Lord Mandelson is plotting the downfall of the EU's foreign affairs supremo Baroness Ashton, it was claimed yesterday. Reports suggested she was 'on the verge' of resigning from her £328,000-a-year job because of constant criticism and the fact that she was out of her depth. Lady Ashton's aides denied the reports and said the whispering campaign was the work of Lord Mandelson, long viewed as a master of the dark art of media spin. 'Plot': Lord Mandelson is said to be keen for David Miliband to take Baroness Ashton's role in the EU so he can become the next Foreign Secretary The Business Secretary spokesman's in turn denied this claim, but gave a less than ringing endorsement of Lady Ashton's performance in her role as the unelected European Union High Representative. 'He thinks she is doing quite a reasonable job,' the spokesman said. David Miliband turned down a job at the EU last year Westminster insiders said Lord Mandelson may covet the powerful position himself, especially if he is looking for a new job after next week's General Election. At the time of Lady Ashton's appointment last November it was rumoured that Lord Mandelson, a former European trade commissioner, also wanted the post. Yesterday's newspaper reports claimed that Lady Ashton, 54, would leave her position within months, despite being expected to fill it for five years. An unnamed European Commission official was quoted as saying that 'every day is an uphill struggle' and that her position was untenable because of her lack of experience and political weakness. These claims were strenuously denied by Lady Ashton, who was yesterday on an official visit to China. Her official spokesman said: 'She completely refutes the media report that she is stepping down.' One of the Labour peer's aides said: 'When I saw the report I immediately thought of Mandelson. It has his fingerprints all over it.' Her team claimed that Lord Mandelson started the Ashton resignation rumour by placing it in an Italian newspaper, La Stampa, in the knowledge that it would be followed up in Britain. Another theory, put forward by Lady Ashton's aide, is that Lord Mandelson wants to force her to resign so the EU job can be handed to David Miliband. The Foreign Secretary, was offered the post last year but refused it, reportedly because he didn't want to spend 'years on a plane' and because he was angling to become the next Labour leader if the party loses power. Mr Miliband's departure from the British political scene would clear the way for Lord Mandelson to become Foreign Secretary if Labour has a role in the next government. 'Mandelson is desperate to become Foreign Secretary,' said a source close to Lady Ashton. But a spokesman for Lord Mandelson said: 'The story does not stack up under any objective criteria. Lord Mandelson doesn't take any view on the future of Baroness Ashton.' Lady Ashton has run into problems ever since her surprise appointment. She was the fourth British choice for the post after Mr Miliband, Lord Mandelson and former Cabinet minister Geoff Hoon either declined it or were vetoed by other countries. She was seen as a compromise choice. She has been criticised for not being able to speak French and for failing to have full command of her brief. Lady Ashton also ran into trouble for failing to visit Haiti after the earthquake in January.Lord Mandelson 'behind campaign to oust Baroness Ashton as EU foreign chief'
Saturday, 1 May 2010
By Whitney Kisling and Esmé E. Deprez May 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, breaking the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s longest winning streak since 2004, after credit downgrades for Greece, Portugal and Spain spurred concern that global economic growth will slow and prosecutors considered filing fraud charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Banks dropped the most in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index this week as the Justice Department scrutinized Goldman Sachs, which was sued by securities regulators on April 16. Goldman Sachs lost 7.8 percent, completing its biggest monthly retreat since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy in 2008. Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Co. fell more than 12 percent as an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico worsened. The S&P 500 slumped 2.5 percent to 1,186.69. The Dow lost 195.67 points, or 1.8 percent, to 11,008.61, its first weekly decline since February. Both posted the largest weekly losses since January, when President Barack Obama proposed bank curbs. “People are now questioning if maybe the worst is not over for Greece and Portugal,” said Mark Bronzo, an Irvington, New York-based money manager at Security Global Investors, which oversees $21 billion. “The rationale is: The sovereign risk will weigh on Europe and the global economy. It’s another unknown for the stock market.” Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said the country’s survival was at stake in talks to win a potential $159 billion European Union-led bailout in exchange for budget cuts denounced by unions as “savage.” Investors demanded 5.95 percentage points more to buy Greek 10-year bonds than German bunds amid speculation the nation will default. Beating Estimates Concern that indebted European nations will drag down global economic growth offset U.S. earnings that beat estimates. Almost 78 percent of S&P 500 companies have topped the average analyst profit forecast for the first quarter, near the highest proportion in Bloomberg data going back to 1993. Companies in the S&P 500 increased profit by 47 percent during the first quarter, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. U.S. equities posted their biggest daily drop since February this week when S&P lowered its rating for Greece’s debt to junk, saying bondholders could recover as little as 30 percent of their initial investment if the country restructures its debt. Portugal and Spain also had their ratings reduced on budget concerns. ‘Pay For It’ “Equity investors should be very mindful of the potential for increases in global borrowing costs,” John Lynch, who helps oversee $155.5 billion as chief market analyst at Evergreen investments, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We’ve had an awful lot of foreign governments create a lot of stimulus, and at some point we’re going to have to pay for it.” Quarterly reports scheduled for next week include Merck & Co., Pfizer Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc. Financial firms posted the biggest weekly fall among 10 S&P 500 industries, declining 3.8 percent as a group, as Goldman Sachs executives defended themselves during a congressional hearing and Barclays Plc reported a drop in investment-banking revenue. The U.S. Senate questioned Goldman Sachs executives about their role in marketing financial products that contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Federal prosecutors are weighing criminal fraud charges for Wall Street’s most profitable firm. Goldman Sachs fell 7.8 percent this week to $145.20. It plunged 15 percent in April after falling three straight weeks following the Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil lawsuit. ‘Very Difficult’ “It is very difficult to see the shares making further progress until the matter has been resolved,” Guy Moszkowski, an analyst at Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, wrote in a report yesterday. He downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy.” Energy companies in the S&P 500 slid the most as a group since January. London-based BP Plc fell 13 percent to $52.15 in U.S. trading. The company will have to pay the costs associated with an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after last week’s explosion of a well that is leaking as much as 5,000 barrels of crude a day, or five times faster than initially estimated, the Obama administration said April 29. Louisiana fisherman and shrimpers sued BP, along with Transocean and Halliburton, for environmental damage and personal injuries. Transocean owns the oil rig, and Halliburton was responsible for capping the well, according to the lawsuit. Transocean lost 20 percent to $72.32 and Halliburton retreated 12 percent to $30.65. Small Caps Sink Small companies fell more than large ones. The S&P SmallCap 600 Index fell 3.4 percent this week, the biggest drop since October. This week’s decline also ended an eight-week winning streak, which was the longest in a year. Harman International Industries Inc. had its biggest weekly drop in almost two years after forecasting a lower-than-expected profit margin, while Eastman Kodak Co. reported earnings that missed estimates and sent the shares on a 23 percent slide. Sprint Nextel Corp. fell 1.7 percent this week, ending a seven-week gaining streak, after the third-largest U.S. mobile- phone carrier posted a larger-than-expected loss, signaling it’s failing to stem customer defections to rivals. Office Depot Inc. posted a ninth straight quarter of sales declines along with earnings that fell short of projections. Shares of the second-largest U.S. office-supply retailer sank 19 percent to $6.86 for the worst weekly decline in more than a year. “Expectations really become the enemy for investors,” said Greg Woodard, portfolio strategist at Manning & Napier in Fairport, New York, which manages $28 billion. “To hit your numbers is not going to be enough in this environment. You’ll have to produce top-line and bottom-line incremental grow to continue to see the rally.” To contact the reporters on this story: Whitney Kisling in New York atwkisling@bloomberg.net; Esmé E. Deprez in New York atedeprez@bloomberg.net.U.S. Stocks Fall Most Since January on European Debt Downgrades
Saturday, 01 May 2010 07:20 Read more: Scandal: Obama, Gore, Goldman, Joyce Foundation CCX Partners to Fleece USA Friday, 30 April 2010 07:59 'While senators froth over Goldman Sachs and derivatives, a climate trading scheme being run out of the Chicago Climate Exchange would make Bernie Madoff blush. Its trail leads to the White House. Lost in the recent headlines was Al Gore's appearance Monday in Denver at the annual meeting of the Council of Foundations, an association of the nation's philanthropic leaders. "Time's running out (on climate change)," Gore told them. "We have to get our act together. You have a unique role in getting our act together".' Saturday, 01 May 2010 07:13 'Another shoe has dropped from the IPCC centipede as scientists in Bangladesh say their country will not disappear below the waves. As usual, the U.N.'s climate charlatans forgot one tiny detail. It keeps getting worse for the much-discredited Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which seems to have built its collapsing house of climate cards on sand or, more specifically, river sediment.'
The global elite has chosen the Bank For International Settlements, which financed Hitler’s war machine, to boss the financial arm of the new world order European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet’s announcement that the Bank for International Settlements is to become the primary engine for global governance is a shocking admission given the fact that this ultra-secretive menagerie of international bankers was once controlled by top Nazis who, in collusion with global central banks, funneled money through the institution which directly financed Hitler’s war machine. During a speech to the elitist CFR organization earlier this week, ECB head Trichet said that the Global Economy Meeting (GEM), which regularly meets at the BIS headquarters in Basel, “Has become the prime group for global governance among central banks”. The GEM is basically a policy steering committee under the umbrella of the Bank for International Settlements. In its current form, the BIS, which itself is not accountable to any national government, is comprised of banking chiefs from global central banks, most of which are private and also have no responsibility to their nation states or their citizens. The board of directors who control the BIS include Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke and Bank of England head Mervyn King, as well as Trichet himself. So how did the Bank for International Settlements get started? The BIS was founded in 1930 by Governor of The Bank of England, Montague Norman and his German colleague Hjalmar Schacht, who later became Adolf Hitler’s finance minister. The bank was initially founded in order to facilitate money transfers related to German reparations arising out of the Treaty of Versailles, but by the start of the second world war, the BIS was largely controlled by top Nazi officials, people like Walter Funk, who was appointed Nazi propaganda minister in 1933 before going on to become Hitler’s Minister for Economic Affairs. Another BIS director during this period was Emil Puhl, who as director and vice-president of Germany’s Reichsbank was responsible for moving Nazi gold. Both Funk and Puhl were convicted at the Nuremberg trials as war criminals. Other BIS directors included Herman Schmitz, the director of IG Farben, whose subsidiary company manufactured Zyklon B, the pesticide used in Nazi concentration camp gas chambers to kill Jews and political dissidents during the Holocaust. IG Farben worked closely with John D. Rockefeller’s United States-based Standard Oil Co during the second world war. Baron von Schroeder, the owner of the J.H.Stein Bank, the bank that held the deposits of the Gestapo, was also a BIS director during the war period. As Charles Higham’s widely acclaimed book Trading With The Enemy, How the Allied multinationals supplied Nazi Germany throughout World War Two points out, several parties at the Bretton Woods Conference in July 1944 wanted to see the Bank for International Settlements liquidated, because its role in aiding Nazi Germany loot occupied European countries during the war. Norway called for the bank to be shut down, a view supported by Harry Dexter White, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and Henry Morgenthau, but the BIS survived despite its highly contentious Nazi influence. Higham writes that the BIS became, “A money funnel for American and British funds to flow into Hitler’s coffers and to help Hitler build up his machine,” founded by Nazi finance minister Hjalmar Schacht on the basis that the “Institution that would retain channels of communication and collusion between the world’s financial leaders even in the event of an international conflict. It was written into the Bank’s charter, concurred in by the respective governments, that the BIS should be immune from seizure, closure or censure, whether or not its owners were at war.” “The BIS was completely under Hitler’s control by the outbreak of World War II,” writes Higham. “Among the directors under Thomas H. McKittrick were Hermann Shmitz, head of the colossal Nazi industrial trust I.G. Farben, Baron Kurt von Schroder, head of the J.H. Stein Bank of Cologne and a leading officer and financier of the Gestapo; Dr. Walther Funk of the Reichsbank, and, of course, Emil Puhl. These last two figures were Hitler’s personal appointees to the board.” Higham details how the gold looted from countries invaded by the Nazis was packed into vaults controlled by the Bank for International Settlements, and how Nazis who controlled the bank then forbade any discussion of the theft. “The BIS was an instrument of Hitler, but its continuing existence was approved by Great Britain even after that country went to war with Germany, and the British director Sir Otto Niemeyer, and chairman Montagu Norman, remained in office throughout the war,” writes Higham, explaining how Washington State Congressman John M. Coffee objected to American money being invested with the bank in 1944. “The Nazi government has 85 million Swiss gold francs on deposit in the BIS. The majority of the board is made up of Nazi officials. Yet American money is being deposited in the Bank,” complained Coffee. In 1948, the BIS was finally compelled to hand over a mere £4 million in looted Nazi gold to the allies, and thanks to people like Harry Truman and the Rockefeller family, the bank was not dissolved. One of its most influential directors, Nazi banker Emil Puhl was later invited to the United States as a guest of honor in 1950. Despite its inglorious past, the Bank For International Settlements continues today as a major management arm of the global elite. The bank wields power through its control of vast amounts of global currencies. The BIS controls no less than 7% of the world’s available foreign exchange funds, as well as owning 712 tons of gold bullion, presumably a sizeable portion of which is the bullion which was stolen from occupied countries by the Nazis who controlled the bank during the war. “By controlling foreign exchange currency, plus gold, the BIS can go a long way toward determining the economic conditions in any given country,” writes Doug Casey. “Remember that the next time Ben Bernanke or European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet announces an interest rate hike. You can bet it didn’t happen without the concurrence of the BIS Board.” The BIS is basically a huge slush fund for global government through which secret transfers of wealth from citizens are surreptitiously handed to the IMF. “For example, U.S. taxpayer monies can be passed through BIS to the IMF and from there anywhere. In essence, the BIS launders the money, since there is no specific accounting of where particular deposits came from and where they went,” writes Casey. The fact that top Nazis were intimately involved in the activity of a global central bank that is now being touted as the primary powerhouse of the economic arm of world government is frightening. Every time we delve into the origins of the march towards world government, we find that top Nazis were instrumental in setting up and managing the same institutions that today seek to manage the imposition of global government. Just as with the institutions that comprised the embryonic stages of the European Union, Nazi fingerprints are all over the origins of the move towards a global authority ruling the planet with nation states and sovereignty playing second fiddle. This fact demolishes any notion that global government is benevolent, humanitarian or progressive. Centralization of power into the hands of the few is inherently undemocratic, elitist, and to the detriment of the people. The Nazis who breathed life into the same framework of global authoritarianism being used to set up world government today may have been usurped by an elite altogether more patient in their bid to impose a dictatorship run by banking dynasties, but the ultimate agenda remains the same – world government by consent or conquest.Former Nazi Bank To Rule The Global Economy
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