Wednesday, February 27, 2013

13-02-27 Dispatch from Tel Aviv: Social Protest encampment



In the US the movement is "Occupy", in Europe, the occupiers are "Indignados".

In Israel it is simply "Social Protest".

Over the past couple of months, the Tel Aviv encampment has considerably grown. The people, who were not sure that they would be able to pass the winter, managed to reinforce and water proof their tents. The structures are more solid now.

With the warming up of the weather, everybody is drying up.

The Social Protest movement has severed as the jumping board for a group of young members of Knesset in the recent election. According to a knowledgeable resident, none of them visited the encampment in the period leading to the election, or afterwards. One new political faction tried to identify itself with the encampment, but was asked to leave.

In general, the gaps in income and asset distribution in Israel have considerably grown over the past couple of decades. However, Israel lags behind the US and Europe, in the sense that the financial crisis has not yet hit it hard. No bank bailouts yet... The housing bubble, according to many experts, is already here, but not burst yet.

However, given the slowdown in the economy and large government deficit, austerity measures are planned in the near future. the most draconian proposal - 50% cut in child welfare allowance, which will harm mostly poor families.

The evidence is abundant of the central role of the courts and the legal profession in opening the wide socio-economic gap. The most notorious examples are probably the lack of accountability of judges, who were caught falsifying and/or fabricating court records (e,g, Judge Vardah AlSheikh - Tel Aviv, Judge Hilah Cohen - Haifa. It is a common practice by judges, according to the Inspector General of the Judiciary most recent report. It followed the implementation of the latest electronic record systems in the courts over the past decade, with involved invalid implementation of electronic signatures and undermining of the authority and accountability of the clerks of the courts.

Anyway, this is all just a pastoral prelude...











Drying up at the Arlozorov Social Protest encampment in Tel Aviv


By night


The view from the public hall/dining room.

Monday, February 25, 2013

13-02-26 Refugees secretly expelled by Israel


Letter to Haaretz Editor:
The 2012 Human Rights Alert (NGO) submission on Human Rights in Israel was primarily based on data and systems analysis of the justice system in Israel.  The submission found discontinuities in detainees' ID numbers.  The submission also recorded the refusal of the Ministry of Justice to respond on request, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act: What are the names and physical addresses of the Detainees' Courts in Israel?
The submission raises serious concern that "black hole" prisons exist in Israel, and ad-hoc "field courts", related to the same matter.
The 2012 Human Rights Alert submission was incorporated into the 2013 report of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, pertaining to Human Rights in Israel, with a note referring to "lack of integrity in the electronic records of the supreme court, the district courts and the detainees courts in Israel".
Joseph Zernik, PhD
Human Rights Alert (NGO)
______
 

13-02-12 Welcome Rwanda - newest country!

Newest Country

Rwanda
Last Visited February 12, 2013
     

13-02-25 Jerusalem: Zion Square and the Evil Cathedral

A case study in the Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Speech in Jerusalem and beyond:
For almost a century, Zion Square has been one of the most prominent public spaces Jerusalem.  Now, officially, it ceased longer exists. Pursuant to International Law and United Nations resolution in 1947 (also accepted by then Jewish leadership in Palestine), Jerusalem is Corpus Separatum.  That status is more essential today then before, since as Corpus Separatum Jerusalem is likely to emerge as a global Free Speech center.


* 1930s - Zion Square with the original 6-way intersection, round about design.
The square was originally designed as a 6-was intersection, reflecting the Zionist Magen David.  Another 6-way intersection was designed during the same period in Tel Aviv.

* 1948 - Here Menahmem Begin (late prime minister) made his first public appearance upon British withdrawal from Palestine, emerging from years in the underground.


* 1952 - Mehanem Begin apppears in a demonstration against Ben Gurion'S reparation agreement with Germany.

* 1971 - An effigy of Prime Minister Golda Meyer was burnt in Zion Square as part of violent  social protest.

* 1975 - major PLO terrorist explosion kills 13.

* 1995 - during a right wing demonstration, with then opposition leader Netanyahu (today Prime Minister) then Prime Minister Yitzhaq Rabin was represented as a traitor.  The demonstration, which later turned violent, was described already then as incitement to Rabin's murder.  A Secret Service sabotage agent Avishai Raviv, which was later documented in court papers as central to the successful assassination plot against Rabin, was also central in agitating during the demonstration.  Later, a prominent right wing politician was quoted as saying Rabin was to blame for his own assassination, since the Secret Service reported directly to the Prime Minister...

* 2000s - the blocks around Zion Square were particularly targeted for terrorist bombings during the Intifadah.  Numerous cases in the surrounding blocks.

* 2004 Zion Square Right wing demonstration against unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.

* 2011 Zion Square - Social Protest demonstration

* 2011-2  Events, which were described in Hebrew dailies as "lynching" by Jewish mob against Arab youths.


* 2012 renovation of the square is completed.  It is no longer a 6-way intersection.  The main design now is a pentagon. The old Zion cinema theater has been replaced with a Bank HaPoalim tower.

* 2012 - under Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. the public was informed that Zion Square was "privatized", and no more demonstrations would be permitted on location. [1]

LINKS:
[1] 12-05-28 Demonstrations prohibited in Zion Square_Haaretz
http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/1.1717910

13-02-25 Jerusalem: Dispatch from Zion Square - new policing method - tear gas as a deterrent

Jerusalem, February 25, 22:00 about 2.5 hours ago, police tear gassed a youth about 18 at Zion Square, Jerusalem.  The youth was not arrested, and police left the scene soon after.
Such conduct has not been seen in recent years in Lev HaBira area.  It should be seen as a new policing method - tear gas as a deterrent.
Joseph Zernik

Saturday, February 23, 2013

13-02-23 Spire Group sues banksters for $43T ($43,000,000,000,000.00)

 

"It is hard for me to believe as a 47-year lawyer that our nation's guardians have been unwilling to stop this theft."


NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Spire Law Group, LLP's national home owners' lawsuit, pending in the venue where the "Banksters" control their $43 trillion racketeering scheme (New York) - known as the largest money laundering and racketeering lawsuit in United States History and identifying $43 trillion ($43,000,000,000,000.00) of laundered money by the "Banksters" and their U.S. racketeering partners and joint venturers - now pinpoints the identities of the key racketeering partners of the "Banksters" located in the highest offices of government and acting for their own self-interests.
In connection with the federal lawsuit now impending in the United States District Court in Brooklyn, New York (Case No. 12-cv-04269-JBW-RML) - involving, among other things, a request that the District Court enjoin all mortgage foreclosures by the Banksters nationwide, unless and until the entire $43 trillion is repaid to a court-appointed receiver - Plaintiffs now establish the location of the $43 trillion ($43,000,000,000,000.00) of laundered money in a racketeering enterprise participated in by the following individuals (without limitation): Attorney General Holder acting in his individual capacity, Assistant Attorney General Tony West, the brother in law of Defendant California Attorney General Kamala Harris (both acting in their individual capacities), Jon Corzine (former New Jersey Governor), Robert Rubin (former Treasury Secretary and Bankster), Timothy Geitner, Treasury Secretary (acting in his individual capacity), Vikram Pandit (recently resigned and disgraced Chairman of the Board of Citigroup), Valerie Jarrett (a Senior White House Advisor), Anita Dunn (a former "communications director" for the Obama Administration), Robert Bauer (husband of Anita Dunn and Chief Legal Counsel for the Obama Re-election Campaign), as well as the "Banksters" themselves, and their affiliates and conduits. The lawsuit alleges serial violations of the United States Patriot Act, the Policy of Embargo Against Iran and Countries Hostile to the Foreign Policy of the United States, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (commonly known as the RICO statute) and other State and Federal laws.
In the District Court lawsuit, Spire Law Group, LLP -- on behalf of home owner across the Country and New York taxpayers, as well as under other taxpayer recompense laws -- has expanded its mass tort action into federal court in Brooklyn, New York, seeking to halt all foreclosures nationwide pending the return of the $43 trillion ($43,000,000,000.00) by the "Banksters" and their co-conspirators, seeking an audit of the Fed and audits of all the "bailout programs" by an independent receiver such as Neil Barofsky, former Inspector General of the TARP program who has stated that none of the TARP money and other "bailout money" advanced from the Treasury has ever been repaid despite protestations to the contrary by the Defendants as well as similar protestations by President Obama and the Obama Administration both publicly on national television and more privately to the United States Congress. Because the Obama Administration has failed to pursue any of the "Banksters" criminally, and indeed is actively borrowing monies for Mr. Obama's campaign from these same "Banksters" to finance its political aspirations, the national group of plaintiff home owners has been forced to now expand its lawsuit to include racketeering, money laundering and intentional violations of the Iranian Nations Sanctions and Embargo Act by the national banks included among the "Bankster" Defendants.
The complaint - which has now been fully served on thousands of the "Banksters and their Co-Conspirators" - makes it irrefutable that the epicenter of this laundering and racketeering enterprise has been and continues to be Wall Street and continues to involve the very "Banksters" located there who have repeatedly asked in the past to be "bailed out" and to be "bailed out" in the future.
The Havens for the money laundering schemes - and certain of the names and places of these entities - are located in such venues as Switzerland, the Isle of Man, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Cypress and entities controlled by governments adverse to the interests of the United States Sanctions and Embargo Act against Iran, and are also identified in both the United Nations and the U.S. Senate's recent reports on international money laundering. Many of these entities have already been personally served with summons and process of the complaint during the last six months. It is now beyond dispute that, while the Obama Administration was publicly encouraging loan modifications for home owners by "Banksters", it was privately ratifying the formation of these shell companies in violation of the United States Patriot Act, and State and Federal law. The case further alleges that through these obscure foreign companies, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo Bank, Citibank, Citigroup, One West Bank, and numerous other federally chartered banks stole trillions of dollars of home owners' and taxpayers' money during the last decade and then laundered it through offshore companies.
This District Court Complaint - maintained by Spire Law Group, LLP -- is the only lawsuit in the world listing as Defendants the Banksters, let alone serving all of such Banksters with legal process and therefore forcing them to finally answer the charges in court. Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission, nor the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, nor the Office of the Attorney General, nor any State Attorney General has sued the Banksters and thereby legally chased them worldwide to recover-back the $43 trillion ($43,000,000,000,000.00) and other lawful damages, injunctive relief and other legal remedies.
James N. Fiedler, Managing Partner of Spire Law Group, LLP, stated: "It is hard for me to believe as a 47-year lawyer that our nation's guardians have been unwilling to stop this theft. Spire Law Group, LLP stands for the elimination of corruption and implementation of lawful strategies, and that is what we're doing here. Spire Law Group, LLP's charter is to not allow such corruption to go unanswered."
Comments were requested from the Attorney Generals' offices in NY, CA, NV, NH , OH, MA and the White House, but no comment was provided.
About Spire Law Group
Spire Law Group, LLP is a national law firm whose motto is "the public should be protected -- at all costs -- from corruption in whatever form it presents itself." The Firm is comprised of lawyers nationally with more than 250-years of experience in a span of matters ranging from representing large corporations and wealthy individuals, to also representing the masses. The Firm is at the front lines litigating against government officials, banks, defunct loan pools, and now the very offshore entities where the corruption was enabled and perpetrated.
Contact: James N. Fiedler877-438-8766 http://spire-law.com/
SOURCE Spire Law Group, LLP
Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

13-02-23 Torture at Gitmo: Lt. Col. Couch on His Refusal to Prosecute Abused Prisoner


Occupy America 

Posted: 22 Feb 2013 06:35 PM PST
On Sept. 11, 2001, Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Couch’s friend died co-piloting the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. Soon after, Couch became one of the first military prosecutors assigned to the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay to prosecute men alleged to have carried out the terrorist plot. Couch talked to Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales of Democracy Now! about the experience.
Stuart Couch recalls his first trip to Guantánamo, and what he found.
"I was waiting to watch the interrogation of one of the detainees who had been assigned to me to prosecute his case. This was a detainee that was particularly cooperative and involved in some very serious activities in the Gulf region. As I was waiting in a room next to his interrogation room, I heard some loud heavy metal rock music playing down the—down the hallway. I went down to investigate. I thought it was a couple of guards that were off duty and didn’t realize that we were getting ready to conduct the interview. So I walked down the hallway, and as I reached the room where the source of the music was coming out, the door was cracked. And I looked into the room, and I could—all I could see was a strobe light flashing. The rest of the lights in the room were out, but from the flashes of the strobe light, I could see a detainee in orange sitting on the—seated on the floor and shackled, hand to feet, and rocking back and forth."
"There were two civilians who asked me, you know, what was I doing. And I said, "I’m Lieutenant Colonel Couch. You need to turn that down. What’s going on here?" And they just basically told me to move along, and shut the door in my face. There was a judge advocate reservist with me, and I said, "Did you see that?" And his immediate response: "Well, yes. That’s approved." And so, that was my first inclination that there was—of evidence of coerced interrogations going on at Guantánamo."
Couch ultimately would refuse to prosecute the detainee, Mohamedou Ould Slahi.
READ MORE:
http://occupyamerica.crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/torture-gitmo-lt-col-couch-his-refusal

13-02-13 FATCA: The US appears to fail in its efforts to enforce its corrupt banking regulation on banks worldwide

A prime example of the US acting as a delinquent juvenile in international banking matters. The US positions China as the only responsible adult on the scene. jz

_____________________





James George Jatras for RepealFATCA.com

February 22, 2013
Washington, DC

As noted earlier, FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is unenforceable and unviable unless virtually all countries in the world – or at least all the major financial centers – sign on.   That is looking less and less likely, spelling big trouble for a law that one of America’s top tax lawyers has correctly described as “sheer idiocy.”

No China, no FATCA

No scheme of global financial reporting can possibly succeed without China.   As noted by Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group regarding China and Hong Kong:

FATCA could, ultimately, unravel if China rejects the IGA because FATCA’s primary strength would come from all governments around the world forcing their financial institutions to become compliant with it.

Should the country which looks set to be the world’s dominant economic super power in a matter of decades rebuff FATCA, the project would be compromised and could, in the end, fail as such a stance would, many experts agree, prompt other countries to do the same. 

[ . . . ]

It’s currently unclear but there are signs that Hong Kong could indeed act independently from Beijing’s stance as there has been no reference to Hong Kong, a special administrative region (SAR), in any of the published material we’ve seen on the matter.

Additionally, James Jatras, of the Repeal FATCA campaign, informs us that, interestingly, like the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong is not on the list of 50 countries the Treasury claims to be negotiating with.  [“Could China Kill FATCA?,” Feb. 22, 2013]

Germany “in no hurry”?

While China’s compliance with FATCA always has been problematic, one country the U.S. has counted as a “given” from the outset is Germany.  Among the first five countries to indicate a willingness to sign an IGA, Berlin was supposed to have been wrapped up by the end of 2012.  While efforts to finalize a U.S.-Germany IGA will press forward hard in 2013, they could be tripped up by Berlin’s insistence that information exchange be a two-way street (“Germany in no hurry to sign its Fatca IGA, expert says,” Feb. 22, 2013).

The problem of reciprocity has raised itself with the report that the U.S. Treasury Department plans to ask Congress – much earlier than expected – for new legislative authority to move closer to “full reciprocity” than currently exists in the Model 1 IGA.   It’s speculated that this is because one or more countries has told Washington they will not sign until they get a more balanced exchange of information.   Legislative approval ofadditional authority for information exchange is unlikely in light of Congressional and industry objections to even the limited bank interest reporting already provided for under the “Model 1” version of the IGA.  

In short, not just Germany but any government that insists on mutual respect and cooperation from the U.S. side is unlikely to get it. 

Time for an alternative to FATCA

As Congress begins to wake up to the inadvertent mess this misguided and insufficiently thought-out law stands to cause, FATCA’s prospects are dimming every day.  Incredibly, even as the unraveling of FATCA begins to accelerate, some countries remain convinced (in large part due to a poor understanding of the U.S. political system) that capitulation to FATCA by signing an IGA in one form or another is the only recourse – but “there must be no diminution of the countries’ sovereign rights.”   This, of course, is a contradiction in terms, since FATCA inherently is a flat-out surrender of sovereignty to Washington’s diktat.   Moreover, the IGAs don’t even provide any significant degree of protection for firms facing crushing compliance costs.

Instead of cooperating with the Treasury Department’s efforts to rope them into the FATCA corral, financial firms and foreign governments need to move with the political winds in Washington – and get behind the campaign to repeal “the worst law most Americans have never heard of.”  

As efforts to repeal FATCA begin to pick up steam, it’s time to start thinking about alternatives to what is aptly called by some the “Fear And Total Confusion Act.”  

James George Jatras
+1.202.375.1007            

Visit www.RepealFATCA.com for more information on “the worst law most Americans have never heard of”   



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

James George Jatras
Principal, Squire Sanders Public Advocacy, LLC

Email:          james.jatras@squiresanders.com
Office:         +1 202 626 6248
Mobile:        +1 202 375 1007
Reception:   +1 202 626 6600


Squire Sanders Public Advocacy, LLC is a wholly owned affiliate of Squire Sanders (US) LLP.

Squire Sanders (US) LLP
1200 19th Street, NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036

13-02-23 Corruption of the courts and the legal profession in New York - "ethics" eavesdropping on judges, attorneys...

From: Eliot Bernstein <iviewit4@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Feb 22, 2013 at 1:43 AM
Subject: IVIEWIT BREAKING NEWS!!! "Judges Were Illegally Wiretapped, Says Insider " & "Governor Andrew Cuomo Asked to Shut Down Judicial 'Ethics' Office." Is it all related to Eliot Bernstein's 12 TRILLION DOLLAR RICO?
To: Undisclosed List <iviewit@gmail.com>


"Judges Were Illegally Wiretapped, Says Insider " & "Governor Andrew Cuomo
Asked to Shut Down Judicial 'Ethics' Office."  Excerpts Below of Third and
Fourth Articles in the Expose Corrupt Courts Series. To contact Iviewit
Inventor Eliot Bernstein for media interviews, please call (561) 886-7628.

For the full stories in the series click the following two links

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-iviewit-breaking-news-judges-were-ill
egally-wiretapped-says-insider-governor-andrew-cuomo-asked-to-shut-down-judi
cial-ethics-office-is-it-1361010178.html


and

http://exposecorruptcourts.blogspot.com

West Palm Beach -- Free-Press-Release.com-- Feb 16, 2013 -- Corruption at
the Highest Offices of the New York Courts Exposed and several Iviewit RICO
& ANTITRUST Defendants named in the unfolding scandal. Check out the first
five articles in a series that exposes the corruption that led to the
Wall$treet/Greed$reet/Fraud$treet Meltdown and Exposes why no one, including
the lawyers & judges involved have gone to prison for these crimes.
Wallstreet Whistleblower former NY Supreme Court Attorney Christine C.
Anderson exposes the Belly of the Beast from the inside. Iviewit World
Renowned Inventor Eliot Bernstein's Car Bombed in Boynton Beach Florida, see
images attached to this Press Release, more information @ www.iviewit.tv .

Third Article in the Series "Judges Were Illegally Wiretapped, Says Insider"


WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013
Judges Were Illegally Wiretapped, Says Insider

Not only were attorneys targeted for 24/7 wiretapping of their personal and
business phones, but judges in New York also became victims of the illegal
whims of political insiders, according to a former insider who says he
supervised parts of the operation for years.

It was previously reported that evidence was obtained on January 24, 2013
confirming illegal actions against New York attorneys, including the
continuous and illegal wiretapping of their phones and the complete capture
and copying of all internet ISP activity, including email. CLICK HERE TO SEE
BACKGROUND STORY "Former Insider Admits to Illegal Wiretaps for "Ethics
Bosses"

The Manhattan-based attorney ethics committee, the Departmental Disciplinary
Committee (the "DDC"), a state-run entity that oversees the "ethics" of
those who practice law in The Bronx and Manhattan, has been identified of
utilizing the illegal activity- at will, and by whim- to either target or
protect certain attorneys.

One Manhattan supervising ethics attorney, Naomi Goldstein, was identified
as a regular requestor of the illegal tape recordings, and former chief
counsel Thomas Cahill has been described in interviews as being "very
involved" to those who were conducting the illegal activity. Cahill
subsequently retired, however New York State-paid attorney Naomi Goldstein
still supervises "ethics" investigations from her Wall Street DDC 2nd floor
office at 61 Broadway.

Ethicsgate

According to the source, one New York "ethics" legend, Alan Friedberg, was
"very well known" to those conducting the illegal wiretapping activity.
Friedberg, who has become the poster child for unethical tactics while
conducting "ethics" inquiries, appears to have been present in the various
state offices where illegal wiretaps were utilized. Friedberg worked for the
New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct (the "CJC") before running the
Manhattan attorney "ethics" committee as chief counsel for a few years.
Friedberg then resurfaced at the CJC, where he remains today. The CJC
investigates ethics complaints of all judges in New York State.

Judges Deserve Justice Too, Unless Political Hacks Decide Otherwise

While court administrators have effectively disgraced most judges with
substandard compensation, it appears that at least the selective enforcement
of "ethics" rules, dirty tricks and retaliation were equally employed on
lawyers and judges alike.

According to the insider, targeted judges had their cellphones, homes and
court phones wiretapped- all without required court orders. In addition,
according to the source, certain courtrooms, chambers and robing rooms were
illegally bugged.

A quick review of notes from over one million pages of evidence, according
to the insider, reveals that the "black bag jobs" included: NYS Supreme
Court Judge, the Hon. Alice Schlesinger (Manhattan), Criminal Court Judge,
the Hon. Shari R. Michels (Brooklyn) and NYS Supreme Court Judge, the
Bernadette Bayne (Brooklyn).

More coming soon........
Full Article @
http://exposecorruptcourts.blogspot.com/2013/02/judges-were-illegally-wireta
pped-says.html


Fourth Article in the Series "NY Governor Andrew Cuomo Asked to Shut Down
Judicial "Ethics" Office"

"New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has been formally requested to
immediately shut down the offices of The Commission on Judicial Conduct (the
"CJC"), the state agency charged with overseeing the ethics of all judges in
the Empire State. The request comes from a public integrity group after
confirmation that the CJC has been involved in illegally wiretapping and
other illegal "black bag operations" for years.

Governor Cuomo is asked to send New York State Troopers to close and secure
the state's three judicial ethics offices: the main office on the 12th floor
at 61 Broadway in Manhattan, the capital office in Albany at the Corning
Tower in the Empire State Plaza, and the northwest regional office at 400
Andrews Street in Rochester.

The Governor is asked to telephone the Assistant United States Attorney who
is overseeing the millions of items of evidence, most of which that has been
secreted from the public- and the governor- by a federal court order.

Governor Cuomo was provided with the direct telephone number of the involved
federal prosecutor, and simply requested to confirm that evidence exists
that certain state employees in New York's so-called judicial "ethics"
committee illegally wiretapped state judges.

The request to the governor will be posted at www.ethicsgate.com later
today. (Media inquiries can be made to 202-374-3680.)

Posted by Corrupt Courts Administrator
Full Article @
http://exposecorruptcourts.blogspot.com/2013/02/governor-andrew-cuomo-asked-
to-shut.html#more

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