Monday, May 21, 2012

Barker's Newsbites: Monday, May 21, 2012


How's this for a blast from the past?!

(Oh... and folks... sometimes a cigar is just a cigar; no "hidden meaning" in posting this one!)

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3 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/21/business/china-amc-wanda-theater/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

China's Dalian Wanda Group and AMC Entertainment announced Monday a $2.6 billion deal to take over the U.S. theater group, forming the world's largest cinema chain, according to a new release on the deal.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

In April, The Walt Disney Company China, Marvel Studios and DMG Entertainment of Beijing announced a production deal in which "Iron Man 3" will be co-produced in China.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

May 21, 2012 at 8:43 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/21/us-usa-treasuries-china-idUSBRE84K11720120521

China can now bypass Wall Street when buying U.S. government debt and go straight to the U.S. Treasury, in what is the Treasury's first-ever direct relationship with a foreign government, according to documents viewed by Reuters.

* ARE YOU READING THIS SHIT...?!?! ARE YOU READING THIS FUCKING SHIT...?!?!

The relationship means the People's Bank of China buys U.S. debt using a different method than any other central bank in the world.

The other central banks, including the Bank of Japan, which has a large appetite for Treasuries, place orders for U.S. debt with major Wall Street banks designated by the government as primary dealers. Those dealers then bid on their behalf at Treasury auctions. China, which holds $1.17 trillion in U.S. Treasuries, still buys some Treasuries through primary dealers, but since June 2011, that route hasn't been necessary.

* AND WE'RE JUST FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS NOW...?!?!

The documents viewed by Reuters show the U.S. Treasury Department has given the People's Bank of China a direct computer link to its auction system, which the Chinese first used to buy two-year notes in late June 2011.

China can now participate in auctions without placing bids through primary dealers. If it wants to sell, however, it still has to go through the market.

The change was not announced publicly or in any message to primary dealers.

"Direct bidding is open to a wide range of investors, but as a matter of general policy we do not comment on individual bidders," said Matt Anderson, a Treasury Department spokesman.

While there is been no prohibition on foreign government entities bidding directly, the Treasury's accommodation of China is unique.

* FOLKS... THIS ISN'T JUST OBAMA... THIS IS THE OLIGARCHY - THE BIPARTISAN OLIGARCHY - BEHIND THIS! PLENTY OF REPUBLICANS AT THE TOP OF THE WASHINGTON PYRAMID KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON, BUT WE'RE ONLY FINDING OUT NOW...?! THIS IS BULLSHIT!

The privilege may help China obtain U.S. debt for a better price by keeping Wall Street's knowledge of its orders to a minimum. China is preserving the value of specific information about its bidding habits. By bidding directly, China prevents Wall Street banks from trying to exploit its huge presence in a given auction by driving up the price.

* IN OTHER WORDS, A CONSPIRACY BETWEEN CHINA AND THE U.S. TREASURY TO SHORT-CIRCUIT NORMAL MARKET MECHANISMS! (KINDA LIKE INSIDER TRADING!)

Granting China a direct bidding link is not the first time Treasury has gone to great lengths to keep its largest client happy. In 2009, when Treasury officials found China was using special deals with primary dealers to conceal its U.S. debt purchases, the Treasury changed a rule to outlaw those deals...but at the same time it relaxed a reporting requirement to make the Chinese more comfortable with the amended rule. The Treasury tried to keep its motivation for the 2009 rule change under wraps, Reuters reported.

[E]conomist Brad Setser, who is a member of the National Economic Council and has also served on the National Security Council, has argued China's large Treasury holdings pose a national security threat. Writing for the Council on Foreign Relations in 2009, Setser posited that China's massive U.S. debt holdings gave it power over U.S. policy via the threat of a swift, large sale of U.S. debt that could send the market into turmoil and drive up interest rates.

May 21, 2012 at 7:54 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1976:on-indefinite-detention-the-tyranny-continues&catid=64:2012-texas-straight-talk&Itemid=69

* BY RON PAUL (R-TX)

Americans can still be arrested on U.S. soil and detained indefinitely without trial.

I co-sponsored an amendment offered by Reps. Adam Smith and Justin Amash that would have repealed the unconstitutional provisions of last year's NDAA by eliminating Section 1022 on mandatory military detention and modifying Section 1021 to make it absolutely clear that no one can be apprehended on U.S. soil and held indefinitely without trial or be held subject to a military tribunal.

Our language was clear: "No person detained, captured, or arrested in the United States, or a territory or possession of the United States, may be transferred to the custody of the Armed Forces for detention under the Authorization for Use of Military Force, this Act, or the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013."

The term "person" is key in our amendment, as our Founders did not make a distinction between citizens and non-citizens when determining who was entitled to Constitutional protections. As the father of the Constitution James Madison wrote, "[I]t does not follow, because aliens are not parties to the Constitution, as citizens are parties to it, that whilst they actually conform to it, they have no right to its protection."

We should not forget that our Article III court system is a strength not a weakness.

The right to face our accuser, the protections against hearsay evidence, the right to a jury trial – these are designed to protect the innocent and to determine and then punish guilt. And they have been quite successful thus far. Currently there are more than 300 individuals who have been tried and convicted of terrorism-related charges serving lengthy terms in U.S. federal prisons. Each of the six individuals tried in U.S. civilian courts for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center are serving hundreds of years in prison, for example.

Last week was discouraging and disappointing to those of us who value our Constitution. That the U.S. government asserts the legal authority to pick up Americans within the United States and hold them indefinitely and secretly without a trial should be incredibly disturbing to all of us. Americans should check how their representative voted. Politicians should not be allowed to get away with undermining our liberties in this manner.

* I BELIEVE THAT CONGRESS SHOULD CLARIFY - BY CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IF NECESSARY - THE STATUS OF NON-CITIZENS VS. CITIZENS WHEN IT COMES TO FULL CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS. I DISAGREE WITH CONGRESSMAN PAUL IF HIS POSITION IS THAT NON-CITIZENS HAVE THE SAME EXACT RIGHTS AS AMERICANS. THAT SAID, CONGRESSMAN PAUL AND I ARE IN PERFECT AGREEMENT AS CONCERNS THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF U.S. CITIZENS INVIOLATE.

May 21, 2012 at 11:00 PM

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