Transpicuous News Ep “Welcome to the Circus: Big Banks Dog and Pony Show”

Transpicuous News, November 14, 2014. This weeks review of the main stream media news, and delving into the ridiculousness of the global economic and political circus.

http://the-one-network.org/transpicuous-news-ep-welcome-to-the-circus-big-banks-dog-and-pony-show/

U.S. POWER SHIFT

Republicans take control of Senate

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/04/politics/election-day-story/index.html?hpt=hp_t1


Ron Paul: US elections are 1-party monopoly
http://rt.com/usa/202295-ron-paul-midterm-elections/


If You Really Think It Matters Which Party Controls the Senate, Answer These Questions
http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.com/2014/11/if-you-really-think-it-matters-which.html


Voting machine, ID problems crop up in U.S. elections
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-usa-elections-irregularities-idUSKBN0IP06M20141105


The FBI’s Quiet Plan to Expand Its Hacking Powers
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/the-fbi-s-quiet-plan-to-expand-its-hacking-powers-20141105

 the advisory panel. They also warned that the expansion would threaten the Fourth Amendment's strict limitations on government search and seizures, and allow the FBI to violate the sovereignty of foreign countries.

Big companies disclose too little on operations abroad: watchdog
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-business-transparency-idUSKBN0IP0C620141105

 The world's biggest companies disclose little or no financial details about their operations abroad, according to a report by Transparency International, which singled out Chinese companies but pointed to U.S. tech giants like Amazon (AMZN.O) and Google (GOOGL.O) as well....Warren Buffet's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) was ranked the sixth least transparent multinational,....
Transparency said the world's biggest oil, gas and mining companies were not yet ready for transparency rules that would enter into force across the European Union from July 2015.
Those regulations require extractive companies to report payments such as taxes to governments on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis. In the United States, similar measures are planned, but implementation has been delayed.

Canada's Head Central Banker Has A Modest Proposal: "You Should Consider Working For Free"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-04/canadas-head-central-banker-has-modest-proposal-you-should-consider-working-free

How bad are things in Canada’s job market? Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz says bad enough for young people to consider working for free.
Adult children stuck in their parents’ basements because they can’t find adequate employment should take unpaid work to bolster résumés as they wait for the recovery to take hold, Poloz said Monday in Toronto.
The Bank of Canada estimates about 200,000 young people want to work or work more, and Poloz said they may be scarred by prolonged unemployment that prevents them from moving out on their own. He said he’s been asked for advice on how young people can find work.

Chinese, Canadian central banks agree to 200 bln yuan currency swap
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/china-says-icbc-yuan-clearing-bank-canada-081837237--business.html


Canada police deploy facial recognition tech
http://rt.com/news/203035-canada-police-facial-recognition/

Pssst!  They've been doing this for years!  The change is that they are now doing it "in house"  instead of having the US do it for them.


Parliament to debate ‘money creation’, first time in 170 years
http://rt.com/uk/202923-uk-parliament-future-money/

 “most MPs lack a sufficient understanding of money creation, leaving them ill-equipped to legislate on important policy.”

New Economics Foundation senior economist James Meadway said the last time the issue of money creation was debated in parliament was in 1844, where politicians “stopped banks issuing their own currencies,” leading to an economic crash three years later.
“The crash of 2008 drummed home the point that we cannot just leave the institutions that look after our money to their own devices. How banks operate, and how money is created and supplied by them, are so central to the economy – but so dysfunctional – that widening public debate and discussion of the money system has to be a good thing,” he said.
“That said, the last time Parliament debated money creation, it managed to come to entirely the wrong answer – following conventional economic theory at the time, Robert Peel's Bank Charter Act in 1844 stopped banks issuing their own currency.
“When a banking crisis erupted anyway in 1847, the Act had to be suspended to allow the system to continue functioning at all.”

First world war 100 years on
UK bonds that financed first world war to be redeemed 100 years later
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/31/uk-first-world-war-bonds-redeemed

The UK government is to repay part of the nation’s first world war debt – 100 years since the start of the war.
As Europe marks the centenary of the Great War, the Treasury said it would pay off £218m from a 4% consolidated loan next February, as part of a redemption of bonds stretching as far back as the 18th century.

In addition to the war bonds, some of the debt being repaid dates as far back as the eighteenth century. In 1853, William Gladstone, then chancellor, consolidated the capital stock of the South Sea Company which had collapsed in the infamous South Sea Bubble financial crisis of 1720. And in 1888, then chancellor, George Goschen, converted bonds first issued in 1752 which were later used to finance the Napoleonic and Crimean wars, the Slavery Abolition Act (1835) and the Irish Distress Loan (1847).

$3.8bn in UK aid for developing states 'routed through tax havens'
http://rt.com/uk/202091-uk-aid-tax-avoidance/

Over two-thirds of investments by the private-sector wing of the UK's foreign aid program were funneled through tax havens in 2013, a report reveals. Since 2000, the UK government
The network is comprised of 48 NGOs from 18 different EU states that campaign on development, tax justice, and other financial issues.
The research reveals how billions of euros, supposedly intended for projects in developing states, are being channeled through tax havens that are “shrouded in secrecy.”

Cayman Islands premier McKeeva Bush arrested
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20679259


BREAKING: 51 arrested in raids across Spain in massive anti-corruption crackdown
http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2014/10/27/breaking-former-government-minister-among-51-arrested-in-massive-anti-corruption-crackdown/


Exclusive - Central bankers to challenge Draghi on ECB leadership style
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/04/uk-ecb-governors-idUKKBN0IO1H020141104


ECB's new watchdog takes over EU banks supervision
http://rt.com/business/202143-ecb-watchdog-supervise-banks/


... which is basically puttting the cat in charge of guarding the cat nip.  seirously.


€9bn wasted: EU fails own budget audit after misspending ‘errors’
http://rt.com/business/202563-eu-budget-errors-audit/

which put me in mind of  the movie Independence Day, when julius says to the President:   "You don't actually think they spend $20,000 on a hammer, $30,000 on a toilet seat, do you?"


It Begins: German Bank 'Charging' Negative Interest To Its Retail Customers
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-04/it-begins-german-bank-charging-negative-interest-its-retail-customers

GOLD AND "ASSETS"

New Currency Wars Cometh - Gold To Be “Last Man Standing”
www.goldcore.com/goldcore_blog/New_Currency_Wars_Cometh_Gold_To_Be_Last_Man_Standing


Now ISIS wants to introduce its own currency: Plans to bring back solid gold and silver dinar coins announced in Iraqi mosques
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2829097/Now-ISIS-wants-introduce-currency-Plans-bring-solid-gold-silver-dinar-coins-announced-Iraqi-mosques.html


The Council Of Foreign Relations Apologizes For The "Greenspan Glitch"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-10/council-foreign-relations-apologizes-greenspan-glitch

"Last week, we brought to the public's attention a controversial 'missing' section from the official transcript of Alan Greenspan's interview last with the Council of Foreign Relations where he dared utter his honest opinion that, "Gold is a currency. It is still, by all evidence, a premier currency. No fiat currency, including the dollar, can match it." Well, it turns out the reason for the practically heterical section's omission was "a glitch in the live stream" and CFR has apologized and posted the full transcript. Interesting coincidence that this gold-loving, Bernanke-denying section was the only one to be hit by the 'glitch'; we are confident it's mere coincidence..."

Because Nothing Says "Best Execution" Like Dumping $1.5 Billion In Gold Futures At 0030ET
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-05/because-nothing-says-best-execution-dumping-15-billion-gold-futures-0030et

"For the 5th day in a row, "someone" has decided that 0030ET would be an appropriate time ... to be dumping large amounts of precious metals positions via the futures market. Tonight, with over 13,000 contracts being flushed through Gold - amounting to over $1.5 billion notional, gold prices tumbled $20 to $1151 (its lowest level since April 2010). Silver is well through $16 and back at Feb 2010 lows. The USDollar is also surging. The timing of the dump is right as Japanese trading breaks for lunch

Gold prices swoon, coin sales surge as buyers seek bargains
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-global-coins-demand-idUKKBN0IP0W520141105

"A sharp break in gold prices to their lowest levels in more than four years has unleashed a surge in demand for coins, with buyers in Germany queueing out the door and some U.S. investors returning to the market for the first time in years.
Coin dealers and mints from North America to Europe are reporting a surge in coins and small bars that are favored by retail investors, after spot gold on Friday broke below a key technical support at $1,180 an ounce. It was the biggest buying binge since April 2013, when prices fell by $200 in two days.

Oil continues to slide, with Brent at lowest in over four years
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-continues-to-slide-with-brent-at-lowest-in-over-four-years-2014-11-05

BANKING

Nigerian Banks’ Depressed Prices Attract Bargain-Hunters
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-05/nigerian-banks-depressed-prices-attract-bargain-hunters.html

Bank Of America Finds It Did Some More Crime In Q3, Revises Previously Released Earnings Lower By $400 Million
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-06/bank-america-finds-it-did-some-more-crime-q3-revises-previously-released-earnings-lo

The $9 Billion Witness: Meet JPMorgan Chase's Worst Nightmare
http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.com/2014/11/meet-jpmorgan-chases-worst-nightmare.html


JPMorgan Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Into Currency Trading
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-03/jpmorgan-faces-u-s-criminal-probe-into-foreign-exchange-trading.html

Virginia Sues 13 Banks for $1.15 Billion Alleging Fraud
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-16/virginia-sues-13-banks-for-1-15-billion-alleging-fraud.html

Libor Fixing
http://www.propublica.org/special/your-guide-to-the-latest-efforts-to-hold-big-banks-accountable

Forex-Rigging Fines Could Hit $41 Billion Globally: Citi
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-20/forex-rigging-fines-could-hit-41-billion-globally-citi.html

U.S. Prosecutor Masterminded $37 Billion Bank Penalty Win
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-07/u-s-prosecutor-masterminded-37-billion-bank-penalty-win.html

UBS Adds $2Bn to Its Litigation Warchest as Regulators Sharpen Their Sabres - See more at: http://forexmagnates.com/ubs-adds-2bn-litigation-warchest-regulators-sharpen-sabres/#sthash.epuawhmM.dpuf

Too Big to Tax: Settlements Are Tax Write-Offs for Banks
http://www.newsweek.com/2014/11/07/giant-penalties-are-giant-tax-write-offs-wall-street-279993.html

Homework Reading:

The Big Banks: Fraud, LIBOR, FOREX, Money Laundering, Ponzi schemes.....
http://transpicuousnews.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-big-banks-fraud-libor-forex-money.html



The Last Gasp Of The Global Economy
http://transpicuousnews.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-last-gasp-of-global-economy.html


QE for Dummies
Understanding the most outlandish monetary experiment ever
http://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/80790/qe-for-dummies



No Tax Write-Offs for Wall Street Wrongdoing
http://uspirg.org/resources/usp/no-tax-write-offs-wall-street-wrongdoing


The Corporate Research Project
http://www.corp-research.org/


Crimes, Fines, and Abuses by the World’s Top Corporations
compiled for The Transnational Institute’s State of
Power 2014
http://www.tni.org/sites/www.tni.org/files/download/corporate_planet_crimes_and_fines_website_table_with_sources.pdf


A List of the Biggest Bank Settlements
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/06/23/a-list-of-the-biggest-bank-settlements/

March 12, 2014: News Updates

Gas leak blamed for fatal New York explosion

Wednesday 12 March 2014 16.59
Two residential buildings in Manhattan have exploded and collapsed killing at least two people and injuring 18 others.
The explosion struck the buildings at 116th Street and Park Avenue in the East Harlem neighbourhood of New York, where witnesses said they were jolted awake by what sounded like an earthquake.


http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0312/601807-building-collapses-in-manhattan-new-york/

Malaysian plane disappearance linked to 9/11: Barrett

Malaysia
Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation's Director General Azharuddin Abdul Rahman briefs reporters on search and recovery efforts within existing and new areas for missing Malaysia Airlines plane, on Monday, March 10, 2014 in Sepang,Malaysia.(file photo)
Wed Mar 12, 2014 7:24AM GMT
Transponder signals mysteriously disappear. Jetliners veer off course, then vanish without a trace. Seemingly impossible cell phone calls add to the mystery.
It happened on 9/11. Now it has happened again in Malaysia.
Family members of the passengers on Malaysian Airlines MH370 report getting ring tones when they call their missing loved ones. Social networking sites show the missing passengers "on-line." The airline reports getting ring tones on the crew's cell phones. 

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/03/12/354317/malaysian-plane-incident-linked-to-911/


 

Malaysia Airlines flight direction unclear to Malaysian authorities

Chief denies report that military tracked jet far from where it last contacted air traffic control
The Associated Press Posted: Mar 12, 2014 12:50 AM ET
More than four days after a Malaysian jetliner went missing en route to Beijing, authorities acknowledged Wednesday they didn't know which direction the plane carrying 239 passengers was heading when it disappeared, vastly complicating efforts to find it.

Amid intensifying confusion and occasionally contradictory statements, the country's civil aviation authorities and the military said the plane may have turned back from its last known position between Malaysia and Vietnam, possibly as far as the Strait of Malacca, a busy shipping lane west of Malaysia.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/malaysia-airlines-flight-direction-unclear-to-malaysian-authorities-1.2569129

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 search crowdsourced by U.S. firm

Internet users can search for the missing plane in satellite images of ocean
Thomson Reuters Posted: Mar 11, 2014 6:08 PM ET Last Updated: Mar 11, 2014 11:05 PM ET
A U.S. company has put crowdsourcing to work in the search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner, inviting internet users to comb through satellite images of over 3,100 square kilometres of ocean for any sign of wreckage, the company says.
Colorado-based DigitalGlobe Inc. used two of its satellites to collect imagery from an area between the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea where the Boeing 777-200ER with 239 passengers and crew on board was at first believed to have crashed after it went missing early on Saturday, the firm said on its website Tuesday.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-search-crowdsourced-by-u-s-firm-1.2568677

 Russia Calls U.S. Aid to Ukraine Illegal Amid Standoff

By Kateryna Choursina, Volodymyr Verbyany and Ilya Arkhipov Mar 12, 2014 5:51 AM GMT+
Russia stood by deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and called possible U.S. aid to the new government in Kiev illegal, as the standoff with Western governments over Crimea intensified.
Financial support sought by the U.S. for Ukraine’s interim leadership would violate American law barring aid to any regime that uses force to take power, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday. Russia considers the ouster of Moscow-backed Yanukovych a coup, a claim rejected by the U.S.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-12/russia-calls-u-s-aid-to-ukraine-illegal-amid-standoff.html

US uses law on aid to post-coup governments as ‘political football’

march 11 2014
The US has double standards when it comes to suspending aid to countries where the authorities have been overthrown by force, Egypt and Ukraine are a clear example, Jeffrey Steinberg, Executive Intelligence Review senior editor, told RT.
RT: Ukraine's deposed leader claims Washington is breaking its own laws when offering money to the current authorities in Kiev. So does Yanukovich have a point here?

http://rt.com/op-edge/us-egypt-ukraine-aid-194/

Has Blackwater been deployed to Ukraine? Notorious U.S. mercenaries 'seen on the streets of flashpoint city' as Russia claims 300 hired guns have arrived in country

    Unidentified armed men seen on the streets of Donetsk in east Ukraine
    Russian diplomat claims 300 mercenaries had arrived in Kiev this week
    Mercenaries in the region could give Putin pretext for military action
    Donetsk has been the scene of big pro-Russian demonstrations this week
Speculation was growing last night that American mercenaries had been deployed to Donetsk after videos emerged of unidentified armed men in the streets of the eastern Ukrainian city.
At least two videos published on YouTube earlier this week show burly, heavily armed soldiers with no insignia in the city, which has been gripped by pro-Moscow protests.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2576490/Are-Blackwater-active-Ukraine-Videos-spark-talk-U-S-mercenary-outfit-deployed-Donetsk.html#ixzz2vjNaqoS7

US war games in Black Sea 'speak in clear voice' to Russia: White House

Wed Mar 12, 2014 3:19AM GMT
White House press secretary Jay Carney says US military exercises with Romanian and Bulgarian warships in the Black Sea "speak in a clear voice" to Russia.
"We obviously have provided stepped-up assistance to those countries in this case," Carney said on Tuesday.
The Obama administration has sent 12 F-16 fighter jets and 300 American troops in Poland this week. Six F-15C Eagles and more than 60 American had also arrived at Siauliai air base, Lithuania.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/03/12/354294/us-war-games-message-for-russia-wh/

Saudi chameleon: What next, jihad in Crimea?

Published time: March 11, 2014 08:40

http://rt.com/op-edge/crimea-terrorism-saudi-tatars-050/

Bond Trading Grinds To A Halt: Goldman Set To Report Weakest Q1 Since 2005; Revenues Down As Much As 25% Elsewhere

march 12/14
The topic of disappearing bond market liquidity and volume has been beaten to death on this site over the past several years. Nothing new here: thanks to the Fed's central-planning mission creep which has made efficient and fair markets into a surreal mockery, first equity, and then fixed income trading has been made irrelevant as there is no longer such a thing as price discovery, and with it have disappeared liquidity in the two largest equity and fixed income markets in the world.
It got so bad even the TBAC was openly complaining to the Treasury last August that there is no longer a bond market in the conventional sense, with the clear implication that since there are barely any fixed income transactions, Wall Street can't make money on either flow or prop trading side of things (and also warned that if and when the selling starts in earnest, watch out below). Alas, since Wall Street was explicitly fighting the Fed (remember: the main reason there is no volume is because nobody is selling) Wall Street has once again lost, and despite its appeals, the time to pay the piper has come. Said payment will be taken out of bank Q1 earnings which as everyone knows, will continue the declining trend seen in recent years (so much for that whole Net Interest Margin fable), but to learn just how bad, we go to the FT which reports that fixed income groups across Wall Street "are set for their worst start to the year since before the financial crisis, with revenue declines of up to 25%."
The punchline: "Analysts now expect Goldman Sachs to record its weakest first quarter since 2005 and JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are forecast to see their lowest revenues since they bought Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, respectively, in 2008."

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-12/bond-trading-grinds-halt-goldman-set-report-weakest-quarter-2005-much-25-down-elsewh

Big fine imposed on ex-Goldman trader Tourre in SEC case

NEW YORK Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:49pm EDT
(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered former Goldman Sachs Group Inc trader Fabrice Tourre to pay more than $825,000 after a jury found him liable for defrauding investors in a subprime mortgage product that failed during the financial crisis.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/us-goldmansachs-sec-tourre-idUSBREA2B11220140312

Ex-Credit Suisse banker pleads guilty to fraud, set to aid tax inquiry

By Evan Perez, CNN
March 12, 2014
Washington (CNN) -- A former Credit Suisse banker pleaded guilty on Tuesday to fraud charges, setting the stage for prosecutors to challenge claims by the Swiss bank that helping wealthy Americans evade taxes was the work of a few rogue bankers.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/11/business/credit-suisse-banker-arrested/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

JP Morgan home loan whistleblower gets $64 mn reward

Published time: March 11, 2014 14:35
The JP Morgan whistleblower who revealed the bank's flawed home loans scandal is being given a $64 million reward. The bank was fined $614 million for the debacle.

http://rt.com/business/jpmorgan-whistleblower-mortgage-fraud-106/

When Interest Rates Rise – It’s Game Over

March 11, 2014
I just looked at the US debt clock.
Did you know that the total value of everything that America produces is LESS than the value of the US national debt?
Pretty shocking. But, it gets worse.
If you look at the US debt clock, you see that our ‘official debt’ is something like $17.5 trillion. THAT part of the debt is covered by the US Treasury Department when they issue bills, notes and bonds.
Unfortunately, there’s a TON of future debt rolling down on us. When you’re looking at the US Debt Clock webpage, that debt is at the bottom of the page, labelled US Unfunded Liabilities – about $128.22 trillion (right now). The US Treasury Department does NOT cover that debt, yet. (But, they will – in the future.)

http://www.omegashock.com/2014/03/11/when-interest-rates-rise-its-game-over/



Mar 12, 2014

Internet Tim Berners-Lee: the Web Needs a Magna Carta

Twenty-five years after he proposed what would eventually turn into the World Wide Web, British inventor Tim Berners-Lee called for an online Magna Carta to protect the Internet from the influences of governments and corporations.
Berners-Lee says the world needs a “global constitution — a bill of rights.” Jemima Kiss writes in the Guardian

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/03/12/tim-berners-lee-the-web-needs-a-magna-carta/

Is bitcoin a derivative? US regulator weighs oversight

Published time: March 12, 2014 00:24
The US derivatives regulator is considering whether to regulate digital currencies such as bitcoin, the agency’s head said, as governments the world over begin to address how to handle mercurial cryptocurrency.
“We are looking into that,” Mark Wetjen, acting chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said Tuesday, Reuters reported. “It’s been initiated, there’s been an internal discussion at the staff level.”
The CFTC regulates the commodity futures and options markets. Wetjen said the agency is analyzing whether digital currency falls under its purview as a watchdog over commodity manipulation.


http://rt.com/usa/united-states-bitcoin-regulation-226/

U.S. surprises oil market with sale from strategic reserve

WASHINGTON Wed Mar 12, 2014 7:10pm GMT
(Reuters) - The United States will hold the first test sale of crude from its emergency oil stockpile since 1990, offering a modest 5 million barrels in what some observers saw as a subtle message to Russia from the Obama administration.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/us-usa-energy-reserves-idUKBREA2B12V20140312

Special Report: How China's official bank card is used to smuggle money

MACAU Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:58am GMT
(Reuters) - Growing numbers of Chinese are using the country's state-backed bankcards to illegally spirit billions of dollars abroad, a Reuters examination has found.
On a recent day at the Choi Seng Jewellery and Watches company, a middle-aged woman strode to the counter past dusty shelves of watches. She handed the clerk her UnionPay card and received HK$300,000 ($50,000) in cash. She signed a credit card receipt describing the transaction as a "general sale", stuffed the cash into her handbag and strolled over to the Ponte 16 casino next door.
The withdrawal far exceeded the daily limit of 20,000 yuan, or $3,200, in cash that individual Chinese can legally move out of the mainland. "Don't worry," said a store clerk when asked about the legality of the transaction. "Everyone does this."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/us-china-unionpay-special-report-idUKBREA2B00820140312

Former Heinz CEO Gets $110 Million As Firms Cuts 3,400 Jobs

03/11/14
Heinz was bought by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathawy (and 3G Capital) in February 2013 for $28 billion. Since then the firm has cut 3,400 jobs and closed factories in an effort to boost profits as they pay current boss Bernardo Hees $9.2 million. However, as The BBC reports, the most stunning dichotomy in this tale is former Heinz CEO William Johnson's $110.5 million payday for the final eight months of 2013... Perhaps more worryingly, Buffett has proclaimed this a "model for future buys." When will the President replace Immelt with Buffett as his jobs advisors?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-11/former-heinz-ceo-gets-110-million-firms-cuts-3400-jobs

'Slavery - and its consequences - should end'

03/11/14
How can the wrongs of slavery be put right? Fourteen Caribbean states are considering legal action against their former European colonizers. Jamaican Verene Shepherd is fighting with them for reparations.

http://www.dw.de/slavery-and-its-consequences-should-end/a-17487028

Japanese scientist calls for own ground-breaking stem cell study to be retracted

Published time: March 12, 2014 01:04
Edited time: March 12, 2014 01:37
One of the co-authors of a recent study promising to revolutionize the synthesis of stem cells has called for the entire research to be retracted after he reviewed the test data and reportedly found multiple problems, including “questionable images.”

http://rt.com/news/stem-cell-study-retraction-070/

Saint John council votes to stop putting fluoride in water

CBC News Posted: Mar 11, 2014 6:50 AM AT Last Updated: Mar 11, 2014 1:42 PM AT
Saint John will no longer add fluoride to the city's water.
Despite the urging of dentists and doctors at Monday's meeting of city council, the majority of councillors decided the treatment was not a worthwhile expense and voted to stop the practice.
For Coun. Ray Strowbridge, the decision came down to dollars and cents.
"The business case for the way fluoride is delivered in this city is an epic fail," he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saint-john-council-votes-to-stop-putting-fluoride-in-water-1.2567770

Thousands clash with police as Turkish teenager buried

ISTANBUL Wed Mar 12, 2014 3:22pm EDT
(Reuters) - Riot police clashed with demonstrators in several Turkish cities for a second day on Wednesday as mourners buried a teenager wounded in protests last summer, unrest which a defiant Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cast as a plot against the state.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/us-turkey-protests-idUSBREA2A0XP20140312