est. 2007

Barbados Underground

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Lifting The Veil – The Failure Of Capitalist Democracy

The video, should you hit play, exposes the scam of the supposed two party  system in the USA and shows that, whether the Democratic or Republican party holds power, protecting (or better yet, increasing) the profits of the corporate bankster and gangster class to the detriment of the working class is always the first priority…

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The video, should you hit play, exposes the scam of the supposed two party  system in the USA and shows that, whether the Democratic or Republican party holds power, protecting (or better yet, increasing) the profits of the corporate bankster and gangster class to the detriment of the working class is always the first priority of the USA’s political establishment.

Of interest is the parallel one can make at how our two party system operates. in Barbados.  There was a time under the late Right Excellent Errol Barrow we were proud as a people to express our right to self-determination and express freedom of thought; our pea size in the world not withstanding. Now our governments are all too willing to sacrifice all that free education has given them in order to dance to the tune of an elite view  who selfishly occupy the peak oon the pyramid of wealth. Remember those who control the economic power also control the politicos.

BU highly recommends the video which gives a perspective on how the US government works. To those who had the audacity to hope at the appointment of President Barack Obama, the video will shatter that belief.

 

Credit to Green Monkey for supplying the video.
  1. David Avatar
    David

  2. rutharnetta Avatar
    rutharnetta

    the revelations emerging from the court hearings arising out of former chairman leroy parris’ lawsuit against his former company for unpaid monies are quite astounding and smells like a dead rat. it would appear that the oversight committee put in place to examine the affairs of the beleagured company was nothing short of a farce since it is inconceivable that a contract sought by the committee without success and bearing the signature of the late great prime minister can now surface before the court in support of mr. parris’ apparently legitimate claim. i do not want to cast aspersions on the character of persons dead or alive through mere speculation but it does indeed boggle the mind as to why the late great prime minter would not have persuaded /instructed his client to hand over the contract to the oversight committee to the committee to assist them in the satisfactory completion of their work. it is instructive to note too that mr parris’ obviously irresponsible and dontcarish response to the concern of the oversight committee over the writing of new policies in breach of the instruction of the committee was that he had informed the minster of finance which could lead to the inference that he was performing this illegimitate act with the blessings of the late great prime minister. over to you carson.c. cadogan the corruption czar.

  3. ac Avatar
    ac

    maybe it is time carson cadogan head for the hills as the blp Tsunami has arrived.CCC head for safety! As it is the DLP response has been lackluster

  4. David Avatar
    David

    The Vimeo video exposes the macro challenges which face the US, and the second Youtube video by Elizabeth Warren at Berkley Contract in Law professor focuses on consumer impact.

    Why have we posted these videos? There is an unerring similarity given the path Barbados is on. You should take some time and absorb some of this stuff. The Warren video has been used elsewhere on BU.

  5. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    David
    thanks for posting one of the most interesting and informative videos (i.e. by Elizabeth Warren @8:11 a.m.) It would interesting if a similar analysis for Barbados could be done by say a UWI academic. I suspect that similar results might be determined for Barbados as for the USA. Ms Warren’s conclusions are particularly instructive.

  6. David Avatar
    David

    @Ping Pong

    Thanks, if only our academics were not afraid to take on the establishment. Here is another example of Professor Warren going after the Secretary of the Treasury.

  7. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    David
    such a study(similar to Warren’s) would not be threatening to the establishment but may be helpful policy formulation so as to ensure that our middle class does not collapse. I remember my father telling me that he earned $12 a week about 60 years ago. My mother earned a bit less yet they felt confident enough at that time to marry, start a family and build a home within seven years of marrying. I have often wondered if the purchasing power of today’s incomes are greater than that of 50 or sixty years ago. I believe the data is available. About five years ago, a UWI (Mona) academic could assert to me, without fear of contradiction that this generation of young persons would be the first generation in history to NOT do as well economically as its parents.

  8. David Avatar
    David

    @Ping Pong

    Agree but a research ethos has been lacking in Barbados and that is despite our boast of the wonderful educational system we have. Many of Professor Warrens conclusions are applicable to Barbados e.g. current middleclass demographic/lifestyle means that it has to spend more on transportation, childcare, taxes etc. The only thing which can’t be reconciled is the fact Barbadians have been saving according to the Central Bank statistics , while there have been negative savings among the middleclass in the US.

  9. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    David
    good observations. I would query: Who is saving? Is it a wide cross section of citizens or is it as Warren observes for the US, an upper (or a “somewhat upper”) class? In any event, there is agreement for research to be done that not only clarifies our economic trends but identifies the strengths and weaknesses of our situation.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    Let us hope UWI takes up the offer, will apprise Dr. Robinson, maybe some of his post graduate students will take up the offer.

  11. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @David

    Isn’t this the same Elizabeth Warren who accepted a position with the Obama Administration as an advisor on Consumer Protection working indirectly for Secretary Geithner?

    Just thought I’d get that out there when you wrote about how the US Gov’t works, obviously Professor Warren doesn’t share your views.

  12. David Avatar
    David

    @Sargeant

    Based on our best research she was brought in as a special advisor on the subject of consumer affairs given the respect she has in market as a subject matter expert.

  13. anthony Avatar
    anthony

    actually barbados saving have gone down for the most part but a low percentages thankfully . domestic deposit took a nice increase in 2008 but since then have been going down by about 135 million which isn’t much 7.6 billion domestic deposit in 2008. the foreign deposits peak in 2007 at 1.7 billion to 1.2 billion in 2010. total deposits peak in 2007 at 9 billion with it being 8.6 billion in 2010. Some declines all around but small in percentage when taken in to account of the totals.

  14. David Avatar
    David

    @anthony

    When we talk about ‘going down’ we mean trending down as in time series analysis.

  15. anthony Avatar
    anthony

    Oh sorry :(. this is just a blip in that analysis. Via that method we still trending up.

  16. ruth arnetta Avatar
    ruth arnetta

    sorry but my comment was meant to be posted under the caption” how will prime minister freundel stuart manage leroy parris”

  17. Green Monkey Avatar
    Green Monkey

    The Corporate Drive for Power over Society : Citizen Psychopaths

    SNIP

    Twenty to 25 years ago the world entered what John McMurtry, professor of philosophy at the University of Guelph, has called the cancer stage of capitalism: “Prior to the 1970s, capitalism had been compelled by the ‘communist threat,’ workers’ movements, and a new electoral accountability to adopt preventive measures against its own internal pathologies.” McMurtry refers to this system of social reforms and democratic responsiveness as capitalism’s immune system. But with the advent of a new political consensus amongst the global elites — the Washington consensus of privatization, deregulation, tax cuts, free trade and cuts to social programs — we have witnessed the explicit dismantling of that immune system. All of capitalism’s “pathologies” have been liberated — symbolized by the phrase (and the movie) “greed is good.” The revelations about the financial industry and the behaviour of its principal actors show how far the cancer has progressed.

    Natural selection

    UBC professor Robert Hare, one of the world’s pre-eminent experts on psychopathology, has written (see his book Snakes in Suits) about how the new capitalism and its ruthless advance has actually created a home for what he calls “sub-criminal psychopaths.” When corporations want tough, brilliant “leaders” to help them compete and offer almost limitless wealth and power as a reward, they attract psychopathic personalities. Who better to lay off thousands of employees than someone incapable of feeling empathy or remorse?

    But if the newest crop of CEOs contains a goodly number of psychopaths, the organizations they lead were already and remain constitutionally sociopathic. Not only do these so-called “citizens” live forever, but they are prevented by law — their fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders — from taking into consideration the good of society, their employees or the environment. The public good must be subordinated to the profit motive and the drive to increase shareholder value.

    Of course, corporations are supposed to obey the laws in these areas. But while it is in the interests of real flesh and blood citizens to obey the law because otherwise they would invite social chaos, it is the interests of corporate citizens to break the law. This is so obvious that there is even a body of corporate legal theory that promotes law-breaking if it leads to increased profits. Two University of Chicago law professors, Frank Easterbrook (also a judge) and Daniel Fischel, wrote over 25 years ago that managers should break the law if it is profitable, and if they get caught they should simply treat the ensuing fine as a cost of doing business. They weren’t just talking about fines for double-parking their trucks. They were talking about fraud, corruption, pollution, price-fixing, occupational disease, and bribery — all “externalities” on the road to making a profit. This theory has dominated American corporate thinking for two decades. (My emphasis /GM)

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22059

  18. The man wiv no name!! Avatar
    The man wiv no name!!

    ent it a bit late fuh he tuh b ‘a red under d bed’?!! listin, communism done, in case he din realise!! Ef he was right, how come den dat d world n it’s brother r racing to adop our system of commercialism! Dave, u got time tuh listen tuh dese people?!!

  19. moneybrain Avatar
    moneybrain

    The US business, political and social condition today is CORRUPT.
    The reason is, there are no powerful, ethical statesmen in sight. Money buys everything and just about anybody.
    The recent trouble in the markets is a direct result of the Washington/ Wall St CABAL where many laws enacted from the mistakes of past generations ie 1920-30s were repealed.
    Capitalism can certainly be harnessed for the improvement of the vast majority’s standard of living as proven by the US, Japan and most recently China and India.
    I believe it was Churchill who said “Capitalism is the unequal sharing of wealth. Communism is the equal sharing of MISERY”
    The Chinese and Russians appear to have finally agreed.
    The truth is that the US is exhibiting most of the classic symptoms of the end of empire and so with major challenges evident it has become” devil take the hindmost” as the political/ business elite are grabbing whatever they can grasp.
    Excellent statesmen would persue policies for the benefit of the vast majority, especially regarding Education, Health, Energy et al with a socialised capitalism vision a la Japan.

  20. Terence M. Blackett Avatar
    Terence M. Blackett

    @ DAVID

    The latest theory in the marketplace ask – “Did China or Jihadists try to bankrupt America? Pentagon report reveals financial terrorists may have triggered economic crash…”

    “Two mystery investors’ were number one traders in all financial companies that collapsed or are now financially supported by the U.S. government”…

    Read more:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361898/Pentagon-reveal-financial-terrorists-triggered-economic-crash.html#ixzz1GVYWABi9

  21. Green Monkey Avatar
    Green Monkey

    Hmm, I wonder if these jihadist traders that the Pentagon believes crashed the stock market had any connections to the traders making a bundle off of the insider trading that occurred just prior to 9/11?

    Black 9/11: A Walk on the Dark Side

    This paper will review the evidence for informed, or insider, trading in the days and hours before the 9/11 attacks. From the very first, the phenomenon appeared to be world-wide. One consultant, Jonathan Winer, told ABC: “it’s absolutely unprecedented to see cases of insider trading covering the entire world from Japan to the US to North America to Europe.”[1] The list of affected nations was long, and included the US, Germany, Japan, France Luxembourg, Hong Kong, the UK, Switzerland and Spain.[2] Soon, independent investigations were underway on three continents in the belief that the paper trail would lead to the terrorists.

    Press statements by leading figures in the international banking community left little doubt that the evidence was compelling. Ernst Welteke, President of the German Deutsche Bundesbank, told reporters that “a preliminary review by German regulators and bank researchers showed there were highly suspicious sales of shares in airlines and insurance companies, along with major trades in gold and oil markets, before September 11 that suggest….advance knowledge of the attacks. Welteke said that his researchers came across….almost irrefutable proof of insider trading.” Welteke was blunt: “What we found makes us sure that people connected to the terrorists must have been trying to profit from this tragedy.”[3]

    SNIP

    The 9/11 Commission Report also fails to mention the other compelling evidence for insider trading that I have not yet discussed, namely, the approximately 400 computer hard drives found by workmen in the ruins of the WTC. According to Reuters and CNN, in the period after 9/11, U.S. credit card, telecommunications and accounting firms hired a German company named Convar to recoup data from the damaged hard drives.[30] Convar got the contract because, two years before, it had developed a proprietary method for recovering data using a cutting edge laser scanning technology. Peter Wagner, a Convar spokesman, told CNN that the new laser process makes it “possible to read the individual drive surfaces and then create a virtual drive.” As of December 2001, Convar had examined 39 hard drives and in most cases succeeded in recovering 100% of the data. The company was specifically searching for encryption keys, indicating a financial record. Convar found evidence stored on the drives of “an unexplained surge in transactions prior to the attacks.” Convar director Peter Henschel told CNN that “unusually large sums of money, perhaps more than $100 million, were rushed through the computers as the disaster unfolded. Said Henschel: “The suspicion is that insider information about the attack was used to send financial transaction commands and authorizations in the belief that amidst all the chaos the criminals would have a good head start…..Of course it’s possible that Americans went on an absolute shopping binge, that Tuesday morning. But at this point there are many transactions that cannot be accounted for.” After the initial story by CNN and Reuters, the issue of the WTC hard drives disappeared from the news, and nothing has been heard since. Although reports on the Internet that Kroll purchased Convar remain unsubstantiated, it is nonetheless clear that someone made the story (and the evidence) go away.[31] But what reason would they possibly have for doing so? Unless the initial indications from Convar that insider trading had occurred were correct.

    More at:
    http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/03/02/black-911-a-walk-on-the-dark-side-2/2/

  22. David Avatar
    David

    @TB

    Don’t buy that article.

    What the video demonstrate has been the inability of Obama to deliver.

    He promised to stop torture but he approved renditions.

    He promised to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan but American troops continue to occupy with the Republican pushing for an invasion of Libya.

    He promised to improve the safety net but yet he has cut budget to social security by increase military spending. He has also increase military bases.

    The list continues of undeliverables by Obama.

  23. David Avatar
    David

     

    (Reuters) – Anonymous, a hacker group sympathetic to WikiLeaks, plans to release e-mails obtained from Bank of America Corp early Monday morning, according to posts on the group’s Twitter feed.

    The group, unrelated to the document leak website founded by Julian Assange, said it plans to release documents exposing "corruption and fraud" at the largest U.S. bank by assets.

    A Bank of America spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

    (Reporting by Joe Rauch; editing by Gunna Dickson)

  24. moneybrain Avatar
    moneybrain

    Who seriously believes that Barrack or George were truly in control. The Pres must answer to the rich families that put them in that position HINT the US members of the Bilderberg Group with names like Rothschild,Warberg, Rockefeller( The Prince of W, Queen Beatrix) etc
    BTW they soon going to CULL the global population by a few billion.

  25. M Parry Avatar
    M Parry

    X-man
    I’ve stumbled across this interesting clip.
    Audio slideshow: Mapping Africa
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12675464

  26. maat Avatar
    maat

    What this information highlights is that most of our so called economic gurus are just following false doctrine and can no more predict or plan an economy than a 1st former in secondary school.

    The whole pack of cards is built on interest which is in itself a system that is waiting to fail, a heart attack waiting to happen.

    I borrow money from a bank. Which is really numbers on a computer guaranteed by a piece of paper (cheque) that 2 frauds have agreed to exchange instead of cash (banks). So one makes up the figures on my account computer, gives me a piece of paper which allows me to put these figures on someone else’s computer, and then they wait for me to find a way to find real money, which they have not created, to pay them for this computer/cheque fraud. Most people end up having to borrow more and more to find the interest, because the extra 12% is not in the economy, which may only be developing at 3%. Eventually the system cannot take it and debts become due because lending because impossible.

    What the banksters in the UK and Europe did was to encourage people to consolidate their loans into mortgages which they could never pay back. When they fail to pay, the banks can then grab tangible, real assets (real estate) with which they can re start the whole process.

    Why do you think these bank managers were given such huge bonus’? They did exactly what they were meant to. The system isn’t really broke, they have just consolidated their wealth and absorbed a few of the companies that wouldn’t play ball. When they think we’ve had enough they’ll move onto the next step and expect that we will welcome it with open arms.

    A black activist in New York warned about Obama about 2 years before he was selected as the next US President. He said we should watch out for his skills as an orator as the last speaker with his kind of crowd appeal was Adolf Hitler.

    Peace

  27. David Avatar
    David

    An interesting bit of info in the video is that 1% of Americans own 80-90% of the wealth.

    The bailout money if it was dolled out to those affected they would have received 300,000 plus per person. Instead it was given to the banks.,

  28. The man wiv no name!! Avatar
    The man wiv no name!!

    Dave, nothing surprising bout that statistic. probably applies in Bim too. purpose is to become 1 uh d 1% n den ull b alright!! – easy!! 🙂

  29. David Avatar
    David

  30. Green Monkey Avatar
    Green Monkey

    Obama Fiddles While Fukushima Burns

    While protests and civil wars rage in Libya and Bahrain, Obama is keeping himself busy by videotaping his NCAA tournament picks, hitting the golf course for the 61st time in his presidency, and partying with lawmakers during a Chicago Bulls vs. Charlotte Bobcats game.

    The most energy Obama could bother to devote to what is fast coming one of the biggest nuclear disasters in history was to make an empty statement about how people could donate to usaid.gov, while labeling the NCAA exercise a “great diversion.”

    While Japan begs the United States for help to rescue the dire situation at Fukushima, Obama seems more concerned about dressing up nicely to please the media elite at the annual Gridiron Dinner.

    Even as the planet faces the threat of a “new Chernobyl on steroids,” Obama has chosen to prioritize a speech about “Women’s History Month,” a White House get-together on “bullying” and a meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks instead of offering any kind of leadership.

    SNIP

    “But the fun stuff won’t end anytime soon,” writes veteran White House reporter Keith Koffler, who accuses the President of succumbing to “childish distractions” while the world is afire. “On Thursday, the Taoiseach of Ireland will be in town to help the president celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. And then Friday it’s off to Brazil for the start of a three-country Latin American tour.

    Granted, Obama is not superman and nobody expects him to act as some kind of omnipotent savior, but the remarkable regularity with which Obama goes AWOL when crises hit not just globally but also in America has become characterisitic of his whole presidency.

    Lest we forget that during the course of the devastating BP oil spill crisis, Obama took no less than three vacations, disappearing from public view at the very height of the drama when Americans were desperate for a leader.

    Obama’s behavior exemplifies the fact that he is a completely hollow sock-puppet of a president. After being billed as an icon for hope, change and fresh leadership as America sought to reclaim its global reputation, Obama has been nothing but a crushing disappointment and a massive failure.

    The whole farce reminds us once again that Obama, like George W. Bush before him, controls absolutely nothing, has no influence on world affairs, and has now stopped even bothering to maintain the pretense that he is anything other than an obedient yes-man whose role comprises of nothing more than following orders from the Wall Street and banking elite that have pulled his strings from the very beginning.

    http://www.prisonplanet.com/obama-fiddles-while-fukushima-burns.html

  31. David Avatar
    David

    Interesting the UN has all in a huff and a puff instituted a no fly zone over Libya but all hell has been breaking lose in some African countries for a while and nothing from G8.

  32. anthony Avatar
    anthony

    Because they don’t get their oil form there 🙂

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