Obama and Romney meet for private White House lunch

BBC News, 29 November 2012

US Economy

• Death, taxes and the GOP
• Q&A: The US fiscal cliff
• Who first called it a 'fiscal cliff'?
• US v Europe: Which is worse?

US President Barack Obama has met defeated Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for a private lunch at the White House.

The president is said to have noted that the ex-Massachusetts governor's experience could help improve the workings of the government.

The two men also discussed "America's leadership in the world" and how to preserve it, the White House said.

Meanwhile, talks over a looming "fiscal cliff" seemed to falter in Congress.

House Speaker John Boehner said no major progress on a deal had been made.

'Moving forward'

Mr Romney left the White House after just over an hour on Thursday.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at a news briefing: "The president noted that Romney did a terrific job running the Olympics and that that skills-set lends itself to ideas that could make the federal government work better."

On election night on 6 November, Mr Obama pledged to meet the former Massachusetts governor for talks on how to "move this country forward".

The pair sparred in a bitter campaign and are said to have little rapport.

On Thursday Mr Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, met Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to discuss the combination of tax rises and spending cuts due to take effect on 1 January 2013.

"No substantive progress has been made between the White House and the House," Mr Boehner said after the meeting.

"I was hopeful we'd see a specific plan for cutting spending, and we sought to find out today what the president really is willing to do."

Mr Boehner and Mr Obama also discussed the so-called fiscal cliff in a phone call on Wednesday evening, which fed into his comments.

Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, said the Obama administration had taken a step "backward" away from consensus, after his meeting Mr Geithner on Thursday.

"The administration has remained focused on raising taxes and attending campaign-style events, with no specific plans to protect Medicare and Social Security or reduce our national debt in a meaningful way," Mr McConnell said.

Congressional Democrats countered that they had already outlined their party's position, and said Republicans had not identified specific spending cuts.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said: "We're still waiting for a serious offer from Republicans."

Some Republicans have said they would consider increased tax revenue as part of a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

But the White House believes that simply ending tax deductions would not generate enough new revenue to address the yawning budget deficit.

The fiscal cliff, which would suck about $600bn (£347bn) out of the economy, could tip the US back into recession, analysts warn.

The measures were partly put in place within a 2011 deal to curb the yawning US budget deficit, but also include the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans.

Nobel peace laureates call for Israel military boycott over Gaza assault

Letter with 52 signatories including artists and activists also denounces US and EU 'complicity' through weapons sales

guardian.co.uk, Chris McGreal in Jerusalem, Wednesday 28 November 2012

A man looks at the ruins of a Hamas police station destroyed by an Israeli
air strike in Gaza City. Photograph: Oliver Weiken/EPA

A group of Nobel peace prize-winners, prominent artists and activists have issued a call for an international military boycott of Israel following its assault on the Gaza Strip this month.

The letter also denounces the US, EU and several developing countries for what it describes as their "complicity" through weapons sales and other military support in the attack that killed 160 Palestinians, many of them civilians, including about 35 children.

The 52 signatories include the Nobel peace laureates Mairead Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; the film directors Mike Leigh and Ken Loach; the author Alice Walker; the US academic Noam Chomsky; Roger Waters of Pink Floyd; and Stéphane Hessel, a former French diplomat and Holocaust survivor who was co-author of the universal declaration of human rights.

"Horrified at the latest round of Israeli aggression against the 1.5 million Palestinians in the besieged and occupied Gaza Strip and conscious of the impunity that has enabled this new chapter in Israel's decades-old violations of international law and Palestinian rights, we believe there is an urgent need for international action towards a mandatory, comprehensive military embargo against Israel," the letter says.

"Such a measure has been subject to several UN resolutions and is similar to the arms embargo imposed against apartheid South Africa in the past."

The letter accuses several countries of providing important military support that facilitated the assault on Gaza. "While the United States has been the largest sponsor of Israel, supplying billions of dollars of advanced military hardware every year, the role of the European Union must not go unnoticed, in particular its hefty subsidies to Israel's military complex through its research programmes.

"Similarly, the growing military ties between Israel and the emerging economies of Brazil, India and South Korea are unconscionable given their nominal support for Palestinian freedom," it says.

The letter opens with a quote from Nelson Mandela: "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

The other signatories include John Dugard, a South African jurist and former UN special rapporteur in the occupied territories; Luisa Morgantini, former president of the European parliament; Cynthia McKinney, a former member of the US Congress; Ronnie Kasrils, a South African former cabinet minister; and the dramatist Caryl Churchill.

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"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS"– Sep  29, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“… Let us talk about the swords: When you hear the word sword, the first thing that occurs to you is battle. The Bridge of Swords is a battle and we told you that as well. Swords are metaphoric and they mean many things, so let us describe the things we mean them to say to you.

Number one: They are indeed a weapon in a battle. There is a battle coming. "Kryon, does that mean there's going to be a war?" Potentially, yes. Right now we will tell you that the Middle East cooks itself. You've noticed, haven't you? What do you know about the Middle East, dear one? Let's start examining things for a moment. What energy did you grow up in? What was the energy of the Middle East? In the '40s, what was the energy? With the establishment of the state of Israel, you built a wall of hate, both sides. The wall was so thick that the children of both sides were taught to hate one another as soon as they were able to understand the language. They were told who their enemies were. Now, where were you then?

Some of you weren't here yet. By the time you arrived, in your youth, were you aware of the Middle East? Not particularly. "What's the hatred about?" you might ask. What if I told you it's about a family feud? Two sons of a Jewish master are involved. One founded the Arabs and one remained a Jew. They don't want to hear this, but they are all Jews. (Don't tell them this.)

If you look at the lineage, it's pretty obvious and yet it's a complete and total set-up for either solution or war. The set-up would have this world ending in a conflagration that would have been brought about by this hatred. That's in the prophecy of Nostradamus and your scripture, but it is no longer the prophecy of the planet. Yet the hatred still exists. The hatred is as great today as it was then, but where was all the terrorism 40 years ago? It was isolated.

Those in Israel and Palestine and surrounding areas took the brunt of it, but now it's seemingly everywhere - and you're worried. Why would this be? The answer is that the old energy was happy to have this hatred contained, for it would keep it going and never involve outsiders. Outsiders tend to bring unwanted light to the party. Suddenly, the whole earth is involved and can see the entire scenario before them. The old guard wants war, just like all the eons before them. The ones on the bridge are holding the light and showing the earth how to cross. Even many younger ones in Israel and Palestine and Iran are holding light! It's all around the old guard and they are furious, for they are losing the "battle of hatred." …”

(Religions – Zionism - March 1, 2012 - Matthew Channelled by Suzanne Ward)

9. It can be no other way—simply, this is the physics that governs life in this universe. As Earth continues apace into successively higher planes, nothing with low vibrations in any form—physical bodies, subversive plans, theft, dishonesty, unjust laws and imprisonment, bigotry, cruel customs and deeds—can survive.

10. Moving on, no, it will not be quite like religions being “totally discarded and replaced by universal laws in the Golden Age.” When the truths come forth that science and spirit are one and the same and that religious dogmas were originated by early leaders of church and state to control the masses, people whose consciousness has risen beyond the constraints of third density will adhere to the spiritual aspects of their respective religions and the devised, controlling aspects will fall by the wayside.

11. One of the truths to come forth is that Zionism, which by dark intent has been made synonymous with Judaism, actually is a bellicose political movement within the Illuminati, and its aim for more than six decades has been to create conflict and instability in the entire Middle East. Zionists, who have wielded powerful influence within and behind major governments and their military forces, do NOT represent the Jewish peoples in Israel or anywhere else. And, like all other Illuminati factions, they have been committed to that cabal’s goal of global domination.

12. Although Semites are of diverse national origins and religions, the Zionists have been successful in convincing many that “anti-Semitic” is exclusively prejudice against the Jewish peoples and opposition to Israel’s right to defend itself from its “enemies.” By means of that blatant distortion, they obtained not only world sympathy, but also massive defense funding from Israel’s allies, most especially the United States, all of which served to increase the Illuminati’s vast profits from their industrial-military machine.

13. In addition to controlling the masses through dogmatic teachings, religions have served the dark purpose of divisiveness to such an extent that it resulted in centuries of trauma and bloodshed. Witness the Crusades, wars between Catholics and Protestants, pogroms against Jews, executions of “blasphemous” individuals who refused to “recant.”  (Read More …)

Offshore company directors' links to military and intelligence revealed

Companies making use of offshore secrecy include firm that supplied surveillance software used by repressive regimes

The Guardian, David Leigh, Wednesday 28 November 2012

Bahraini protesters flee teargas. Activists' computers in the country were infected
 with Finfisher spying software. Photograph: Mohammed al-Shaikh/AFP/Getty Images

A number of nominee directors of companies registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) have connections to military or intelligence activities, an investigation has revealed.

In the past, the British arms giant BAE was the most notorious user of offshore secrecy. The Guardian in 2003 revealed the firm had set up a pair of covert BVI entities. The undeclared subsidiaries were used to distribute hundreds of millions of pounds in secret payments to get overseas arms contracts.

Offshore Secrets

Today the investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Guardian uncovers the identities of other offshore operators.

Louthean Nelson owns the Gamma Group, a controversial computer surveillance firm employing ex-military personnel. It sells bugging technology to Middle East and south-east Asian governments. Nelson owns a BVI offshore arm, Gamma Group International Ltd.

Gamma's spyware, which can be used against dissidents, has turned up in the hands of Egyptian and Bahraini state security police, although Nelson's representative claims this happened inadvertently. He initially denied to us that Nelson was linked to Gamma, and denied that Nelson owned the anonymous BVI affiliate. Martin Muench, who has a 15% share in the company's German subsidiary, said he was the group's sole press spokesman, and told us: "Louthean Nelson is not associated with any company by the name of Gamma Group International Ltd. If by chance you are referring to any other Gamma company, then the explanation is the same for each and every one of them."

After he was confronted with evidence obtained by the Guardian/ICIJ investigation, Muench changed his position. He told us: "You are absolutely right, apparently there is a Gamma Group International Ltd. So in effect I was wrong – sorry. However I did not say that Louthean Nelson was not associated with any Gamma company, only the one that I thought did not exist."

Nelson set up his BVI offshoot in 2007, using an agency, BizCorp Management Pte, located in Singapore. His spokesman claimed the BVI company was not involved in sales of Gamma's Finfisher spyware. But he refused to disclose the entity's purpose.

Earlier this year, computer researchers in California told the New York Times they had discovered Finfisher being run from servers in Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Mongolia and a government ministry in Turkmenistan. The spying software was previously proved to have infected the computers of political activists in Bahrain, which Nelson visited in June 2006.

The Finfisher programme is marketed as a technique for so-called "IT intrusion". The code disguises itself as a software update or an email attachment, which the target victim is unaware will transmit back all his or her transactions and keystrokes. Gamma calls itself "a government contractor to state intelligence and law enforcement agencies for … high-quality surveillance vans" and telephone tapping of all kinds.

Activists' investigations into Finfisher began in March 2011, after protesters who broke into Egypt's state security headquarters discovered documents showing the bugging system was being marketed to the then president Hosni Mubarak's regime, at a price of $353,000.

Muench said demonstration copies of the software must have been stolen. He refused to identify Gamma's customers.

Nelson's father, Bill Nelson, is described as the CEO of the UK Gamma, which sells a range of covert surveillance equipment from a modern industrial estate outside Andover, Hampshire, near the family home in the village of Winterbourne Earls, Wiltshire.

In September, the German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, called for an EU-wide ban on the export of such surveillance software to totalitarian states. "These regimes should not get the technical instruments to spy on their own citizens," he said. The UK has now agreed that future Finfisher exports from Andover to questionable regimes will need government permission.

Other types of anonymous offshore user we have identified in this area include a south London private detective, Gerry Moore, who operated Swiss bank accounts. He did not respond to invitations to comment.

Another private intelligence agency, Ciex, was used as a postbox by the financier Julian Askin to set up a covert entity registered in the Cook Islands, called Pastech. He too did not respond to invitations to comment.

An ex-CIA officer and a South African mercenary soldier, John Walbridge and Mauritz Le Roux, used London agents to set up a series of BVI-registered companies in 2005, after obtaining bodyguarding contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Le Roux told us one of his reasons was to accommodate "local partnerships" in foreign countries. Walbridge did not respond.

A former BAE software engineer from Hull, John Cunningham, says he set up his own offshore BVI company in the hope of selling helicopter drones for purely civilian use. Now based in Thailand, he previously designed military avionics for Britain's Hawk and Typhoon war planes. He told us: "That account was set up by my 'friend' in Indonesia who does aerial mapping with small UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]. He was going to pay me a commission through that account … However, this was my first attempt to work in Asia and as I have found, money tends to be not forthcoming. I have never used that account."

The military and intelligence register

Gerry Moore

Company: GM Property Developments, LHM Property Holdings Story: south London private detective sets up BVI companies with Swiss bank accounts Details: Moore founded "Thames Investigation Services", later "Thames Associates", in Blackheath, south London. He opened a Swiss bank account with UBS Basel in 1998. In 2007, he sought to open another account with Credit Suisse, Zurich, for his newly registered BVI entity GM Property Developments. He sought to register a second offshore company, LHM Property Holdings, using his wife Linda's initials.

Intermediary: Netincorp. BVI (Damien Fong)

Comment: No response. Thames Associates website taken down after Guardian approaches.

John Walbridge and Mauritz le Roux

Companies: Overseas Security & Strategic Information Ltd, Remington Resources (Walbridge), Safenet UXO, Sparenberg, Gladeaway, Maplethorpe, Hawksbourne (Le Roux)

Story: former CIA officer and South African ex-mercenary provide guards in Iraq and Afghanistan Details: John H Walbridge Jr says he served with US special forces in Vietnam and then with the CIA in Brazil. His Miami-based private military company OSSI Inc teamed up with the South African ex-soldier and Executive Outcomes mercenary Mauritz le Roux to win contracts in Kabul in 2005. Walbridge set up his two BVI entities with his wife, Cassandra, via a London agency in June and August 2005, and Le Roux incorporated five parallel BVI companies.

Intermediary: Alpha Offshore, London Comment: Le Roux told us some of his offshore entities were kept available "in case we need to start up operations in a country where we would need to have local partnerships". His joint venture with OSSI was based offshore in Dubai, he said, but used BVI entities "to operate within a legal framework under British law, rather than the legal framework of the UAE". Walbridge did not respond to invitations to comment.

Julian Askin

Company: Pastech Story: exiled businessman used a private intelligence agency to set up covert offshore entity in the Cook Islands Details: Askin was a British football pools entrepreneur. He alleged Afrikaner conspiracies against him in South Africa, when his Tollgate transport group there collapsed. The apartheid regime failed to have him extradited, alleging fraud. He hired the Ciex agency to report on ABSA, the South African bank which foreclosed on him. Ciex was founded by the ex-MI6 senior officer Michael Oatley along with ex-MI6 officer Hamilton Macmillan. In May 2000, they were used to help set up Pastech for their client in the obscure Pacific offshore location of Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, with anonymous nominee directors and shareholders. Askin now lives in Semer, Suffolk.

Intermediary: Ciex, Buckingham Gate, London Comment: he did not respond to invitations to comment.

Louthean Nelson

Company: Gamma Group International Story: Gamma sells Finfisher around the world, spying software which infects a target's computer.

Details: Nelson set up a UK company in 2007 on an Andover industrial estate to make and sell Finfisher – a so-called Trojan which can remotely spy on a victim's computer by pretending to be a routine software update. He set up a parallel, more covert company with a similar name, registered in the BVI, via an agency in Singapore, using his father's address at Winterbourne Earls, near Andover. He also sells to the Middle East via premises in Beirut. He ran into controversy last year when secret police in Egypt and Bahrain were alleged to have obtained Finfisher, which he denies knowingly supplying to them.

Intermediary: Bizcorp Management Pte Ltd, Singapore Comment: his spokesman declines to say what was the purpose of the group's BVI entity.

John Cunningham

Company: Aurilla International Story: military avionics software engineer from Hull with separate UK company launches civilian venture in Indonesia Details: Cunningham set up a BVI entity in 2007. His small UK company, On-Target Software Solutions Ltd, has worked on "black boxes" for BAE Hawk and Typhoon war planes, and does foreign consultancy. He also has interests in Thailand in a drone helicopter control system.

Intermediary: Allen & Bryans tax consultants, Singapore Comment: Cunningham says the offshore account was never activated. "I actually make systems for civilian small UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). I have never sold to the military. That account was set up by my 'friend' in Indonesia who does aerial mapping with small UAVs. He was going to pay me a commission through that account."

--------------------------

Offshore secrets

Guardian team: David Leigh, Harold Frayman and James Ball.

The project is a collaboration between the Guardian and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) headed by Gerard Ryle in Washington DC. The Guardian's investigations editor, David Leigh, is a member of the ICIJ, a global network of reporters in more than 60 countries who collaborate on in-depth investigative stories that cross national boundaries. The ICIJ was founded in 1997 as a project of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington DC-based non-profit.

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Canada's Mark Carney to head Bank of England

France 24, AFP, 26 November 2012 

Mark Carney speaks at a press conference in Mexico City earlier this month.
 Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer on Monday named Mark Carney, chief of the
Bank of Canada, as the new governor of the Bank of England.

AFP - Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer on Monday named Mark Carney, the current chief of the Bank of Canada, as the new governor of the Bank of England.

"I can tell parliament and the public that the next governor of the Bank of England is Mark Carney," Chancellor George Osborne told MPs.

"He is quite simply the best, most experienced and most qualified person in the world to be the next governor of the Bank of England."

Carney, 47, who is currently governor of the Bank of Canada and chair of the global Financial Stability Board, will take over from Mervyn King, who has lead the BoE since 2003 and will step down on June 30.

He comes from outside Europe, but in his role at the FSB has been involved in dealing with some of the fallout from the global financial crisis and fighting the eurozone debt crisis.

Britain is not a member of the eurozone, but is deeply concerned that the thrust of European Union policies to reform finance threaten the City of London.

Osborne described Carney as "the outstanding central banker of his generation with unparallelled expertise in financial regulation" who has helped steer Canada through the global financial crisis.

Carney, who intends to take on British citizenship, will serve as BoE governor for a five year term and stand down at the end of June 2018.

"He will bring a fresh perspective," Osborne told parliament. "He has got what it takes to help bring families and businesses through these incredibly challenging economic times.

"My responsibility was to get the best for Britain, and with Mark Carney we've got that."

The announcement took markets by surprise because the bookies' favourite had been current deputy governor Paul Tucker.

Carney will succeed King, 64, under whose watch the British central bank played a vital role in stabilising world financial markets following the 2007/2008 global financial crisis.

The governor leads the Bank of England, an independent body which sets interest rates and has pumped out billions of pounds under its radical quantitative easing policy since 2009 in order to stimulate economic growth.

Carney takes the helm with the BoE due to take over banking regulation from Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) next year, as part of a regulatory overhaul aimed at avoiding a repeat of the devastating financial crisis.

The appointment also comes amid a series of damaging scandals that have rocked London's financial district and sparked fresh concerns over the banking sector's conduct.

Aside from Carney and Tucker, other candidates in the running were believed to be FSA chairman Adair Turner, Santander UK chairman Lord Terence Burns, and John Vickers, who chaired the government's recent Independent Commission on Banking.

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JPMorgan's Dimon's aggressive style may hurt bank cause

(Reuters) - Masters of the universe are not always so masterful after all.

Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co., 

poses for  a portrait in his office in New York, in this photo

taken December 22, 2010. (Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

(Jamie Dimon is "In Containment" according Archangel Michael)

An Hour with an Angel with Archangel Michael – July 16, 2012 (Archangel Michael channeled by Linda Dillon)

SB: It’s my guess that you do not speak about a person in containment, say, without their permission, as with John Roberts and Jamie Dimon. Am I correct in that hunch?

AAM: That is absolutely correct.

Even in containment, we do not override or disregard — let us put it that way, because we are already overriding them — we do not disregard what they in their heart wish the human collective to know.

SB: Can you tell us for what purpose John Roberts and Jamie Dimon would allow their cases to be discussed?

AAM: They have volunteered on a soul level to allow their beings to be disclosed simply because of the impact and the signal of hope that it can offer for so many.

Offshore secrets revealed: the shadowy side of a booming industry

A worldwide research effort in collaboration with the Guardian/ICIJ reveals the real people behind these anonymous companies

The Guardian, David Leigh, Harold Frayman and James Ball, 25 November 2012

James Ball travels to the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis searching for Sarah Petre-Mears,

 who on paper controls more than 1,200 companies scattered around the Caribbean, the

Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and the UK itself Link to this video

The existence of an extraordinary global network of sham company directors, most of them British, can be revealed.

The UK government claims such abuses were stamped out long ago, but a worldwide joint investigation by the Guardian, the BBC's Panorama and the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has uncovered a booming offshore industry that leaves the way open for both tax avoidance and the concealment of assets.

Offshore Secrets

More than 21,500 companies have been identified using this group of 28 so-called nominee directors. The nominees play a key role in keeping secret hundreds of thousands of commercial transactions. They do so by selling their names for use on official company documents, using addresses in obscure locations all over the world.

This is not illegal under UK law, and sometimes nominee directors have a legitimate role. But our evidence suggests this particular group of directors only pretend to control the companies they put their names to.

The companies themselves are often registered anonymously offshore in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), but also in Ireland, New Zealand, Belize and the UK itself. More than a score of UK agencies sell offshore companies, several of which also help supply sham directors.

One British couple, Sarah and Edward Petre-Mears, who migrated from Sark in the Channel Islands to the Caribbean island of Nevis, have sold their services to more than 2,000 entities, with their names appearing on activities ranging from Russian luxury property purchases to pornography and casino sites.

In 1999, the government claimed Britain's sham director industry had been "effectively outlawed" after a judge, Mr Justice Blackburne, said the court would not tolerate "the situation where someone takes on the directorship of so many companies and then totally abrogates responsibility". But our findings show this has failed to be policed.

These nominee fronts conceal a wide variety of real owners, including those that are perfectly legal, from Russian oligarchs to discreet speculators in the British property market. Their only common factor is the wish for secrecy. Some of the owners we have identified include:

• Vladimir Antonov, the London-based billionaire Russian purchaser of Portsmouth FC, who is currently fighting an extradition request from Lithuania, where he controlled a bank. He denies wrongdoing.

• Yair Spitzer, a north London software engineer who bought and sold London flats. He said: "We were advised by UK accountants that this structure … was perfectly legal."

• The Hackmeys, a wealthy Israeli family, one of whom used a BVI company to buy a £26m London office block. Their spokesman said: "The deal was introduced by a [confidential] joint venture partner who set up the deal and structure."

• Nicholas Joannou, whose Armstrong Group sold shares from an address in Berkeley Square, central London. The Guardian was unable to contact him.

• SP Trading, which was linked in 2009 to a Kazakh businessman and an arms to Iran scandal. The nominee directors in Vanuatu turned out to have no knowledge of the company's true activities. They told us there were "very few cases of misuse by clients".

In a parallel investigation Monday's Panorama on BBC1 is due to show a company formation agent offering to assist its undercover reporter to escape tax. The agent, James Turner, of Turner Little in York, offers nominee directors in Belize and says: "They won't even know that they were a director, they just get paid."

A representative of a second company, Atlas Corporate Services, is asked for maximum confidentiality. He explains that many of its nominees are not even aware of how their names are being used. Jesse Hester, who runs Atlas Corporate Services from Mauritius, is seen assuring a potential client that the UK is unlikely to catch up with him. "Tax authorities don't have the resources to chase everybody down … They reckon it's probably the same rough odds as probably winning the lottery," he says.

The revelations launch a week-long series onthe Guardian site designed to strip away anonymity from offshore companies, the most shadowy aspect of the UK's financial industry. The British Virgin Islands are a particularly successful hideaway, thanks to the exceptional secrecy on offer. This Caribbean territory, which is ultimately controlled by the UK, has sold more than a million anonymously-owned offshore entities since launching itself in 1984 as a tax haven.

The purchasers are often people who, for a variety of reasons, some perfectly legitimate, do not wish to advertise what they are doing with their wealth.

But a worldwide research effort has been launched this year by the ICIJ. It aims to identify, country by country, thousands of the true owners.

The Guardian has collaborated with the ICIJ, a non-profit organisation, to analyse many gigabytes of the British data. This week we intend to reveal the names of more owners. We do not suggest criminal wrongdoing by them. Among those we have contacted, not all go so far as to employ nominee directors. Some insist they have done nothing improper, and are merely taking advantage of legitimate tax breaks or the opportunity for privacy. Critics say, however, that the islands' system can be open to abuse because of its lack of transparency.

Gerard Ryle, the director of the ICIJ, said: "We are applying specialist software to crunch through literally hundreds of thousands of offshore entities to look for patterns. We are marrying our findings with old-fashioned shoe leather and interviews from key insiders who can provide further context on this little known and loosely regulated world. We are satisfied that the information we have is authentic."

Ryle believes the ICIJ's global project, when it is completed next year, will haul into the open a shadowy financial system estimated to conceal the movement around the world of trillions of dollars.

Offshore secrets

Guardian team: David Leigh, Harold Frayman and James Ball.

The project is a collaboration between the Guardian and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) headed by Gerald Ryle in Washington DC. Guardian investigations editor David Leigh is a member of ICIJ, a global network of reporters in more than 60 countries who collaborate on in-depth investigative stories that cross national boundaries. The ICIJ was founded in 1997 as a project of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington DC-based non-profit.

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Listen to the Kryon channels that chronicle Lee's amazing journey during the Kryon 2012 Kundalini Tour (Update)

Kryon.com, 25 November 2012 

IMPORTANT: RIGHT CLICK ON THE TITLES TO DOWNLOAD AUDIO FILES

NEW!! KRYON KUNDALINI TOUR OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2012:

1. Mini-channeling (Mendoza, October 17th 2012)
2. “The K in Kundalini” (Mendoza, October 17th 2012)
3. “The U in Kundalini” (Uspallata, October 18th 2012)
4. “Aconcagua” (Mount Aconcagua, October 19th 2012)
5. Mini-channeling (Santiago, October 20th 2012)
6. “The N in Kundalini” (Santiago, October 20th 2012)
7. Mini-channeling (Santiago, October 21st 2012)
8. “The D in Kundalini” (Santiago, October 21st 2012)
9. “The A in Kundalini” (Elqui Valley, October 23rd 2012)
10. “The 33 Miners” (San Jose Mine, October 24th 2012)
11. “Gaia’s Ley Lines Explained – part I” (Valley of the Moon, San Pedro de Atacama, October 26th 2012)
12. “The L in Kundalini” (Journey Home Seminar, San Pedrode Atacama, October 27th 2012)
13. “Gaia’s Ley Lines Explained – part II” (Island of the Sun, Lake Titicaca – Bolivia, October 29th 2012)
14. Mini-channeling (Cusco – Peru, October 31st 2012) 
15. “The I in Kundalini” (Cusco – Peru, October 31st 2012)
16. “Divine Feminine Wisdom” (Machu Picchu – Peru, November 1st 2012)
17. Mini-channelling (Lima – Peru, November 3rd 2012) New!
18. “The 2nd N in Kundalini” (Lima – Peru, November 3rd 2012) New!
19. Mini-channelling (Lima – Peru, November 4th 2012) New!
20. “The 2nd I in Kundalini” (Lima – Peru, November 4th 2012) New!
21. Mini-channelling (Caracas – Venezuela, November 10th 2012) New!
22. “Ascending Status” (Caracas – Venezuela, November 10th 2012) New!
23. “Your Portal To The Other Side” (Journey Home Seminar, Margarita Island – Venezuela, November 11th 2012) New!
24. Mini-channelling (Riviera Maya – Mexico, November 16th 2012) New!
25. “Q&A with Kryon Part I” (Riviera Maya – Mexico, November 17th 2012) New!
26. “The Concept of You” (Riviera Maya – Mexico, November 17th 2012) New!
27. “Q&A with Kryon Part II” (Riviera Maya – Mexico, November 18th 2012) New!
28. “The Tour Has Just Begun” (Riviera Maya – Mexico, November 18th 2012) New!

ALSO, FIND BELOW THE CHANNELING AT CAPE HORN EARLIER IN 2012, WHICH REFERS TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE KUNDALINI OF THE EARTH:

Kryon Patagonia Cruise 2012: CAPE HORN “The Movement of the Kundalini” (January 28th, 2012)

Canadian foreign policy draft slammed for ditching country's values

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2012-11-24

Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, and China's premier, Wen Jiabao,
at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Feb. 8. (Photo/Xinhua)

A secret Canadian government draft on foreign policy reported by the country's national broadcaster CBC has been heavily criticized for focusing solely on building trade and investment relationships with emerging economies in Asia and South America while neglecting human rights issues.

The document marks a departure from Canada's traditional foreign policy — promoting its democratic values, acting as an international peacemaker and providing aid to developing countries — and called on the government to address the fact that the country has failed to establish its influence and credibility among emerging economies and has been slow in developing trade ties with them, according to Duowei News, an outlet operated by overseas Chinese.

The draft urged the government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper to boost trade ties with China, Brazil and India and stop using trade deals to press other countries on human rights and political issues. The United States should remain the foundation of Canada's foreign trade but the country needs to diversify its market, the document said.

Reuters said the draft was prepared around the time that the Canadian government was evaluating the deal between the Chinese state-owned oil company CNOOC to buy its Canadian counterpart Nexen, according to Duowei. Canada has also experienced criticism from the international community for the environmental impact of its development of oil sand resources.

Harper, of the Conservative Party, took office in 2006 and has in the past openly criticized China's human rights record and said Canada "will not forfeit our democratic principles in pursuit of trade expansion." He also refused to attend the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

His administration has apparently changed tack however after the prime minister visited China for the first time in 2010 and again in February this year. The Canadian government has been promoting bilateral trade and voiced support for CNOOC to buy Nexen, according to Duowei.

Opposition leader Tom Muclair of the New Democratic Party said the Harper government has abandoned Canadian values in favor of commercial deals and lacks long-term perspective.

The Toronto-based National Post said Canada has resources that China needs which are abundant enough to balance the power between the two countries. If bilateral trade ties were strengthened, Canada may be able to open a free market in China and promote democratic freedoms in the country, according to Duowei News. The Montreal Gazette said on the other hand that the simple fact is that the China market is too lucrative to ignore and no one can seriously say the true motive of promoting trade with China is to spread Canadian values rather than make money.

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This Election Will Clear the Way for Obama  – Nov 5, 2012 (Archangel Michael channeled by Linda Dillon)

".... GW: Wonderful. Thank you again, Michael.

Maybe a question I’d like to kind of know personally, for me, a geopolitical question about Canada, is Canadian Prime Minister Harper in containment? Can we expect a shift in his actions, or will events have to occur to bring a change in governance?

AAM: Harper is in middle containment. He is not in severe containment, but he is in mid-containment. And so there will be a change of heart there as well, and a change of heart in the rigorous nature of his policies. ...."