U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms

By Binyamin Appelbaum and David ChoThe | Washington Post Staff Writers | Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document. The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

The administration plans to send legislation to Capitol Hill this week. Sources cautioned that the details, including the Treasury's role, are still in flux.

China economy ‘has bottomed’, says central bank adviser

HONG KONG, March 25 – reported by malaysianinsider – source : Reuters

China’s economy has touched bottom but further interest rate cuts remain an option, a Chinese central bank adviser said on Wednesday.

Fan Gang, who sits on the Chinese central bank’s monetary policy advisory committee, said a 25 per cent rise in car sales and accelerating investment in China indicated the economy was showing signs of improvement.

“Before (the economy) bottoms out, it has to bottom. I believe it has bottomed, with the stimulus package and signs of recovery in some industries,” Fan said in an interview during the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong.

Steel and energy consumption were declining at a slower rate and may have turned positive in March, while the transportation sector was warming up, he said.

However, high inventories and overcapacity in some industries remained the biggest short-term challenges for the economy, he said.

Further interest rate cuts remained an option.

“I don’t think anybody would rule it out. But it depends on China’s liquidity, how China’s recovery takes place and how the stimulus package works out,” he said.

As exports have collapsed in the face of sharply declining global demand in recent months, high inventories and overcapacity in some industries posed the biggest short-term challenges for the Chinese economy, Fan said.

The Chinese government has targeted 8 per cent growth this year, its lowest growth since 1999, but the World Bank forecasts only a 6.5 per cent expansion.

Fan said China’s sharp economic slowdown meant deflation was an issue in the short term, but he warned that inflopment of a diversified and competitive monetary system would be useful because competition between currencies can create more discipline.”

Subprime Credit Crisis

The Short and Simple Story of how the Credit Crisis started.

Najib: RM250b liquidity to help entrepreneurs

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 - Reported by Malaysianinsider - source : Bernama

The government has a huge liquidity of RM250 billion in its coffers to help local entrepreneurs cope with the current global economic crisis, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the government would also provide incentives to encourage banks to issue loans to businessmen in need of financial aid such as providing repayment guarantees to banks to reduce the liability risk.

"One of the important elements in facing the global economic and financial crisis is to ensure the country's financial system is able to disburse loans to entrepreneurs who are in need of financial aid," said Najib, who is also Finance Minister, when opening the 2009 MIDF (Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd) Bumiputera Entrepreneurs' Symposium.

"So long the banking sector does not give out loans, until then efforts to stimulate the world economy will not succeed," he said. Among the incentives provided are credit guarantee scheme for small-time businessmen by the Credit Guarantee Corporation under the supervision of Bank Negara which will provide 80 per cent guarantees for loans approved under the scheme.

Zambia bans foreign currency use

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:13:24 GMT | PressTV

Zambia has banned the US dollar in domestic transaction, along with other foreign currencies to ensure the kwacha gains economic value.

In the last six months, Zambia's kwacha has plunged 30 percent against the US dollar, forcing a decline in export earnings and pushing foreign investment to almost zero.

The bank of Zambia has banned non-residents from borrowing kwacha in order to boost currency losses.

Zambian Trade, Commerce and Industry Minister Felix Mutati reiterated that there would be heavy penalties on business that uses foreign currencies especially the US dollar.

According to Mutati, introducing statutory instruments is aimed at ensuring business firms trade in Kwacha and that "the effects of dollarisation" are curbed.

Zambia's main industry comes from its copper resources which are the largest in Africa. However, the recent fall in world copper prices has taken a heavy toll on the Zambian economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says because of its dependence on copper, Zambia is "highly vulnerable to the adverse effects associated with the global recession."

Zambia now hopes to save its drowning economy with measures, such as using a $200-million loan from the IMF to boost its foreign currency reserves -- which have since August 2008 gone down by 40 percent -- and enforcing a one-year foreign currency ban.

California's unemployment level climbs to 10.5% in February

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 07:21:04 Ross Frasier, Press TV, Los Angeles

Financial crisis produces some winners

20 March, 2009

Prior to G20 summit, EU trying to jumpstart economy

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:34:54 Anna Moya, Press TV, Brussels

International conference on Islamic banking starts in Moscow

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:27:19 Svetlana Korkina, Press TV, Moscow

Obama outlines plan to help small businesses

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:59:42 Colin Campbell, Press TV, Washington

World big banks to meet in London

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 07:27:12 GMT    |     PressTV

Chief executives from leading banks in Europe, Japan and the US will discuss the financial crisis in an upcoming meeting in London.

The British government will host the talks on March 24, ahead of an April 2 summit of the Group of 20 (G20) developed and emerging economies, Japan's Nikkei economic daily reported on Saturday.

Chief executives of the US-based JPMorgan Chase and Co. and the British bank HSBC have been invited to the meeting, the report adds.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group President Nobuo Kuroyanagi from Japan is also expected to attend the meeting.

The home mortgage meltdown in the American housing sector has resulted in big losses and massive write-downs among financial institutions in both the US and Europe.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in late February that the US banking sector lost a combined $26.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008.

JPMorgan Chase has announced that it expects 12,000 job cuts as part of its takeover of the failed Washington Mutual retail bank.

Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, has also been hit by losses in the US sub-prime mortgage market. In North America, it has reported a loss of $15.5 billion.

HSBC announced in March that it was seeking to raise 12.5 billion pounds ($17.7 billion) from shareholders through a rights issue in Britain. 

 

Ecotourism in Malaysia.

Malaysia in one of 12 mega biodiversity countries in the world.

Courtesy of Bernama TV

Gaza war grips Israeli economy

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:14:49 GMT   |   PressTV

Israel's economy will fall this year for the first time since 2002 because of the gloomy global economy and the effect of the Gaza offensive.

In its latest report Israel's central bank said Tel Aviv's budget deficit would stand equal to about 4 percent of the gross domestic product. The bank says the economy is expected to fall by 0.2 percent in 2009.

The report noted that the deficit is a part of the cost of Israel's 23-day offensive in Gaza, which killed 1330 Palestinians and injured 5,450 others.

The war, according to the bank, will widen the budget deficit to 4.1 percent of the GDP from 2.1 percent in 2008 and will also discourage tourism.

The bank revised its estimate from 1.5 percent growth for 2009, saying the economy will plunge this year for the first time since 2002.

"We are producing much less than we predicted and much less than in previous years," said Yosef Saadon, a spokesman for the Bank of Israel.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's benchmark TA-25 Index shrank by 4.4 percent to 637.23 last week.

The bank is preparing to cut the key interest rate from a record-low 1.75 percent to help the ailing economy.

After the start of the war, economists warned that the Israeli economy would be threatened if the invasion of the Gaza Strip was prolonged or the scope widened.

The estimated daily cost of the military operations stood at tens of millions of shekels (dollars).

According to Israeli daily Haaretz, Israeli economists acknowledged that the costs of the attacks on Gaza would skyrocket if Tel Aviv called up large reserve forces or launched a ground attack.

The Israeli Defense Ministry declined comment. 

France offers Islamic finance degree

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:26:20 GMT | PressTV

The financial success in the Persian Gulf region has turned Islamic banking into a fast-growing section in Europe.

A French business school has offered an Islamic finance degree for European Muslims who seek to pursue a career in Islamic banking.

Strasbourg University's School of Management has accepted 36 students from France, Algeria, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Tunisia into the 11-month postgraduate masters-level course.

Islamic bankers avoid 'Riba' -- usually translated as 'usury' -- and promote investments under the precepts of Sharia law, sharing the risk and profit among partners in a way that does not resemble gambling.

"It's another way of investing, another way of acquiring property. We prefer to avoid risky ventures," explained Strasbourg school researcher Ibrahim Zeyyad Cekici.

The financial success in the Persian Gulf region has turned Islamic banking into a fast-growing section in Europe, dominated so far by London-based institutions.

"Financial institutions and regulatory authorities are faced with more and more demand from new economic actors that have ethical and religious concerns when seeking finance and investment," AFP quoted the school as saying.

Liberty Dollars - what happened to it now?

Myself (Von NotHaus) and a few Ron Paul compatriots were interviewed today on our local Fox 7 News affiliate and our NBC affiliate here in Evansville, Indiana. At issue was the seizure of Liberty Dollar property and freeze of assets by FBI and Secret Service agents. In an effort to make the best of a bad situation, we went to first see if we could help in any way, and were at least able to get Ron Paul in the local news for the first time. Thanks to Fox 7 WTVW in Evansville for their fair and sympathetic coverage. Don't know if I can exactly say the same for our NBC affiliate. They obviously had an agenda in their coverage and made several mistakes in their coverage, including saying that the man they interviewed who lost $5000 was suing the Liberty Dollar, which is NOT true! He was actually joining a class action lawsuit to sue the Federal Government. That broadcast can be found among my other videos. 

Liberty Dollar office raided :

The future of an Evansville-based company that produces a "private voluntary barter currency" known as the Liberty Dollar is in question after federal agents raided the facility this week, according to an e-mail sent by its founder.

Federal officials reportedly raided the group's headquarters, located in a strip mall at 225 N. Stockwell Road, early Wednesday morning and seized documents and precious metals.

FBI Agent Wendy Osborne, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Indianapolis office, directed all questions on the raid to the Western District of North Carolina U.S. Attorney's Office. A spokeswoman there said she had no information on the investigation.

Bernard von NotHaus, the group's monetary architect and the author of the e-mail, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Von NotHaus developed the Liberty Dollar in 1998 as an "inflation-proof" alternative currency to the U.S. Dollar, which he has claimed has devalued since the Federal Reserve was established in 1913. The silver medallions are produced by a private mint in Idaho on behalf of Evansville-based Liberty Services, which also issues paper notes which the group says are backed by silver reserves.

Liberty Dollar employees were at the office this morning cleaning up after the raid. They referred all questions to von NotHaus.

According to the e-mail, about a dozen agents arrived Wednesday morning and seized gold, silver, platinum and nearly two tons of recently delivered Ron Paul Dollars. They also took all the files, all the computers and froze the group's bank accounts, the e-mail said.

"We have no money. We have no products. We have no records to even know what was ordered or what you are owed," von NotHaus wrote in the e-mail, which was sent to Liberty Dollar customers. "We have nothing but the will to push forward and overcome this massive assault on our liberty and our right to have real money as defined by the US Constitution. We should not to be defrauded by the fake government money."

The e-mail said the gold and silver that backs up the paper and digital currency was confiscated, as were the dies used to mint the Liberty Dollars themselves. As a result, it warns that recent orders placed for Liberty Dollars may not be filled and it encourages supporters to band together for a class action lawsuit.

The e-mail repeatedly defends the Liberty Dollar as legal.

"You did nothing wrong," von NotHaus wrote. "You are legally entitled to your property. Let us use this terrible act to band together and further our goal to return America to a value based currency."

- Gavin Lesnick   |   courierpress  |   November 15, 2009

Zoom Malaysia Domestic Tourism Promotion

Who is Bernard Madoff?

"It's all just one big lie."

- Bernard Madoff to his sons about his $50 billion "Ponzi" scheme

Fraudster Bernard L. Madoff was national treasurer of the American Jewish Congress and Yeshiva University. So where did the $50 billion go?

The latest massive financial scandal is the giant $50 billion pyramid or "Ponzi" scheme run by a New York Zionist Jew, Bernard Lawrence Madoff. How can anyone lose $50 thousand million? Where did the $50 billion disappear to? Israel?

Fraudster Bernard L. Madoff was national treasurer of the American Jewish Congress and Yeshiva University. So where did the $50 billion go?

Madoff told two "senior employees," i.e. his sons, Mark and Andrew, at his apartment the night before his arrest that the Madoff hedge fund and his investment advisory business was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme," according to court documents. His investment fund business was insolvent, and had been for years.

Many of Madoff's victims were fellow Jews looking for consistent returns on their investment, which his "Ponzi" scheme had been able to provide until a large number of investors tried to withdraw some $7 billion worth of funds in November.

As the Wall Street Journal reported:

News of money manager Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud sent shock waves through upscale communities in the New York area and Florida where wealthy individuals had entrusted billions of dollars to Mr. Madoff for decades. Ira Roth, a New Jersey resident, who says his family has about $1 million invested through Mr. Madoff's firm, is "in a state of panic."

"This is going to kill so many people," said a current investor in Mr. Madoff's fund. "It's absolutely awful."

...Many of his clients knew Mr. Madoff personally but had little understanding of his investment strategy, which reported remarkably consistent returns of some 1% per month. They often referred to it as a "black box."

Madoff also allegedly said that the losses from the fraud were at least $50 billion, according to the criminal complaint. He told his sons that he was "finished," and that he had "absolutely nothing" and "it's all just one big lie."

WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?

So who is Bernard L. Madoff? Apart from running his "investment company" and being a former chairman and director of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASDAQ), Madoff is a very committed Jewish Zionist who has served as the treasurer of two leading Zionist organizations. Like Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers, Sanford Weill of Citibank, and Maurice Greenberg of A.I.G., the major culprits behind the $2 trillion bail-out, Madoff is another New York Zionist Jew who has committed a massive financial fraud and cheated Americans and others out of untold billions of dollars.

From the left: Bernard L. Madoff, Yeshiv
a University Board treasurer and Board chairman, Syms School; Sy Syms, vice chairman, Board of Trustees; and Josh S. Weston.

Madoff is a former national treasurer of the American Jewish Congress (AJC) of New York City, one of the major fund-raising organizations for the state of Israel. Founded by the Hungarian Zionist rabbi Stephen S. Wise, the AJC claims to be "the first Jewish Defense Agency to support the establishment of a Jewish state" and boycott Germany in the 1930s. Wise was a Zionist who had been trained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, where Michael Chertoff's rabbi father and grandfather also studied and taught.

Belfer Hall is the main building at Yeshiva University.

Isn't it lovely?

Madoff is also the treasurer of Yeshiva University, a private Jewish university in New York City, where he is chairman of the board of the university's business school, the Sy Syms School of Business, which he has endowed with large donations, from his "Ponzi" scheme no doubt.

Madoff has been a member of Yeshiva University’s Board of Trustees since 1996, and was elected chairman of the board of Syms School of Business in 2000. (Yeshiva University is clearly trying to erase traces of Madoff from their website, but the cached versions remain.)

At Syms, where Madoff is the chairman of the board, "Jewish tradition provides the framework for consideration of ethical issues, an integral part of the student's education." Does the "Jewish tradition" taught at Yeshiva U. support giant "Ponzi" schemes like the one run by their chairman? Is this the kind of business they teach the students at Syms? Cheat the "goyim," i.e. non-Jews, and steal their money?

That is exactly what the Talmud teaches, make no mistake about it. It is the main reason that Jews have been despised and expelled from so many nations throughout history.

Anyone familiar with the teachings of the Talmud, i.e. "Jewish tradition," will know that such anti-Christian schemes are at the heart of such an "education." This is why so many of the financial criminals involved in the current Zionist-produced "credit crisis" are Jewish Zionists who have been indoctrinated in such "Jewish traditions." The Zionist criminals involved in 9-11 and the cover-up of the truth are all tied to the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, which is a similar Zionist institution.

Yeshiva University has a branch in Israel, as does the American Jewish Congress. Madoff has been the main treasurer of both Zionist institutions during the period he ran his giant "Ponzi" scheme. If Madoff has lost billions of dollars, as is alleged, these institutions should certainly be investigated as possible recipients of stolen money. The Zionist criminal structure relies on its tax-exempt "religious" network of schools and charities. These institutions are the frame of the Zionist criminal and racist network and should be investigated and closed if they are found to be teaching racist ideologies. Jewish racism is no different than any other racism and should not be tolerated in a free and democratic society like America.

courtesy : wakeupfromyourslumber

A Malaysian Tourism Campaign

Dr. Paul on the Global Financial Summitt

The Congressman discusses the G-20 summit taking place in Washington this weekend that will address the global monetary system.

The Wedding "bells" in August 08.

The brief period, a week, of the August 2008 – had been hectic to many. There were just too many weddings to attend . Why was it so?:

1. Do not tell me that there has a been a TOC, an acronym for Transfer of Culture from the Chinese to the Malays. For the Chinese 8.08 may has means a lot in terms of Fung Sui for Prosperity, ha ha!

2. The Malays beings Muslims may also had been thinking to do the weeding bash or feast before the Ramadhan which was coming on the first of September. Thus it was decided to be on Saturdays of August 08, school holidays.

3.Or you have to wait after the PMR for those with kids taking the exam or the SPM – which may means during the monsoon!

For me, the reason was simple, my daughter, the bride to be then, is teaching at a Matriculation college and so is her fiancé. Both of them had a two week teaching leave / holiday. Their second week break, coincides with the one week school break where all her sisters and brothers at schools could joined, in the celebration. I nodded, without a voice of objection. So we did the holy matrimony celebration during that school holiday, on its first Saturday. The bride and groom to be, could sort out what ever is needed during the first week of their break. In terms of time-line and scheduling, it was just perfect.

There were only two Saturdays involved during that school holiday. Saturday was the choice to facilitate others in the working class to join the ceremony, more so for the friends of the bride and the groom to be included. Saturday is a common non working day in Malaysia – the west coast / Sabah/Sarawak and the East Coast / Northern States of the Peninsular. On the second Saturday, a wedding reception was hosted by the groom.

Well there were too many “walimah” clashes, we did receive many apologises for it was just impossible to travel from end of the state to another let alone across the country – to be in a feast of almost at the same time. Some of my maternal Unties and Uncles, went to Alor Setar, for Che Pah and Ayah Sin – Son in Law wedding reception. Congratulations to Che Pah & Ayah Sin, who married off their daughter Nurul Hanani a week before me to Mohd Habib. But unfortunately the reception at the groom’s place was unable to be attended by my sisters, though living in Alor Setar, they were back in Kelantan for my daughter’s wedding.

I like to express my deepest gratitude to those relatives and friends who had attended the function, especially to Long and Sue Zaq. To others - uncles, unties, other relatives and neighbours and friends – who came after the ceremony, too. Many thanks for their well and best wishes.

At the groom’s reception in Paloh 6 Gemas, I am thankful to those who had taken the trouble to be there, on my side, Abang Pin, Tik & Yee, Afrizal & Sue, Ruslina & Roslan, Syams & Ellis, Zana & Min (Yu Nah) and kak Ze’s side, Abang Mat & Kak Diah, Shahida and Eddie, Danny & Julie, Maizuni and Azlan. – all with their kids.

Kak Ze’s big immediate Family
Sitting : Nurhannan, Hessa Kawthar, Salsabila, Najya Syakira
Squatting : Sumayyah, Mus’ab, Muhammad, Mufaddal, Ruqayyah
Standing : Hidayah, Anuar (menantu), Madihah, Azizan (Kak Ze), Salehah
Last row : Manan (Abe Ma6), Mardhiyyah.