Tuesday, June 18, 2013

THE NEW MAFIA!

LIAR! LIAR! BANKS ON FIRE!
Johann Wagener 6-18-13
The way BofA operates is the "norm" not the "exception". Banks are nothing more than organized crime organizations sanctioned by the government who claims they are too big to fail and their leaders are too big to jail. Yet, they fit the definition of an organized criminal enterprise as laid out in RICO. All that's required is a justice system that functions like one.  
Bank of America’s mortgage servicing unit systematically lied to homeowners, fraudulently denied loan modifications, and paid their staff bonuses for deliberately pushing people into foreclosure: Yes, these allegations were suspected by any homeowner who ever had to deal with the bank to try to get a loan modification – but now they come from six former employees and one contractor, whose  sworn statements were added last week to a civil lawsuit filed in federal court in Massachusetts.
“Bank of America’s practice is to string homeowners along with no apparent intention of providing the permanent loan modifications it promises,” said Erika Brown, one of the former employees. The damning evidence would spur a series of criminal investigations of BofA executives, if we still had a rule of law in this country for Wall Street banks.
Bank of America Whistle-blower Bombshell: “We Were Told to Lie” to Rip Off Borrowers

Global millionaire population and wealth grows in 2012

PIGS AT THE TROUGH
Johann Wagener 6-18-13



The feeding frenzy continues. There's no stopping these insatiable creatures from devouring more and more of this planet's wealth with little regard to the devastation they create. NO! Not pigs! At least they perform a worthwhile function. I'm referring to that small and elite group of individuals who still live under the illusion that they are special and are entitled to hoard the wealth they acquire through others labor.

Global millionaire population and wealth grows in 2012

Not only are the rich getting richer, but their numbers are growing and North America is home to most of them, according to a report from Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management.
The World Wealth Report, released Tuesday, found the global population of millionaires reached record levels in 2012 growing by 9.2%, or 1 million people, to reach 12 million after remaining flat in 2011.
Their wealth also increased by 10%, or $46.2 trillion, after declining 0.7% last year. The report attributes this to slow but stabilizing economic growth.
The figure is well above the pre-crisis level of $40.7 trillion in 2007 and previous high of $42.7 trillion in 2010.
 North America maintained its spot of being home to the most millionaires last year, growing by 11.5% or 3.73 million, the highest regional growth.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze

NOWHERE TO HIDE
Johann Wagener 6-14-13

Being wealthy and dodging your moral obligation to support those who helped you get rich will no longer be so easy to do.



Is it the biggest bank heist in history with $32tn (£21tn) at stake? The electronic vaults of the Caribbean offshore financial system have been raided and 2.5 million secret files belonging to the global political and business elite have been downloaded.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) - working with The Guardian, Le Monde, Washington Post and over 30 other media outlets - has accessed a huge data dump exposing the financial machinations of the super-rich in "the largest cross-border journalism collaboration in history."

The investigative epic is called "Secrecy For Sale: Inside The Global Offshore Money Maze."

As reported by IBTimes US, the findings explore the concealed world of tax havens, cracking open the secrets of more than 120,000 offshore companies and trusts and almost 130,000 individuals in over 170 nations. The big names in international banking, including Clariden, UBS and Deutsche Bank, face a potential new scandal.
Readers can use new interactive database to search information about the ownership of tens of thousands of offshore entities in tax havens
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists overnight published a database that, for the first time in history, will help begin to strip away the secrecy across 10 offshore jurisdictions.
The Offshore Leaks Database allows users to search through tens of thousands of secret companies, trusts and funds created in offshore locales, and displays graphic visualizations of offshore entities and the networks around them, including, when possible, the company’s true owners.
The database is part of a cache of 2.5 million leaked offshore files ICIJ (a project of the Center for Public Integrityanalyzed with 112 journalists in 58 countries. Since April, stories based on the data — the largest stockpile of inside information about the offshore system ever obtained by a media organization — have been published by more than 40 media organizations worldwide, including The Guardian in the U.K., Le Monde in France, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Germany, The Washington Post, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
EU Commissioner Algirdas Semeta said the ICIJ’s investigation has transformed tax politics and amplified political will to tackle the problem of tax evasion – and that the need for tax transparency overrides the principle of data privacy.
And during a visit to the White House in May, British Prime Minister David Cameron made astrong pitch for tackling “the scourge of tax havens”, saying “we need to know who really owns a company, who profits from it”.
The Offshore Leaks web app allows readers to discover exactly that – as well as explore the relationships between clients, offshore entities and the lawyers, accountants, banks and other intermediaries who help keep these arrangements secret.
Search the ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database at http://offshoreleaks.icij.org or read more aboutwhy we're making this information available to the public.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists online

Sunday, June 9, 2013

NO CURE FOR CANCER

THE PROFIT FACTOR
Johann Wagener 6-9-13

The last known cure of a disease was over 50 years ago (polio). How is it that with all the advancements we have made in science and technology of this last half-century we have been unable to find a cure for any of a long string of diseases that plague us? Take cancer, for example. We continue to run charity drives that boldly claim, one day we will find a cure for cancer. Really?  sure, there's always another new drug  hitting the market, or another form of treatment, or a new test to better diagnose the disease. We brag about prolonging life and easing the pain, but we always inevitably fall short of the cure. The solution to the problem. Why no cure? Is it because it's so complicated all our technology and the great minds that use it just don't have the know how or means? That's doubtful considering all that's been accomplished in so many other areas of the scientific community.

As cynical as it sounds the one thing that the cure for polio failed to do was make a "profit." In fact there was a lot of money lost. The iron lung manufactures shut down. Many hospital beds went empty. All those employed in long term care lost their jobs. Terms like "prevention" or "cure" are taboo in the healthcare community because of one thing; money which flows like a river when the focus is on "intervention" and "treatment" which is the lifeblood of our system. The money is made by keeping people sick and providing just enough treatment to keep them alive and staying dependent on the system. The cure of cancer would devastate the healthcare community and all those who invest in it. And, as long as there's money to made from treating diseases they will remain incurable. When it comes to treatment vs cure the winner will always be the former.

Curing disease just like waging peace is just an ideal to throw words at because it lacks the one thing we cherish more; money.

50 Signs That The U.S. Health Care System Is A Gigantic Money Making Scam

Friday, June 7, 2013

AMERICA'S ROBBER BARONS

THE "P" WORD
JOHANN WAGENER 6-7-1

The one word that never comes up when there's talk about debt and deficit is "profit'. This is not surprising because then we would be forced to deal with the real problem and expose the real culprits; those who hide in the shadows and scheme ways to rake in more and more profits while all along sucking our country dry. 

The Waltons are the poster children of the 21st century "robber barons" who are obsessed with making profits even at the expense of their employees and their customers. 



Walmart Heirs Hold More Wealth Than 42% of Americans Combined

The recession has devastated the finances of many Americans, but it has been very good to the Walton family. Since 2007, Walmart stores have been flooded with millions of folks who've lost their shirts in the housing bust, stock market crash, and stalled job market—people who can no longer afford to buy anything that isn't made in China and sold by someone making close to minimum wage. Using newly released data from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances (listed as "SCF" below), labor economist Sylvia Allegretto has put together this chart on the diverging fortunes of the Waltons and their customers:



As Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Insitute points out, the six Walmart heirs now have more wealth than the bottom 42 percent of Americans combined, up from 30 percent in 2007. Between 2007 and 2010, the collective wealth of the six richest Waltons rose from $73 billion to $90 billion, while the wealth of the average American declined from $126,000 to $77,000 (13 million Americans have negative net worth). Here's a chart of how many average Americans it has taken over time to equal the wealth of the Waltons:

The Waltons claim to be good for America because they deliver the lowest prices when it comes to shopping for junk. What they don't tell you is that the junk they sell was produced by people that are literally enslaved and then sold to you by a Walmart employee who is paid so little they are forced to apply for government welfare programs which, guess what, is paid by you the tax payer. The truth is America is good for the Waltons.

Walmart’s Low Wages Cost Taxpayers Millions Each Year

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wages are so low they force many of its employees onto the public doles, creating a drag on taxpayers and the economy, according to a new report from the staff of congressional Democrats.

The report analyzes data from Wisconsin's Medicaid program, estimating that a single 300-person Wal-Mart Supercenter in that state likely costs taxpayers at least $904,542 per year and could cost up to $1,744,590 per year, or roughly $5,815 per employee.


The blow back has been severe because it threatens the very foundation of these corrupt corporations who claim to be free market capitalistic enterprises while at the same time forcing their employees to be subsidized by the taxpayer. A recent article in the pro-business rag Forbes attempts to make Walmart the victim of big bad government imposing fair wage laws. How dare they mess with Walmart's profits by forcing them to pay their employees a liveable wage and getting them off welfare. In fact they call that "stupid".

You Won't Believe The Stupidity Of The Latest Attack On Walmart

Walmart has eagerly been reviving desolate corners of the city.

In order to punish this good deed, though, the rebarbative chairman of the D.C. City Council, Phil Mendelson, has been pushing an extraordinary new law that would apply only to large national retailers, with more than $1 billion in sales, who open D.C. stores of greater than 75,000 square feet. Such firms would be required to pay a “living wage” of at least $11.75 an hour to all employees — a 62 percent premium over the federal minimum wage. D.C. already has its own super-minimum wage of $8.25 an hour (set by law at $1 above the federal minimum). So the LRAA is a super-duper minimum wage proposed mainly to punish a single company, which is why wags in the press are calling it the Walmart Living Wage Bill.

Maybe it's stupid to continue to allow the robber barons free reign to do whatever they want to serve their self interests even if it means forcing Uncle Sam to subsidize them. 

The problem with the economy and the out of control deficit is the runaway profits that in the Walton's case has successfully screwed  Americans to the extent that they hoard wealth equal to that of 42% of our population. Allowing this to continue is simply stupid.




Thursday, June 6, 2013

KEY WORD IS "SLIGHTLY"

Being slightly overweight also might be beneficial to elderly people who have chronic diseases because they might have more stored muscle mass and nutritional reserves that can help them remain stronger than their peers who weigh less.

Who Has Shorter Lifespans: People Who Are Overweight or of Healthy Weight?

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

THE NEW JUICERS LEAGUE

WHINING ABOUT CHEATING
Johann Wagener 6-5-13


These athletes need to grow up and face reality that they are just not as good as those that preceded them and the only way they can break the records of "real" athletes is to juice which is nothing other than cheating.

Major League Baseball will seek to suspend about 20 players connected to the Miami-area clinic at the heart of an ongoing performance-enhancing drug scandal, including Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun, possibly within the next few weeks, "Outside the Lines" has learned. If the suspensions are upheld, the performance-enhancing drug scandal would be the largest in American sports history.

Alex Rodriguez, others may be suspended in doping scandal, ESPN reports - WEAR ABC Channel 3 - News - Top Stories

Monday, June 3, 2013

SAVAGE CAPITALISM

THE PRIMITIVE 1%
Johann Wagener 6-3-13

Pope Francis is not holding any punches in taking on the greedy who have this "cave man" mentality in hoarding their wealth.
Catholics on the front lines of social justice struggles expressed delight at Pope Francis’ frequent references to caring for the poor, his trenchant remarks about “savage capitalism,” and his calls for government intervention to pursue the common good in the face of hostile market forces.

Pope Francis spotlights social teaching with blunt calls for ethical economy

Sunday, June 2, 2013

COFFEE HANGOVERS?

DSM - Disordered Statistical Manual
Johann Wagener 6-2-13


If there's a disorder here it's the one the authors of the DSM-V suffer from. Like the Sears catalog this publication will soon end up on the floor of outhouses.

These clowns will go to any lengths to make a buck. They pull these so-called "mental illnesses" out of their a-holes by labeling normal everyday physical and psychological experiences as a disorder. This puts the profession in the same category as witch doctors.  All they need is a straw skirt and some bones hanging around their necks.

Caffeine withdrawal can now be added to a long list of completely absurd illnesses or conditions like the "dry eye or mouth syndrome" or the "runaway bladder", or the "restless leg" that are conjured up in order to justify sending a bill to Medi-care or other insurance company which results in driving healthcare costs into the stratosphere.

How can any sane person accept the notion that drinking too much coffee is a mental illness?  What about alcohol withdrawal and the hangover that follows?  That would never fly because the liquor lobby would not stand for it. How about Coke, or Tea? They have lot's of caffeine. Why are they not part of the rhetoric?

Caffeine Withdrawal Is Now a Mental Disorder | TIME.com