How Bad is the Current Crisis

[Slimprofits]

Re: How Bad is the Current Crisis

Rajiv,

I am aware of the work done by Gary Webb and Ruppert and am fairly certain we're talking about two distinctly different events.

Hudson makes the claim that during the U.S. banks (with some prodding from FedGov) opened operations in the Caymans in the in order to faciliate drug money laundering.

i.e this period:

...In 1960 the Companies Registry function was initiated under the Companies Law,. The second commercial bank, The Royal Bank of Canada, was opened in 1963, followed by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce the following year. In 1965 a telecommunications franchise was awarded to Cable & Wireless and by 1967 the link by telephone to the rest of the world was complete. Today there are numerous licensees providing telecommunication services on the island. All are regulated by the Information and Communications Technology Authority.

The first move in the establishment of the financial industry came with the enactment of The Banks and Trust Companies Regulations Law in 1966...

from the Cayman Island Monetary Authority

and Webb describes in detail a network that emerged in the 80s with the advent of crack and the need for the CIA to take down Daniel Ortega.

[Rajiv]

Re: How Bad is the Current Crisis

Absolutely they are different events.

My point was that this kind of behaviour did not start with the Kennedy/Johnson administration, nor did it end with it. Ruppert did his work during the Carter administration, while Gary Webb was documenting the events in the Reagan administration

But there are many people here who want to believe that such things do not happen in the USA -- and therefore have a distaste for trying to understand the nature of power and the nature of people who seek power!

[GRG55]

Re: How Bad is the Current Crisis

...and Webb describes in detail a network that emerged in the 80s with the advent of crack and the need for the CIA to take down Daniel Ortega.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that poppy and heroin production in Afghanistan was quite suppressed under the (pre-9/11) Taliban, and that warlord Afghanistan today is expanding output rapidly?

[Verrocchio]

Re: How Bad is the Current Crisis

I seem to recall reading somewhere that poppy and heroin production in Afghanistan was quite suppressed under the (pre-9/11) Taliban, and that warlord Afghanistan today is expanding output rapidly?

Yes, your memory is accurate, GRG55. The US-led NATO forces have periodically announced that they or the Afghan government must do something about heroin production. The latest announcement on this recently came from the US State Department .

Speaking of link...

[Verrocchio]

Re: How Bad is the Current Crisis

reading fitts scares me. if you take her seriously, there really is an elite conspiracy, a conscious conspiracy and not just a concurrence of interests, running the world. anyway, when i read her i start to feel paranoid, and i hate feeling that way, and so stop reading. this doesn't speak to the truth or falsity of her assertions, just to my willingness to entertain them.

Maybe you're right, jk. Whether or not there is an elite conspiracy, the notion has some value in that it is a little more concrete than a concurrence of interests. Because this provides a convenient target for frustration and anger that people are beginning to feel, belief in this may grow.

Besides (1) conspiracy and (2) independent actors following interests that they happen to hold in common, a third possibility exists: (3) Bankers and traders mimicked one another's behavior, and, lemming- (or mob-) like, they contributed to the current mess. The obvious motivating force? Greed, a quintessentially human quality.

[GRG55]

Re: How Bad is the Current Crisis

Maybe you're right, jk. Whether or not there is an elite conspiracy, the notion has some value in that it is a little more concrete than a concurrence of interests. Because this provides a convenient target for frustration and anger that people are beginning to feel, belief in this may grow.

Besides (1) conspiracy and (2) independent actors following interests that they happen to hold in common, a third possibility exists: (3) Bankers and traders mimicked one another's behavior, and, lemming- (or mob-) like, they contributed to the current mess. The obvious motivating force? Greed, a quintessentially human quality.

And there's that other quintessential human quality, envy. Envy of one's neighbours, co-workers and relatives. Which might, at least partially, explain the fascination with McMansions in gated communities, ever larger SUVs, ever bigger flat screens, the granitization of the American kitchen, and a lot of other silly "trends"? After all, it's nigh impossible to create a crisis from the lending side of the credit system, unless there's lemming-like willing and eager borrowers.

[jk]

Re: How Bad is the Current Crisis

And there's that other quintessential human quality, envy. Envy of one's neighbours, co-workers and relatives. Which might, at least partially, explain the fascination with McMansions in gated communities, ever larger SUVs, ever bigger flat screens, the granitization of the American kitchen, and a lot of other silly "trends"? After all, it's nigh impossible to create a crisis from the lending side of the credit system, unless there's lemming-like willing and eager borrowers.

the creation of previously unperceived "needs" is the function of advertising and much journalism. i think a lot of our problems reside in the worship of growth. companies' stocks rise because of their current and predicted future growth. it's not enough to maintain sales; they must grow. this requires growing the market. perhaps we will see a values shift accompanying the economic earthquakes that lie ahead.

[GRG55]

Re: How Bad is the Current Crisis

the creation of previously unperceived "needs" is the function of advertising and much journalism. i think a lot of our problems reside in the worship of growth. companies' stocks rise because of their current and predicted future growth. it's not enough to maintain sales; they must grow. this requires growing the market. perhaps we will see a values shift accompanying the economic earthquakes that lie ahead.

One of the things I miss living over here is not being able to browse around urban bookstores to see how societal attitudes are shifting. One of the trends that I noted in recent years was the explosion of books about peak oil and impending shortages, following the publication of Matt Simmons "Twilight in the Desert".

Has anyone seen any early indications, in the form of a growing number of newly popular titles, on the "virtues of thrift"?

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: How Bad is the Current Crisis

One of the things I miss living over here is not being able to browse around urban bookstores to see how societal attitudes are shifting. One of the trends that I noted in recent years was the explosion of books about peak oil and impending shortages, following the publication of Matt Simmons "Twilight in the Desert".

Has anyone seen any early indications, in the form of a growing number of newly popular titles, on the "virtues of thrift"?

Hey, GRG, remember iTulip is located in the USA. Thrift??? That reminds me of a joke where a country dentist who knew quite a lot was invited to lecture at a convention in NYC. The fellow introducing the Alabama dentist told the audience, "Where Dr. Farrar is from is so far out in the country that the boys around there have sex with sheep, cows, pigs, and chickens? To which Dr. Farrar jumped up from his seat and said, "Chickens?!"