Not a good sign:
“The European Central Bank said the continent’s banks parked a record $590.72 billion overnight. That means those banks are unwilling take the risk of lending to each other in the short term, opting to earn low interest rates from the ECB instead.”
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/28/stocks_slide_on_signs_of_jitters_at_euro...
Protection racket?
State AG's that are rejecting the White House deal to absolve bankers of guilt and essentially protect their interests and their business model indefinitely: New York's Eric Schneiderman, Kentucky's Jack Conway, Delaware's Beau Biden. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Kamala Harris in California have initiated their own joint investigation separately based on the simple premise that “There should be absolutely no criminal or civil immunity given to banks for activity that has not yet been investigated." That would seem to make a lot of sense, but the Obama Administation allegedly “pressured” those AG's to sign of on their plan which predictably offered the usual incentives for the banks to continue ripping off their customers.
“Six conscientious Attorneys General believe the law applies to everyone. While they're working to bring justice to Wall Street, White House officials are obstructing them by pushing a sweetheart deal with the banks that would end their investigations and prevent them from prosecuting crooked bankers.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/mr-president-stop-protect_b_11425...
And if those prosecutors would like a synopsis, the same Salon article offers the following:
“The evidence for Wall Street's criminality is overwhelming. The big banks have already signed consent decrees and other documents in response to well-documented charges of perjury and filing of false documents; illegal foreclosures; criminal solicitation through the repeated use of law firms and foreclosure servicers known to have violated the law, investor fraud, and other major crimes.
“Wall Street's lawbreaking crashed the economy; left millions of people jobless, and cost the world's economy trillions of dollars in lost wealth. People have been illegally evicted, and millions were deceived into borrowing money for real estate whose value had been artificially inflated through illegal means, and who now owe that money to the same bankers who committed the crimes.
“But none of the criminals have gone to jail—and they're still collecting on those loans.”
These paragraphs pretty much tell the story. The evidence is just looking for a venue and an audience which has been conspicuously avoided by both parties involved; the Wall Street crooks and their alleged regulators.
The residual effects are obvious. Everyone pays for their felonious activities. In a capitalist system, money is the blood that circulates through a healthy economy. When blood is restricted, the patient develops other maladies. Using this analogy, the doctor would interpret the symptoms, diagnose the problem and set about treating the disease. Unfortunately, the congress and their alleged regulators are the only doctors and they are out at the country club playing golf, drinking martinis, content with the business model they've constructed.
So how does this translate in th real world, a place that the 1% rarely visit because they don't need to?
Same business model, same result:
The small town of Cassino which was wiped out in during the Allied invasion of Europe during WW II was wiped out by JP Morgan recently as well. In yet another credit swap scam orchestrated by the American bank, the town was left without infant daycare and services for those who needed them for survival. The locals figured out how it was done, something that will require more attention in the U.S. The locals are understandably pissed off.
“'Heads rolling is the least we would expect,' Volante, a 57-year-old gynecologist who also has worked for the city for more than a decade, said in an interview in a Cassino cafe earlier this month. 'When people’s attitude is to cheat others, new rules are needed to prevent it happening again.'”
The courts:
There are still pending cases from the November 30 raid, but the list is getting shorter after seven cases were dropped due to paperwork errors as reported yesterday. There are still cases to be heard at the same location, (see yesterday's Morning Report), and friendly witnesses are encouraged to make themselves known to the defense.
January 20 action:
Occupy the Courts is scheduled for January 20 and already enjoys a lot of support from the various occupations. Here are the participants along with contact information for each courtesy of OWS:
The Move to Amend organization is the primary coordinator of this effort. You can visit their website at http://www.Movetoamend.org or check with local occupations for how they intend to organize their people. They also produced the following video:
Looks like fun and obviously it is important to make sure that the various court proceedings are conducted with as much openness and coverage as possible. There are many pending actions, no doubt many to come, so this effort is important and timely.
And from Margot Paez at Insightoutnews.org the following drama that unfolded as L.A. County Sheriffs forciply evicted a 63 year old woman from her home. As usual, Carlos Marroquin was on scene to assist homeowners in distress. Watch:
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