to the collapse has been a mixed bag of spending and austerity, the gains have been better than going the other direction, but they are far from being enough.

What the Austerity camp says we have to respond to the reality of debt versus federal income and they would show a chart like this:

What that really means is this trend continuing:

 Again, you have to ask the question “who benefits from federal deficits the most? You have to kind of link this concept to a seemingly disconnected reality.  That reality is the question of who did the banks lose all those trillions of dollars to that WE made good?  Who was the beneficiary of those loses? The money just doesn’t evaporate.  When a JPM Chase says it “lost” $3 trillion in 6 weeks, it means they had to PAY someone $3 trillion dollars.  Who was that?  Hmmm.

It is all a rathole that is siphoning our money.  We all know who the rats are and maybe it is time to look again at what has been accomplished in Iceland and adopt those kinds of approaches.

Is There a Major Change in Global Financial Markets Just Around the Corner?

Since the economic crash in 2008, much has surfaced as to how it happened, who was involved, the reaction of regulators, The President and Congress.  What amazed me in the months following the implosion, nothing seemed to materialize, either in the way of criminal actions or new regulations.

It was at this point, I began my blog.  I needed to look deeply into the situation and see what I could discover.  I have written over 100 articles outlining my findings.  What I have spent nearly the last two months doing was following and trying to validate some amazing stories that were circulating the internet concerning the financial cabal and the fact it was under attack by some unknown forces.

The whole story was first introduced by Benjamin Fulford, who was a Forbes Business Editor in Japan.  You can learn all about Benjamin here, http://benjaminfulford.net/.  To say the least, Benjamin’s story is on the surface, was too much to believe.  Although I must say, over time, I began to see that while I could  not accept the whole of Benjamin’s story, there were events unfolding in real-time, that were similar to Benjamin’s previous statements as to what would occur in the near future.

Then last month, the well known writer and a New York Best Selling Author, David Wilcox did an exhaustive piece on his blog which you can find here, Financial Tyranny – Defeating the Greatest Cover-Up of All Time.  Again, most of this article was mind-blowing to say the least, but again there was hard evidence presented for some of the key points that was undeniable, but accepting the whole premise was a bit too much for me.

So for me the bottom line was there has to be proof that this financial cabal is collapsing.  This started my two months of investigating on my own.  What I found I have outlined in detail below.  Forgive the long article, but to see it all, you must know it all.

Since September of 2011, I have been tracking and following the major players in the global financial arena.  If there was any weight to what Fulford and Wilcox were saying, the rats would be jumping ship.  Honestly, I thought I would find normal patterns of revolving doors and resignations.  I will let you be the judge of what I uncovered as a matter of public record and verified reporting.  I started first in the US.

Over 20,000 resignations/house arrests are visible using data from the SEC Securities and Exchange Commission.  The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires that publicly traded companies must report to the SEC whenever members of the Board or certain officers resign. Also, the SEC has a database named EDGAR that is open to the public. After a little research, what was discovered is that corporations must report said resignations on Form 8-K, Item 5.02. From there, it was a simple matter of searching only Form 8-Ks within a specific range of dates, and including the boolean search terms “Resigns” and “Resignation”.

From the start of 2008 to the second quarter of 2011 the resignations remained steady @ about 2000 per quarter. Suddenly in the 3rd quarter of 2011 they increased by 50% to 3000 for that quarter. (That’s an extra 1000). Then in the 4th quarter they jumped to 7000. (That’s an additional extra 5000 resignations). Now without the full quarter results for the first quarter of 2012 they are up to 16,000. (That’s an extra 14,000 resignations & increasing fast).  That’s a total of 20,000+ extra resignations that no one is reporting in news papers & nothing of course in the major media!

OK, well that is interesting, but how does this hold-up on the international scene.  First of all I want to thank americankabuki.blogspot.com and Gabriel@ Facebook Global Mass Resignations for doing an immense amount of research that was invaluable to my effort, and I am indebted to their willingness to share it so freely.

What we uncovered…

358 MAJOR RESIGNATIONS FROM WORLD BANKS, INVESTMENT HOUSES, MONEY FUNDS
Abreviations used:
CEO = Chief Executive Officer, CFO = Chief Financial Officer, CIO = Chief Investment Officer, COO = Chief Operating Officer
INC = Incorporated (can be private held or publically traded shares)
PLC = Public Limited Company (publicly traded shares can be listed or unlisted on stock market)
LTD = Limited Company (privately held)
LLC = American version of LTD, but can have a shareholder/member that is an INC, often hybrids of both
AG = German version of PLC
AB = Swedish version of PLC
SA = Society Anonymous in various Latin languages – same as PLC
NV = Dutch version of PLC
BV = Dutch version of LTD
LP = Limited Partners (partnership with limited liability)
REIT = Real Estate Investment Trust
Click here to scroll to latest additions to list from AmericanKabuki, then scroll up.

1. 9/01/11 (USA NY) Bank of New York Mellon Chief Robert P. Kelly Resigns in a Shake-UP.  Bank of New York Mellon’s chief executive and chairman, Robert P. Kelly, stepped down late Wednesday because of “differences in approaches to managing the company,” the bank said. Pressure on the bank has been growing for months.  Kelly’s departure — the sudden, shocking resignation of a star CEO  (editor note: #2 among CEO compensation in the banking industry)– has received remarkably little attention or explanation.
   http://goo.gl/NdW7q
2. 9/06/11 (BELGIUM) Dexia confirmed that its CEO Stefaan Decraene had left the company. Its exposures to sovereign debt in the PIIGS nations are larger than its core Tier 1 capital.  Dexia’s CEO Resigns Suddenly – by Erin Davis | 06 Sep 11

On Monday, Dexia confirmed that its CEO Stefaan Decraene had left the company and will be replaced by Jos Clijsters, an executive at the bank since January and a former senior executive at the failed bank Fortis.

We continue to think that Dexia is the most troubled publicly traded bank in the eurozone outside of Greece. Its exposures to sovereign debt in the PIIGS nations are larger than its core   Tier 1 capital, it has an inadequate deposit base to support its loan book, and it is overly leveraged, in our opinion. We think Dexia is likely to undertake a highly dilutive capital raise, and           wonder if it might come sooner rather than later given the management change.            http://goo.gl/vuhvd

1. 9/09/11 (GERMANY) European Central Bank (ECB) governing board member Jürgen Stark, who has resigned.  The dramatic resignation of a senior European central banker sent stock markets plunging, amid fears that Greece is on the brink of default and the fragile consensus in Berlin over support for the ailing Italian and Spanish economies was close to disintegration.

Bank stocks, down more than 5% in some cases, were the worst affected as the Dow Jones        dropped almost 3% to below 11,000. European exchanges joined the panic with the FTSE falling more than 100 points to 5230.  Speculation that several French and German banks would soon   embark on massive capital raising schemes to offset write-offs on holdings of Greek debt, added            to the febrile atmosphere.    Stark “and his wife, Christine, whom he married in 1973, have a retirement house on the Baltic Sea. http://goo.gl/t83S4

1. 9/12/11 (HONG KONG) HSBC Group Hang Seng Bank Non-Executive Director Mark McCombe resigns.  In a release, the Board of Directors of Hang Seng Bank Limited hereby announces that following his resignation from the HSBC Group, Mr. Mark S McCombe has tendered his resignation as a Non-executive Director of the Bank with effect from 9 September 2011.

Mr.  McCombe has confirmed that he has no disagreement with the Board and that he is not     aware of any matter relating to his resignation that needs to be brought to the attention of the    shareholders of the Bank. Mark moved to BlackRock Asian Operations.  http://goo.gl/mCTgi

1. 9/14/11 (USA NJ) Columbia Bank CEO Raymond G. Hallock Announces Retirement
   http://goo.gl/UjUZY
2. 9/14/11 (NEW ZELAND) AMP NZ Office Limited (ANZO), Mark Verbiest has resigned as a director. His resignation arises due to his desire to devote the necessary time and energy to his prospective new role as Chairman of Telecom, assuming the Telecom demerger is sanctioned by Telecom shareholders.
   http://goo.gl/LjSI0
3. 9/15/11 (USA NY) Morgan Stanley, Chairman John Mack resigns.  Mack, 66, joined Morgan Stanley in 1972 as a bond salesman and worked his way up through the ranks to become president and chief operating officer of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in 1997. Mack will retire from a full-time role but remain a senior adviser to Morgan Stanley. http://goo.gl/jWWv7
4. 9/18/11 (JORDAN) Central Bank governor Faris Sharaf resigns over policy.  They did not disclose the reasons for the surprise resignation of Sharaf, who took the five-year post last November.

But bankers and some officials say Sharaf was enraged by an appeasement policy adopted by   the government to win over disgruntled public sector employees in the wake of Arab unrest that endangered the country’s financial and monetary stability.

Bankers say Sharaf, a highly respected financial expert who had senior posts in the banking and                financial industry, has increasingly voiced privately his alarm at the government’s expansionary            fiscal policy.   A bit of fuel was added to the fire when Faris Sharaf’s mother, Leila Sharaf,           resigned from her post in the Senate the very next day, stating that she will not be part of a         “corrupted government”. Leila claims her son was “removed” for attempting to combat              corruption and also voiced her displeasure over the way her son was “removed” from office,             claiming that the bank was surrounded by armed guards who supposedly were there to keep   him from entering. http://goo.gl/8yU5N

1. 9/20/11 (SCOTLAND) SCOTTISH WIDOWS (RETIREMENT INVESTMENT SAVINGS FUND) There could be no Scottish representative on the board of Lloyds Banking Group, owner of Bank of Scotland, in future after it announced the departure of Lord Sandy Leitch, the chairman of Scottish Widows and group deputy chairman.  Less than a year after Labour first won power in 1997, Sandy Leitch was invited to No10 for breakfast with other business leaders.  He went on to run several Labour projects, becoming one of Mr Blair’s most trusted business advisers.  His reward came in 2004 – the same year he left Zurich – when he was made a Labour peer, becoming Baron Leitch of Oakley in Fife. The multi-millionaire entrepreneur was introduced into the Lords by Mr Blair’s chief fundraiser, Lord Levy.  But Lord Leitch, 60, has maintained links with Gordon Brown’s government, donating £5,000 last year to his leadership campaign.  http://goo.gl/Dx8qs
   1. 9/21/11 (AUSTRALIA & NZ) JP Morgan Australia and New Zealand Worldwide Securities Services CEO Jane Perry resigned
      http://goo.gl/Qx0Va
   2. 9/25/11 (SWITZERLAND) UBS  CEO Oswald Gruebel quits over £1.5bn rogue trader crisis.  The head of the Swiss bank at the centre of the rogue trading scandal resigned yesterday after telling colleagues it was his duty to take responsibility for the £1.5 billion loss.

UBS chief executive Oswald Gruebel stepped down from his £1.9 million-a-year job in an             attempt to limit further damage to the bank’s reputation.  http://goo.gl/WCeqB

1. 9/25/11 (USA CA) Douglas E. Tow, Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, will retire from American River Bankshares (NASDAQ: AMRB) .  Mr. Tow has made the decision to retire in order to pursue personal interests. http://goo.gl/24aAU
2. 9/28/11 (SWITZERLAND) SNB Bank Council: Fritz Studer resigns as per end-April 2012
   http://goo.gl/7dNiD
3. 9/29/11 (JAPAN) BLIFE Investment Corporation, Asset Manager Director Masaomi Yamadaira resigned.
   http://goo.gl/Vsmk3
4. 9/29/11 (UK) Barclays, Head of UK & European Retail Banking Deanna Oppenheimer resigned.
   http://goo.gl/o63jO
5. 9/29/11 (USA NM) New Mexico Pension Fund Director Terry Slattery Resigns
   http://goo.gl/BzLn4
6. 9/30/11 (SINGAPORE) AIMS AMP CAP INDUSTRIAL REIT, Ms Tang Buck Kiau resigned.
   http://goo.gl/VGxjv
7. 10/01/11 (USA MO) Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Thomas M. Hoenig retired on Oct. 1, 2011
   http://goo.gl/B8WK7
8. 10/03/11 (INDIA) The of Euram Bank Asia, president Arun Panchariya, has resigned after being implicated in a stock trading scandal in India.
   http://goo.gl/yh2bF
9. 10/03/11 (GHANA) Intercontinental Bank Ghana Limited, Managing Director and CEO Albert Mmegwa resigned.
   http://goo.gl/Vc252
10. 10/03/11 (USA FL) Quantek Opportunity Fund, portfolio manager Javier Guerra. Arbitration awarded $1 million damages to Aris Multi-Strategy Fund. Quantek Asset Management made false statements to Aris.
    http://goo.gl/udpBA
11. 10/05/11 (UK) UBS co-chief François Gouws of global equities had resigned after last month’s revelation of a $2.3 billion loss from unauthorized trading.
    http://goo.gl/OuUjr
12. 10/05/11 (UK) UBS co-chief Yassine Bouhara of global equities had resigned after last month’s revelation of a $2.3 billion loss from unauthorized trading.
    http://goo.gl/OuUjr
13. 10/10/11 (BELGIUM) Dexia (Franco-Belgian bank) its chairman Jean-Luc Dehaene will give up his role on the board of Dexia’s Belgian division, which is being sold to the Belgian state as part of a rescue deal, the group said on Monday.
    http://goo.gl/vyldE
14. 10/11/11 (UK) BlackRock, head of sterling portfolios and manager of the Corporate Bond fund, Paul Shuttleworth, has resigned after 11 years at the firm.
    http://goo.gl/FMBjw
15. 10/11/11 (UK) Dynamic Funds, portfolio manager David Taylor has resigned.
    http://goo.gl/GZCt5
16. 10/11/11 (CHINA) China Construction Bank Non-Executive Direct Sue Yang resigns for personal reasons.
    http://goo.gl/ip8Un
17. 10/13/11 (UK) Cogent Partners co-head research department Katita Palamar resigned.
    http://goo.gl/TVLWO
18. 10/13/11 (UK) Cogent Partners co-head research department Bill Farrell resigned.
    http://goo.gl/TVLWO
19. 10/14/11 (USA TX) Deutsche Bank Investment Advisor Griffin Perry resigns, SEC regulations prevented him from campaigning for his father Rick Perry’s Presidential campaign.
    http://goo.gl/R0PgH
20. 10/23/11 (USA) Fairholme Capital Management LLC, Director Charles Fernandez stepped down for personal reasons. Fairholme Fund has lost 26 percent of its net asset value due to bets that have backfired on AIG Inc, Bank of America Corp and Florida-based landowner and developer St Joe Co.
    http://goo.gl/vzTbY
21. 10/24/11 (ICELAND) Icelandic State Financial Investments board members of Icelandic State Financial Investments have resigned following “outside interference” with their Sept. 30 decision to hire Pall Magnusson, the former political adviser to the island’s industry minister, as chief executive officer. [names and positions have been requested from the reporter on 3/9/12]
    http://goo.gl/lEpz2
22. 10/24/11 (SINGAPORE) Keppel Corporation Limited, Teo Soon Hoe will resign from his role as group finance director Jan 1.
    http://goo.gl/l90be
23. 10/26/11 (INDIA) Beed District Bank (Coop Bank) CEO B S Deshmukh arrested for embezzling Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd payment deposits.
    http://goo.gl/CXL7Z
24. 10/26/11 (INDIA) Beed District Bank (Coop Bank) former CEO A N Kulkarni arrested for embezzling Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd payment deposits.
    http://goo.gl/CXL7Z
25. 10/27/11 (USA NY) Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc (KBW) CEO John Duffy stepped aside. Duffy has prostate cancer.
    http://goo.gl/i1s3E
26. 10/29/11 (CHINA) China Construction Bank Corp Chairman Guo Shuqing resigns
    http://goo.gl/fdd9v
27. 10/29/11 (CHINA) Agricultural Bank of China Ltd Chairman Xiang Junbo resigns
    http://goo.gl/yWX9R
28. 10/31/11 (EUROPEAN COMMUNITY) European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, resigns.
    http://goo.gl/ygG59
29. 11/01/11 (INDIA) Beed District Bank (Coop Bank More directors resign [research still being conducted on the names]
    http://goo.gl/HD8BQ
30. 11/02/11 (UK) Lloyds Banking Group chief executive, António Horta-Osório, is to take leave of absence on health grounds for six to eight weeks, the BBC has reported. (STILL OUT AS OF 2/24/12 – DEFACTO RESIGNATION)
    http://goo.gl/3L9gE
31. 11/03/11 (POLAND) Nordea Bank Poland, Wlodzimierz Kicinski resigned from as President of the Management Board of Nordea Bank Poland as of the 10th of November.
    http://goo.gl/oKUVZ
32. 11/04/11 (USA NY) MF Global, Jon Corzine, stepped down as chairman and CEO, hired criminal attorney to represent him.
    http://goo.gl/tUaVY
33. 11/07/11 (SINGAPORE) Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX), CEO Framroze Pochara quits.
    http://goo.gl/eum87
34. 11/08/11 (SINGAPORE) The Singapore Fund, Inc, Austin C. Dowling has resigned as Director of the Fund
    http://goo.gl/bCUhI
35. 11/09/11 (USA NY) HSBC Israeli desk, managing director Issac Doueck resigned.
    http://goo.gl/zuCJE
36. 11/09/11 (ISRAEL) HSBC Israeli desk, senior representative Simon Hakim resigned.
    http://goo.gl/zuCJE
37. 11/09/11 (SWITZERLAND) HSBC Israeli desk, head of Israel Dan Sagi resigned.
    http://goo.gl/zuCJE
38. 11/09/11 (USA NY) HSBC Israeli desk, ????? resigned.
    http://goo.gl/zuCJE
39. 11/09/11 (USA NY) HSBC Israeli desk, ????? resigned.
    http://goo.gl/zuCJE
40. 11/10/11 (EUROPEAN COMMUNITY) European Central Bank Lorenzo Bini Smaghi resigned from the European Central Bank’s Executive Board.
    http://goo.gl/Invjc
41. 11/11/11 (HONG KONG) Goldman Sachs’ Asia Pacific co-head Yusuf Alireza is retiring from the investment bank after 19 years
    http://goo.gl/pejs3
42. 11/10/11 (INDIA) UBS The head of India operations at UBS AG , Manisha Girotra, has resigned
    http://goo.gl/3aTh2
43. 11/15/11 (USA NY) Icahn Enterprises LP, senior managing director of health-care investing, Alex Denner, has resigned.
    http://goo.gl/X1A4i
44. 11/16/11 (EUROPEAN COMMUNITY) International Monetary Fund Europe, director Antonio Borges resigns for personal reasons.
    http://goo.gl/55CqZ
45. 11/17/11 (NETHERLANDS) Syntrus Achmea (pensions manager), CIO Marjolein Sol is resigning.
    http://goo.gl/Xqxsr
46. 11/18/11 (SCOTLAND) Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Limited (SWIP) Private Equity Fund, wish to announce the resignation of John Brett from the Board of Directors of the Company, for business reasons.
    http://goo.gl/MLsp8
47. 11/21/11 (JAPAN) UBS’s Japan Investment Banking Chairman Matsui to Resign
    http://goo.gl/OiDiq
48. 11/23/12 (USA SC & NC) Bank of the Carolinas, CFO Eric Rhodes resigns for personal reasons. Bank of the Carolinas was delisted from the NASDAQ on 3/9/12
    http://goo.gl/oytcD
49. 11/24/12 (IRELAND) AXA Rosenberg Management Ireland Limited, director Simon Vanstone resigns.
    http://goo.gl/x5Fl6
50. 11/28/11 (LATVIA) Latvia’s chief banking regulator, Irena Krumane, said she resigned today, a week after the state took over Latvijas Krajbanka AS (LKB1R), the Baltic News Service reported. The bank regulator suspended operations at Krajbanka, a subsidiary of Lithuania’s Bankas Snoras AB, on Nov. 21 and said around 100 million lati ($191.8 million) was missing. The Lithuanian government seized Snoras on Nov. 16 saying assets reported on the lender’s balance sheet were missing.
    http://goo.gl/mUvLF
51. 11/29/11 (USA) R. David Land Submits Resignation from the Boards of Directors of Peoples Bancorp. and Seneca National Bank
    http://goo.gl/XncOc
52. 11/29/11 (NORWAY) Carnegie ASA’s co-head of investment banking in Norway, Cato Holmsen, has resigned
    http://goo.gl/utIfy
53. 11/29/11 (FRANCE) AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, Global head of business development, strategy and research for Kiran Patel, has handed in his resignation. Patel was with the firm for 11 years.
    http://goo.gl/iGjB6
54. 11/30/11 (LITHUANIA) Lithuania Central Bank, Governor Vitas Vasiliauskas fired Kazimieras Ramonas, head of the banking supervision department, after seizing Bankas Snoras AB, the country’s third-biggest deposit bank.
    http://goo.gl/EiqUC
55. 12/01/11 (SRI LANKA) Sri Lanka’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) head Indrani Sugathadasa resigned.
    http://goo.gl/6qzny
56. 12/02/11 (PAKISTAN) NIB Bank, Singapore forced resignation of CEO Khawaja Iqbal Hassan, for mismanagement
    http://goo.gl/ojDcu
57. 12/03/11 (USA SC) South Carolina’s $25 billion pension fund chief investor Robert Borden resigned. Borden’s resignation comes as the SC Retirement System faces a $13 billion deficit, prompting state lawmakers to call for a massive overhaul of the system.
    http://goo.gl/ypK2G
58. 12/05/11 (BERMUDA) HSBC Bermuda Ltd, chairman of the board and director John Campbell resigns
    http://goo.gl/peFGD
59. 12/05/11 (BERMUDA) HSBC Bermuda Ltd, CEO  Philip Butterfield retires
    http://goo.gl/peFGD
60. 12/06/11 (USA ) Western Liberty Bancorp CFO George Rosenbaum has resigned.
    http://goo.gl/ozuwB
61. 12/08/11 (USA) Fidelity Global Special Situations Fund, manager Jorma Korhonen resigned.
    http://goo.gl/a7Rhw
62. 12/08/11 (INDIA) Nomura’s co-head of equity-linked solutions Neeraj Hora, resigns
    http://goo.gl/WYcjR
63. 12/14/11 (MAURITIUS) African Alliance Africa Pioneer Fund I (the “Fund”), Portfolio Manager Paul David Austin Clark resigned
    http://goo.gl/YiagF
64. 12/14/11 (USA NY) Goldman Sachs global head Milton R. Berlinski retiring at the end of the year
    http://goo.gl/Xj0l4
65. 12/15/11 (UK) Coutts [private bank] Senior private banker James Fleming resigns
    http://goo.gl/ANN5B
66. 12/19/11 (CANADA) Holloway Lodging Real Estate Investment Trust (a REIT) CEO Glenn Squires has resigned
    http://goo.gl/8rAKb
67. 12/19/11 (JAPAN) Citibank Japan CEO, Darren Buckley, resigns after Citibank was punished by regulators for the third time in seven years.
    http://goo.gl/ScT47
68. 12/19/11 (DENMARK) Danske Bank Peter Straarup, who will retire February 15
    http://goo.gl/06c2b
69. 12/19/11 (DENMARK) Danske Bank Eivind Kolding has resigned as Chairman of the Board of Directors and from the three board committees on which he served, He continues as member of Danske Bank’s Board of Directors until he assumes the position of Chairman of the Executive Board on 15 February 2012. On the same day, at the latest, Eivind Kolding will resign from the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group.
    http://goo.gl/06c2b
70. 12/20/11 (UK) Prudential (UK) Chairman Harvey McGrath has informed the Board of his intention to retire from the Board in 2012 once a successor has been found.
    http://goo.gl/IPOzf
71. 12/20/11 (USA MA) Century Bancorp, Inc., Director Roger S. Berkowitz resigned.
    http://goo.gl/bbdeT
72. 12/21/11 (USA MN) Voyager Bank, fired CEO trade accusations, New details have emerged in Voyager Bank’s firing of its CEO in a court filing that accuses him of defrauding the bank of $15 million. The former CEO, Timothy Owens, has sued the bank for wrongful termination and accused the bank of defaming him.
    http://goo.gl/3Q1Vg
73. 12/23/11 (USA VA)  Virginia National Bank (VNB) Chairman Mark Giles quits
    http://goo.gl/dFDpH
74. 12/23/11 (USA VA)  Virginia National Bank (VNB) Board Member Claire Gargalli quits
    http://goo.gl/kowkW
75. 12/23/11 (USA VA)  Virginia National Bank (VNB) Board Member Leslie Disharoon quits
    http://goo.gl/kstLp
76. 12/23/11 (USA VA)  Virginia National Bank (VNB) Board Member Neal Kassell quits
    http://goo.gl/NrrPZ
77. 12/23/11 (USA) Third Avenue Value Fund, co-manager Marty Whitman is leaving.
    http://goo.gl/iMe99
78. 1/01/12 (NIGERIA) United Bank for Africa Plc Victor Osadolor resigns
    http://goo.gl/b6AoA
79. 1/01/12 (ISRAEL) Israel’s Bank Leumi CEO Galia Maor steps down after 16 years
    http://goo.gl/xwlFt
80. 1/03/12 (GREECE) Marfin Popular Bank Public Co Ltd, Mr Eleftherios Hiliadakis has resigned from the Board of Directors.
    http://goo.gl/MuFa0
81. 1/03/12 (USA VA) Suffolk Bancorp president and CEO J. Gordon Huszagh steps down
    http://goo.gl/joExI
82. 1/03/12 (USA WI) Michael Falbo, president and CEO of Southport Bank, has resigned just six months after accepting the position.
    http://goo.gl/DP1uK
83. 1/03/12 (UK) Arbuthnot Banking Group: Neil Kirton resigned from the Board
    http://goo.gl/SKE7j
84. 1/03/12 (UK) Arbuthnot Banking Group: Atholl Turrell left the Board.
    http://goo.gl/bzZtQ
85. 1/05/12 (UK) Saunderson House [Private Bank] CEO Nick Fletcher steps down
    http://goo.gl/zvo1L
86. 1/05/12 (USA NY) Blackstone/GSO Senior Floating Rate Term Fund and Blackstone/GSO Long-Short Credit Income Fund announced that John R. O’Neill has resigned.
    http://goo.gl/ZiWGL
87. 1/07/12 (UK) Arab Banking Corporation Intl. Bank (ABCIB) Manama, Bahrain: ABCIB announced retirement of CEO Nofal Barbar from its London office.
    http://goo.gl/yF0Mm
88. 1/09/12 (SWITZERLAND) SNB Chairman Philipp Hildebrand resigns
    http://goo.gl/5qsUu
89. 1/09/12 (USA WASHINGTON DC) Whitehouse former banker and Chief of Staff William M. Daley resigned
    http://goo.gl/34F0B
90. 1/09/12 (USA NY) Morgan Stanley Chief Legal Officer Frank Barron retires.
    http://goo.gl/XYCwJ
91. 1/09/12 (SWITZERLAND) Temenos Group AG, provider of core banking software announced the resignation of Mark Austen as a member of the Board of Directors.
    http://goo.gl/l6QzM
92. 1/10/12 (USA IN) Security Bank of Springfield, president and CEO Steve Cour has announced plans to retire at the end of June.
    http://goo.gl/jFbYA
93. 1/11/12 (KAZAKHSTAN) BTA Bank, CEO Marat Zairov resigns for health reasons.
    http://goo.gl/yAHgr
94. 1/11/12 (SWITZERLAND) La Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild, CEO Claude Messulam resigns, replaced by Christophe de Backer, Claude Messulam to become a director of the bank holding company.
    http://goo.gl/vWr3i
95. 1/12/12 (USA) Goldman Sachs, Co-Head Securities Trading Edward K. Eisler retires
    http://goo.gl/i2TVk
96. 1/12/12 (USA) Goldman Sachs, Co-Head Securities Trading David B. Heller retires
    http://goo.gl/i2TVk
97. 1/13/12 (IRELAND) National Asset Management Agency, head of lending Graham Emmett is resigning
    http://goo.gl/GN3h3
98. 1/13/12 (USA DC) World Bank, Vice President for Africa, Oby Ezekwesili will retire from her position at the World Bank in May.
    http://goo.gl/fiUsU
99. 1/17/12 (CANADA) Cumberland Private Wealth Management CIO John Wilson quit to join another money manager.
    http://goo.gl/3JuNJ
100. 1/17/12 (HONG KONG) Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC Bank) CEO David Conner retires.
     http://goo.gl/83Z1i
101. 1/17/12 (UK) Morgan Stanley Intl, chairman Walid Chammah is retiring. An inside source speculated that it could mean that the company had suffered exposure to European sovereign debt woes under Chammah’s purview.
     http://goo.gl/e7vS7
102. 1/17/12 (KUWAIT) Commercial Bank of Kuwait S.A.K. Board Member Ali Yousef Al Awwadhy resigned.
     http://goo.gl/0PoIM
103. 1/17/12 (KUWAIT) Commercial Bank of Kuwait S.A.K. Board Member Miss Anoud Fadhel Al Hathran resigned.
     http://goo.gl/0PoIM
104. 1/17/12 (KUWAIT) Commercial Bank of Kuwait S.A.K. Board Member Mr. Tarek Farid Al Othman resigned.
     http://goo.gl/0PoIM
105. 1/17/12 (KUWAIT) Commercial Bank of Kuwait S.A.K. Board Member Mr. Salem Ali Hassan Al Ali resigned.
     http://goo.gl/0PoIM
106. 1/17/12 (KUWAIT) Commercial Bank of Kuwait S.A.K. Board Member Mr. Majed Ali Oweid Awadh resigned.
     http://goo.gl/0PoIM
107. 1/17/12 (KUWAIT) Commercial Bank of Kuwait S.A.K. Board Member Mr. Badr Suliman Al Ahmed resigned.
     http://goo.gl/0PoIM
108. 1/18/12 (USA) Goldman Sachs co-heads of Goldman’s securities business David Heller resigns.
     http://goo.gl/TMHvx
109. 1/18/12 (USA) Goldman Sachs co-heads of Goldman’s securities business Edward Eisler resigns.
     http://goo.gl/TMHvx
110. 1/18/12 (USA) Goldman Sachs co-head of its investment management division Ed Forst resigns.
     http://goo.gl/TMHvx
111. 1/19/12 (UK) Santander, senior director Americas division Francisco Luzón is retiring with a pension pot of about €56m, a package whose generous size is expected to reignite controversy over bankers’ remuneration.
     http://goo.gl/XMRvP
112. 1/19/12 (EGYPT) Beltone Financial Holding (BTFH) Alaa’ Sabaa resigned from board of directors.
     http://goo.gl/5Eze1
113. 1/19/12 (EGYPT) Beltone Financial Holding (BTFH) Wael EL Mahgary resigned from board of directors.
     http://goo.gl/5Eze1
114. 1/20/12 (USA NY) JPMorgan Chase, Mortgage Banking Default organization head Scott Powell has decided to leave the bank.
     http://goo.gl/TCYpT
115. 1/20/12 (JAPAN) Normura’s head of wholesale banking Jasjit Bhattai quits
     http://goo.gl/6FuWe
116. 1/20/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) First National Bank’s sharia banking division is in a state of flux after it was hit by a corporate governance scandal in which its chief executive, Ebi Patel, was put on “special leave” for almost a month while an internal probe was conducted. Patel has been reinstated, but is facing disciplinary action.  Islamic finance forbids the payment and receipt of interest (riba), and investment in some industries. Sharia law states that interest-bearing transactions result in economic ills such as unemployment and high inflation. Trading in derivatives and speculative investment are also forbidden. Sharia law requires all transactions to be backed by tangible assets.
     http://goo.gl/NmGJP
117. 1/20/12 (USA) TIAA-CREF executive vice president and president of Asset Management, Scott C. Evans resigned
     http://goo.gl/f6qLs
118. 1/20/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) South African deputy economic development minister Enoch Godongwana quit his post this week in the face of growing outrage in government circles about his involvement in a company that allegedly defrauded clothing factory workers of R100-million of their pension fund money.
     http://goo.gl/ZADvn
119. 1/21/12 (UK) Butterfield Private Bank head Danny Dixon Steps Down
     http://goo.gl/sdY1p
120. 1/21/12 (SINGAPORE) ANZ Asia’s private banking head Nina Aguas resigns as managing director of Asia-Pacific private banking.
     http://goo.gl/hlHvG
121. 1/21/12 (USA CA) Nara Bancorp (Now called BBCN) President and CEO Min Kim Resigns
     http://goo.gl/rcfJ3
122. 1/22/12 (KENYA) National Bank of Kenya’s (NBK) managing director, Mr Reuben Marambii, will resign before year end.
     http://goo.gl/c2n7r
123. 1/24/12 (IRELAND) Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited fund, Paul Shevlin resigned as a director
     http://goo.gl/OjZFF
124. 1/24/12 (SWITZERLAND) Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, a French clinical immunologist and head of the $22.6 billion fund has abruptly resigned, since revelations about corruption and misspending severely rattled some of its biggest donors. The resignation came on the eve of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, which played a role in its creation a decade ago. A dinner for the public-private fund is planned Thursday with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and major backers Bill Gates and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The shakeup resulted from an internal review to address problems highlighted in Associated Press stories last year about the loss of tens of millions of dollars in grant money because of mismanagement and alleged fraud. Its biggest private donor is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has pledged $1.15 billion and provided it with $650 million so far.
     http://goo.gl/bqXs8
125. 1/25/12 (UK) SOFIA PROPERTY FUND LIMITED, Gerry Williams has resigned as a Director, following his resignation from Ardel Holdings Limited (“Ardel”) where he was CEO. Ardel is the holding company of Ardel Fund Services Limited which provides administration services in Guernsey to the Company.
     http://goo.gl/kDfVv
126. 1/25/12 (USA NY) Fortress Private Equity, CEO Daniel Madrid (aka Daniel Mudd) has resigned. Madrid was forced to leave in order to deal with SEC allegations. Prior to joining Fortress, Madrid served as Fannie Mae CEO and was forced to resign. SEC sued Madrid and former Freddie Mac CEO Richard West Long (aka Richard Syron) for hiding hundreds of billions of dollars in subprime loans. Madrid denied the SEC allegations saying the US govt. and investors were informed of Fannie Mae’s loan data.
     http://goo.gl/u9IdB and http://goo.gl/v94ik and http://goo.gl/tXQwP
127. 1/27/12 (SINGAPORE) AIMS AMP CAP INDUSTRIAL REIT, Mr Graham Sugden resigned.
     http://goo.gl/VZYHY
128. 1/27/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) ABSA Group COO Alfie Naidoo would be leaving to pursue personal interests
     http://goo.gl/cVWnA
129. 1/27/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) ABSA Group chief marketing and communication officer Happy Ntshingila, will be taking up an “exciting position” outside banking
     http://goo.gl/cVWnA
130. 1/27/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) ABSA Group CEO Daphne Motsepe retires at the end of April after a 10-year career at the bank.
     http://goo.gl/cVWnA
131. 1/29/12 (PORTUGAL) Banco Santander Totta SA executive chairman Nuno Manuel da Silva Amado has resigned
     http://goo.gl/Glvdn
132. 1/29/12 (NEW ZEALAND) New Zealand Reserve Bank Gov Alan Bollard to Step Down
     http://goo.gl/BwUgv
133. 1/29/12 (UAE) NBD, Emirates ‘s investment banking division CEO Suresh Kumar is leaving the bank
     http://goo.gl/S1x0F
134. 1/30/12 (UK) British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) COO Andrew Graham steps down
     http://goo.gl/4SDW8
135. 1/31/12 (SCOTLAND) Royal Bank of Scotland former CEO Fred Goodwin Stripped of Knighthood
     http://goo.gl/CoLVS
136. 2/01/12 (SYRIA) Arab Bank Syria Board member Basma Talal Zein resigns.
     http://goo.gl/WXxzw
137. 2/01/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) ABSA [Barclay’s Bank] deputy CEO Louis von Zeuner resigns
     http://goo.gl/IP8nH
138. 2/01/12 (UK) Lloyds Bankging Group head of wholesaleTruett Tate quits
     http://goo.gl/OqRVo
139. 2/01/12 (UK) Llyods Banking Group Tim Tookey leaving end of February
     http://goo.gl/vjO5M
140. 2/02/12 (VENEZUELA) Banking Crisis Arne Chacon arrested for Banking Corruption
     http://goo.gl/bb5sh
141. 2/02/12 (USA) American Perspective Bank, President and CEO Thomas J. Beene resigned.
     http://goo.gl/K66eb
142. 2/02/12 (USA) NIR Group hedge funds, Corey Ribotsky was forced out of NIR by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, the court-appointed liquidator, following allegations of fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In September, the SEC sued Ribotsky and NIR for taking more than $1 million of investors’ money to buy cars and watches.
143. 2/02/12 (IRELAND) AXA Rosenberg Management Ireland Limited, director Nathalie Savey resigned.
     http://goo.gl/cXB8u
144. 2/03/12 (UK) VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd, Non-Executive Director Horst Geicke has resigned.
     http://goo.gl/r955T
145. 2/03/12 (UK) UBS London trader, Kweku M. Adoboli, was arrested and charged with fraud and false accounting, forcing UBS to announce a $2.3 billion trading loss.
     http://goo.gl/ClTaq
146. 2/05/12 (USA – NY) Morgan’s investment banking chairman Joseph Perella quit
     http://goo.gl/pG2jF
147. 2/05/12 (USA – NY) Morgan Stanley investment banking Tarek Abdel-Meguid quit
     http://goo.gl/bRv9K
148. 2/06/12 (INDIA) Dhanlaxmi Bank CEO Amitabh Chaturvedi quits:
     http://goo.gl/OhCEb
149. 2/06/12 (USA NY) TD Ameritrade, head of retail distribution John Bunch resigns. Bunch is leaving to take the top job at a small investment advisory firmin Kansas City.
     http://goo.gl/kgS7M
150. 2/07/12 (USA) Bank Of America’s Mortgage Business Chief Barbara Desoer Retires
     http://goo.gl/i7AUY
151. 2/07/12 (INDIA) Kotak Mahindra Bank Falguni Nayar quits
     http://goo.gl/fP03J
152. 2/07/12 (IRAN) Iran denies central bank resignation rumor (don’t believe until its denied?)
     http://goo.gl/PiQSy
153. 2/08/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) Standard Bank Group Ltd – Resignation of Group Secretary Loren Wulfsohn
     http://goo.gl/K1pfn
154. 2/08/12 (USA OH) Cleveland International Fund (CIF) private equity fund, A. Eddy Zai launched and led the Cleveland International Fund, an investment outfit that pairs wealthy foreign investors hoping for U.S. residency with job-creating projects. Zai resigned from his job this week, before being indicted in a bank-fraud scheme that, according to investigators, contributed to the collapse of a credit union in Eastlake.
     http://goo.gl/tgamf
155. 2/08/12 (UAE) Emirates NBD makes top-level changes Bank’s deputy chief executive officer Abdul Wahed Al Fahim has resigned.
     http://goo.gl/JUdNd
156. 2/09/12 (VATICAN) Institute for Religious Works (IOR aka “Vatican Bank”), 62 year old Monsignor Emilio Messina, the Archdiocese of Camerino-San Severino Marche investigated on money laundering by Italian officials.
     http://goo.gl/uztVU
157. 2/09/12 (VATICAN) Institute for Religious Works (IOR aka “Vatican Bank”), 49 year old Father Don Salvatore Palumbo of the socially popular parish of San Gaetano
     http://goo.gl/uztVU
158. 2/09/12 (VATICAN) Institute for Religious Works (IOR aka “Vatican Bank”), 37 year old Father Horace Bonaccorsi of Catania, already tried and acquitted in Sicily for money laundering offenses recycling money through accounts at IOR
     http://goo.gl/uztVU
159. 2/09/12 (VATICAN) Institute for Religious Works (IOR aka “Vatican Bank”), 85 year old Father Don Evaldo Biasini of Rome. Father Don Evaldo Biasini is known as the “Don of Cash”.
     http://goo.gl/uztVU
160. 2/09/12 (UKRAINE) National Bank of Ukraine deputy governor Volodymyr Krotiuk quits
     http://goo.gl/8BuXy
161. 2/09/12 (UK) JP Morgan Chinese Investment Trust PLC, non-executive Director Madam Yujiang Zhao resigned
     http://goo.gl/CPO23
162. 2/09/12 (UK) Alliance Trust Savings (ATS), Robert Burgess is stepping down as CEO.
     http://goo.gl/ohHG3
163. 2/10/12 (KOREA) Korea Exchange Bank chief Larry Klane steps down
     http://goo.gl/DBKdc
164. 2/10/12 (INDIA) Tamilnad Mercantile Bank CEO A K Jagannathan resigns
     http://goo.gl/wMl5g
165. 2/13/12 (KUWAIT) Kuwait Central Bank CEO Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al Sabbah resigns
     http://goo.gl/GFvIy
166. 2/13/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs confirmed on Monday that George N. Mattson, one of the firm’s top deal makers in the industrial sector, will retire. He was a senior relationship banker with a client list that included General Motors, General Electric and Caterpillar.
     http://goo.gl/vgnq2
167. 2/13/12 (HONDURAS) Honduras finance minister William Chong Wong, resigned on Monday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the country did not reach its deficit and monetary targets for 2011.
     http://goo.gl/drgHY
168. 2/14/12 (NICARAQUA) Nicaraqua Central Bank President Antenor Rosales resigns
     http://goo.gl/iQ0n8
169. 2/14/12 (UK) Social finance pioneer Malcolm Hayday quits Charity Bank
     http://goo.gl/uHp6C
170. 2/14/12 (PAKISTAN) National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) chairman Syed Ali Raza resigned
     http://goo.gl/scexo
171. 2/14/12 (USA NY) Goldman Sachs Jeffrey Moslow resigns, an investment banker to companies such as Tyco International Ltd, Nstar, the Boston-based utility, and defense contractor Dyncorp International Inc.
     http://goo.gl/7h4O7
172. 2/15/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) HPA – Hospitality Property Fund Limited, chairman Frank Berkeley resigned.
     http://goo.gl/wJmpR
173. 2/15/12 (USA) Boston Properties (REIT), Executive VP and COO E. Mitchell Norvilleto resigned
     http://goo.gl/AW7X7
174. 2/15/12 (WORLD) World Bank CEO Zoellick resigns
     http://goo.gl/dHDSm
     Did the White House tell the World Bank president that he’s out?
     http://goo.gl/wUOgb
175. 2/15/12 (CHINA) Morgan non-executive chairman Stanley Stephen Roach will be retiring.
     http://goo.gl/MQeGW
176. 2/15/12 (SLOVENIA) Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor CEO Andrej Plos resigns
     http://goo.gl/SNsVI
177. 2/15/12 (SLOVENIA) Nova Ljubljanska Banka d.d. CEO Bozo Jasovic resigns
     http://goo.gl/TyYiJ
178. 2/16/12 (USA IL) Deerfield Capital Management LLC, CEO Daniel Hattori and CEO of CIFC Corp resigned.
     http://goo.gl/LLNnD
179. 2/16/12 (USA IL) Deerfield Capital Management LLC, COO Luke Knecht and CEO of CIFC Corp, resigned both positions.
     http://goo.gl/LLNnD
180. 2/16/12 (UK) The Financial Services Authority Margaret Cole is to step down
     http://goo.gl/yT6rS
181. 2/16/12 (GHANA) Databank Group Executive Chair Ken Ofori-Atta steps down
     http://goo.gl/c7PtU
182. 2/16/12 (SAUDI ARABIA) Saudi Hollandi Banks Managing Director Geoffrey Calvert Quits
     http://goo.gl/CtmOU
183. 2/16/12 (AUSTRALIA) ANZ Bank Australia CFO Peter Marriott resigns
     http://goo.gl/I7Alo
184. 2/16/12 (UK) Royal Bank of Scotland Sr Equities Trader Jason Edinburgh Arrested
     http://goo.gl/WczHh
185. 2/16/12 (UK) Royal Bank of Scotland director equities bus. Vincent Walsh director Arrested
     http://goo.gl/I7Alo
186. 2/16/12 (UK) Marex Spectron senior trader Michael Elsom Arrested
     http://goo.gl/I7Alo
187. 2/16/12 (AUSTRALIA) Royal Bank of Scotland Austraila CEO Stephen Williams resigns
     http://goo.gl/4r16D
188. 2/17/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) Coronation Fund Managers CEO Hugo Nelson is stepping down at age of 40.
     http://goo.gl/I3NY8
189. 2/17/12 (PAKISTAN) PICIC Asset Management Company Limited CFO Ahmed Raza resigns
     http://goo.gl/K8A2I
190. 2/17/12 (USA NY) Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein out as by summer
     http://goo.gl/UjpzD
191. 2/17/12 (SWITZERLAND) SNB Council President Hansueli Raggenbass resigns
     http://goo.gl/1n1Nr
192. 2/17/12 (UK) Insight Investment, asset manager Mike Pinggera has resigned..
     http://goo.gl/uDplK
193. 2/17/12 (USA NY) Harbinger Group Inc. CFO Francis T. McCarron has advised the Company of his resignation effective April 30
     http://goo.gl/6il4F
194. 2/17/12 (BULGARIA) Bulgaria National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), The managing director Neli Nesheva, resigned after a two-day row about end-of-year bonuses paid by NHIF to its employees.
     http://goo.gl/7UQxv
195. 2/18/12 (PAKISTAN) The Bank of Azad Jammu and Kashmir executive Zulfiqar Abbasi resigns 
     http://goo.gl/G0woP
196. 2/19/12 (MALTA) Bank of Valletta, director of the Multi-Manager Fund John C. Ripard, has resigned being reprimanded by the MFSA for disposing of his holdings in the Fund whilst in possession of sensitive information which was not available to the public.
     http://goo.gl/1li3r
197. 2/20/12 (RUSSIA) Head of Russian Bank Regulator Gennady Melikyan Steps Down
     http://goo.gl/Unuez
198. 2/20/12 (SWITZERLAND) Credit Suisse Chief Joseph Tan resigns
     http://goo.gl/F5twL
199. 2/20/12 (ISRAEL) Bank Leumi le-Israel Ltd: Zvi Itskovitch resigns
     http://goo.gl/aA0RW
200. 2/20/12 (USA WA) First Financial Northwest Director Spencer Schneider Quits
     http://goo.gl/6Dj0i
201. 2/21/12 (ARGENTINA) Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) Gen Mgr Benigno Velez, resigns
     http://goo.gl/DuMrm
202. 2/21/12 (BANGLADESH) Nitol Insurance Co. Ltd director Abdul Matlub resigns
     conflict of interest with director seat on unknown bank
     http://goo.gl/aEmwB
203. 2/21/12 (BANGLADESH) Nitol Insurance Co. Ltd director Selima Ahmad resigns
     conflict of interest with director seat on unknown bank
     http://goo.gl/aEmwB
204. 2/21/12 (BANGLADESH) Nitol Insurance Co. Ltd director Abdul Musabbir Ahmad resigns
     conflict of interest with director seat on unknown bank
     http://goo.gl/aEmwB
205. 2/21/12 (BANGLADESH) City General Insurance Co. Ltd director Geasuddin Ahmad resigns
     conflict of interest with director seat on unknown bank
     http://goo.gl/aEmwB
206. 2/21/12 (BANGLADESH) Social Islami Bank Limited director Taslima Akter resigns
     conflict of interest with director seat on Eastland Insurance Company Limited
     http://goo.gl/aEmwB
207. 2/21/12 (JAPAN) CITIBANK JAPAN: Bakhshi is taking over duties from Brian Mccappin, who the bank said in December would resign after the unit was banned for two weeks from trading tied to the London and Tokyo interbank offered rates.
     http://goo.gl/Z1rnw
208. 2/22/12 (HONG KONG) DZ BANK project finance head Tim Meaney quits
     http://goo.gl/ppKno
209. 2/22/12 (SINGAPORE) Macquarie International Infrastructure Fund’s CEO John Stuart to resign
     http://goo.gl/ji7Q4
210. 2/22/12 (USA NY) Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Group Chief Howard Wietschner to Retire
     http://goo.gl/x4Zsr
211. 2/22/12 (UK) UBS AG’s (UBSN) Doug McCutcheon, head of Healthcare Banking in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific region, has left Switzerland’s biggest bank after 25 years at the firm.
     http://goo.gl/Dnxqh
212. 2/23/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs Nordic M&A banker Luca Ferrari has decided to retire from the firm, clients included the largest telecommunications operator in Spain the Spanish telecommunications.
     http://goo.gl/qmCh3
213. 2/23/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) Richard Gush resigns from Standard Bank
     http://goo.gl/DTL5S
214. 2/23/12 (SCOTLAND) Royal Bank of Scotland Group director John McFarlane resigns.
     http://goo.gl/KoEUI
215. 2/24/12 (GUERNSEY) Spearpoint Limited (SPL) Investment Funds, director Mike Kirby resigns for business reasons.
     http://goo.gl/9stPB
216. 2/24/12 (INDIA) Breaking: ICICI Bank GC Pramod Rao resigns
     http://goo.gl/5eUqU
217. 2/24/12 (HONG KONG) Citigroup Pvt Bank Global Real Estate Kwang Meng Quek Resigns
     http://goo.gl/JIC9A
218. 2/24/12 (NEW ZEALAND) FSF Executive Director Kirk Hope resigns
     http://goo.gl/6UJau
219. 2/24/12 (USA NY) Evercore Partners Head Eduardo Mestre steps down
     http://goo.gl/n5RLY
220. 2/25/12 (AUSTRALIA AND NZ) Goldman Sachs Chairman Stephen Fitzgerald quits
     http://goo.gl/nMTLW
221. 2/25/12 (DENMARK) European Investment Bank (EIB), Mr Sigmund Lubanski, of the Kingdom of Denmark tendered his resignation.
     http://goo.gl/y4XXF
222. 2/27/12 (GERMANY) Deutsche Bank Americas chief  Seth Waugh steps down
     http://goo.gl/8lxSw
223. 2/27/12 (BAHRAIN) Khaleeji Commercial Bank CEO Ebrahim Ebrahim quits
     http://goo.gl/yKjzL
224. 2/27/12 (BAHRAIN) – Mumtalakat Holding [Sovereign Wealth Fund] CEO Al Zain resigns
     http://goo.gl/hhHSm
225. 2/27/12 (FRANCE) Societe Generale’s Investment Banking Chief Michel Péretié Steps Down
     http://goo.gl/IJ5Lw
226. 2/27/12 (MALAYSIA) Elaf Bank CEO Dr El Jaroudi resigns
     http://goo.gl/eVCS5
227. 2/27/12 (GERMANY) Equiduct chairman Artur Fischer steps down
     http://goo.gl/Q0dWR
228. 2/27/12 (IRAN) Bank Melli CEO Mahmoud Reza Khaavari Resigns – Flees to Canada!
     http://goo.gl/DDEUk
229. 2/27/12 (IRAN) Bank Saderat CEO Mohammad Jahromi resigns
     http://goo.gl/ZD0mc
230. 2/27/12 (UK) Lloyds Banking Group Glen Moreno steps down
     http://goo.gl/dsXcE
231. 2/27/12 (SINGAPORE) Standard Chartered Bank, global head of repo and collateralised financing Tanweer Khan resigned.
     http://goo.gl/hgbuc
232. 2/28/12 (HONG KONG) Hang Seng Bank CEO Margaret Leung Ko May-yee quits
     http://goo.gl/Uo800
233. 2/28/12 (CHINA) Bank of China International ECM global head Marshall Nicholson quits
     http://goo.gl/26MYq
234. 2/28/12 (SINGAPORE) DBS security head Jim Pasqurell quits, cites health reasons
     http://goo.gl/NDJze
235. 2/28/12 (HONG KONG) Bank of America’s Asia-Pac. mrkts Brian Canniffe quits
     http://goo.gl/cRkCP
236. 2/28/12 (BELGIUM) KBC’s CEO Jan Vanhevel is to retire after a career spanning 41 years.
     http://goo.gl/1rCWd
237. 2/28/12 (CANADA) Ontario Securities Commission chairwoman Peggy-Anne Brown quits
     http://goo.gl/HIYXv
238. 2/28/12 (AUSTRALIA) Bank manager Colin John Carleton jailed nine years for $3m theft
     http://goo.gl/ggPvq
239. 2/28/12 (SRI LANKA) Sri Lanka Com Bank CEO Amitha Gooneratne retires
     http://goo.gl/YxvNA
240. 2/28/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) REDEFINE INCOME FUND director Gerald Leissner resigns
     http://goo.gl/F0UgN
241. 2/28/12 (ITALY) UNICREDIT: Chairman Dieter Rampl not available for a new mandate
     http://goo.gl/7aLRU
242. 2/28/12 (UK) Bank of England Sir David Lees re-appointed Chair of Bank of England and gives notice of resignation at end of 2013
     http://goo.gl/LkJhV
243. 2/28/12 (IRELAND) State Street Global Advisors Cash Funds plc Director Keith Walsh resigns
     http://goo.gl/n6uoM
244. 2/29/12 (AUSTRALIA) Perpetual portfolio manager Matt Williams steps down
     http://goo.gl/Jh9jd
245. 2/29/12 (UK) Honister Capital CEO Richard Pearson steps down
     http://goo.gl/014or
246. 2/29/12 (GUYANA) National Investment and Commercial Investments Ltd. (NICIL), Executive Director Winston Brassington resigns, “We feel that (Winston) Brassington knows everything…A to Z about all the transactions,” said Chairman of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, as he sounded a warning that controversial figure could be subpoenaed to appear before the Parliamentary Economic Sector Committee.
     http:// goo.gl/L7I35
247. 3/01/12 (MALAYSIA) RHB Bank Bhd deputy managing director Renzo Viegas quits
     http://goo.gl/wACrI
248. 3/01/12 (ITALY) Italian Banking Association Chairman Giuseppe Mussari talks to reporters in Rome after he and seven other executives offered to resign in protest over new banking-fee rules included in the government’s legislation on boosting competition.
     http://goo.gl/3llyT
249. 3/01/12 (USA FL) Florida Venture Forum [Venture Capital] Exec Dir Robin Lester quits
     http://goo.gl/nA8g9
250. 3/01/12 (USA NY) PineBridge Investments said Win Neuger has resigned as chief executive. Neuger helped build AIG’s third party asset management business, PineBridge still manages AIG assets
     http://goo.gl/SI7kT
251. 3/01/12 (SINGAPORE) UBS Singapore – James Tulley is leaving Switzerland’s largest bank, it is not clear where he is going.
     http://goo.gl/BGugF
252. 3/01/12 (USA NH) Piscataqua Savings Bank CEO Jay Gibson retires
     http://goo.gl/uEqDV
253. 3/01/12 (ICELAND) Iceland’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) fired its director Gunnar Andersen
     http://goo.gl/VG9q5
254. 3/01/12 (USA OR) Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) senior RE officer Brad Child will retire
     http://goo.gl/vcERz
255. 3/02/12 (CHINA) China Construction Bank Corp, assistant general manager and head of corporate banking Mickey Mehta quits
     http://goo.gl/B9dR0
256. 3/02/12 (USA NY) Deutsche Bank Student Loan CEOJohn Hupalo quits to start student loan counseling firm.
     http://goo.gl/8kZuc
257. 3/02/12 (UK) Bank of England Sir Mervin King resigns in June, Lord Sassoon tipped as replacement.
     http://goo.gl/ZEUwf
258. 3/02/12 (BOTSWANA) Barclays Bank Botswana managing director Wilfred Mpai forced to resign
     http://goo.gl/npBe2
259. 3/02/12 (HONG KONG) New Century Group Hong Kong Ltd [investment house and leisure group] Wilson Ng resigns
     http://goo.gl/wFSV8
260. 3/02/12 (USA NY) Citigroup Richard Parsons to step down as chairman
     http://goo.gl/BhZ0F
261. 3/03/12 (AUSTRIA) Volksbank AG (VBAG) The contract of CEO Gerald Wenzel will not be extended
     http://goo.gl/w99tD
262. 3/03/12 (ETHIOPIA) Dashen Bank’s board dismisses president Leulseged Teferi
     http://goo.gl/Y801M
263. 3/03/12 (RUSSIA) Enza Capital KK, Wealthy British banker Philip Townsend (Baron Townsend of Rathmore) and his wife killed at Estonia holiday home  ⑆44541444⑈
     http://goo.gl/GSOUN and http://goo.gl/x94ID and http://goo.gl/gGgLP
264. 3/04/12 (KOREA)  Hana Financial Group Inc, prominent figure in the history of South Korean finance Kim Seung-yu , resigns
     http://goo.gl/fmNxY
265. 3/04/12 (USA NY) JP Morgan prop trading chief Mike Stewart quits
     http://goo.gl/gubPj
266. 3/05/12 (SAUDI ARABIA) Al Rajhi Bank CEO Abdullah bin Sulaiman Al Rajhi has resigned
     http://goo.gl/pNx0l
267. 3/5/12 (UK) Jupiter fund co-manager Tony Nutt steps down
     http://goo.gl/RPqOp
268. 3/05/12 (UK) Jupiter fund co-manager John Hamilton steps down
     http://goo.gl/RPqOp
269. 3/05/12 (NEW ZEALAND) Insured Group Bill Jeffries has resigned as chairman and director
     http://goo.gl/gX7wu
270. 3/05/12 (USA) Reliance Bancshares chairman Patrick Gideon resigned
     http://goo.gl/u6BT4
271. 3/05/12 (UK) Charterhouse partner Gordon Bonnyman is stepping down.
     http://goo.gl/iAEYB
272. 3/05/12 (UK) HgCapital, partner Lindsay Dibden is leaving after 20 years.
     http://goo.gl/iAEYB
273. 3/06/12 (FRANCE) Blackstone Group’s Paris office leader Jean-Michel Steg will step down
     http://goo.gl/w3Ca5
274. 3/06/12 (JAMAICA) Jamaica Money Market Brokers Limited, Patricia Sutherland has resigned as Executive Director
     http://goo.gl/oMwv6
275. 3/06/12 (JAMAICA) Jamaica’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), Executive director Rohan Barnett, has resigned the position, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and the Public Service announced this afternoon.
     http://goo.gl/FBwFo
276. 3/06/12 USA CT) Wells Fargo & Co. said that Mackey McDonald, one of the last remaining directors from Wachovia is retiring.
     http://goo.gl/F1O4v
277. 3/06/12 (USA PA)  USA Technologies Inc Bradley M. Tirpak, a nominee of Shareholder Advocates for Value Enhancement,has resigned from its board subsequent to a settlement agreement with the investing group, according to an SEC filing. Provides a network of wireless non-cash transactions, associated financial/network services and energy management. It provides networked credit card and other non-cash systems in the vending, commercial laundry, hospitality and digital imaging industries.
     http://goo.gl/8oi7C
278. 3/06/12 (UK) Sterling Green Group has announced that Philip Kanas, a non-executive director, has decided to resign
     Sterling Green Group PLC became a cash shell following the disposal of their subsidiaries Taxdebts Ltd, Sterling Green (Mortgages) Ltd and the back books of the clients of Sterling Green Ltd. during December 2011.
     http://goo.gl/qc3jB
279. 3/06/12 (UK) Aberdeen Asset Management, non-executive director Gerhard Fusenig has resigned from the board.
     http://goo.gl/ZIkvQ
280. 3/07/12 (GERMANY) Deutsche Bank AG’s (DB) Chief Risk Officer Hugo Baenzigeri to resign
     http://goo.gl/MWqsH
281. 3/07/12 (GERMANY) Deutsche Bank AG’s (DB) Chief Operating Officer Hermann-Josef Lamberti to resign
     http://goo.gl/MWqsH
282. 3/07/12 (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES) Dubai Mercantile Exchange announced Thomas Leaver will step down as CEO
     http://goo.gl/rfhWN
283. 3/07/12 (SCOTLAND) Macfarlane Group Chairman Archie Hunter to step down after 8 years of service
     http://goo.gl/RHllr
284. 3/07/12 (USA) BlackRock Emerging Markets Fund co-head Daniel Tubbs, has left the group to pursue other opportunities.
     http://goo.gl/CpEzZ
285. 3/07/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs (GSI) Christopher French resigns from board
     http://goo.gl/3yQDS
286. 3/07/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs (GSI) David Wildermuth resigns from board
     http://goo.gl/3yQDS
287. 3/07/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs (GSI) Matthew Westerman resigns from board
     http://goo.gl/3yQDS
288. 3/07/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs (GSI) co-head of global mergers and acquisitions Yoel Zaoui resigns
     http://goo.gl/3yQDS
289. 3/07/12 (UK) Goldman Sachs (GSI) Phil Beatty resigned as head of European power and natural-gas trading
     http://goo.gl/jqbYY
290. 3/07/12 (SINGAPORE) Nikko Asset Management Timothy McCarthy is retiring as chairman and CEO at the end of the month
     http://goo.gl/v8tcT
291. 3/07/12 (HONG KONG) UBS Senior Asia Economist Jonathan Anderson Departs
     http://goo.gl/09VqT
292. 3/07/12 (HAITI) FORMER DIRECTOR HAITI CENTRAL BANK SLAIN!  ⑆44541444⑈
     http://goo.gl/UtVz3
293. 3/07/12 (FRANCE) Société Générale Private Banking, Daniel Truchi is to step down as head of Société Générale Private Banking
     http://goo.gl/XhgJ9
294. 3/07/12 (AUSTRALIA) Customers Ltd, Tim Wildash has cashed himself out as chief executive of Australia’s largest ATM operator
     http://goo.gl/eZJMb
295. 3/07/12 (USA CA) CALSTRS, Pascal Villiger, senior private equity portfolio manager at the $145 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System resigns
     http://goo.gl/ub0ke
296. 3/07/12 (USA) Astaire quits Bank of America Merrill to dance to Barclays Capital’s tune
     http://goo.gl/Zv6Ny
297. 3/08/12 (USA NY) Schroders, CIO Alan Brown is steps down
     http://goo.gl/ZTtYo
298. 3/08/12 (USA IL) CBOE Executive Patrick Fay Put on Leave Amid SEC Probe
     http://goo.gl/x5snO
299. 3/08/12 (USA NH & RI) Bristol County Savings Bank president E. Dennis Kelly retires after 35 years
     http://goo.gl/8KVKn
300. 3/08/12 (GERMANY) Clearstream Banking AG – Katja Rosenkranz To Leave Deutsche Börse Group [stockmarket]
     http://goo.gl/RiVNi
301. 3/08/12 (UK) B&CE CEO Brian Griffiths is to retire later this year
     http://goo.gl/AV7Sk
302. 3/08/12 (UK) Invesco Trimark Ltd, portfolio manager Dana Love has resigned.
     http://goo.gl/MyQ90
303. 3/08/12 (ISRAEL) Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer will hand in his shock resignation in the coming days and take up a new position as head of the Bank of Zambia. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz is believed to be furious with Fischer’s decision. Treasury officials said he even canceled his participation in the office’s annual Purim party in order to convince Fischer to reverse his decision.
     http://goo.gl/0DlSA
304. 3/08/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) Standard Bank Group Limited (SBK), board member Sir Paul Judge retires.
     http://goo.gl/SjSPg
305. 3/08/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) Standard Bank Groupl Limited (SBK), board member Sir Sam Jonah retires.
     http://goo.gl/SjSPg
306. 3/09/12 (MONGOLIA) Mongol Bank President Alag Batsukh submitted his resignation letter to Speaker of Parliament D. Demberel at the end of last month. He described his reason for resigning as a lack of support by Parliament.
     http://goo.gl/RDmNx
307. 3/09/12 (MONGOLIA) Asia Pacific Securities, General Manager Narantuguldur Saijrakh recently resigned, to focus on his role as Director of Khan Investment Management, investment advisor to the Khan Mongolia Equity Fund – the first open-ended investment vehicle with monthly dealing that invests in Mongolia related equities listed both domestically and internationally.
     http://goo.gl/2T4R6
308. 3/09/12 (Côte d’Ivoire) Banque Central des Etats d’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) The Ivorian governor of the multi-billion dollar West Africa Francophone bank, Philippe-Henry Dacoury-Tabley, resigned his post.
     http://goo.gl/CevLn
309. 3/09/12 (UK) Lazard , co-head of investment banking Alexis de Rosnay quits. De Rosnay specialises in the healthcare sector, he has advised Teva Pharmaceutical and Novartis.
     http://goo.gl/3gzbi
310. 3/09/12 (UK) Deutsche Bank PWM, UK head of portfolio management Martyn Surguy resigned.
     http://goo.gl/5Ti2p
311. 3/09/12 (UK) Deutsche Bank PWM, head of discretionary management, Kypros Charalambous, having also stepped down.
     http://goo.gl/5Ti2p
312. 3/09/12 (HONG KONG) Bank of America Merrill Lynch, K.J. Kim, responsible for Southeast Asia, resigned
     http://goo.gl/sE7xh
313. 3/09/12 (HONG KONG) Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Jimmy Choi, who was in charge of high-yield debt, resigned.
     http://goo.gl/sE7xh
314. 3/09/12 (HONG KONG) Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Leonard Ng, a vice-president in Hong Kong resigned.
     http://goo.gl/sE7xh
315. 3/09/12 (AUSTRALIA) Bank of Queensland CFO Ram Kangatharan plans to leave the bank.
     http://goo.gl/ieNea
316. 3/09/12 (USA) Cerberus Capital Management LP, CEO Robert Nardelli resigns.
     http://goo.gl/9uKVx
317. 3/10/12 (AUSTRALIA) WESTPAC, Rob Chapman opted to quit running its regional subsidiary St George Bank.
     http://goo.gl/G6MD
318. 3/10/12 (TURKEY) Garanti Bank, The deputy CEO of Turkish lender Tolga Egemen, has decided to quit.
     http://goo.gl/vAMzV
319. 3/10/12 (CHINA) Korea Development Bank, Shanghai unit senior manager Stella Wen resigned.
     http://goo.gl/55CqZ
320. 3/10/12 (HONG KONG) Deutsche Bank, Johan Sudiman resigns as director.
     http://goo.gl/6CYGP
321. 3/12/12 (USA) John Lewis Partnership Pension Trust, head of investments Andrew Chapman, resigns
     http://goo.gl/hevqh
322. 3/12/12 (USA CA) California’s Department of Financial Institutions, commissioner William Haraf resigned. The DFI did not say why he is leaving.
     http://goo.gl/zquTc
323. 3/12/12 (KUWAIT) Gulf Bank, Chairman Ali Rashaid Al Bader quits
     http://goo.gl/LDz9b
324. 3/12/12 (UK and IRELAND) Allfunds Bank, head of UK and Ireland Alan Gadd is stepping down from his role at the end of April.
     http://goo.gl/4DF6i
325. 3/12/12 (USA) ICAP, CEO of the electronic broking business David Rutter step down following a restructuring of the business.
     http://goo.gl/SUHqW
326. 3/12/12 (UK) SVG Capital, chairman Nicholas Ferguson resigns. His departure left him well placed to succeed James Murdoch as chairman of BSkyB should the latter bow to investor pressure and step down. Other investors in the satellite broadcaster suggested Ferguson might be seen as too close to Murdoch to win the support of institutional shareholders.
     http://goo.gl/z19wH
327. 3/12/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), CEO Paul Baloyi resigns.
     http://goo.gl/yX4xo
328. 3/12/12 (USA) Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, CEO Bryan Marsal Resigns Title, Remains on as Adviser
     http://goo.gl/1K9zV
329. 3/12/12 (USA IL) CME Group Inc, CEO Craig Donohues will step down at year end.
     http://goo.gl/lvzgC
330. 3/13/12 (USA) Eaton Vance Corp, Treasurer and CFO Robert J. Whelan has stepped down.
     http://goo.gl/oxmbL
331. 3/12/12 (USA IL) CBOE Holdings Inc. (CBOE), senior compliance executive Patrick Fay has resigned. The options exchange being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fay had been placed on leave after the SEC began investigating the options-market operator’s oversight of traders.
     http://goo.gl/gj4W6
332. 3/13/12 (USA) Mithras Investment Trust, chairman Mike Wooderson will step down
     http://goo.gl/UjO2e
333. 3/13/12 (USA) PHH Mortgage, President Luke Hayden resigned from to pursue what the company calls “other interests.” http://goo.gl/iaqQf
334. 3/13/12 (USA) PHH Mortgage, Treasurer Mark Johnson.resigned
     http://goo.gl/iaqQf
335. 3/13/12 (AUSTRALIA) WESTPAC, head of corporate affairs after David Bell decided to step down from the role. Bell is the latest top executive to leave the bank.
     http://goo.gl/FntUz
336. 3/13/12 (UK) Capula’s Systemic Trading Head Qiang Dai to Leave Fund
     http://goo.gl/zkrN2
337. 3/13/12 (UAE) National Bank of Abu Dhabi, CEO Michael Tomalin, will retire from the post in a few months.
     http://goo.gl/dzBW8
338. 3/13/12 (ISRAEL) Osem Investments Ltd, CEO Gazi Kaplan has tendered his resignation, effective April 2, citing heath reasons. Nestlé SA owns 58.8% of Osem.
     http://goo.gl/t032l
339. 3/13/12 (USA) Paulson & Co.’s, partner and head of the global bank team Robert Lacoursiere has quit to form his own hedge fund
     http://goo.gl/I8UNd
340. 3/13/12 (AUSTRALIA) ASX Ltd, Chairman David Gonski will step down from his role at Australia’s main stock market operator after being appointed to oversee almost A$90 billion ($95 billion) in the nation’s sovereign-wealth funds.
     http://goo.gl/gJN33
341. 3/13/12 (UK) JP Morgan, Asset Management European chief Jamie Broderick is to step down more than 20 years at the firm.
     http://goo.gl/MV65V
342. 3/13/12 (UK) SVG Chairman Nicholas Ferguson retires.
     http://goo.gl/hTDDY
343. 3/13/12 (UK) SVG Director Edgar Koning retires.
     http://goo.gl/hTDDY
344. 3/13/12 (UK) SVG Director Denis Raeburn retires.
     http://goo.gl/hTDDY
345. 3/13/12 (UK) SVG Director Francis Finlay retires.
     http://goo.gl/hTDDY
346. 3/14/12 (UK) Goldmand Sachs, executive director and head of the firm’s United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Greg Smith, is resigning today.
     http://americankabuki.blogspot.com/2012/03/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html
347. 3/14/12 (SOUTH AFRICA) ABSA chairman Garth Griffin to retire
     http://goo.gl/Mhjb5

Whew!  So after all of this what is the truth?  It does appear that the financial elite are in some kind of retreat.  Also you can a pattern where the further we come forward to the present, the more major CEO and board members are involved, in other words, the most senior management.  Also odd was the number of en masse resignations of board members.  What is disturbing is the fact that I tracked everyone of these people stepping down, really hoping to see that a majority of them were just making “career moves”, but exactly the opposite was true for the majority.  Words and phrases such as, “sudden resignation”, “unexpected move” “surprising” were often contained in the news articles chronicling the moves.

I went one step further to see if I could independently verify where these folks were going.  Here is where it gets a bit murky and interesting.  A number of these very successful people in their prime are “retiring”, “going to follow personal pursuits”, “personal matters”, and they are NOT resurfacing.

Some of this information is leaking into MSM now within the last few weeks, but truly this phenomena is being grossly under-reported, no doubt.

In summary, as I finished this article, I asked myself one question, and I think it is the same question we all ask when it comes to “high finance”, so what?  What can I do about it?  Then it hit me, now I know details and I do believe there is a financial cabal that does act in concert with one another and someone or group, or government has uncovered some extremely damaging information about this financial conspiracy, and they are trying to get them under control.  What we can do about it is insist that our governments start doing their job and regulate these guys and prosecute those who have violated criminal laws.  This should be a MAJOR platform of any presidential candidate and we should insist that Congress begin acting now.  Our voices really do count.  Just ask any woman of late, right Ladies?

What OWS is All About…Really

Two things continue to amaze me about how the OWS movement is being portrayed in the media and by a majority of the members of Congress.  I say majority of Congress because we saw the Jobs Bill get voted down in the Democrat majority Senate.

Secondly, even Progressive pundits continue to imply that the OWS participants “may not understand what they are protesting about”.  Can we really be that deep into a state of denial?  Really?  Well here are facts the 99% of us can agree might be contributing to the frustration.

5 Facts about the Wealthiest 1 Percent

By Natalie Wolchover | LiveScience.com  Protesters in the Occupy Wall Street movement, which began in New York City’s financial district and has since spread to hundreds of cities around the country, call themselves “the 99 percent”: They say they’re protesting on behalf of all but the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

The protesters object to corporate control of government policies, which they say has led to unfair tax loopholes, job outsourcing, cuts to public programs and gross overcompensation of executive employees, all of which have caused an ever-widening wealth disparity between the top 1 percent and the rest of the country.

So what is the disparity? How is wealth distributed in the United States?

FACT #1: The wealthiest 1 percent of households own 34.6 percent of all privately held wealth, and 42.7 percent of all financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one’s home).

The rate of increase is even higher for the very richest of the rich: the top 400 income earners in the United States. According to another analysis by Johnston (2010a), the average income of the top 400 tripled during the Clinton Administration and doubled during the first seven years of the Bush Administration. So by 2007, the top 400 averaged $344.8 million per person, up 31% from an average of $263.3 million just one year earlier.  Meanwhile, according to the NYU economist Edward Wolff a 2010 report, the bottom 80 percent of the population holds just 15 percent of the total wealth and only 7 percent of the total financial wealth (as a large portion of their wealth is tied up in their homes). The bottom 40 percent of Americans — that’s 120 million people — hold just 0.3 percent of the wealth.

The wealth inequality is not solely because of the inheritance of “old money” among the wealthiest Americans; there is also an extreme and growing inequality in the distribution of incomes. While the top 1 percent of earners earned 12.8 percent of the total national income in 1982, their share rose to 21.3 percent in 2006, a level not seen since the Depression era. Today, an American in the top 1 percent takes in an average of $1.3 million per year (that’s about 10,000,000 people in the US), while the average American earns just $33,000 per year.

[Wealth distribution pie chart]

FACT #2: The United States has more income and wealth inequality than most countries that have been studied, including India and China — countries that are traditionally viewed as having unequal distributions of wealth.

The degree of income inequality in each country is assigned a “Gini coefficient” — a number that ranges from zero (if everyone in the country has the same income) to 1 (if one person in the country has all the income). According to data gathered by the Central Intelligence Agency for 2010, the United States has a Gini coefficient of 0.45, on par with such countries as Iran (0.44) and Mexico (0.48); this is higher than the Gini coefficients of 94 of the 134 countries that have been studied, including China (0.42) and India (0.37), and much higher than Canada, Australia and all of Europe. Sweden has the lowest Gini coefficient at 0.23. The United States’ Gini coefficient has been rising for decades; it was just 0.35 in the 1960s. [World map of Gini coefficients]

FACT #3: Among the 299 companies listed in the S&P 500 Index, the average CEO’s compensation was $11.4 million in 2010, or 343 times more than the median pay ($33,190) of American workers. The ratio of CEO pay to median worker pay was just 42:1 in 1980, and is currently 25:1 in Europe.

According to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which tracks executive salaries on a website called Executive Paywatch, those 299 CEOs have a combined income of $3.4 billion per year, which could pay for 102,325 average American jobs.

Bill Domhoff, a sociologist at UC Santa Cruz, claims the ballooning of chief executives’ salaries in recent years has resulted from the fact that, for the most part, they set their own wages. “If you wonder how such a large gap could develop, the proximate, or most immediate, factor involves the way in which CEOs now are able to rig things so that the board of directors, which they help select — and which includes some fellow CEOs on whose boards they sit — gives them the pay they want,” Domhoff wrote in a 2011 article on his website. [Graph of worker vs. CEO salaries]

FACT #4: Between 1979 and 2005, the average after-tax income for the top 1 percent increased by 176 percent, compared with an increase of only 6 percent for the bottom 20 percent. Between 1990 and 2005, the purchasing power of the federal minimum wage actually declined by 9.3 percent when adjusted for inflation.

This rapid widening in the income gap between the rich and poor was identified in a 2007 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The report attributed the trend to tax policies that favor the wealthy. According to Domhoff, other contributing factors include the diminishing political clout of labor unions and decreased expenditure on social services. [Graph of widening income gap]

FACT #5: Most Americans have no idea that the wealth distribution is as concentrated as it is, but regardless of their gender, age, income level or party affiliation, they believe wealth should be much more evenly distributed than they think it is.

In 2010, Michael Norton of Harvard Business School and behavioral economist Dan Ariely of Duke University surveyed 5,522 Americans about their views on the country’s wealth distribution. They found that most respondents (regardless of their genders, ages, income levels and party affiliations) guessed that the top 20 percent of Americans hold about 60 percent of the wealth (rather than the 85 percent that they actually hold). Survey respondents also guessed that the bottom 40 percent hold between 8  and 10 percent of the wealth in the U.S. (rather than the 0.3 percent that they actually hold).

Perhaps even more striking than their misconceptions were their beliefs about the ideal wealth distribution. Survey respondents said that the ideal distribution would be one in which the top 20 percent owned between 30 and 40 percent of the total wealth, and that the bottom 40 percent should hold between 25 percent and 30 percent of the wealth — about 1,000 times more than the bottom 40 percent actually do hold. [Graph of actual, estimated and idea wealth distributions]

This article was provided by Life’s Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow them on Twitter @llmysteries, youcan join them on Facebook. Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @nattyover.

Not only are the rich getting richer, they are not paying their fair share.  Most millionaires’ tax burden is less, as percentage, than any other group.  But the really egregious facts are related to both the banking and oil industries.  These are the groups “extracting” the most of the lost wealth and here are the facts, just the facts:

1) Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings. (Source: Exxon Mobil’s 2009 shareholder report filed with the SEC here.)

2) Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, although it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of nearly $1 trillion. (Source: Forbes.com here, ProPublica here and Treasury here.)

3) General Electric made $26 billion in profits in the United States over the past five years and, thanks to clever use of loopholes, paid no taxes.(Source: Citizens for Tax Justice here and The New York Times here. Note: despite rumors to the contrary, the Times has stood by its story.)

4) Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS last year after it made $10 billion in profits in 2009. (Source: See 2009 Chevron annual report here. Note 15 on page FS-46 of this report shows a U.S. federal income tax liability of $128 million, but that it was able to defer $147 million for a U.S. federal income tax liability of negative $19 million.)

5) Boeing, which received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund from the IRS last year. (Source: Paul Buchheit, professor, DePaul University, here and Citizens for Tax Justice here.)

6) Valero Energy, the 25th largest company in America with $68 billion in sales last year, received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS and, over the past three years, received a $134 million tax break from the oil and gas manufacturing tax deduction. (Source: the company’s 2009 annual report, pg. 112, here.)

7) Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department. (Source: Bloomberg News here, ProPublica here, Treasury Department here.)

8) Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury. (Source: Paul Buchheit, professor, DePaul University, here, ProPublica here, Treasury Department here.)

9) ConocoPhillips, the fifth largest oil company in the United States, made $16 billion in profits from 2006 through 2009, but received $451 million in tax breaks through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction. (Sources: Profits can be found here. The deduction can be found on the company’s 2010 SEC 10-K report to shareholders on 2009 finances, pg. 127, here.)

10) Carnival Cruise Lines made more than $11 billion in profits over the past five years, but its federal income tax rate during those years was just 1.1 percent. (Source: The New York Times here.)

How can any sane person say they don’t understand why people are in the streets?  Those who think these groups are just “hippies, druggies, mobs” and are smug in the fact they think they are NEAR the 1%, should realize that close doesn’t count in the wealth game.  If YOU don’t wake up and don’t stop enabling the rape of America, YOU’RE NEXT!

The Four Issues to Watch This Week and Next

In a world where everything is happening at an ever accelerating pace, and the MSM is more into lulling you to sleep mode with the psuedo-politics and celebrity watches (with as many commercials as possible per segment), it is hard to focus on the important issues; the issues that will directly affect your life.

For the next few weeks we suggest you pay attention to these issues.

Wall Street Protests

The protest that started without leaders or agenda has really picked up steam and has spread to 26 cities nationwide.  There is also a singular articulate voice arising from the group.  Simply put, it states that the 99% of us are no longer going to tolerate the greed and avarice of the 1% and their hijacking of the political system in America.

Specifically, the organization has issued this statement below.  I think you will find it both interesting that MSM is portraying these demonstrations as unorganized gatherings of druggies, the usual assortment of protestors that show up at G7 meetings, etc.  I think after reading their statement you will understand that these demonstrations are much more than that.  You be the judge.

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

The Second Issue to watch is the slow “Sam Peckinpah” demise of the EU.  There is talk of having the IMF step up and buy all of the paper, but it just that talk.  Walking the walk would mean that member countries would have to pony up about $3.7 Trillion and either they simple don’t have that kind of dough or the political will to extract it from their people.   Germany is frantically printing Deutschmarks as we speak. The impact to the markets is well.. can you say tsunami.

The Third Issue remains the solar weather.  We have currently one of the most active “earth facing” sunspot situations so far.  Two of the most active and of concern areas are Sunspot #1305 which has already produce a couple of impressive CMEs and geo-storms, and Sunspot #1313 which is just now rotating into view.  #1313 is believed to have produced the “full Halo” CME on the backside just a few days ago.  Check those batteries and candles one more time.

Finally, we have some interesting news out of NASA on Wednesday.  It seems just as we to pass through the path of the non-important ELENIN path, we ARE going to encounter a “Draconid Meteor Outburst!” Honest folks, I couldn’t make this up.  This from NASA:

Draconid Meteor Outburst

Oct. 4, 2011: On October 8th Earth is going to plow through a stream of dust from Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, and the result could be an outburst of Draconid meteors.  “We’re predicting as many as 750 meteors per hour,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “The timing of the shower favors observers in the Middle East, north Africa and parts of Europe.”

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in Nov. 1998 photographed by astronomers at Kitt Peak.  Every 6.6 years Comet Giacobini-Zinner swings through the inner solar system. With each visit, it lays down a narrow filament of dust, over time forming a network of filaments that Earth encounters every year in early October.  “Most years, we pass through gaps between filaments, maybe just grazing one or two as we go by,” says Cooke. “Occasionally, though, we hit one nearly head on–and the fireworks begin.”  2011 could be such a year. Forecasters at NASA and elsewhere agree that Earth is heading for three or more filaments on October 8th. Multiple encounters should produce a series of variable outbursts beginning around 1600 Universal Time (noon EDT) with the strongest activity between 1900 and 2100 UT (3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT).  Forecasters aren’t sure how strong the display will be, mainly because the comet had a close encounter with Jupiter in the late 1880s. At that time, the giant planet’s gravitational pull altered the comet’s orbit and introduced some uncertainty into the location of filaments it has shed since then. Competing models place the filaments in slightly different spots; as a result, estimated meteor rates range from dozens to hundreds per hour.

So make sure you have your popcorn and beer stocked up.  It looks like an interesting helluva of a week.

 

What Goes Up….! Where is the Down?

A lot of people lament the lack of upward mobility in the U.S. right now and I share those sentiments. However, equally important is downward mobility. What makes the concept of America unique is not merely the concept that the poor can become rich but that the rich can become poor. It is this second part that is the most dangerous to social cohesion when it disappears. Unfortunately, the system that we have today of an unholy alliance between Wall Street, Washington D.C. and the multi-national corporations (including the military industrial complex of course) stands there holding onto all the levers of power to serve as gatekeepers of their own empires.

Consider this when we think about how the game is “rigged” right now.  From Matthew Cardinale of the
Inter Press Service on  28 Aug 2011.

Atlanta, Georga: The first-ever audit of the U.S. Federal Reserve has revealed 16 trillion dollars in secret bank bailouts and has raised more questions about the quasi-private agency’s opaque operations.   “This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you’re-on-your-own individualism for everyone else,” U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, said in a statement.   The majority of loans were issues by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY).

“From late 2007 through mid-2010, Reserve Banks provided more than a trillion dollars… in emergency loans to the financial sector to address strains in credit markets and to avert failures of individual institutions believed to be a threat to the stability of the financial system,” the audit report states.  “The scale and nature of this assistance amounted to an unprecedented expansion of the Federal Reserve System’s traditional role as lender-of-last-resort to depository institutions,” according to the report.   The report notes that all the short-term, emergency loans were repaid, or are expected to be repaid.

The emergency loans included eight broad-based programs, and also provided assistance for certain individual financial institutions. The Fed provided loans to JP Morgan Chase bank to acquire Bear Stearns, a failed investment firm; provided loans to keep American International Group (AIG), a multinational insurance corporation, afloat; extended lending commitments to Bank of America and Citigroup; and purchased risky mortgage-backed securities to get them off private banks’ books.

Overall, the greatest borrowing was done by a small number of institutions. Over the three years, Citigroup borrowed a total of 2.5 trillion dollars, Morgan Stanley borrowed two trillion; Merryll Lynch, which was acquired by Bank of America, borrowed 1.9 trillion; and Bank of America borrowed 1.3 trillion.  Banks based in counties other than the U.S. also received money from the Fed, including Barclays of the United Kingdom, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (UK), Deutsche Bank (Germany), UBS (Switzerland), Credit Suisse Group (Switzerland), Bank of Scotland (UK), BNP Paribas (France), Dexia (Belgium), Dresdner Bank (Germany), and Societe General (France).

“No agency of the United States government should be allowed to bailout a foreign bank or corporation without the direct approval of Congress and the President,” Sanders wrote.   In recent days, Bloomberg News obtained 29,346 pages of documentation from the Federal Reserve about some of these secret loans, after months of fighting in court for access to the records under the Freedom of Information Act.  Some of the financial institutions secretly receiving loans were meanwhile claiming in their public reports to have ample cash reserves, Bloomberg noted.   The Federal Reserve has neither explained how they legally justified several of the emergency loans, nor how they decided to provide assistance to certain firms but not others.

“The main problem is the lack of Congressional oversight, and the way the Fed seemed to pick winners who would be protected at any cost,” Randall Wray, professor of economics at University of Missouri- Kansas City, told IPS.   “If such lending is not illegal, it should be. Our nation really did go through a liquidity crisis – a run on the short-term liabilities of financial institutions. There is only one way to stop a run: lend reserves without limit to all qualifying institutions. The Fed bumbled around before it finally sort of did that,” Wray said.

“But then it turned to phase two, which was to try to resolve problems of insolvency by increasing Uncle Sam’s stake in the banksters’ fiasco. That never should have been done. You close down fraudsters, period. The Fed and FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Commission) should have gone into the biggest banks immediately, replaced all top management, and should have started to resolve them,” Wray said.

For many years conventional wisdom has said that the whole world is controlled by the monied elite, or more recently by the huge multi-national corporations that seem to sometime control the very air we breathe. Now, new research by a team based in ETH-Zurich, Switzerland, has shown that what we’ve suspected all along, is apparently true. The team has uploaded their results onto the preprint server arXiv.

Using data obtained (circa 2007) from the Orbis database (a global database containing financial information on public and private companies) the team, in what is being heralded as the first of its kind, analyzed data from over 43,000 corporations, looking at both upstream and downstream connections between them all and found that when graphed, the data represented a bowtie of sorts, with the knot, or core representing just 147 entities who control nearly 40 percent of all of monetary value of transnational corporations (TNCs).

When we look to the East and watch our Arab brothers struggle against tyranny, I don’t think we connect their struggle to us.  However, I assure you that the roots of that struggle was economic slavery, not unlike we, both in the US and the EU, are rapidly marching (or is it being herded?) toward at this very minute.

As we awaken to these facts, it is apparent that the PTB, who wish to continue their “project”, are having more and more of a difficult time unfolding “their solutions” to our problems.  You know “solutions’ like raiding retirement and pension funds, eliminating worker’s unions, ending any “social programs” of any kind.

Probably the most important news story of September 7^th won’t be reported by International MSM.  No, it won’t be Obama’s speech on Jobs, nor will it be the outcome of the first games in the NFL.  It will be this.

Seething discontent in Germany over Europe’s debt crisis has spread to all the key institutions.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel no longer has enough coalition votes in the Bundestag to secure backing for Europe’s revamped rescue machinery, threatening a constitutional crisis in Germany and a fresh eruption of the euro debt saga.

Mrs. Merkel has cancelled a high-profile trip to Russia on September 7, the crucial day when the package goes to the Bundestag and the country’s constitutional court rules on the legality of the EU’s bail-out machinery.   If the court rules that the €440bn rescue fund (EFSF) breaches Treaty law or undermines German fiscal sovereignty, it risks setting off an instant brushfire across monetary union.

The seething discontent in Germany over Europe’s debt crisis has spread to all the key institutions of the state. “Hysteria is sweeping Germany ” said Klaus Regling, the EFSF’s director.  German media reported that the latest tally of votes in the Bundestag shows that 23 members from Mrs Merkel’s own coalition plan to vote against the package, including twelve of the 44 members of Bavaria’s Social Christians (CSU). This may force the Chancellor to rely on opposition votes, risking a government collapse.

Christian Wulff, Germany’s president, stunned the country last week by accusing the European Central Bank of going “far beyond its mandate” with mass purchases of Spanish and Italian debt, and warning that the Europe’s headlong rush towards fiscal union strikes at the “very core” of democracy. “Decisions have to be made in parliament in a liberal democracy. That is where legitimacy lies,” he said.

A day earlier the Bundesbank had fired its own volley, condemning the ECB’s bond purchases and warning the EU is drifting towards debt union without “democratic legitimacy” or treaty backing.  Joahannes Singhammer, leader of the CSU’s Bundestag group, accused the ECB of acting “dangerously” by jumping the gun before parliaments had voted. The ECB is implicitly acting on behalf of the rescue fund until it is ratified.

Mrs. Merkel faces mutiny even within her own Christian Democrat (CDU) family. Wolfgang Bossbach, the spokesman for internal affairs, said he would oppose the package. “I can’t vote against my own conviction,” he said.   The Bundestag is expected to decide late next month on the package, which empowers the EFSF to buy bonds pre-emptively and recapitalize banks. While the bill is likely to pass, the furious debate leaves no doubt that Germany will resist moves to boost the EFSF’s firepower yet further. Most City banks say the fund needs €2 trillion to stop the crisis engulfing Spain and Italy.   Mrs. Merkel’s aides say she is facing “war on every front”. The next month will decide her future, Germany’s destiny, and the fate of monetary union.

I make all these points because we must think clearly and precisely now.  No politics, nor economic religion, just fix this now, and we can.  We start by taking some people DOWN.  Start to put some balance back into the equation.  I think the audit of the FED would be an excellent place to start that quest.

Secondly, we must be informed voters and place candidates that understand clearly the goals of restoring balance into our global economy through prudent but thorough regulatory changes.  That must, by its nature, start with the political process elements of our societies.   I cannot think of anything more important to you on a personal basis than this.

 

For the Sake of Kids Now!

We hear politicians hell bent on destroying any governmental “social” programs saying that we have to make these drastic cuts for the sake of our children or grandchildren.  Hinting that we are placing a burden on their future, “mortgaging” the future is the term most stated.

I think they and us need to be grounded to the reality of the “Right Now” when it comes to children in America.   Let us consider facts and not rhetoric.

There are 314 counties in the United States where at least 30% of the children are facing food insecurity.  Food insecurity is the household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food. Food insecurity rates among households with children are substantially higher than those found in the general population, reports Feeding America, which along with network members supplies food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors.  In Washington D.C., the “child food insecurity rate” is 32.3%.

Children in the United States are three times more likely to be prescribed antidepressants than children in Europe are.

It is estimated that up to half a million children may currently be homeless in the United States.  Perhaps the greatest victims of the economic nightmare that is unfolding right in front of our eyes are our children.  The overall economic numbers are really bad, but when you examine the impact that this economy is having on children things get really horrifying.  Today, 1 in 5 American children live in poverty and 1 in 4 American children are on food stamps.  Experts tell us that about 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point before they reach the age of 18.  Up to half a million American children are homeless even as you read this.  And yet we continue to insist that we are the wealthiest nation in the world.  Well, if we are so wealthy, then why are so many millions of our children suffering so desperately?  More than 20 million U.S. children rely on school meal programs to keep from going hungry.

There are more than 3 million reports of child abuse in the United States every single year.  A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds.  Almost five children die every day as a result of child abuse. More than three out of four are under the age of 4.  It is estimated that between 60-85% of child fatalities due to maltreatment are not recorded as such on death certificates.

90% of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator in some way; 68% are abused by family members.  Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education. 31% percent of women in prison in the United States were abused as children.  Over 60% of people in drug rehabilitation centers report being abused or neglected as a child.

About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse.  About 80% of 21 year olds that were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder.  The estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2007 is $104 billion.  Abused children are 25% more likely to experience teen pregnancy.  Abused teens are 3 times less likely to practice safe sex, putting them at greater risk for STDs.

How can we even consider ourselves “civilized”, let alone thinking we are the “best” in the world as a civilization when we currently face realities like we now face?    In fact, we should be doing the exact opposite of cutting programs, and instead should be heavily investing in our CHILDREN NOW!!

How long do we remain silent as the education system, Medicaid, and school nutritional programs are being slashed beyond bare bones?  How long do we allow the imbeciles to dictate the current and future course of the very foundations of the principles that made America…. America?

It is my strongest hope that the next election cycle, each and everyone of us will step up to the full responsibility of being a citizen.  That means we will all vote and we will all vote based on being truly informed.