USA #1

Nearly 4,000 individuals from the U.S. are mentioned in the report. One of them is Denise Rich, a Grammy-nominated songwriter whose ex-husband “was at the center of an American pardon scandal that erupted as President Bill Clinton left office,” according to ICIJ. Rich had $144 million in April 2006 in a trust in a Cook Islands trust, records obtained by the ICIJ show.

Meanwhile, James R. Mellon, a member of the Mellon dynasty that launched companies like Gulf Oil and Mellon Bank, and an author of books about Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Mellon “used four companies in the BVI and Lichtenstein to trade securities and transfer tens of millions of dollars among offshore bank accounts he controlled,” ICIJ reports. Mellon told ICIJ he owned “a whole bunch” of offshore companies but has since disposed of them. He set up the firms for “tax advantage” and liability reasons. “But I have never broken the tax law,” he said. Of the use of nominees, Mellon noted that “that’s the way these firms are set up,” and that it’s useful for someone who travels a lot to have someone else in charge of his businesses. “I just heard of a presidential candidate who had a lot of money in the Cayman Islands,” he said. Mellon was “alluding to former U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney,” ICIJ notes.

ICIJ's Offshore Data Raid on the Global Elite's Financial Secrets

THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG

BUSTED!
Johann Wagener 4-5-13

Breaking News! The rich, wealthy, elite, entitled, and privileged of the world are lying, stealing, hiding, evading, and hoarding the world's wealth. And they are getting a lot of help from banks, lawyers, accountants, and politicians that pander to them. As for the other 99%? They are being taken for a ride!
Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze

Dozens of journalists sifted through millions of leaked records and thousands of names to produce ICIJ’s investigation into offshore secrecy ­

A cache of 2.5 million files has cracked open the secrets of more than 120,000 offshore companies and trusts, exposing hidden dealings of politicians, con men and the mega-rich the world over.

• Government officials and their families and associates in Azerbaijan, Russia, Canada, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Mongolia and other countries have embraced the use of covert companies and bank accounts.
• The mega-rich use complex offshore structures to own mansions, yachts, art masterpieces and other assets, gaining tax advantages and anonymity not available to average people.
• Many of the world’s top’s banks – including UBS, Clariden and Deutsche Bank – have aggressively worked to provide their customers with secrecy-cloaked companies in the British Virgin Islands and other offshore hideaways.
• A well-paid industry of accountants, middlemen and other operatives has helped offshore patrons shroud their identities and business interests, providing shelter in many cases to money laundering or other misconduct.
• Ponzi schemers and other large-scale fraudsters routinely use offshore havens to pull off their shell games and move their ill-gotten gains.

http://www.icij.org/offshore/secret-files-expose-offshores-global-impact

A NATIONAL SHOOTING GALLERY

CROSS-HAIRS; used figuratively to describe someone or something being targeted

TEXAS vs COLORADO
Johann Wagener 4-3-13

Thanks to the NRA and the Gun Lobby the country is fast becoming a shooting gallery.

Texas Rocked by District Attorney Shooting | PBS NewsHour | April 1, 2013

They're -- and within the Aryan Brotherhood, there was a message, an e-mail sent out from the U.S. Marshals that said after an indictment last fall against members of the Aryan Brotherhood that, in December, there was a warning that said they might be out to attack and punish law enforcement officials, and from Aryan Brotherhood anyway, punishment could be mean violence and death.

A GAME OF DENIAL

THE ASYLUM: For the care of people, especially those with physical or mental impairments, who require organized supervision or assistance.

A GAME OF DENIAL
Johann Wagener 4-3-13

Crippling yourself dribbling a ball up and down a court is taboo when it comes to showing the broken bones, blood and gore. Takes all the fizzle out of the sizzle and damages the "image" which is more important than the players or their well being. 

For all the talk of our society being desensitized to violence, the sight of blood can still cause people to react in strange ways.

There is no doubt the injury suffered by Louisville’s Kevin Ware on Sunday during his team’s regional final win over Duke was gruesome, but the reaction of the some of the media has just been plain weird.

Kevin Ware’s gruesome injury makes media flinch: Mudhar | Toronto Star

THE GAME OF PLAYING GAMES

MILITARY PROFIT COMPLEX

THE GAME OF PLAYING GAMES
Johann Wagener 4-3-13

Only the world’s largest and most powerful military power would be audacious enough to waste billions of tax payers’ dollars on “playing” war games.

Only the worlds biggest bully would “play” the blame game; accusing the people they beat up and threaten for starting the fight.

Vice President Biden asserted that “Americans have the right to be stupid” but this crazy-making war mongering is pushing the envelope into the world of insanity

The enduring cliches of North Korea coverage

CHINA - N. KOREA CONDUCT WAR GAMES OFF USA COAST

BREAKING NEWS!
Johann Wagener 4-2-13

CHINA & N. KOREA PLAY WAR GAMES OFF US COAST! 

In a speech to the nation, the president adamantly asserted that the US would destroy anyone who threatened this country. Nothing is off the table!

Spokespersons for the Chinese and N. Korean governments reassured the world that they were only conducting war games and that their bombers were only carrying dummy nukes.

They went on to say that this was nothing more than the “tail wagging the dog.” 

MILITARY PROFIT COMPLEX

SOUND OF TOILET FLUSHING

THE COST OF WAR

W.A.T.T.?

W.A.T.T. (what are they thinking) ?
Johann Wagener 4-1-13

April Fool’s Day seemed appropriate to write about this because it’s so absurd that one might think I’m kidding.

Fortune magazine refers to her as “one of the world’s richest and most powerful women”.

Her and her husband live in a home valued at worth well over $5 billion: The 775-room London residence has 52 royal and guest bedrooms and 188 staff bedrooms. 

It baffles me as to why anyone would want to live in a 775 room home. I imagine it would be easy to get lost or not know where you left your glasses. it would take almost 2 years to actually spend one day in each of these rooms. 

Though this is their main residence they do spend some time at their 2^nd home that they frequent on weekends, another tremendous property that is said to be the largest occupied castle in the world. 

Other government provided perks include the Royal Art collection, the Crown Jewels, $11 billion worth of UK property held through the Crown Estate, even unmarked swans on stretches of the Thames, to which the Crown has claimed ownership since the 12^thcentury when swan meat was considered a delicacy; they are no longer eaten.

In addition to these freebies she has personal property which includes her private residence in the Scottish Highlands. The Estate, which covers just over 50,000 acres, is open to the public for several months during the year. (Right now there is a special exhibition of ball gowns with a diamond theme.) 

She also has stud farms, a fruit farm and marine land throughout the U.K., personal art and fine jewelry. 

She also has one of the world’s largest stamp collections, the Royal Philatelic Collection, started by her ancestors in the early 19^th century. 

She receives £38.2 million a year from the Government. This includes the Civil List  -  a £7.9million annual grant from the Treasury to cover her personal spending and staff salaries  - and four grants - in- aid totaling £19.7million from other departments for areas including travel and building repairs.

Last year she also got £3.9million in miscellaneous costs met by the Government and Crown Estate. The biggest grant is £15.4million for property maintenance from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which also pays her £400,000 communications bill.

Plus she receives an annual stipend of more than $12 million, though that figure has been reined in over the years. All told, Forbes estimates her net worth around half a billion, quite a nice sum but not enough to personally earn a spot on our billionaire ranks.

Inspite of all this personal wealth and puplic welfare she requested public assistance to help pay her electric bill. Her aides pleaded for the cash as they claimed gas and electricity bills had risen by more than 50 per cent in a year - totaling more than £1million. They complained that the £15million government grant to cover home expenses was inadequate and her energy bills had become 'untenable'. 

The money would have come from £60million of energy-saving grants reserved for cash-strapped families, housing associations and hospitals.

Her son is 65 years old and has been unemployed all of his life. He collects a bizarre form unemployment totaling nearly $29 million last year and $28 million the previous year. After paying an estimated 40% in taxes, he spends, according to his official site, well over half of after-tax income on official duties and charitable activities. That still leaves plenty of spending money.  

The family’s primary skill set are parades, photo ops, and vacations. Other than that there’s not much else to credit them with in terms of social productivity.

And, believe it or not, the taxpayers foot the whole bill and have done it for centuries. Call it  social “welfare” or just plain absurd.

 I assume all the pomp and ceremony and being dazzled by celebrities justifies what seems to me to be a complete waste of a nations resources; especially when many of it’s citizens live hand to mouth, pay check to pay check.

Maybe it's meant to be a distraction from those realities? Or maybe people are just being conned. 

Something to think about.