The Boston GLobe reported this morning that,"Sergeant James Crowley, the Cambridge police officer who ignited a national debate on racial profiling when he arrested Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home, can be heard on a recording of radio transmissions to his dispatcher during the incident describing Gates as "uncooperative" and asking her to keep sending backup ."
Now that the tapes of the 911 call to the Police and the subsequent recording of the officers call for backup its clear to me that the only one in that group (including the woman who placed the 911 call) who played the "race" card was the professor. I think it must also be clear to his Harvard compatriots that the good professor, swollen with self importance, lost his cool and became belligerent to the cop. The teaching lesson to be learned in all this in my opinion, is that even Harvard professors need to cooperate with authorities when confronted.
I am sure that the country will soon witness a televised "group hug" between Gates, Obama and the Cop. I am hoping that Gates will admit he "lost it" and apologize. But
now that he is a media darling I am afraid that his view of himself will be too bloated with self importance and it wont happen.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Thinking about Michael Jackson
I have been thinking a lot about Michael Jackson and the hanger-ons' hovering around his estate like vultures after seeing the photo in the Boston Globe printed in Sunday, June 28th edition. The photo shows Michael's father Joe Jackson and Al Sharpton during a press interview. They were, in the absence of a documented will, claiming the estate and custody of Michael's three children.
How in the world does Al Sharpton get into these situations with black celebrities so often? He is a marvel at knowing where to be at critical moments and the interesting thing is that he has that much access to people like the Jackson's. I remember Sharpton and the black college soccer team and Imus. He is a professional black celebrity parasite; but is there anything here for him to feed on? I don't think so,
Joe Jackson's is in deep financial trouble, he is hoping that gaining his son's estate will bail him out. His wife was awarded custody of the children but he did not get what he really wants, access to his son's assets like the Sony music catalog containing Beetle, Neil Diamond and others like them. It turns out that there is a Will and although the kids are in his wife's custody, the assets will be in a trust fund run by two of Michael's business partners.
Here is an article that describes the financial problems the Trust inherits:
"Michael Jackson delighted people around the world with his music, inspired countless amateur moonwalkers with his moves and had an untold, but surely huge, effect on the sales of individual white gloves.
The pop superstar, who died unexpectedly on Thursday, also kept a lot of people in high finance very busy. His wealth, and, later in his career, his expanding debt, became fodder for deals with private equity firms like Fortress Investment Group and Colony Capital as well as big banks like Citigroup and Bank of America.
In the process, his fantastical Neverland Ranch in California was nearly put on the auction block — saved only when one investment firm swooped in to buy the related debt from another firm, with hopes of backing, and profiting from, a revival of Mr. Jackson’s career.
A lot of Mr. Jackson’s monetary dealings have been conducted in private. But several of the pivotal moments have been described in media reports over the years.
Driving many of the deals was Mr. Jackson’s increasingly unmanageable debt load — something that private equity firms can probably relate to these days.
A 2006 article in The New York Times said the principal drains on Mr. Jackson’s finances may have been “monumentally unwise investments that apparently produced equally colossal losses” — and, later, the payments to service his debt.
A financial adviser to Mr. Jackson described how he might have frittered away $50 million on things like amusement-park ideas and “bizarre, global kinds of computerized Marvel comic-book characters bigger than life.”
In 2003, Fortress Investment, a private equity and hedge fund firm that has since gone public, bought some of Mr. Jackson’s loans from Bank of America after the pop singer missed some payments. Shortly before Christmas in 2005, Fortress threatened to call the loans because of his delinquency, The Times reported.
A few months later, a new deal was reached, as part of a $300 million refinancing structured by Citigroup.
Mr. Jackson’s financial problems continued, however, and in spring of 2008, it looked as if Fortress would foreclose on the Neverland Ranch. But Colony Capital, a private equity firm led by Thomas Barrack, stepped in to buy Mr. Jackson’s loan from Fortress, averting an auction.
A few months later, the deed to Neverland was transferred to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company, a joint venture between Mr. Jackson and Colony.
Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Barrack expressed optimism about Mr. Jackson’s career and his plans for a concert series in London. “You are talking about a guy who could make $500 million a year if he puts his mind to it,” Mr. Barrack told The Los Angeles Times.
While the wrangling over Mr. Jackson’s Neverland Ranch was among the most visible signs of his financial troubles, the debt ran far deeper. Over the years, he amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in other loans to finance his lifestyle.
The collateral for those loans is not his real estate, but Mr. Jackson’s stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing. It’s a valuable asset: It holds a portfolio of thousands of songs, including rights to 259 songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney."
How in the world does Al Sharpton get into these situations with black celebrities so often? He is a marvel at knowing where to be at critical moments and the interesting thing is that he has that much access to people like the Jackson's. I remember Sharpton and the black college soccer team and Imus. He is a professional black celebrity parasite; but is there anything here for him to feed on? I don't think so,
Joe Jackson's is in deep financial trouble, he is hoping that gaining his son's estate will bail him out. His wife was awarded custody of the children but he did not get what he really wants, access to his son's assets like the Sony music catalog containing Beetle, Neil Diamond and others like them. It turns out that there is a Will and although the kids are in his wife's custody, the assets will be in a trust fund run by two of Michael's business partners.
Here is an article that describes the financial problems the Trust inherits:
"Michael Jackson delighted people around the world with his music, inspired countless amateur moonwalkers with his moves and had an untold, but surely huge, effect on the sales of individual white gloves.
The pop superstar, who died unexpectedly on Thursday, also kept a lot of people in high finance very busy. His wealth, and, later in his career, his expanding debt, became fodder for deals with private equity firms like Fortress Investment Group and Colony Capital as well as big banks like Citigroup and Bank of America.
In the process, his fantastical Neverland Ranch in California was nearly put on the auction block — saved only when one investment firm swooped in to buy the related debt from another firm, with hopes of backing, and profiting from, a revival of Mr. Jackson’s career.
A lot of Mr. Jackson’s monetary dealings have been conducted in private. But several of the pivotal moments have been described in media reports over the years.
Driving many of the deals was Mr. Jackson’s increasingly unmanageable debt load — something that private equity firms can probably relate to these days.
A 2006 article in The New York Times said the principal drains on Mr. Jackson’s finances may have been “monumentally unwise investments that apparently produced equally colossal losses” — and, later, the payments to service his debt.
A financial adviser to Mr. Jackson described how he might have frittered away $50 million on things like amusement-park ideas and “bizarre, global kinds of computerized Marvel comic-book characters bigger than life.”
In 2003, Fortress Investment, a private equity and hedge fund firm that has since gone public, bought some of Mr. Jackson’s loans from Bank of America after the pop singer missed some payments. Shortly before Christmas in 2005, Fortress threatened to call the loans because of his delinquency, The Times reported.
A few months later, a new deal was reached, as part of a $300 million refinancing structured by Citigroup.
Mr. Jackson’s financial problems continued, however, and in spring of 2008, it looked as if Fortress would foreclose on the Neverland Ranch. But Colony Capital, a private equity firm led by Thomas Barrack, stepped in to buy Mr. Jackson’s loan from Fortress, averting an auction.
A few months later, the deed to Neverland was transferred to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company, a joint venture between Mr. Jackson and Colony.
Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Barrack expressed optimism about Mr. Jackson’s career and his plans for a concert series in London. “You are talking about a guy who could make $500 million a year if he puts his mind to it,” Mr. Barrack told The Los Angeles Times.
While the wrangling over Mr. Jackson’s Neverland Ranch was among the most visible signs of his financial troubles, the debt ran far deeper. Over the years, he amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in other loans to finance his lifestyle.
The collateral for those loans is not his real estate, but Mr. Jackson’s stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing. It’s a valuable asset: It holds a portfolio of thousands of songs, including rights to 259 songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney."
Thursday, June 4, 2009
GM Pension Funds Used Illegally?
The following article was published on the WEB but is so damaging , in my view, to what the administration seems to be advocating with GM's Auto Union dues that I felt it needs to be re-published. The author, Greg Palast, is very convincing, in my opinion.
Grand Theft Auto: How Stevie the Rat bankrupted GM
by Greg Palast
Monday, June 1, 2009
Screw the autoworkers.
They may be crying about General Motors' bankruptcy today. But dumping 40,000 of the last 60,000 union jobs into a mass grave won't spoil Jamie Dimon's day.
Dimon is the CEO of JP Morgan Chase bank. While GM workers are losing their retirement health benefits, their jobs, their life savings; while shareholders are getting zilch and many creditors getting hosed, a few privileged GM lenders - led by Morgan and Citibank - expect to get back 100% of their loans to GM, a stunning $6 billion.
The way these banks are getting their $6 billion bonanza is stone cold illegal.
I smell a rat.
Stevie the Rat, to be precise. Steven Rattner, Barack Obama's 'Car Czar' - the man who essentially ordered GM into bankruptcy this morning.
When a company goes bankrupt, everyone takes a hit: fair or not, workers lose some contract wages, stockholders get wiped out and creditors get fragments of what's left. That's the law. What workers don't lose are their pensions (including old-age health funds) already taken from their wages and held in their name.
But not this time. Stevie the Rat has a different plan for GM: grab the pension funds to pay off Morgan and Citi.
Here's the scheme: Rattner is demanding the bankruptcy court simply wipe away the money GM owes workers for their retirement health insurance. Cash in the insurance fund would be replace by GM stock. The percentage may be 17% of GM's stock - or 25%. Whatever, 17% or 25% is worth, well ... just try paying for your dialysis with 50 shares of bankrupt auto stock.
Yet Citibank and Morgan, says Rattner, should get their whole enchilada - $6 billion right now and in cash - from a company that can't pay for auto parts or worker eye exams.
Preventive Detention for Pensions
So what's wrong with seizing workers' pension fund money in a bankruptcy? The answer, Mr. Obama, Mr. Law Professor, is that it's illegal.
In 1974, after a series of scandalous take-downs of pension and retirement funds during the Nixon era, Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. ERISA says you can't seize workers' pension funds (whether monthly payments or health insurance) any more than you can seize their private bank accounts. And that's because they are the same thing: workers give up wages in return for retirement benefits.
The law is darn explicit that grabbing pension money is a no-no. Company executives must hold these retirement funds as "fiduciaries." Here's the law, Professor Obama, as described on the government's own web site under the heading, "Health Plans and Benefits."
"The primary responsibility of fiduciaries is to run the plan solely in the interest of participants and beneficiaries and for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits."
Every business in America that runs short of cash would love to dip into retirement kitties, but it's not their money any more than a banker can seize your account when the bank's a little short. A plan's assets are for the plan's members only, not for Mr. Dimon nor Mr. Rubin.
Yet, in effect, the Obama Administration is demanding that money for an elderly auto worker's spleen should be siphoned off to feed the TARP babies. Workers go without lung transplants so Dimon and Rubin can pimp out their ride. This is another "Guantanamo" moment for the Obama Administration - channeling Nixon to endorse the preventive detention of retiree health insurance.
Filching GM's pension assets doesn't become legal because the cash due the fund is replaced with GM stock. Congress saw through that switch-a-roo by requiring that companies, as fiduciaries, must
"...act prudently and must diversify the plan's investments in order to minimize the risk of large losses."
By "diversify" for safety, the law does not mean put 100% of worker funds into a single busted company's stock.
This is dangerous business: The Rattner plan opens the floodgate to every politically-connected or down-on-their-luck company seeking to drain health care retirement funds.
House of Rubin
Pensions are wiped away and two connected banks don't even get a haircut? How come Citi and Morgan aren't asked, like workers and other creditors, to take stock in GM?
As Butch said to Sundance, who ARE these guys? You remember Morgan and Citi. These are the corporate Welfare Queens who've already sucked up over a third of a trillion dollars in aid from the US Treasury and Federal Reserve. Not coincidentally, Citi, the big winner, has paid over $100 million to Robert Rubin, the former US Treasury Secretary. Rubin was Obama's point-man in winning banks' endorsement and campaign donations (by far, his largest source of his corporate funding).
With GM's last dying dimes about to fall into one pocket, and the Obama Treasury in his other pocket, Morgan's Jamie Dimon is correct in saying that the last twelve months will prove to be the bank's "finest year ever."
Which leaves us to ask the question: is the forced bankruptcy of GM, the elimination of tens of thousands of jobs, just a collection action for favored financiers?
And it's been a good year for Señor Rattner. While the Obama Administration made a big deal out of Rattner's youth spent working for the Steelworkers Union, they tried to sweep under the chassis that Rattner was one of the privileged, select group of investors in Cerberus Capital, the owners of Chrysler. "Owning" is a loose term. Cerberus "owned" Chrysler the way a cannibal "hosts" you for dinner. Cerberus paid nothing for Chrysler - indeed, they were paid billions by Germany's Daimler Corporation to haul it away. Cerberus kept the cash, then dumped Chrysler's bankrupt corpse on the US taxpayer.
("Cerberus," by the way, named itself after the Roman's mythical three-headed dog guarding the gates Hell. Subtle these guys are not.)
While Stevie the Rat sold his interest in the Dog from Hell when he became Car Czar, he never relinquished his post at the shop of vultures called Quadrangle Hedge Fund. Rattner's personal net worth stands at roughly half a billion dollars. This is Obama's working class hero.
If you ran a business and played fast and loose with your workers' funds, you could land in prison. Stevie the Rat's plan is nothing less than Grand Theft Auto Pension.
It doesn't make it any less of a crime if the President drives the getaway car.
******
Economist and journalist Greg Palast, a former trade union contract negotiator, is author of the New York Times bestsellers The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Armed Madhouse. He is a GM bondholder and card-carrying member of United Automobile Workers Local 1981.
Palast's latest reports for BBC Television and Democracy Now! are collected on the newly released DVD, "Palast Investigates: from 8-Mile to the Amazon - on the trail of the financial marauders." Watch the trailer here.
Grand Theft Auto: How Stevie the Rat bankrupted GM
by Greg Palast
Monday, June 1, 2009
Screw the autoworkers.
They may be crying about General Motors' bankruptcy today. But dumping 40,000 of the last 60,000 union jobs into a mass grave won't spoil Jamie Dimon's day.
Dimon is the CEO of JP Morgan Chase bank. While GM workers are losing their retirement health benefits, their jobs, their life savings; while shareholders are getting zilch and many creditors getting hosed, a few privileged GM lenders - led by Morgan and Citibank - expect to get back 100% of their loans to GM, a stunning $6 billion.
The way these banks are getting their $6 billion bonanza is stone cold illegal.
I smell a rat.
Stevie the Rat, to be precise. Steven Rattner, Barack Obama's 'Car Czar' - the man who essentially ordered GM into bankruptcy this morning.
When a company goes bankrupt, everyone takes a hit: fair or not, workers lose some contract wages, stockholders get wiped out and creditors get fragments of what's left. That's the law. What workers don't lose are their pensions (including old-age health funds) already taken from their wages and held in their name.
But not this time. Stevie the Rat has a different plan for GM: grab the pension funds to pay off Morgan and Citi.
Here's the scheme: Rattner is demanding the bankruptcy court simply wipe away the money GM owes workers for their retirement health insurance. Cash in the insurance fund would be replace by GM stock. The percentage may be 17% of GM's stock - or 25%. Whatever, 17% or 25% is worth, well ... just try paying for your dialysis with 50 shares of bankrupt auto stock.
Yet Citibank and Morgan, says Rattner, should get their whole enchilada - $6 billion right now and in cash - from a company that can't pay for auto parts or worker eye exams.
Preventive Detention for Pensions
So what's wrong with seizing workers' pension fund money in a bankruptcy? The answer, Mr. Obama, Mr. Law Professor, is that it's illegal.
In 1974, after a series of scandalous take-downs of pension and retirement funds during the Nixon era, Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. ERISA says you can't seize workers' pension funds (whether monthly payments or health insurance) any more than you can seize their private bank accounts. And that's because they are the same thing: workers give up wages in return for retirement benefits.
The law is darn explicit that grabbing pension money is a no-no. Company executives must hold these retirement funds as "fiduciaries." Here's the law, Professor Obama, as described on the government's own web site under the heading, "Health Plans and Benefits."
"The primary responsibility of fiduciaries is to run the plan solely in the interest of participants and beneficiaries and for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits."
Every business in America that runs short of cash would love to dip into retirement kitties, but it's not their money any more than a banker can seize your account when the bank's a little short. A plan's assets are for the plan's members only, not for Mr. Dimon nor Mr. Rubin.
Yet, in effect, the Obama Administration is demanding that money for an elderly auto worker's spleen should be siphoned off to feed the TARP babies. Workers go without lung transplants so Dimon and Rubin can pimp out their ride. This is another "Guantanamo" moment for the Obama Administration - channeling Nixon to endorse the preventive detention of retiree health insurance.
Filching GM's pension assets doesn't become legal because the cash due the fund is replaced with GM stock. Congress saw through that switch-a-roo by requiring that companies, as fiduciaries, must
"...act prudently and must diversify the plan's investments in order to minimize the risk of large losses."
By "diversify" for safety, the law does not mean put 100% of worker funds into a single busted company's stock.
This is dangerous business: The Rattner plan opens the floodgate to every politically-connected or down-on-their-luck company seeking to drain health care retirement funds.
House of Rubin
Pensions are wiped away and two connected banks don't even get a haircut? How come Citi and Morgan aren't asked, like workers and other creditors, to take stock in GM?
As Butch said to Sundance, who ARE these guys? You remember Morgan and Citi. These are the corporate Welfare Queens who've already sucked up over a third of a trillion dollars in aid from the US Treasury and Federal Reserve. Not coincidentally, Citi, the big winner, has paid over $100 million to Robert Rubin, the former US Treasury Secretary. Rubin was Obama's point-man in winning banks' endorsement and campaign donations (by far, his largest source of his corporate funding).
With GM's last dying dimes about to fall into one pocket, and the Obama Treasury in his other pocket, Morgan's Jamie Dimon is correct in saying that the last twelve months will prove to be the bank's "finest year ever."
Which leaves us to ask the question: is the forced bankruptcy of GM, the elimination of tens of thousands of jobs, just a collection action for favored financiers?
And it's been a good year for Señor Rattner. While the Obama Administration made a big deal out of Rattner's youth spent working for the Steelworkers Union, they tried to sweep under the chassis that Rattner was one of the privileged, select group of investors in Cerberus Capital, the owners of Chrysler. "Owning" is a loose term. Cerberus "owned" Chrysler the way a cannibal "hosts" you for dinner. Cerberus paid nothing for Chrysler - indeed, they were paid billions by Germany's Daimler Corporation to haul it away. Cerberus kept the cash, then dumped Chrysler's bankrupt corpse on the US taxpayer.
("Cerberus," by the way, named itself after the Roman's mythical three-headed dog guarding the gates Hell. Subtle these guys are not.)
While Stevie the Rat sold his interest in the Dog from Hell when he became Car Czar, he never relinquished his post at the shop of vultures called Quadrangle Hedge Fund. Rattner's personal net worth stands at roughly half a billion dollars. This is Obama's working class hero.
If you ran a business and played fast and loose with your workers' funds, you could land in prison. Stevie the Rat's plan is nothing less than Grand Theft Auto Pension.
It doesn't make it any less of a crime if the President drives the getaway car.
******
Economist and journalist Greg Palast, a former trade union contract negotiator, is author of the New York Times bestsellers The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Armed Madhouse. He is a GM bondholder and card-carrying member of United Automobile Workers Local 1981.
Palast's latest reports for BBC Television and Democracy Now! are collected on the newly released DVD, "Palast Investigates: from 8-Mile to the Amazon - on the trail of the financial marauders." Watch the trailer here.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The 20/80 Rule in Health Care and Reducing Costs
Many health professionals will confirm that, in any given patient population, 80 percent of the work is caused by 20 percent of that population. Identifying and reducing the costs associated with this chronically sick population, has gained greater attention from the current Obama administration, according to an article published in the Boston Globe today.
The Globe reports that "in a study of 35 programs, published earlier this year, researchers found that six - including Mass. General's - improved patient care and at least covered their costs. The government extended those six projects until August of 2012."
The Mass. General's program started in 2007 focused on 200 chronically ill patients of that Hospital and extended their primary assistance from discharge into their home. The objective was to keep the patient's away from the hospital by active in-home intervention care. The total net savings reported by the Globe for Mass General over its costs was 5%, 7 to 10 million dollars in overall savings. However, only 17% of the 35 projects in this study were successful in reducing costs while improving the health care for the patient, indicating how difficult it will be for the health care industry to reduce the costs of providing care to this small but chronic group.
The industry has proposed reducing these costs by 1.5% over the next 5 years and potentially saving Medicare about two trillion dollars. This study has shown that the re-admission rate at least can be reduced through extended care beyond discharge. However, The 80/20 rule can also be applied to out-patient care, which has a much greater impact on national health costs than inpatient care. It would have been interesting to see if those 200 patients in the Mass General study were also able to reduce their visits to the hospital as out-patients. I think not because out-patient visits include lab tests such as MRIs' and X-Rays, extremely costly to Medicare.
The prospect of the industry self-reducing its costs to Medicare is not encouraging based on this two year project experience. We may be moving unrelentingly towards a single payer system.
The Globe reports that "in a study of 35 programs, published earlier this year, researchers found that six - including Mass. General's - improved patient care and at least covered their costs. The government extended those six projects until August of 2012."
The Mass. General's program started in 2007 focused on 200 chronically ill patients of that Hospital and extended their primary assistance from discharge into their home. The objective was to keep the patient's away from the hospital by active in-home intervention care. The total net savings reported by the Globe for Mass General over its costs was 5%, 7 to 10 million dollars in overall savings. However, only 17% of the 35 projects in this study were successful in reducing costs while improving the health care for the patient, indicating how difficult it will be for the health care industry to reduce the costs of providing care to this small but chronic group.
The industry has proposed reducing these costs by 1.5% over the next 5 years and potentially saving Medicare about two trillion dollars. This study has shown that the re-admission rate at least can be reduced through extended care beyond discharge. However, The 80/20 rule can also be applied to out-patient care, which has a much greater impact on national health costs than inpatient care. It would have been interesting to see if those 200 patients in the Mass General study were also able to reduce their visits to the hospital as out-patients. I think not because out-patient visits include lab tests such as MRIs' and X-Rays, extremely costly to Medicare.
The prospect of the industry self-reducing its costs to Medicare is not encouraging based on this two year project experience. We may be moving unrelentingly towards a single payer system.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
How Do You Rob a Bank? Have the FDIC Seize It.
A bunch of angry Washington Mutual Bank shareholders have gotten together and created a website to tell the story of how their Bank was taken away by fraud. here is their news release:
"Washington Mutual Inc. Investors See New Hope For Justice
Avatar Posted by pressrelease2please 2 hours 47 minutes ago (http://www.wamustory.com) View profile
Category: Financial | Tags: banking politics financial washington mutual
For Immediate Release
Houston, TX-
Washington Mutual Shareholders (Stock Symbols: WAMUQ, WAHUQ, WAMPQ, WAMKQ) are experiencing renewed optimism due to recent events involving WMI s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The Chapter 11 filing followed the unprecedented seizure and fire sale of its banking unit by the FDIC. Through collaborative efforts online, shareholders have uncovered a significant amount of information regarding the seizure of the well-capitalized Washington Mutual bank (found at www.WaMuStory.com). They recently joined together to author this site and share their research findings amongst themselves and the public. The website has a plethora of documents, including links to official government documents regarding WaMu issues, pre and post seizure.
Shareholders have long seen problems with the way this \"secret\" auction (which was not very secret) was handled by the FDIC, and are pleased that an investigation has been requested through the Bankruptcy Court. Elliott Greenleaf and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver and Hedges, the attorneys appointed through lead Chapter 11 legal counsel Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, filed a motion in the bankruptcy court recently asking for a complete investigation of the circumstances surrounding the seizure and sale of WaMu Bank and all activities leading to the destruction of this 119 year old Seattle based institution. This motion was based on another lawsuit filed in Texas which questioned the circumstances of the bank seizure and accused JPMorgan of corruption, breach of confidentiality and other improper activities. Shareholders have long considered the seizure circumstances to be suspect and have written thousands of letters to legislators asking for a complete investigation. Their pleas to Congress seem to have been ignored to date.
At the time of seizure, Washington Mutual had $307 Billion in assets and was sold to JPMorgan for a mere 1.88 Billion dollars within hours by the FDIC. At the time of seizure, Washington Mutual Inc had 4 Billion dollars in a cash account, which has been recently laid claim to by JP Morgan.
In comparison, IndyMac, with only $32 Billion in assets was sold for $13.9 Billion in the following weeks. Indymac had only 33 branch offices as compared to Washington Mutual\'s 2,239 branches and 4,932 branded ATMs.
As a result of this seemingly unfair compensation for WMI assets, WMI attorneys Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP have also filed suit against the FDIC seeking proper compensation for the reasonable value of the assets seized by the OTS, and sold by the FDIC in the \"fire sale\". That matter is currently pending in a separate Federal court action.
Washington Mutual Shareholders feel that it is self evident that the sale of WaMu Bank was extremely flawed, and they are expecting the U.S. Federal Court system to right these wrongs. They see these recent court filings as a big step in the right direction."
Contact :
Michael Rozenfeld
Street :Houston
City :Houston
State :TX
Zip/Pin Code: 77024
Country :USA
Phone :512-809-8556
Email :michael.rozenfeld@wamutruth.com
Website :http://www.wamustory.com/
"Washington Mutual Inc. Investors See New Hope For Justice
Avatar Posted by pressrelease2please 2 hours 47 minutes ago (http://www.wamustory.com) View profile
Category: Financial | Tags: banking politics financial washington mutual
For Immediate Release
Houston, TX-
Washington Mutual Shareholders (Stock Symbols: WAMUQ, WAHUQ, WAMPQ, WAMKQ) are experiencing renewed optimism due to recent events involving WMI s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The Chapter 11 filing followed the unprecedented seizure and fire sale of its banking unit by the FDIC. Through collaborative efforts online, shareholders have uncovered a significant amount of information regarding the seizure of the well-capitalized Washington Mutual bank (found at www.WaMuStory.com). They recently joined together to author this site and share their research findings amongst themselves and the public. The website has a plethora of documents, including links to official government documents regarding WaMu issues, pre and post seizure.
Shareholders have long seen problems with the way this \"secret\" auction (which was not very secret) was handled by the FDIC, and are pleased that an investigation has been requested through the Bankruptcy Court. Elliott Greenleaf and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver and Hedges, the attorneys appointed through lead Chapter 11 legal counsel Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, filed a motion in the bankruptcy court recently asking for a complete investigation of the circumstances surrounding the seizure and sale of WaMu Bank and all activities leading to the destruction of this 119 year old Seattle based institution. This motion was based on another lawsuit filed in Texas which questioned the circumstances of the bank seizure and accused JPMorgan of corruption, breach of confidentiality and other improper activities. Shareholders have long considered the seizure circumstances to be suspect and have written thousands of letters to legislators asking for a complete investigation. Their pleas to Congress seem to have been ignored to date.
At the time of seizure, Washington Mutual had $307 Billion in assets and was sold to JPMorgan for a mere 1.88 Billion dollars within hours by the FDIC. At the time of seizure, Washington Mutual Inc had 4 Billion dollars in a cash account, which has been recently laid claim to by JP Morgan.
In comparison, IndyMac, with only $32 Billion in assets was sold for $13.9 Billion in the following weeks. Indymac had only 33 branch offices as compared to Washington Mutual\'s 2,239 branches and 4,932 branded ATMs.
As a result of this seemingly unfair compensation for WMI assets, WMI attorneys Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP have also filed suit against the FDIC seeking proper compensation for the reasonable value of the assets seized by the OTS, and sold by the FDIC in the \"fire sale\". That matter is currently pending in a separate Federal court action.
Washington Mutual Shareholders feel that it is self evident that the sale of WaMu Bank was extremely flawed, and they are expecting the U.S. Federal Court system to right these wrongs. They see these recent court filings as a big step in the right direction."
Contact :
Michael Rozenfeld
Street :Houston
City :Houston
State :TX
Zip/Pin Code: 77024
Country :USA
Phone :512-809-8556
Email :michael.rozenfeld@wamutruth.com
Website :http://www.wamustory.com/
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Boston -Sports Capitol?
This is the time if the year that the playoffs seem to dominate everything on television and what people are talking about here in the Boston area. I often wonder what it is about Boston that creates the most dedicated fans in all of sports. I think I can say that with impunity after watching the reaction in the papers to the Celtics and Bruins making their big comebacks last night. And, how about those Red Sox, winning in spite of half the team on the disabled list? So what is it about this city that makes it so special?
My theory is that it is because of the seasons in New England that causes people here to become so engrossed in sports. Each of the major sports represents a time of year that is distinctly linked with that sport; Fall football, Spring and Summer Baseball, Winter basketball and hockey. To a true sports fan, these seasons are synonymous with each sport and regardless of which sport they follow the seasonal changes are caught up with the rhythmic pattern of living in New England.
I was never a big sports fan until I moved here as a young married man. Although, as a child I followed baseball, I didn't love it the way I love watching and following the Red Sox; in fact I was a Yankee fan when I was a kid. I like basketball but don't watch much of it except when the Celtics are in the playoffs and I dislike Hockey and never watch it at all. But I did learn to love football and for me the two seasons that I look forward to the most are Spring, summer and Fall. If we get lucky and make the playoffs, winter through February is livable.
My theory is that it is because of the seasons in New England that causes people here to become so engrossed in sports. Each of the major sports represents a time of year that is distinctly linked with that sport; Fall football, Spring and Summer Baseball, Winter basketball and hockey. To a true sports fan, these seasons are synonymous with each sport and regardless of which sport they follow the seasonal changes are caught up with the rhythmic pattern of living in New England.
I was never a big sports fan until I moved here as a young married man. Although, as a child I followed baseball, I didn't love it the way I love watching and following the Red Sox; in fact I was a Yankee fan when I was a kid. I like basketball but don't watch much of it except when the Celtics are in the playoffs and I dislike Hockey and never watch it at all. But I did learn to love football and for me the two seasons that I look forward to the most are Spring, summer and Fall. If we get lucky and make the playoffs, winter through February is livable.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Maine, Gay Marriage and Harvey Milk
On May 22, Harvey Milk will have turned 79 if Dan White hadn't assassinated him in 1978 along with the popular Mayor of San Francisco George Mosconi. Its a tribute to Harvey Milk that all the New England states have approved and now allow gay marriages.
Dan White was convicted of "Manslaughter" in spite of evidence that he climbed into an open window in City Hall because he knew his gun would set off the alarm at the normal entrance and that he also packed extra bullets so that after he pumped two bullets into the Mayor he could go across the hall and pump 5 more into Harvey Milk, 3 into his head after Harvey was on the floor. For this act he served only 4 years in jail thanks to his "peers" on the jury, none of whom were gay and a friendly and sympathetic police force and prosecutor.
Harvey Milk was instrumental in defeating California's prop 6 which would have allowed schools and other institutions in the State to fire anyone who came out and announced he was a homosexual. Harvey had been elected in 1977 as the first gay Supervisor for the Castro District of San Francisco. Nine others were elected to represent nine other Districts under a new governance plan that divided the city into 10 Districts for the first time in the city's history. Dan White was another Supervidor who was elected from a conservative District of the City.
The City mourned the death of the two politicians with a candlelight march that brought out thousands of people. The verdict brought a violent reaction which resulted in the burning of police cars and fires in City Hall. Two days later four cars full of police in riot gear entered a gay bar in the District and ended with 20 policeman and 100 citizens injured.
California turned down gay marriage last year when Prop 8 was defeated through a heavily conservative funded television campaign. I believe that that next year will see gay marriages approved in California when the Supreme Judicial Court rules on the legality of its ban. Harvey Milk believed that gay people should declare themselves and by doing that will change the country's attitude towards accepting gays in all walks of life. the 31 years since his death has, I believe, proven him right.
Dan White was convicted of "Manslaughter" in spite of evidence that he climbed into an open window in City Hall because he knew his gun would set off the alarm at the normal entrance and that he also packed extra bullets so that after he pumped two bullets into the Mayor he could go across the hall and pump 5 more into Harvey Milk, 3 into his head after Harvey was on the floor. For this act he served only 4 years in jail thanks to his "peers" on the jury, none of whom were gay and a friendly and sympathetic police force and prosecutor.
Harvey Milk was instrumental in defeating California's prop 6 which would have allowed schools and other institutions in the State to fire anyone who came out and announced he was a homosexual. Harvey had been elected in 1977 as the first gay Supervisor for the Castro District of San Francisco. Nine others were elected to represent nine other Districts under a new governance plan that divided the city into 10 Districts for the first time in the city's history. Dan White was another Supervidor who was elected from a conservative District of the City.
The City mourned the death of the two politicians with a candlelight march that brought out thousands of people. The verdict brought a violent reaction which resulted in the burning of police cars and fires in City Hall. Two days later four cars full of police in riot gear entered a gay bar in the District and ended with 20 policeman and 100 citizens injured.
California turned down gay marriage last year when Prop 8 was defeated through a heavily conservative funded television campaign. I believe that that next year will see gay marriages approved in California when the Supreme Judicial Court rules on the legality of its ban. Harvey Milk believed that gay people should declare themselves and by doing that will change the country's attitude towards accepting gays in all walks of life. the 31 years since his death has, I believe, proven him right.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Second Coming of J.K. Rowlings?
Irene Sage's article this morning in the Boston Globe described Reif Larson's first novel "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet" for which he was reportedly awarded $900,000 by Penguin Books after a heated auction among nine publishers last June. This book, being released today, is about a 12 year old boy, an obsessive compulsive who uses margins notes and drawings to help recount his great adventures and inner journeys.
Unlike single parent Rowlings, Larson is a 27 year old doctoral candidate living with his girl friend in a Park Slope brownstone. he grew up in Cambridge (MA) and participated in improvisational theater at Brown University and graduated with a major in Education in 2002. He has taught creative writing and practices Zen Buddhism.
The interest in Larson's first novel without doubt is owed to Rowling's success with her Potter series which made her the richest woman in England (including the Queen. This book is in the "crossover" category, the hottest because of its attraction to both adult and young readers.
Larson will be at the Brookline Booksmith on Thursday may 7th and the lines to hear him read from his work is expected to be long. He has already started his second novel.
Unlike single parent Rowlings, Larson is a 27 year old doctoral candidate living with his girl friend in a Park Slope brownstone. he grew up in Cambridge (MA) and participated in improvisational theater at Brown University and graduated with a major in Education in 2002. He has taught creative writing and practices Zen Buddhism.
The interest in Larson's first novel without doubt is owed to Rowling's success with her Potter series which made her the richest woman in England (including the Queen. This book is in the "crossover" category, the hottest because of its attraction to both adult and young readers.
Larson will be at the Brookline Booksmith on Thursday may 7th and the lines to hear him read from his work is expected to be long. He has already started his second novel.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Senator Spector Defects to the Democrats
How can anyone blame him for switching to the opposition party when his own party is running a conservative against him in 2010. He is 79 years old and still wants to be re-elected even if he wont be as powerful as he was when he chaired the Senate Judiciary committee. He has always struck me as a fair Chairman and I think that he will be re-elected next year running as a democrat. Obama has been wooing Spector to switch for months now and (according to the Wall Street Journal) he was finally persuaded last week by Hilliary Clinton who, according to President Obama at the White House Correspondence roast said to him; "Arlin, if you cant beat them, join them."
Obama has made his pick for a Supreme Court Justice to replace David Souter and his choice, a Hispanic female judge with a lot of experience and a background that matches his own. She grew up in the South Bronx, lived in the projects and went to top rated Ivy League schools.
Obama has made his pick for a Supreme Court Justice to replace David Souter and his choice, a Hispanic female judge with a lot of experience and a background that matches his own. She grew up in the South Bronx, lived in the projects and went to top rated Ivy League schools.
Monday, April 20, 2009
The FDIC and Washington Mutual
I picked up the following article on Yahoo site used by Washington Mutual stockholders, most of whom lost almost ll their investment when it was taken over by the OTC and sold to JP Morgan Chase. I think that this is a very interesting story and is credible.
"FDIC and OTS Miscalculations Costs Taxpayers Tens Of Billions"
"April 20, 2009 -- The FDIC and OTS have caused American taxpayers monumental losses due to mismanagement, but they have not had their fair share of “credit” for their misdeeds and negligence. The capricious seizure of Washington Mutual Bank (WMB) and resulting fire sale played a significant role in the stock market crash of 2008. This decision has affected all Americans either directly or indirectly through the loss of jobs and general downturn in the economy.
The OTS preemptively seized WMB on September 25th, 2008 from Washington Mutual Inc (Stock Symbol: WAMUQ). The FDIC proceeded to transfer the assets to JP Morgan Chase (Stock Symbol: JPM) almost immediately. A memorandum, released by the Wall Street Journal, supports the conclusion that WMB was indeed solvent when they were seized. The monetary damages alone total over $60 billion in immediate losses in conservative bonds and debts. Far more damaging was the blow to the United States' image and credit market. Investors across all sectors panicked. The market could not decide between safe and risky investments. The stock market severely crashed immediately after this seizure (see the graph at www.WamuStory.com), causing severe generalized economic losses throughout the world.
Ironically, TARP was on the horizon and just a week away. The boost of confidence intended by TARP was not able to overcome the damage done by the FDIC's fire sale of WMB. In one hour, a bank that was worth hundreds of billions of dollars was “gifted” to JPMorgan for $1.9 Billion. As a practical matter, our regulatory bodies should act within reason and good faith. They did not.
In a memorandum to its Board of Directors the FDIC states that it did not find that WMB was “in default” or “in danger of default”. Washington Mutual Bank was well capitalized with a tier 1 capital ratio of 7.8 percent. It had access to $54 Billion cash. The OTS made its decision to seize WMB solely on its jurisdiction to act preemptively and panicked fear.
The FDIC would not have had a chance to bungle the sale of WMB, had it not been for the missteps of the OTS. They seized a bank that was not in failure, and indeed was liquid and well capitalized. The sale by the FDIC finished it off, due to their negligence in arranging the transaction.
This is one of the most expensive mistakes the government made in the “economic meltdown” of 2008. Ms. Sheila Bair said this seizure would not cost taxpayers anything. She could not have been more wrong. Read more about these issues at www.WamuTruth.com."
Contacts for this Release:
JPresnall@WamuTruth.com
Phone Number: 360-790-1149
Mike@WamuTruth.com
Phone Number: 512-809-8556
"FDIC and OTS Miscalculations Costs Taxpayers Tens Of Billions"
"April 20, 2009 -- The FDIC and OTS have caused American taxpayers monumental losses due to mismanagement, but they have not had their fair share of “credit” for their misdeeds and negligence. The capricious seizure of Washington Mutual Bank (WMB) and resulting fire sale played a significant role in the stock market crash of 2008. This decision has affected all Americans either directly or indirectly through the loss of jobs and general downturn in the economy.
The OTS preemptively seized WMB on September 25th, 2008 from Washington Mutual Inc (Stock Symbol: WAMUQ). The FDIC proceeded to transfer the assets to JP Morgan Chase (Stock Symbol: JPM) almost immediately. A memorandum, released by the Wall Street Journal, supports the conclusion that WMB was indeed solvent when they were seized. The monetary damages alone total over $60 billion in immediate losses in conservative bonds and debts. Far more damaging was the blow to the United States' image and credit market. Investors across all sectors panicked. The market could not decide between safe and risky investments. The stock market severely crashed immediately after this seizure (see the graph at www.WamuStory.com), causing severe generalized economic losses throughout the world.
Ironically, TARP was on the horizon and just a week away. The boost of confidence intended by TARP was not able to overcome the damage done by the FDIC's fire sale of WMB. In one hour, a bank that was worth hundreds of billions of dollars was “gifted” to JPMorgan for $1.9 Billion. As a practical matter, our regulatory bodies should act within reason and good faith. They did not.
In a memorandum to its Board of Directors the FDIC states that it did not find that WMB was “in default” or “in danger of default”. Washington Mutual Bank was well capitalized with a tier 1 capital ratio of 7.8 percent. It had access to $54 Billion cash. The OTS made its decision to seize WMB solely on its jurisdiction to act preemptively and panicked fear.
The FDIC would not have had a chance to bungle the sale of WMB, had it not been for the missteps of the OTS. They seized a bank that was not in failure, and indeed was liquid and well capitalized. The sale by the FDIC finished it off, due to their negligence in arranging the transaction.
This is one of the most expensive mistakes the government made in the “economic meltdown” of 2008. Ms. Sheila Bair said this seizure would not cost taxpayers anything. She could not have been more wrong. Read more about these issues at www.WamuTruth.com."
Contacts for this Release:
JPresnall@WamuTruth.com
Phone Number: 360-790-1149
Mike@WamuTruth.com
Phone Number: 512-809-8556
Friday, April 17, 2009
The "Ugly Duck turns into a Swan" Fairytale
As kids we all know that fairy tale, how the little ugly duck became that gorgeous white Swan. It is an age old tale that speaks to our fondest dreams. And, when we can actually view it happening, as we now can on You Tube's posting of the singer Susan Boyle's "Britain's Got Talent" amateur competition, how sweet and moving it is. It moved me even more than the performance of Paul Potts on the same show in June of 2007.
Yes, it was that long ago, remember how that chubby cell phone salesman electrified the audience with his first notes of the aria Nessun Dorma ? I think I watched it a dozen times.
I thought at that time "wow how sweet a moment it is for him". But I must admit, that moment was topped when a dowdy 47 year old lady, who looks like a perfect rendition of a British grandmother nanny, opened her mouth and belted out "I Dreamed a Dream". The audience reacted instantly and you could see genuine surprise in the eyes of Simon and the other judges. Instant, gorgeous Swan conveyed by a bell like voice delivered like a professional. I don't know how these contestants are chosen and how much foreknowledge there is by the judges; surely Susan Boyle and Paul Potts sang to someone to get onto to that platform. But I do have to say that it made for two great moments almost exactly two years apart.
Yes, it was that long ago, remember how that chubby cell phone salesman electrified the audience with his first notes of the aria Nessun Dorma ? I think I watched it a dozen times.
I thought at that time "wow how sweet a moment it is for him". But I must admit, that moment was topped when a dowdy 47 year old lady, who looks like a perfect rendition of a British grandmother nanny, opened her mouth and belted out "I Dreamed a Dream". The audience reacted instantly and you could see genuine surprise in the eyes of Simon and the other judges. Instant, gorgeous Swan conveyed by a bell like voice delivered like a professional. I don't know how these contestants are chosen and how much foreknowledge there is by the judges; surely Susan Boyle and Paul Potts sang to someone to get onto to that platform. But I do have to say that it made for two great moments almost exactly two years apart.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
This Passover
This Passover is bittersweet. So many people I know are sick and not getting better. Friends we made as newbies to the Boston area who were also getting started; whose husbands were in post graduate programs or in a medical resident program. We lived in an apartment complex near Coolidge Corner in Brookline. It was a nest of young families with lots of preschool kids and stay at home Moms. Many were families that left South Africa because they could not reconcile their dislike of apartheid with core Jewish beliefs and because they were highly skilled in medicine were able to leave with their families for a new life in America. Now, 40 years later most of those same families have retired to warmer places, a new "first generation" of refugees. More highly educated than my own parents were but a "first" generation still not quite rooted in this country, still speaking with that gentile English accent that was amazingly unaffected by over 40 years living in the Boston area. Their children are all parents now and totally Americanized and I think about them and my parents and all the past generations of transplants that have become this America we love so much.
Pirates in the 21st Century
I was just thinking about the pirates off the coast of Somalia and how a CNN News anchor remarked about them "making easy money" on last nights broadcast. Really? There they are, four pirates holding an American Captain hostage, sitting in a small lifeboat surrounded by the United States Navy 300 miles off the coast of Somalia. They must be wondering how in the world they ever got themselves into this mess to begin with after boarding the freighter and finding its crew self-locked in their cabin with one of their own pirates captured by that same crew. It would look like a Harold Loyd comedy if it weren't so scary.
As the events unfold in the ocean, other pirates were being interviewed with questions like "what is the average time it takes to get your money from the owner of the ship?" The answer; "four months", which is not bad work considering that the average payoffs are somewhere between $900,000 and $3 Million. So now the country is more focused on pirates of the high seas than on the pirates on "Wall Street.
As the events unfold in the ocean, other pirates were being interviewed with questions like "what is the average time it takes to get your money from the owner of the ship?" The answer; "four months", which is not bad work considering that the average payoffs are somewhere between $900,000 and $3 Million. So now the country is more focused on pirates of the high seas than on the pirates on "Wall Street.
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