Too Big to Jail 4-19-14

19, April 2014

Too Big to Jail

Award-winning journalist Matt Taibbi has recently published an explosive new book, “The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap” that  chronicles the gross injustices in our judicial system.  The income inequality between the wealthiest and vulnerable poor - predominantly people of color -  has reached levels not seen since the Great Depression. The ongoing drug war has swept tens of thousands predominately poor and people of color in its dragnet and incarcerated  them for heavy jail terms often for mild offenses.  Contrastly, the vast majority of white-collar criminals are swotted with soft noodles and avoid jail time. Retiring Security and Exchange, attorney, James Kidney echoed Taibbi’s concerns stating, that his former bosses were “tentative and fearful" to hold Wall Street accountable for the 2008 economic meltdown. During his tenure, Kidney, had tried but was severely hampered to bring charges against more executives in the agency’s 2010 case against Goldman Sachs. He complained bitterly that the SEC has become, "an agency that polices the broken windows on the street level and rarely goes to the penthouse floors. ... Tough enforcement, risky enforcement, is subject to extensive negotiation and weakening." Taibbi observed that none of perpetrators of white collar crime were ever indicted; nobody went to jail. Taibbi sites one example of an African American man who was arrested for “obstructing pedestrian traffic for standing outside his house” prompting one New York councilman from admonishing the police department for the "epidemic of false arrests."

Diego Garcia 4-10-14

10, April 2014

Diego Garcia

A recent ‘60 Minutes’ broadcast profiled an iconic coral island in the Middle of the Indian Ocean – Diego Garcia. It was inhabited for over two hundred years by indigenous islanders who eked out a living fishing and farming. According to broadcaster, Christiane Amanpour. the peace and tranquility of the people changed when the British were approached by the US government who wanted to establish a base on the island. Under US and British pressure the inhabitants were ordered off the island. Much like the Japanese internment during World War II, the islanders were allowed to take only a single suitcase for their belongings. They had to leave behind, all their other possessions. There were herded into small ships reminiscent of the US slave trade. The people of Diego Garcia say they left paradise and were transported to a living hell when they were dumped in the urban slums of Mauritius. Their farming and fishing skills left them bereft of any means of survival and many committed suicide, still others lived in a perpetual state of depression and despair. Before their final evacuation the British offered a stark choice – leave or perish. Their beloved dogs, who were extremely adept at catching fish, were gassed by the British and US. A few islands took their case to the British courts and won but were offered no apologizes, no reparations and were forbidden by the British and US governments from ever returning to their ancestral land.   

USAID 4-9-14

9, April 2014

USAID

Disturbing covert operations of USAID have recently come to light. Rajiv Shah is in the crosshairs of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee investigation (I-West April 18, 2014). According to Associated Press reports, the communications network, "ZunZuneo" — slang for a Cuban hummingbird’s tweet, created a fake “Cuban Twitter” with secret shell companies financed through foreign banks. The younger population was inundated with Tweets encouraging them to rebel and undermine the government. The United States planned to use the platform to spread political upheaval that might trigger a Cuban Spring, or, as one USAID document stated, "renegotiate the balance of power between the state and society”.  According to Peter Kornbluh, who directs the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive, the USAID program was a classic covert operation – well outside its stated mandate of promoting democracy. It has reportedly squandered $20 million on this botched program that has created a great deal of mistrust and hostility. The money could have been used for educational purposes or humanitarian programs to foster better relations between our two countries. Senator Patrick Leahy deserves credit for lambasting the covert program. AP released memos from Mobile Accord which exposed the covert nature of the whole operation and its deliberate attempt to deceive the American public. The sad irony is that Cuba is dismantling its burdensome Communist ideology and is embracing a more Capitalist model. We can help this welcome trend by normalizing relations with Cuba and removing from it from the clutches of Venezuela which is engaged in an oil for doctors’ pact.

Narendra Modi 4-7-14

7, April 2014

Narendra Modi

India’s hardliner and divisive politician, Narendra Modi, make him unfit to lead India’s diverse population – Hindus make up 80% and Muslims 13% of the population. His supporters wax over his economic success in Gujarat, but a careful review of past history shows that Gujarat was an economic powerhouse before Modi took the helm. There is little doubt that he is a skillful campaigner and was largely responsible for impressive state election victories in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, with a combined population of well over 100m; he also won in Chhattisgarh, and got the largest share of the vote in Delhi. Modi received his political indoctrination with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak, a Hindu nationalist party but later rebelled from the RSS strict dress code of being clean shaven and wearing long-sleeved shirts. He also escaped a disastrous arranged marriage and remains single, which reduces the likelihood of establishing a Gandhi like dynasty. The BJP grew in prominence after agitating to build a Hindu temple over the site of a mosque in Ajodhya which resulted in months of communal rioting.  A decade later another bloody incident occurred in his neighboring Gujarat which resulted in a 1,000 Muslim deaths, destruction of homes and horrific rapes and mayhem. Mr. Modi could have forbidden the bandh; he failed to order a curfew and failed to order the police to intervene. He could have requested India’s national police and the army to stop the bloodshed. India’s human-rights commission described the response by the state government as a “comprehensive failure”. Playing on religious sentiments, the BJP won by a landslide in state elections. Mr. Modi’s defenders rightly condemn Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi’s father, for failing to stop the 1984 massacre of thousands of  Sikhs across the country during which police also idly stood by and in many cases were complicit. It is ironic that Modi, in a move to ingratiate himself with the Sikhs, has called for a court of enquiry of the 1984 riots. With the imminent Lok Sabha elections, Gujarat’s decision to evict farmers of others States, including many Sikhs who had been cultivating lands in Kutch for decades, has put Modi on a collision course with the Akalis. There is little doubt that most Indians are seething with anger and frustration over the ruling Congress party’s gross ineptness and corruption.  High inflation (8%), joblessness and anemic growth of 5% are depressing metrics.  The rupee plunged 8% last year.  Manmohan Singh is an ineffective leader and his speeches are as appetizing as a bowl of cold cereal – or perhaps a wonderful remedy for people suffering from insomnia. His Congress party opponent, Rahul Gandhi, suffers from a narrow band width and is being projected into a leadership role for which he is clearly unsuited and disinterested. India’s young restless Middle class have rendered Mahatma Gandhi somewhat irrelevant and politicians can no longer appeal to voters on vacuous political slogans. The only glimmer of hope that India may make small inroads into rooting out the cancer of corruption is the rising star - ‘Sheriff Arvind Kejriwal’, leader of Aam Admi; he grabbed the eyeballs of voters by his spectacular political debut in December which elected him as chief minister of Delhi. India resembles a Western Movie where the bad guys have taken over the town. Kerriwal should ‘deputize’ like- minded activists and drive out the political bandits.

Insider Trading 4-5-14

5, April 2014

Insider Trading

In a recent ‘60 Minutes’ expose’, Michael Lewis, author of "Flash Boys," demonstrated how the US market is rigged in favor of the ‘big banks’, who like competing athletes taking performance enhancing drugs, have rigged the system in their favor. The ‘insiders’ eavesdrop on other traders orders, select the ones that look most promising, then using superior technology, called high frequency trading (HFT), ‘front run’ other traders to the exchanges and then place buy and sell orders cashing in huge amounts of money – all in the blink of an eye. Conversely, the ‘little guy’ is left gasping wondering why his order never got executed. HFT may be legal but clearly is patently unfair. In a zero-sum game, ‘heads I win tails you lose game,’ HFT ensures that billions of dollars are generated executing tens of thousands of orders in nanoseconds skimming dollars of the more routine form of trading. HFT is an artifact of computer technology in the hands of rapacious traders reducing the market to a casino. The current system screams of the urgent necessity of reforms to bring about a level playing field; a small transaction fee should be imposed on all trades to partially mitigate the unfair advantage of HFT.  Finally, a new exchange, IEX, established by the ‘hero’ of Michael Lewis’s investigative reporting should go a long way to levelling the playing field. 

Israel – the peace process is doomed 4-3-14

3, April 2014

Israel – the peace process is doomed

Predictably, the Mideast talks appear to be near collapse. Fortunately, Mr. Abbas has seen through the façade of pursuing the moribund peace talks and has wisely chosen to join 15 international organizations affiliated with the United Nations. Abbas should also present his grievances to the International Court at The Hague and expose the myriad of crimes and injustices heaped on his people. Israel’s continued practice of demolishing Palestinian homes, land grabbing and settlement building in Palestinian territory is nothing more than blatant theft. It continues its delaying tactic absorbing more and more land while at the same time projecting itself as the aggrieved party – willing to negotiate in good faith but alas not finding “a suitable partner”. This will most certainly accelerate its further isolation and galvanize the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement. Sadly, the United States has been an enabler allowing this to happen rewarding Israel with tens of billions of taxpayer dollars in military and economic aid. Israel’s tired insistence that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state is a sure way of torpedoing any hope of a peaceful settlement. This demand is like someone forcibly occupying your home and then insisting that you sign over a ‘quitclaim’ on your own property and then acquiescing the intruder as the rightful owner. Finally, Pollard should remain in prison where he belongs. He demonstrated that his first allegiance is to Israel not the United States.