A tale about an English Queen, American presidents, and us, the debt & mortgage laden Irish people:
Yesterday was a truly momentous occasion in our history as an independent Irish Republic - Queen Elisabeth II of the UK came to visit. She is the first British monarch to do so since we gained our independence in 1916. Today, Dublin was a place of eerie silence - for the sake of the safety of Her Majesty, we, the people of Dublin, were kept off the streets. MSNBC reports:
"Security has meant that the queen's motorcade has driven through empty streets – no throngs of waving spectators have been allowed. Only at Trinity College was there a chance for ordinary people to meet her: 250 students, faculty and staff chosen by lottery. According to participants, they made small talk, chatting about hometowns, majors and the like."
You see, once again, our very own authorities have decided to dispense with consideration for us, 'the people on the street', in order to accommodate the wishes of 'higher' and 'mightier' forces. This is a bit like forcing the IMF/ECB punitive bail-out down our throats to keep our new foreign masters happy, while we have hospitals and schools shut down. Brian Lenihan's (the Minister of Finance who sold our futures to the ECB/IMF) recent platitudes that he did so under duress, would be laughable, had he not made us and our great-great grandchildren pay for it in generations to come.
Queen Elisabeth did not land at our capitals' newly opened airport, one wonders why. I have it on good authority that her landing at the remote Baldonell airport was guarded by dozens of Irish army snipers, ready to pull the trigger should the Queen come into danger. So, you see, we have authorities and forces in this country who can make decisions and exercise authority - when it suits them.
King Sean of Anglo Irish Bank still waltzes through the golf courses of Ireland while the tax-payers throughout the Euro zone settle Ireland's bank bail-out bills. For those who wonder why, I would like to remind you of 'The Fitzpatrick Tapes' that we learned of last summer. The tapes that convinced us of Fitzpatrick's very comfortable relationship with our then Prime-Minister, Brian Cowen of Fianna Fail. This would be the same Fianna Fail whose ex-TD (member of Irish parliament) was the chairman of UniCredit Ireland at the time of my resignation. This was a 'comfortable' time for all concerned, not only was our chairman, Prof. B. Hillary, an ex-TD (see Village magazine article) for Fianna Fail. The Minister of Finance of the day, was Mr. Brian Cowen, who would later preside over the destruction of Ireland, not by a foreign invader, but by our own, freely elected, Irish government.
http://www.villagemagazine.ie/index.php/2010/12/still-waiting-for-the-truth-from-the-regulator/
When it suites them we have a fully functioning State which can protect those it regards as important enough to protect. Sadly neither you nor I nor any of the actual citizens of this country seem to be on the list of those worth protecting.
King Sean of Anglo Irish Bank still waltzes through the golf courses of Ireland while the tax-payers throughout the Euro zone settle Ireland's bank bail-out bills. For those who wonder why, I would like to remind you of 'The Fitzpatrick Tapes' that we learned of last summer. The tapes that convinced us of Fitzpatrick's very comfortable relationship with our then Prime-Minister, Brian Cowen of Fianna Fail. This would be the same Fianna Fail whose ex-TD (member of Irish parliament) was the chairman of UniCredit Ireland at the time of my resignation. This was a 'comfortable' time for all concerned, not only was our chairman, Prof. B. Hillary, an ex-TD (see Village magazine article) for Fianna Fail. The Minister of Finance of the day, was Mr. Brian Cowen, who would later preside over the destruction of Ireland, not by a foreign invader, but by our own, freely elected, Irish government.
http://www.villagemagazine.ie/index.php/2010/12/still-waiting-for-the-truth-from-the-regulator/
The Obamas, on the other hand, can expect to see more of us, Dubliners, on the streets when they land in Dublin next week. The Clintons often reflected on the warm welcomes we had given them. However, president Obama was the one who rushed 2,000 pages of bank bail-out legislation not long after he arrived in the White House. He is the fulfilment of every republican's wildest dreams. Bail-out the corrupt banks and throw people out of their homes for failing to deliver their side of the bargain, in the 'win-win' trap created by savvie bankers.
"Goldman Sachs Misled Congress After Duping Clients, Levin Says" - stated Bloomberg/Newsweek last month.
Germany's best-performing bank, Deutsche Bank is mentioned in the congressional report as well, and not in the 'Good Guys' category.
I wonder will President Obama discuss with our Prime-Minister Kenny the unpleasant truth of companies operating 'on their watch' while contributing to the wealth of murderers like Muamar Ghaddaffi of Libya. Libya owns 7.5% of UniCredit. UniCredit owns Pioneer Investments - one of the oldest and biggest fund management companies in the USA. Perhaps it was not just Oil prices that President Obama was worried about when he took so long to support the people on Libya's streets who were fighting for democracy. Perhaps they need to teach the White House a lesson or two about democracy...
The good news? History does repeat itself, but we, humans, seem to be learning, albeit
s l o w l y . Ghaddaffi's assets were eventually frozen under a UN resolution much faster than it took for the US authorities to stop Prescot Bush (the presidents' forefather) from financing the Nazi war machine well after the attack on Pearl Harbour:
How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power - The Guardian, September 2004.
"While there is no suggestion that Prescott Bush was sympathetic to the Nazi cause, the documents reveal that the firm he worked for, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH), acted as a US base for the German industrialist, Fritz Thyssen, who helped finance Hitler in the 1930s before falling out with him at the end of the decade. The Guardian has seen evidence that shows Bush was the director of the New York-based Union Banking Corporation (UBC) that represented Thyssen's US interests and he continued to work for the bank after America entered the war...
There was nothing illegal in doing business with the Thyssens throughout the 1930s and many of America's best-known business names invested heavily in the German economic recovery. However, everything changed after Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Even then it could be argued that BBH was within its rights continuing business relations with the Thyssens until the end of 1941 as the US was still technically neutral until the attack on Pearl Harbor. The trouble started on July 30 1942 when the New York Herald-Tribune ran an article entitled "Hitler's Angel Has $3m in US Bank". UBC's huge gold purchases had raised suspicions that the bank was in fact a "secret nest egg" hidden in New York for Thyssen and other Nazi bigwigs. The Alien Property Commission (APC) launched an investigation.
There is no dispute over the fact that the US government seized a string of assets controlled by BBH - including UBC and SAC - in the autumn of 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy act. What is in dispute is if Harriman, Walker and Bush did more than own these companies on paper."
President Obama, your consideration for your people is touching, you are right up there with our own politicians. This recent quote from the Chicago Tribune says it all:
"As President Barack Obama flies Monday to Chicago for a midday speech on health-care reform, the round trip on Air Force One will run about $236,000, according to government estimates of the operating costs for one of the top symbols, and perks, of the presidency. But that does not include such expenses as Secret Service protection, motorcades and helicopter transports.
...
The cost of Air Force One recently made national news after a backup aircraft that sometimes carries the president made a controversial, low-altitude flight over New York City as part of a government photo opportunity, panicking workers and prompting complaints from local officials. That flight cost more than $300,000, according to Air Force estimates.
Obama's air travel made news again when he and First Lady Michelle Obama traded the big bird for a much smaller Air Force jet made by Gulfstream for a recent Saturday evening "date night" in New York City. It was a lower class of service, apparently allowed because of the brevity of the trip."
I would like to close this late-night rant with a beautiful poem sent to me by a reader in Florida. It is a paraphrasing of Pslam 23, updated for 1934/5:
Mr. Roosevelt is my shepeherd
I am in want
He maketh me to lie down on park benches
He leadeth me beside the still factories
He disturbuth my soul
He leadeth me in the paths of destruction for his party's sake
I anticipate no recovery
For he is with me
His policies and diplomacies - they frighten me
He prepareth a reduction in my salary and
In the presence of my enemies
He appointeth me small income with taxes
And my expense runneth over
Surely unemplyment and poverty shall follow me
All the days of my lifeAnd I shall dwell in a mortgaged house forever.
http://wewillynotconform.blogspot.com/
Good night/morning,
