Worth Repeating

You can see it on Zerohedge.  You can even link to Zerohedge from this blog.

But a little encouragement is always good: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/google-shows-why-status-quo-powers-be-should-be-scared-very-scared?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29

Ya Gotta Love It

Ever seen "The Sting"?  Newman and Redford did a marvelous job of portraying the artistry of a good con.  As good or better than any Broadway play, a con such as the one in "The Sting" had a cast of players that was expert in "improv"; improvisation.  Their stage was the "real world" (remember, this was a movie), and their sets were the streets and alleys, and the homes, offices, and bars in that real world.

And, of course, it was okay to cheer for "the bad guys" (Newman, Redford & Co) because wrongs were righted; the con achieved justice.

But this IS the real world, and what has happened,and continues to happen, is anything but just.

Turns out that the "settlement" between Goldfinger (the "too big to fail" banks) and it's subsidiaries (federal and state governments) - you know, the one that would "provide relief to struggling homeowners - won't do that at all.

I'm shocked.  Dismayed, even.  Who would've thought that Goldfinger would artificially pump up home values to pump up loan amounts to pump up mortgages (that Goldfinger knew would ultimately fail) only to "pool" those mortgages to sell "securities" (that were anything but secure) to cities, states, pension funds, and even individual investors, knowing that when the " hit the " the only people left holding the bag would be the homeowners on the one end, and the investors on the other?  Who could've believed that Goldfinger would then hide it's "left-pocket money", and get its agents (who ceased "representing" us a lo-o-o-ong time ago) to "bail them out" with "money" taken from the very people whose jobs were lost (if not "offshored"); whose homes were stolen; whose pensions evaporated?

How could anyone fathom that when they GOT CAUGHT forging signatures, falsifying documents, and suborning perjury, their "punishment" would be to pay a "settlement" equal to pennies on the dollar back to their victims?  A "settlement" worked out by (you guessed it, I hope) their agents in the federal and state governments!!!

But at least those ravaged by this beast would get something, right?  Wrong.

Goldfinger's agents (federal and state governments) now intend to use that "settlement" to balance thier own books.  Screw the victims.

http://www.propublica.org/special/where-are-the-foreclosure-deal-millions-going

This is traditionally known as a "bait and switch". But that doesn't do this con justice. This is far better than a "bait and switch". As described in a number of not very well known (and certainly not publicized in the Goldfinger-owned "press") cases, this is "the Kansas City Shuffle".

Quoting from just one of those cases, what Goldfinger has pulled off is:

"…a corporate "Kansas City Shuffle," a complex confidence game; in the 2006 film,

Lucky Number Slevin, Mr. Goodkat, (a hitman played by Bruce Willis), explains (in memorable quotes from Lucky Number Slevin, at www.imdb.com/title/tt425210/quotes),

'A Kansas City Shuffle is when everybody looks right, you go left ... It's not something people hear about. Falls on deaf ears mostly .., No small matter, Requires a lot of planning, Involves a lot of people, People connected by the slightest of events, Like whispers in the night, in that place that never forgets, even when those people do'"

 

And now, "their people" in the states will join in the rape.

Another Brain-Rattler for Obama, Holder, & Co.

Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals smacked down Obama, Holder & Co., ruling that an employee's (read that: "servant's") violation of an employer’s (read that: “Master’s”) computer policy cannot be prosecuted as hacking under the oft-misused Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (See:http://www.TheAmericanRepublic.com).

Today, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals landed a pile-driver, issuing an opinion regarding their February reversal of the 2010 conviction of Sergey Aleynikov, the former Goldman Sachs vice president accused of theft and espionage for downloading the source code for Goldman Sachs' high-speed trading system from the company’s computers.

Impeding the progress of the United States (government; a thing, not a place) never-ending attempts to expand power through exotic interpretations of law, the three-judge panel held that Goldman Sachs' market-manipulation code neither qualified as property under the National Stolen Property Act, nor was it a product designed for interstate or foreign commerce, an essential element in prosecution under the Economic Espionage Act.

Commenting upon the "enormous profits" (“many millions of dollars” each year, according to prosecutors), the appellate panel wrote “Because the HFT system was not designed to enter or pass in commerce, or to make something that does, Aleynikov’s theft of source code relating to that system was not an offense under the EEA.”.

As with the 9th Circuit's circumscription of the CFAA, the 2nd Circuit's newly-issued opinion "binds...down with chains" Obama, Holder & Co.’s ability to prosecute others for similar thefts of trade secrets under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA).

Why This Blog Is Moving

Google will debut digital glasses by the end of the year, according to the New York Times.

By wearing Android-powered glasses, you’re giving Google unprecedented access to:

• Your location at all times
• Your most common interactions
• Your closest companions through facial recognition
• Your eating, shopping, and traveling habits

Enough Is Enough

The headline in WaPo, (Washington Post), Google announces privacy changes across products; users can’t opt out, http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/google-tracks-consumers-across-products-users-cant-opt-out/2012/01/24/gIQArgJHOQ_story.html?wpisrc=al_comboNE_b, I’ve had enough.

Google’s decision to begin combining data across ALL of its websites “to stitch together a fuller portrait of users”, who “won’t be able to opt out of the changes”, is the final straw.

So, I’ve moved goldfingerchronicles to WordPress. As soon as possible, I’ll be finding an alternative for YouTube/GeneKernan, as well as replacing my “Android” phone (though my number will remain the same).

After February 28, 2012, you'll have to find this blog at http://goldfingerchronicles.wordpress.com

Boycott Hollywood?

Kudos to Karl Denninger and Market Ticker:

MPAA Publicly Threatens Politicians

Perhaps it's time for Americans to boycott the movies....

Reinforcing the fact that Chris Dodd (recall that Chris Dodd got a sweet, below-market mortgage rate for supporting the banksters that stole the economy - Blogmaster) really does not get what's happening, and showing just how disgustingly corrupt the MPAA relationship is with politicians, Chris Dodd went on Fox News to explicitly threaten politicians who accept MPAA campaign donations that they'd better pass Hollywood's favorite legislation... or else:

Chris Dodd wrote..

"Those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake,"

This certainly follows what many people assumed was happening, and fits with the anonymous comments from studio execs that they will stop contributing to Obama, but to be so blatant about this kind of corruption and money-for-laws politics in the face of an extremely angry public is a really, really, really tone deaf response from Dodd.

Well I have a solution to that: Americans need to boycott the MPAA.

That, my friends, means no more movies.

Look, I own a lot of DVDs. Like over 300 of them. I bought them all. I like movies in the theater too.

But I do not like this sort of threat, especially when what is being demanded is ineffective and does nothing to address the real issues when it comes to intellectual property and piracy.

The real problems are resolvable through trade sanctions -- and short of military action, only through that path. You cannot force another nation to adopt your laws, but you can prevent them from having free and unfettered access to your markets if they are going to behave, and allow their citizens to behave, in ways that you find offensive.

The corruption between "business" and Washington DC has always been present but this particular display is especially brazen, coming from a lobbyist and spokesperson who's last gig was screwing the American public when the banks ripped everyone off and then went and begged DC for a bailout.

To Doddering Dodd and the MPAA: That sound you hear is my wallet snapping shut.

Does "Gordon Gekko" Own Ass. Press?

In a "news" story called "Republicans stand together to oppose piracy law", an unidentified ASSOCIATED PRESS "journalist" (if you can't figure out why he's unidentified, I can't explain) writes:

"Standing in near unison, the four remaining contenders seeking the Republican presidential nomination are condemning a proposed anti-online piracy law that its critics say is overly aggressive."

OK so far. The next paragraph begins "Mitt Romney says".

Paragraph 3 starts with "Newt Gingrich says...".

The fourth paragraph opens "Rick Santorum says..." (and we all know what "santorum" means).

But the last paragraph...WAIT!...That WAS the last paragraph.


Can YOU figure it out?

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOP_DEBATE_INTERNET?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-01-19-21-28-15