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GlaxoSmithKline Busted In Scandal

By RD Bentley on July 28, 2012 in

GlaxoSmithKline, a British multinational pharmaceutical, has been busted in a scandal. On July 2, 2012, Glaxo pleaded guilty to and agreed to a $3 billion settlement. This could be the largest health-care fraud case in U.S. history.

GSK has been caught up in bribe, illegal promotion of drugs, and failure to report the safety data.

The drugs involved in the scandal were Paxil, Wellbutrin, Advair, Lamictal, and Zofran for off-label, non-covered uses. Those and the drugs Imitrex, Lotronex, Flovent, and Valtrex were involved in the kickback scheme.

In March and April of 1999, Dr. Drew Pinsky was paid $275,000 by Glaxo to talk about certain drugs.

The $3 billion fine would be an enormous fine for most of us, but this is small change for a company this big. Still, this may be a step in the right direction. Much more needs to be done.

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FAIL: Repeal Of The Glass-Steagall Act

By RD Bentley on July 27, 2012 in

We should all stop for a moment and give thanks to the people who caused the financial meltdown of the 21st century. The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLB), also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, was enacted November 12, 1999. This legislation repealed the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933, and now ten years plus later, it is widely known that this was a total failure.

President Bill Clinton has admitted he was wrong in a video finally, after doing a bit of stumbling in the beginning. It was on Clinton’s watch that Citicorp violated the rules. From Wikipedia:

A year before the law was passed, Citicorp, a commercial bank holding company, merged with the insurance company Travelers Group in 1998 to form the conglomerate Citigroup, a corporation combining banking, securities and insurance services under a house of brands that included Citibank, Smith Barney, Primerica, and Travelers. Because this merger was a violation of the Glass–Steagall Act and the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, the Federal Reserve gave Citigroup a temporary waiver in September 1998.

On July 25, 2012, former Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sandy Weill, considered one of the driving forces behind the considerable financial deregulation and “mega-mergers” of the 1990s, surprised financial analysts in Europe and North American by “calling for splitting up the commercial banks from the investment banks. In effect, he says: bring back the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 which led to half a century, free of financial crises.

Arthur Levitt, Chairman of the SEC under Clinton, was criticized for not pushing for tougher accounting rules. Since May 2001, he has been employed as a senior adviser at the Carlyle Group, of which the Bush family is a part of.

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FISA: Laws To Steal Your Privacy

By RD Bentley on July 26, 2012 in

Senator Ronald Wyden is one of the few members of Congress that is willing to spread the message about FISA, of which goes against measures that were originally designed to protect the privacy of the people. Senator Weyden has attempted to explain to his colleagues and the American people of this calamity that was created by the infamous Dubya. Some have proported that this type of legislation is illegal. These are laws intended to steal your privacy.

Weyden concludes:

I will also explain my reasoning a bit further, in case it is helpful to any colleagues who are less familiar with this issue. Over a decade ago the intelligence community identified a problem: surveillance laws designed to protect the privacy of people inside the United States were sometimes making it hard to collect the communications of people outside the United States. The Bush administration’s solution to this problem was to set up a warrantless wiretapping program, which operated in secret for a number of years. When this program became public several years ago many Americans–myself included–were shocked and appalled. Many Members of Congress denounced the Bush administration for this illegal and unconstitutional act.

However, Members of Congress also wanted to address the original problem that had been identified, so in 2008 Congress passed a law modifying the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. The purpose of this 2008 legislation was to give the government new authorities to collect the communications of people who are believed to be foreigners outside the United States, while still preserving the privacy of people inside the United States.

Specifically, the central provision in the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 added a new section to the original FISA statute, now known as section 702. As I said, section 702 was designed to give the government new authorities to collect the communications of people who are reasonably believed to be foreigners outside the United States. Because section 702 does not involve obtaining individual warrants, it contains language specifically intended to limit the government’s ability to use these new authorities to deliberately spy on American citizens.

The bill contained an expiration date of December 2012, and the purpose of this expiration date was to force Members of Congress to come back in a few years and examine whether these new authorities had been interpreted and implemented as intended. Before Congress votes this year to renew these authorities it is important to understand how they are working in practice, so that Members of Congress can decide whether the law needs to be modified or reformed.

In particular, it is important for Congress to better understand how many people inside the United States have had their communications collected or reviewed under the authorities granted by the FISA Amendments Act. If only a handful of people inside the United States have been surveilled in this manner, then that would indicate that Americans’ privacy is being protected. On the other hand, if a large number of people inside the United States have had their communications collected or reviewed because of this law, then that would suggest that protections for Americans’ privacy need to be strengthened.

Unfortunately, while Senator Udall of Colorado and I have sought repeatedly to gain an understanding of how many Americans have had their phone calls or e-mails collected and reviewed under this statute, we have not been able to obtain even a rough estimate of this number.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence told the two of us in July 2011 that “it is not reasonably possible to identify the number of people located in the United States whose communications may have been reviewed” under the FISA Amendments Act. I am prepared to accept that it might be difficult to come up with an exact count of this number, but it is hard for me to believe that it is impossible to even estimate it.

During the committee’s markup of this bill Senator Udall and I offered an amendment that would have directed the inspectors general of the intelligence community and the Department of Justice to produce an estimate of how many Americans have had their communications collected under section 702. Our amendment would have permitted the inspectors general to come up with a rough estimate of this number, using whatever analytical techniques they deemed appropriate. We are disappointed that this amendment was voted down by the committee, but we will continue our efforts to obtain this information.

I am concerned, of course, that if no one has even estimated how many Americans have had their communications collected under the FISA Amendments Act, then it is possible that this number could be quite large. Since all of the communications collected by the government under section 702 are collected without individual warrants, I believe that there should be clear rules prohibiting the government from searching through these communications in an effort to find the phone calls or e-mails of a particular American, unless the government has obtained a warrant or emergency authorization permitting surveillance of that American.

Section 702, as it is currently written, does not contain adequate protections against warrantless “back door” searches of this nature–even though they are the very thing that many people thought the FISA Amendments Act was intended to prevent. Senator Udall and I offered an amendment during the committee’s markup of this bill that would have clarified the law to prohibit searching through communications collected under section 702 in an effort to find a particular American’s communications. Our amendment included exceptions for searches that involved a warrant or an emergency authorization, as well as for searches for the phone calls or e-mails of people who are believed to be in danger or who consent to the search. I am disappointed that this amendment was also voted down by the committee, but I will continue to work with my colleagues to find a way to close this loophole before the FISA Amendments Act is extended.

I recognize that the collection that has taken place under the FISA Amendments Act has produced some useful intelligence, so my preference would be to enact a short-term reauthorization to give Congress time to get more information about the impact of this law on Americans’ privacy rights and consider possible modifications. However, I believe that protections against warrantless searches for Americans’ communications should be added to the law immediately.

An obvious question that I have not answered here is whether any warrantless searches for Americans’ communications have already taken place. I am not suggesting that any warrantless searches have or have not occurred, because Senate and committee rules regarding classified information generally prohibit me from discussing what intelligence agencies are actually doing or not doing. However, I believe that we have an obligation as elected legislators to discuss what these agencies should or should not be doing, and it is my hope that a majority of my Senate colleagues will agree with that searching for Americans’ phone calls and e-mails without a warrant is something that these agencies should not do.

[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 87 (Monday, June 11, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3895-S3896

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Project Quote Approval

By RD Bentley on July 25, 2012 in

You were remotely aware of this all along weren’t you? Does journalism represented by major news outlets in the US, require government censorship? Just how filtered is the news that we absorb in our daily lives? Is the mainstream really speaking for government on a large-scale?

In a shocking (maybe not so shocking) revelation we discover that The New York Times must acquiesce to political candidates, of whom are seeking election. Journalists cannot publish a story until the material is approved by the candidate it was written about. They deem this benevolent tactic as “quote approval”.

“Quote approval” is standard with the Obama campaign, as the story is deciphered and transferred via emails. The same standards apply to the Romney campaign as well.

And we wonder just how far this this oblique style of reporting has gone? Does this refer to the campaign trail, or is this common routine? Hmmm.

Does this only apply to The New York Times, or is this applicable to all news outlets? The report stated that “Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Reuters and The New York Times have all consented to interviews under such terms.” This is probably not the entire list either.

While no evidence of censorship is claimed, it is quite clear that the opposite is in fact the reality. How can we mention freedom of press when the press is not “free” to edit itself?

Let’s get the facts straight here, political censorship isn’t only implemented in Cuba, China, and North Korea. This seems to be the tacitly implied rule, which amounts to nothing but total hypocrisy. As you judge for yourself, aren’t these politicians and journalists practicing the same principles?

The Obama and Bush administrations are not the first to play this game. Many regimes have long used many forms of censorship, including Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Nicolae Ceaușescu of Romania. The so called capitalist nations are not immune from censorship.

The Bush administration was not an open form of government — “The Bush Administration has an obsession with secrecy,” says Representative Henry Waxman. “It has repeatedly rewritten laws and changed practices to reduce public and congressional scrutiny of its activities. The cumulative effect is an unprecedented assault on the laws that make our government open and accountable.”

Anonymity has dramatically increased to new levels with the Obama administration  — It has quietly put into practice an ‘incomplete idea’ left over from the Bush II presidency: creating a de facto ‘presidential international assassination program.’ Court documents, evidence offered by Human Rights Watch and a special United Nations report allege that US citizens suspected of encouraging “terror” had been put on “death lists.”

Under their terms we might call this Project Quote Approval…

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Back To School Hot List

By RD Bentley on July 24, 2012 in

Summer’s almost gone and it’s about that time to get the kids ready for school. Here’s a back to school hot list. There’s absolutely no need to panic if you’ve forgotten something. Here are a few links to get started.

1. Backpacks — A good backpack lasts for years. Unfortunately, they do wear out in time.

2. Messenger Bags — This is a stylish alternative to backpacks. Messenger bags are ergonomically designed and very fashionable. They are made to be worn over the shoulder.

3. Flash Drives — Most teachers require students to bring USB flash drives. This also a great way to store pictures, songs, and even back up everything on your computer. Kingston is a good brand; there are several others.

4. Pencils — One thing that hasn’t changed over the years is the need for pencils. No. 2 pencils are recommended.

5. Calculators — Older students may need a scientific calculator. It’s a good idea to check with the math teacher first if you’re not sure what to get.

6. Notebook Paper — Notebooks and writing pads are always a must for the student and the parent.

6. Paper Supplies — Here’s a quick trip to the paper room.

7. Folders — At some point in school a student will need folders.

8. Binders — It’s best to go with a heavy-duty binder, and often the 1 or 1 and a half inch sizes are sufficient.

9. Staplers — Nothing like a stapler that actually works well.

10. Electric pencil sharpeners — The quickest way to sharpen a pencil.

11. Hand sanitizer — Hand sanitizer is usually a good idea.

12. Education Supplies — Here’s a variety of educational supplies.

13. Ink Pens — A good ballpoint pen works well for writing.

14. Colored pencils — Colored pencils for those special projects.

15. Scissors — Blunt ended for younger kids, pointed for older ones.

16. Adhesives — This includes Scotch tape and Elmer’s school glue.

17. Glue sticks — For the young ones.

18. Highlighters — Here’s a variety of highlighters.

19. Construction paper — Elementary school students.

20. Printer paper — There’s never enough printer paper on hand for the computer.

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Big Brother Is Storing Your Emails

By RD Bentley on July 24, 2012 in

Can the NSA collect all our phone conversations and emails, without warrants or oversight?

Orwellian: Big Brother is storing your emails automatically without your permission. This is a violation of the fourth amendment and has been occurring since the 9/11 tragedy. The NSA is the department responsible, and it has a carte-blanche to pursue an ongoing database.

Shhh. It’s Godwin’s law. Be careful about your every conversation on the phone, because it becomes an opportunity. They are listening to your every word. Can you say Stellar wind?

Kirk Wiebe, former senior analyst; and William Binney, former technical director, share their expertise on the subject via Viewpoint with Eliot Spizer.

Thomas Drake, a former senior executive of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), is against this invasion of privacy that the NSA keeps ignoring. Drake sheds light on the topic:

They really opened up a Pandora’s Box and under the excuse of 9/11 they just said hey, the constitution is null and void, and national security takes privacy. And… what’s now being created a decade plus later is a pernicious, persistent, and permanent database. The real risk and danger is this is something that’s not going to go away; and in secret they’re going to have access to it, and in secret they’ll be able to build dossiers on practically everybody they want to. Or go back in time to find out anything they would like to.

In speaking of electronic surveillance, we’re now treating the United States of America as equivalent of a foreign nation. What’s interesting is a lot of ex post facto laws have been passed since 9/11, particularly in the last 5 or 6 years, to essentially make legal what was critically illegal after 9/11.

The three men are involved in a legal case with the agency.

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Gold Scam In China $59.62 Billion

By RD Bentley on July 23, 2012 in

The police in China have been very busy as of late, chasing down hardcore suspects that have been illegally promoting investments to over 5,000 investors. This gold scam is worth $59.62 billion or 380 billion yuan, but who’s counting. Maybe it’s a good idea to invest in physical gold?

According to a ChinaDaily report, the 33 “suspects who had been trading since October 2008, had never registered with industrial and commercial authorities, as required by the law,” said Guo Congbin, director of Luoyang public security bureau, on Tuesday. While it is illegal in the mainland, “they promoted investments in Loco London gold, the London gold market in Hong Kong.”

 Forbes gave this analysis — ”China is expected to overtake India as the largest market for gold this year.”

So what this means is the Chinese are not going to stop buying gold, in fact, the demand is going to increase dramatically. Investors might be a little more cautious after a fraudulent case like this erupts in the news. You think?

For those interested in buying gold, TE Investments offers a very interesting page about the subject. The website claims that: “The basic centers of trade are: Loco London, Loco Zurich, Loco New York, Loco Tokyo.”

There is the Nigerian scam, which is a type of advance fee fraud and one of the most common types of confidence frauds in which the victim is defrauded for monetary gain. This scam is called the Nigerian 419.

How about a 419? Maybe I Go Chop Your Dollar man. You are the loser, I am the winner…

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Spanish Coal Miners Protesting Austerity

By RD Bentley on July 23, 2012 in

A PressTV video reveals the sheer weight of the economic upheaval in Spain. Spanish coal miners are protesting against such harsh austerity measures, which are slashing jobs and causing even more instability in the country. You might say there is a war going on in northern Spain at this moment. Will Spain be the next Greece?

There are thousands of coal miners, some say as many as 30,000, that are losing their jobs due to cutbacks of government subsidies, and the miners are collectively taking it to the streets. The activists staged a miners march from Asturias to Madrid, walking some 270 miles of road, with the temperature reaching up to 95 degrees. They arrived on the outskirts of  the capitol in the early part of July, to spread their message. If you listen to the EuroNews video you can hear the concerns of the people.

The miners had been on strike since May of 2012.

One marcher replied: “Our goal is to stop the cuts and to force the government to give what belongs to us. We are not isolated. We are the miners of Asturias, so we are talking about 3,000 people.”

Another miner articulated: “There is an interesting saying — When the rich steals from the poor, it’s called business. When the poor defend themselves it is violence.”

There had been a proposal to cut subsidies to unprofitable mines by 2018, but the government wants to speed up the process as early as next year.

The Spanish miners have even fired rockets in clashes with police. The miners have blocked some roads with barricades.

The end of mining in the region could mean the end of the region itself. “Only idiots would leave the country depending entirely on foreign energy,” one protester remarked. “The only energy resource we have here is coal.” And if the coal mines are shut down, Spain will be required to buy the coal from another country, probably Germany or Poland.

Spain’s unemployment rate is around 22 percent. Can Spain be saved? Can the Euro be saved?

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IMF Economist Peter Doyle Has Resigned

By RD Bentley on July 21, 2012 in

International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Peter Doyle has resigned. In his resignation letter, Doyle explained his parting: “After twenty years of service, I am ashamed to have had any association with the Fund at all.”

In reality, the attempt to criticize his former employer only points to much larger problems, and Doyle faintly begins to address the social impact of this decadent institution. Numerous hidden abuses that humanity suffers can be traced back to the IMF organization.

And why did it take twenty years to form this opinion? Explain.

The media will sugarcoat Doyle’s resignation, and will neutralize the ominous financial situation. If any take the time to investigate further, it would soon be discovered that the media are corporations, thus having strong ties with  these global entities. Check it out for yourself.

Charles Derber writes in People Before Profit: The New Globalization in an Age of Terror, Big Money, and Economic Crisis:

Globalization encompasses three institutions: global financial markets and transnational companies, national governments linked to each other in economic and military alliances led by the US, and rising “global governments” such as World Trade Organization (WTO), IMF, and World Bank.

“These interacting institutions create a new global power system where sovereignty is globalized, taking power and constitutional authority away from nations and giving it to global markets and international bodies.”

The IMF claims to aid countries and loan money to those that are facing a crisis. On the contrary, such harsh conditions placed on these countries are self-defeating, creating an economy much worse and eventually causing additional suffering.

As Doyle himself suggests: “The consequences include suffering (and risk of worse to come) for many including Greece, that the second global reserve currency is on the brink, and that the Fund for the past two years has been playing catch-up and reactive roles in the last-ditch efforts to save it.”

An investigative journalist, John Pilger comments: “Contrary to a myth long popular in the West, it’s been the poor of the world who’ve financed the rich, not the other way around.” This is in effect a war by other means.

“Economic neo-colonialism extracts the human and the natural resources of a peripheral (poor) country to flow to the economies of the wealthy countries at the center of the global economic system.”

It’s appropriate to end on this quote (from a letter supposedly sent from the Rothschild Bros. of London to New York bankers Ikleheimer, Morton, and Vandergould, on June 25, 1863):

The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or so dependent on its favours that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of the people mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system will bear its burdens without complaint and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests.

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Tech CEO Gives Away $3 Mil Bonus

By RD Bentley on July 20, 2012 in ,

A tech CEO gives away his $3 million bonus to 10,000 employees. Yang Yuanqing, the CEO at Lenovo, gave the employees a bonus of $314. A CNN report revealed that “Yang had earned $5.2 million in bonuses for the fiscal year ending in March.”

In 1989, Yang joined the Lenovo team as a salesman. He was soon promoted at 29 years old, and then made CEO in 2001. Yang has been described as — “A man who moves forward, takes risks and aims to innovate.”

Yang was chairman of the board from 2004 to 2008, and in 2009 he re-assumed the position of CEO. In 2001, BusinessWeek named him as one of the rising stars in Asia.

We salute you Mr.Yang Yuanqing for your innovation and your unselfish style as CEO of Lenovo.

Lenovo Reports Fourth Quarter and Record Full Year 2011/12 Results

HONG KONG — Lenovo Group today announced results for its fourth fiscal quarter and full year ended March 31, 2012. With full-year record sales of $US 29.6 billion, an increase of almost 37 percent year-over-year, Lenovo finished its financial year as the world’s second largest PC vendor with a record full-year market share of 12.9 percent. Throughout the year, Lenovo continued to demonstrate its ability to execute against the Company’s strategy of “protect and attack,” in established markets and new markets respectively, while achieving balanced growth in all geographies, customer segments and product lines. The result was a record full-year pre-tax income of $US 582 million, an increase of 63 percent year-over-year.

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