Author Archives: Lila

S. Korean Blogger Arrested For Spreading Economic False Information

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“SEOUL, South Korea – A South Korean blogger pleaded not guilty Saturday to charges that he spread false economic information on the Internet, a news report said, in a case that drew heated debate over freedom of speech.

The blogger, identified only by his surname Park, gained prominence among South Koreans because some of his dire predictions about the global economy, including the collapse of Lehman Brothers, later proved to be correct.

Known widely by his pen name “Minerva,” the mythological Greek goddess of wisdom, the 31-year-old Park was accused of spreading false information on an Internet discussion site last month that the government had ordered major financial institutions and trade businesses not to purchase U.S. dollars.

Kim Yong-sang, a judge at the Seoul Central District Court who issued an arrest warrant for Park following Saturday’s court hearing, said the case “affected foreign exchange markets and the nation’s credibility,” Yonhap news agency reported.

Park told the judge he wrote articles to help underprivileged people and did not seek any personal financial gain or harm the public interest, Yonhap said….”

More at AP.

Eva Pierrakos On Becoming Objective

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“I suggest that you take certain general subjects on which you have strongly formed opinions
and examine them in the work you are doing by yourself and with your coworker. Take politics,
religion, your idea about love and sex, or whatever it is that concerns everyone to some extent.
What do you really think about it? Why? Think whether you would have the same opinion if you
had grown up in a different environment, if different influences around you had prevailed, or if your
life circumstances were different? This self-questioning is healthy because it will give you a more
objective outlook. One can find justification for almost any viewpoint. There is also always a point in the
opposite view. Try to see it. And then try to detect how subjective you may have been so far. It
will already be great progress if you can admit that you have a personal stake in holding on to your
opinion — that it is not based solely on objective deliberations. This self-honesty is of great benefit
to the soul.” –

Eva Pierrakos

Propaganda Nation: Some Inequalities Are More Unequal Than Others…

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“If inequality in things that matter is important, there is a basic inequality that the worriers about inequality should be paying attention to: the inequality in life expectancy between men and women. In 2005, life expectancy at birth was almost seven percent higher for American women than for American men (80.4 years for women vs. 75.2 years for men). Governments could certainly reduce this life-expectancy inequality by redistributing medical research funding on women’s health to research on men’s health, and general medical care funding from women to men. Consider that men are more likely to die from prostate cancer than women are from breast cancer. Yet in 2005 federal expenditures for prostate cancer research were $390 million compared to $698 million for breast cancer research, and the American Cancer Society contributed almost three times as much for breast cancer research ($98 million) as for prostate cancer research ($36 million).

When I talk to people, I find that they generally agree with, and rarely strongly oppose, forcible government transfers of income from the rich to the poor to reduce income inequality. But when I suggest that the government transfer medical expenditures from women to men to reduce life-expectancy inequality, I get a very different reaction. Often, the listener will simply give me a strange look and quickly depart. Those who do respond verbally, however, typically say that I couldn’t possibly be serious because my idea is outrageously silly. I agree. It is silly. But I am completely serious in suggesting it.”

More at the Library of Economics and Liberty.

Comment:

To forestall anyone who writes to me anxiously that this sort of argument – even tongue-in-cheek – is dangerously sexist and anti-feminist, let me just say I am a feminist, if feminism means advocating that women be treated as individuals and as fully human. I am enough of a feminist to recognize that women and men are biologically and culturally different and have different histories that need to be taken into account.  

But if feminism means declaring the other half of the species the enemy –  and some of what is passed off as progressive opinion on this topic is just that – I’ll say no to the label. There’s a kind of feminism out there that’s just public posturing by people who get social and economic benefits from doing so that they wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.

And if they were to gain equal benefits from holding the opposite bias, they would switch sides in an instant….

Note: I said some progressive opinion on this…

Free Kareem Amer

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Egyptian law student and blogger Kareem Amer has  been in jail 795 days for opposing his university’s gender segregation policy and criticizing Islam in articles and on  his blog .

He writes:

“Freedom’s denial of restrictions does not mean that the human being has the complete freedom to do everything he is able to do. Being powerful does not mean that I am free to subjugate he who is less powerful than I am. For one of the most important principles of freedom is to not trespass on the limits of others’ freedoms; this is so that freedom will be meaningful, and not be merely a justification for the actions of those who take advantage of their power to subdue others. ……

The arrival of the individual preceded the formation of the societal organization, and this formation is what founded the law. And as is known, one of the most important functions that this organization was formed for is the protection of the rights of the individuals from degradation under the protection of the law. Therefore, it is the individual, whose arrival had preceded these legislations, who must enjoy sanctity and respect, and not the law (the follower), which is supposed to protect the rights of the individuals, not degrade these rights.”

And, more controversially, here is a sample of his criticism of Islamic extremism that some people have argued doesn’t deserve protection because it “insults Islam”:”I have seen with my own eyes the thugs as they break into our Christian brothers’ stores after the whole area of Maharram Beh was completely out of control of the government authorities, and I saw them as they ransack the contents of the store right and left, amidst cheering and shouting extremist Islamic slogans, and I saw them stealing the money from inside the drawers of the cash registers and splitting it among themselves as if it is justified by being owned by what they call the infidels and the worshippers of the cross….”

Read more of his articles here.

And  here’s a site where you can sign the petition to release him from prison.

Comment:

I am not being anti-Islamic in posting this. My primary training is in American government, politics, and culture and so my criticism is usually directed at corruption and crimes that affect me here. But I need to be even-handed in criticizing other governments for the sort of things I oppose here. And I need to show solidarity with bloggers who face dire threats to their physical existence in a way people here don’t. So while I don’t know if Kareem’s portrayal of Islamic extremists attacking Christians in Egypt is accurate or not, I am comfortable with supporting his right to voice his opinion on politics and religion without restraint  – the core of the First Amendment rights we in the US sometimes take for granted… and which are being eroded when government constantly encroaches on our privacy.

Dow Jones NewsWire On Sentier 2

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Just to make sure this news report doesn’t vanish into the murky depths of Google, I’ve posted it below in toto.

http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/DJ/200812111307DOWJONESDJONLINE000860_univ.xml

(downloaded, 12:40 PM January 9, 2009)

Note that the report is dated 12-11-08. Madoff was arrested on Dec 11 (Thursday).

SocGen, Barclays Cleared Over Franco-Israeli Money Laundering12-11-08 1:07 PM ESTPARIS (AFP)–A Paris court Thursday cleared the banks Societe Generale SA ( 13080.FR) and Barclays PLC (BCS) of complicity in money-laundering between France and Israel, but convicted a top Pakistani bank and a U.K.-owned lender.

The court also sentenced a former French prosecutor to 20 months for corruption, and gave two executives from the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP.KA) two-year suspended jail terms following a mammoth trial. Judges heard how the four banks handled money from merchants in Paris’ Sentier garment district – the proceeds of tax evasion, embezzlement or stolen checks laundered through banks or money exchange offices in Israel.

The banks had all denied any wrongdoing in the case, dubbed “Sentier 2.”

A previous “Sentier” trial saw dozens of clothing merchants from the district convicted of defrauding banks, and investigators looked at whether the firms had made proper checks before handling the merchants’ payments.

One hundred and fifty-two people were on trial alongside Societe Generale, the French units of Barclays and of the National Bank of Pakistan, and Societe Marseillaise de Credit, owned by HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBA.LN).

Daniel Bouton, the chairman of Societe Generale – which was hit by a massive rogue trading scandal at the start of this year – was acquitted along with his bank and three other senior managers at the lender. They were accused of handling the equivalent of EUR32 million in ill-gotten funds.Investigators told the court that Societe Generale knew of the fraudulent origin of this money but the judge accepted defense arguments that there was no “intentional element” on the part of the bank.Bouton’s lawyer welcomed what he said was a “coherent” decision. Bouton had been charged with aggravated money laundering and faced 10 years in jail.Barclays-France and four of its former or current executives were also cleared of wrongdoing.The court fined the National Bank of Pakistan EUR200,000 and gave two-year suspended jail sentences to two of its bosses for failing to spot EUR1.8 million in illegal transfers.The pair were also fined EUR20,000 each. Two other executives from the NBP, one of the largest commercial banks in Pakistan, were acquitted.Societe Marseillaise de Credit was also convicted of failing to spot EUR1.8 million in illegal transfers and fined EUR100,000. One of its executives was given an eight-month suspended sentence.A former French prosecutor was convicted of for corruption and influence peddling and given a three-year jail sentence with 16 months of it suspended. He was fined EUR30,000.Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today’s most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http:// www.djnewsplus.com/al?rnd=OBSC4tG5tv93CjIHwO9G9A%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

   
 

Sentier 2 – Franco-Israeli Bank Money Laundering Ring

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“One hundred and fifty-two people were on trial alongside Societe Generale, the French units of Barclays and of the National Bank of Pakistan, and Societe Marseillaise de Credit, owned by HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBA.LN). Daniel Bouton, the chairman of Societe Generale – which was hit by a massive rogue trading scandal at the start of this year – was acquitted along with his bank and three other senior managers at the lender. They were accused of handling the equivalent of EUR32 million in ill-gotten funds.

Investigators told the court that Societe Generale knew of the fraudulent origin of this money but the judge accepted defense arguments that there was no “intentional element” on the part of the bank.

Bouton’s lawyer welcomed what he said was a “coherent” decision. Bouton had been charged with aggravated money laundering and faced 10 years in jail.

Barclays-France and four of its former or current executives were also cleared of wrongdoing.

The court fined the National Bank of Pakistan EUR200,000 and gave two-year suspended jail sentences to two of its bosses for failing to spot EUR1.8 million in illegal transfers.

The pair were also fined EUR20,000 each. Two other executives from the NBP, one of the largest commercial banks in Pakistan, were acquitted.

Societe Marseillaise de Credit was also convicted of failing to spot EUR1.8 million in illegal transfers and fined EUR100,000. One of its executives was given an eight-month suspended sentence.

A former French prosecutor was convicted of for corruption and influence peddling and given a three-year jail sentence with 16 months of it suspended. He was fined EUR30,000….”

And this:

“Judges heard how the four banks handled money from merchants in Paris‘ Sentier garment district – the proceeds of tax evasion, embezzlement or stolen checks laundered through banks or money exchange offices in Israel. The banks had all denied any wrongdoing in the case, dubbed “Sentier 2.

A previous “Sentier” trial saw dozens of clothing merchants from the district convicted of defrauding banks, and investigators looked at whether the firms had made proper checks before handling the merchants’ payments.”

That’s the crux of a Dow Jones Newswire report (Dec 11, 2008) that I came across while following up on the Madoff case. Seems to fit in with my hunch about money laundering.

No More Blank Check For Israel

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STATEMENT ON THE CRISIS IN GAZA

A group of New Jersey peace activists prepared an ad to appear in the Montclair Times, and we found ourselves in broad agreement with its content. We have modified the ad for use as a Campaign for Peace and Democracy sign-on statement.

 

In its massive military attacks on Gaza, Israel has again engaged in actions contrary to morality, international law, the cause of peace, and to the long-term best interests of the people of Israel. And, once again, the United States government has been the enabler of Israeli actions:

*        The bombers that unleashed death and destruction on Gaza were U.S.-supplied F-16s.

*        The attack helicopters were U.S.-supplied Apaches.

*        The government that blocked international demands for an immediate cease-fire was Washington.

*        And the source of more than $3 billion a year in tax-payer funded military aid to Israel has been the United States.

No country should have to face rockets fired at its citizens, and we condemn Hamas’s launching of rockets into Israeli civilian areas. But the solution is not raining bombs and missiles down on one of the most densely populated sites in the world, making massive civilian casualties inevitable, and which, apart from its immorality, guarantees only another generation of hatred towards Israel.

The solution — as the Israeli peace movement, human rights groups, and the United Nations have urged — is to lift the economic blockade imposed on Gaza and end the Occupation.

This blockade holds one and a half million Palestinian civilians hostage, and creates a horrendous humanitarian crisis. Malnutrition is rife, people have died from being denied the right to travel for medical care, and electricity and clean water are scarce. Meanwhile the 40-year Occupation not only continues, but is also strengthened by increased settlements.

We condemn the policies of our government that support the ongoing oppression and murder of the Palestinian people.

” We urge the incoming Obama administration to refuse to give Israel the U.S. blank check it has long enjoyed.

And we call on everyone to join in telling the President and Congress that we want an immediate end to U.S. military aid to Israel. We do not want our tax dollars or the leaders who speak in our names to continue supporting the attacks on the Palestinian people. …”

Sign a petition to end US military aid to Israel by the Campaign for Peace and Democracy.

Madoff Madness: Real Victims Might Sue Virtual Victims To Recoup Real Losses…

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Now it seems that lots of people didn’t actually lose the money they put into the Madoff scheme at all! (I predicted that would be the case on this blog).

But that’s not going to stop them from filing for the return of their (paper) principle…..nor is it going to stop people who actually lost their investment from going after some of the winners for a chunk of real profit, claiming it was only virtual.

I know your head is spinning. But that’s the latest news:

“No one knows yet how many people will emerge as net winners in the scandal, but the numbers appear to be substantial. Many of Madoff’s long-term investors have, over time, cashed out millions of dollars of their supposed profits, which routinely amounted to 11 percent to 15 percent per year.

Jonathan Levitt, a New Jersey attorney who represents several former Madoff clients, said more than half of the victims who called his office looking for help have turned out to be people whose long-term profits exceeded their principal investment.

“There are a lot of net winners,” he said.

Asked for an example, Levitt said one caller, whom he declined to name, invested $1.8 million with Madoff more than a decade ago, then cashed out nearly $3 million worth of “profits” as the years went by.

On paper, he still had $4 million invested with Madoff when the scheme collapsed, but it now looks as if that figure was almost entirely comprised of fictitious profits on investments that were never actually made, leaving his claim to be owed anything unclear.

Other attorneys report getting similar calls.

Under federal law, the court-appointed trustee trying to unravel Madoff’s business can demand that people who profited from the scheme return some or all of the money.”

More  at AP.

100 Checks For $173 Million Found On Madoff Office Desk (Added link on 1/10/09)

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“NEW YORK – Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff’s office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month.

The detail was provided in a court filing Thursday as prosecutors argued that Madoff should have his bail revoked and be sent to jail. They said the checks were further evidence that he wants to keep his assets away from burned investors….”

More at The New York Times.

And a report from December that I missed:

PARIS (AFP)–A Paris court Thursday cleared the banks Societe Generale SA ( 13080.FR) and Barclays PLC (BCS) of complicity in money-laundering between France and Israel, but convicted a top Pakistani bank and a U.K.-owned lender. The court also sentenced a former French prosecutor to 20 months for corruption, and gave two executives from the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP.KA) two-year suspended jail terms following a mammoth trial.

Judges heard how the four banks handled money from merchants in Paris‘ Sentier garment district – the proceeds of tax evasion, embezzlement or stolen checks laundered through banks or money exchange offices in Israel.

The banks had all denied any wrongdoing in the case, dubbed “Sentier 2.”

Read more of this Dow Jones newswire report on a money-laundering investigation in France.

(I found this link Friday 1/09/09)