Carter the International Grifter

Former US President Jimmy Carter gives the old 'Grifter' signal as he is leaving by the back door of the White House after a morning meeting with current US President Barack Obama in Washington on 18 March 2009.

Since that day, Carter has made his share of trips to the Middle East; especially Israel with the US unscrupulous foreign policies tacked as grib notes to the loop of his belt; instead of the US making their peace with the Muslim and Jews throughout the world and even going so far now to focus or attack Muslim and Jewish youth with this unacceptable behavior.

Doesn’t the US think 109 years of this unscrupulous shady behavior of war, lies and death is enough; apparently, not or did they ever here the phrase, ‘Conquest is futile?”

To yet, the idea, that the Middle East is wise, to a bad US con job and even we know a good Grifter wears a suit.

But as to Carter’s variety of ‘shell game,’ he is an ‘enforce intimidator;’ if something is not going in the direction the US wishes for instance of forcing US democracy ideals on a country that doesn’t wish this form of political system or cram the US brand of Middle East policies down the throat; send Carter.

Crime Actually Doesn't Pay

The Bonnie (Parker) and Clyde (Barrow) car riddled with bullet holes after the ambush on 23 May 1934 on a highway near Sailes, Louisiana by US law enforcement officers; as bank robbers, even they knew they would be eventually caught one day or killed; but they where bent to defy US federal laws and the crime statistics of the 1930’s.

Also, in US history of the 1930’s Great Depression, the ‘Grifter’ was a dime a dozen, from every type of con, bank robbery to racketeering one could imagine, to even by some be romanticized in ‘Americana’ and while this has not actually diminished so much since that time; with the current US financial crisis this type of criminal activity is hitting the status of vogue within the American society once again as it did in the 1930's; which must be keeping the 'bunko' section of the police department, it is assured very busy.

Who's Got the Tar?

There is also a time in US and European history where a person who was very unacceptable would be tar and feathered upon the majority of the person; to be further, either ridden out on a 'rail' (railroad rail) or just forced out of town in this condition, usually by an angry mob. A very unpleasant way of saying, one was not only a criminal or extremely immoral; but tremendously unacceptable or unwelcome in a particular town, city or in Carter‘s case; country.

As to how to apply, the rather warm tar was usually applied first, so the feather's (a lot of chicken feathers were used) would adhere to the person in question. As to the removal, it was very difficult and uncomfortable.

As to where crime leads a person as far as Paradise (Heavens) is concerned, they do not even reach the 'heavily guarded front gate' of the firmament; but yet, the gates to hell is assured to be open and waiting.

Abbas Impersonates Government Representative in an Attempt to Defraud China

D. Rafiq Husseini (2R), a Canaanite from the organization global terrorist Interpol fugitive Mahmoud Abbas during the signing of an illegal economic agreement with Minister of Information of the Communist Party of China Mr. Liu Yunshan (2L), on 3 December 2008 in Ramallah.

As it has been mentioned before and with all due honorable respect to China, all agreement’s made through Mahmoud Abbas are not valid in Palestine for Abbas has no legal representation as any government official in any capacity for Abbas is not only a criminal non-citizen; but again appears to have misrepresented himself as apart of HRM Deborah’s of Palestine’s government in an attempt to commit a fraudulent act most despicably towards representatives of China nor is it considered acceptable to go near the grave of the terrorist, mass murder Yasser Arafat; as Abbas know's this is an insult towards all citizens of Palestine.

While I am sure this is just a misunderstanding on the part of China, I do hope that this is corrected and the warm relations between her HRM Deborah of Palestine and China will continue.

It should be further stated with the intention to help the representatives from China, that Abbas and his criminal non-citizen Canaanite terrorist organization is illegally in Palestine by all acceptable law's due to being illegal's in the country and High criminal activities, especially for example this instance, but most importantly terrorism, mass murder and which is upheld in compliance by enlarge the Global Community to my understanding against these types of criminal activities.

Officials: FBI investigates ACORN for voter fraud

An investigator carries a box of evidence seized from the ACORN office in Las Vegas, Tuesday, 7 October 2008. A Nevada secretary of state's office spokesman said Tuesday that investigators are looking for evidence of voter fraud at the office.

15 October 2008
By LARA JAKES JORDAN

The FBI is investigating whether the community activist group ACORN helped foster voter registration fraud around the nation before the presidential election.

A senior law enforcement official confirmed the investigation to The Associated Press. A second senior law enforcement official says the FBI was looking at results of inquiries in several states, including a raid on ACORN's office in Las Vegas, for any evidence of a coordinated national effort.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Justice Department regulations forbid discussing ongoing investigations particularly so close to an election.

Two spokesmen for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, on Thursday said the FBI has not contacted the group.

"ACORN has not been notified that we are the target of an investigation by any authorities — nor should we be," spokesman Kevin Whelan said in a statement. "ACORN members have done a good and patriotic thing by helping bring more than a million of their fellow citizens into our democratic process."

Republican accusations about the group were raised during Wednesday's presidential debate between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain.

ACORN says it has registered 1.3 million young people, minorities and poor and working-class voters. More than 13,000 ACORN workers in 21 states recruited low-income voters, who tend to be Democrats.

But some ACORN employees have been accused of submitting false voter registration forms — including some signed `Mickey Mouse' or other fictitious characters.

Those voter registration cards have become the focus of fraud investigations in Nevada, Connecticut, Missouri and at least a half-dozen other states. Election officials in Ohio and North Carolina also recently questioned the group's voter forms.

ACORN has said the "vast majority" of its workers are conscientious, but some might have turned in duplicate applications or provided fake information to pad their pay. Workers caught submitting false information have been fired, ACORN officials say.

ACORN says laws in a number of states require it to submit all registration cards it collects even dubious ones, so its workers segregate applications with missing, suspicious or false information and flag them so state election officials can quickly check them further.

Brian Kettenring, an ACORN spokesman, said its employees flagged questionable registration forms for election officials in 11 states, none of which is investigating the group. He also said he did not believe a `Mickey Mouse' voter registration card in Orlando, Fla., was submitted by an ACORN worker.

House Republicans have been pushing for the Justice Department to investigate ACORN, calling on Attorney General Michael Mukasey to make sure ballots by ineligible or fraudulent voters are not counted on Nov. 4.

The issue also became campaign trail fodder for McCain, who on Wednesday night demanded to know the full extent of Obama's ties with ACORN. McCain said the group could be on the verge of "destroying the fabric of democracy."

Obama denied any significant ties to ACORN and mocked McCain for bringing it up. The Democrat and two other lawyers represented ACORN in 1995 in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois to make voter registration easier, and hired a firm with ties to the group for a massive get-out-the-vote effort during this year's primary.

Earlier this week, Obama said that ACORN was not advising his campaign on voter registration, and the group's registration problems should not be used by the Republicans as an excuse to keep voters from turning out on Election Day.

Execs' posh retreat after bailout angers lawmakers

Former CEO of AIG Martin Sullivan, center, waits to testify later today before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, on 7 October 2008; as lawmakers probe the role of insurance giant AIG in the financial meltdown requiring government bailout.

7 October 2008
By ANDREW TAYLOR

Days after it got a federal bailout, American International Group Inc. spent $440,000 on a posh California retreat for its executives, complete with spa treatments, banquets and golf outings, according to lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown.

AIG sent its executives to the coastal St. Regis resort south of Los Angeles even as the company tapped into an $85 billion loan from the government it needed to stave off bankruptcy. The resort tab included $23,380 worth of spa treatments for AIG employees, according to invoices the resort turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The retreat didn't include anyone from the financial products division that nearly drove AIG under, but lawmakers still were enraged over thousands of dollars spent on outing for executives of AIG's main U.S. life insurance subsidiary.

"Average Americans are suffering economically. They're losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance," the committee's chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., scolded the company during a lengthy opening statement at a hearing Tuesday. "Yet less than one week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation."

Former AIG CEO Robert Willumstad, who lost his job a day after the Federal Reserve put up the $85 billion on Sept. 16, said he was not familiar with the conference and would not have gone along with it.

"It seems very inappropriate," Willumstad said in response to questioning from Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.

"Those executives should be fired," Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama said at a debate with Sen. John McCain on Tuesday, referring to the retreat participants. Obama also said AIG should give the Treasury $440,000 to cover the costs of the retreat.

But Eric Dinallo, superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department, said he could see the value of such a retreat under the circumstances.

"Having been at large global companies and knowing what condition AIG was in ... the absolute worst thing that could have happened" would have been for employees and underwriters in its life insurance subsidiary to flee the company.

"I do agree there is some profligate spending there, but the concept of bringing all the major employees together ... to ensure that the $85 billion could be as greatly as possible paid back would have been not a crazy corporate decision," Dinallo told the House committee.

The hearing disclosed that AIG executives hid the full range of its risky financial products from auditors as losses mounted, according to documents released by the committee, which is examining the chain of events that forced the government to bail out the conglomerate.

The panel sharply criticized AIG's former top executives, who cast blame on each other for the company's financial woes.

"You have cost my constituents and the taxpayers of this country $85 billion and run into the ground one of the most respected insurance companies in the history of our country," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. "You were just gambling billions, possibly trillions of dollars."

AIG, crippled by huge losses linked to mortgage defaults, was forced last month to accept the $85 billion government loan that gives the U.S. the right to an 80 percent stake in the company.

Waxman unveiled documents showing AIG executives hid the full extent of the firm's risky financial products from auditors, both outside and inside the firm, as losses mounted.

For instance, federal regulators at the Office of Thrift Supervision warned in March that "corporate oversight of AIG Financial Products ... lack critical elements of independence." At the same time, PricewaterhouseCoopers confidentially warned the company that the "root cause" of its mounting problems was denying internal overseers in charge of limiting AIG's exposure access to what was going on in its highly leveraged financial products branch.

Waxman also released testimony from former AIG auditor Joseph St. Denis, who resigned after being blocked from giving his input on how the firm estimated its liabilities.

Three former AIG executives were summoned to appear before the hearing. One of them, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg — who ran AIG for 38 years until 2005 — canceled his appearance citing illness but submitted prepared testimony. In it, he blamed the company's financial woes on his successors, former CEOs Martin Sullivan and Willumstad.

"When I left AIG, the company operated in 130 countries and employed approximately 92,000 people," Greenberg said. "Today, the company we built up over almost four decades has been virtually destroyed."

Sullivan and Willumstad, in turn, cast much of the blame on accounting rules that forced AIG to take tens of billions of dollars in losses stemming from exposure to toxic mortgage-related securities.

Lawmakers also upbraided Sullivan, who ran the firm from 2005 until June of this year, for urging AIG's board of directors to waive pay guidelines to win a $5 million bonus for 2007 — even as the company lost $5 billion in the 4th quarter of that year. Sullivan countered that he was mainly concerned with helping other senior executives.

FBI Probes finance giants for fraud

24 September 2008

Investigation (FBI) confirmed on Wednesday that it is probing allegations of fraud by 24 Wall Street firms, without naming investment giants believed to be under investigation.

WASHINGTON-"The director and others have confirmed the number of investigations that we currently have, but we haven't named any of the companies," a FBI spokesperson said.

"The director last week indicated that there are 24 corporate fraud investigations involving the subprime industry," he added.

US media said late on Tuesday that the FBI has set its sights on investment titan Lehman Brothers, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and insurer AIG.

The FBI probe aims to determine whether company executives had any responsibility for the institutions' financial woes through "misinformation or material misinformation", CNN said.

FBI director Robert Mueller said last week the bureau was probing 24 financial institutions, but gave no details other than to describe them as "large corporations" that may face allegations of misstated assets.

ABC News said the probe was "multifaceted and the net is much deeper than the major firms [that] officials confirmed", adding the probe had expanded from 14 major firms to 26 in less than a year.

"The FBI currently has 26 pending corporate fraud investigations involving subprime lenders," FBI spokesperson Richard Kolko told ABC.

"As we have seen, this number can fluctuate over time; however, we do not discuss which companies may or may not be the subject of an investigation."

FBI holds 300 for mortgage fraud

One law enforcement official said the frauds had cost victims $1bn.

19 June 2008

U.S.-The FBI says it has arrested about 300 property market players as part of its crackdown on mortgage fraud.

The arrests include estate agents and loan originators, who help homebuyers to take out loans.

Reported mortgage fraud has soared in the past year, with the most common type being mis-statement of assets.

Earlier in the day, two former Bear Stearns managers in New York were arrested following the collapse of a fund linked to sub-prime mortgages.

Further Reading:

Housing crisis brings Wall St arrests, veto threat

The Art of Authentic Forgery

15 April 2008
By Nadav Shragai

Criminal case 482/04, the State of Israel v. Oded Golan and others, lays out the details of one of the biggest forgery scandals ever in the history of archaeology. According to the indictment, those miseld by Golan, a well-known Tel Aviv antiquities collector, included renowned experts who were ready to confirm the authenticity of the many and controversial findings he supposedly discovered, such as the Jehoash Tablet inscription and an ossuary that supposedly held the bones of James, the brother of Jesus.

And yet, today, three years after the start of the trial, after more than 70 witnesses for the prosecution have taken the stand, and the defense has started to present its arguments, the state prosecutor's office and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which initiated the indictment, face a problem: Marco Samah Shoukri Ghatas, the Egyptian artist who confessed to manufacturing many items for Golan, including the Jehoash inscription, will not be coming to Israel to testify. According to the IAA, it is the Egyptian authorities that are preventing Ghatas from coming to Israel. Golan's attorney, Lior Bringer, on the other hand, counters that it was the Egyptian's choice not to come.

Either way, the prosecution believes it will win the case even without the testimony of Ghatas, a talented stone artist and jeweler from the Khan al-Khalili market in Cairo. The testimony submitted in an interrogation conducted by the Egyptians and in which he confessed to many of the crimes, has already been cited in the Jerusalem District Court, where the case is being heard by Judge Aharon Farkash. Nevertheless, says an IAA official, "we're very interested in bringing him to Israel, so that the man who by his own admission forged the antiquities for Golan, will say so formally in court."

Ghatas himself spoke openly about the artifacts he manufactured with reporter Bob Simon, on the CBS-TV news program "60 Minutes." And authorities here say they have assured him that if he comes to testify, he will not be arrested.

First Temple tablet

When Haaretz reported over five years ago on the discovery of the Jehoash inscription, the archaeology world was shaken. The inscription, some 10 lines in length, was etched onto a black stone tablet in ancient script. It described the renovation conducted by Judean king Jehoash in the First Temple, as described in 2 Kings 12.

There were immediately doubts about the authenticity of the tablet, and two committees of experts set up by the IAA confirmed the suspicions, concluding that the inscription was indeed a forgery. At the end of 2004, antiquities collector Oded Golan was put on trial. He was accused, along with others, of forging the inscription, as well as fabricating and attempting to sell many other fake antiquities. These included the James Ossuary (supposedly the bone box of Jesus' brother); ancient pottery with inscriptions; a stone menorah attributed by some to the high priest in the Second Temple; a tiny ivory pomegranate, with an inscription, that was thought to be the only existing artifact that had been used in the First Temple, and which was displayed for many years at the Israel Museum. Also determined to be a forgery was a quartz platter with an inscription in an ancient Egyptian language, which ostensibly showed that the ancient city of Megiddo was conquered by a commander of King Shishak. The inscription presumed to solve the question occupying many scholars regarding the identity of the destroyer of Megiddo.

Amir Ganor, who heads the IAA's antiquities theft prevention unit, said in his testimony that Ghatas personally confessed to him that he personally forged the Jehoash inscription, on the basis of the sketches brought to him by Oded Golan. Ganor also reveals that Ghatas admitted forging the handle of the "Menasseh, King of Judah Seal," as well as manufacturing seals and repairing clay pottery and other items according to specifications received from Golan. As for the ossuary of Jesus' brother, James, says Ganor, "Marco admitted only to rinsing and smearing it."

Old friends

Ganor describes the connection between Golan and Marco Ghatas as a close and ongoing one: "This is a relationship that went on for 15 years. At certain times, Marco lived in Oded's home. Marco had an Israeli girlfriend, who testified at the trial, and described his actions. Among the items found in Golan's possession were also crates with various items, on some of which Marco's signature appeared."

The original indictment was issued against five people. Two of them have in the meantime admitted to some of the crimes attributed to them, were dropped from the indictment and became state's witnesses. In addition to Golan, two other accused people remain: Faiz al-Amla, an antiquities trader from the village of Beit Ula in the southern part of the Hebron Hills, and Robert Deutsch, a well-known antiquities dealer from Tel Aviv. The state signed a plea bargain with al-Amla, and he was convicted and sentenced to a six-month jail term.

According to the indictment, in most cases original antiquities were taken, and then fake inscriptions or decorations were added to them, which, if authentic, would have made them extremely valuable. After the items were prepared by this method, they had an artificial patina applied to them. The patina, a layer that accumulates naturally on antiquities over the course of time, was created with great expertise, to the point where many experts were fooled into thinking that the antiquities are indeed authentic. Among the specialists taken in were professionals from the Geological Survey of Israel, in Jerusalem, and experts from archaeology labs and museums in Israel and from around the world.

In the case of the James Ossuary, the indictment alleges that Golan took an ancient ossuary on which was an authentic inscription reading "Ya'akov bar Yosef" (James, son of Joseph), and had added to it the words "ahuei de'Yeshua" (brother of Jesus). The indictment also says that Golan, possibly with assistance, covered up the forgery "by smearing various materials on the ossuary," giving it a patina that would make the entire text appear to have been written during the Second Temple period. Following that, Golan allegedly drummed up publicity for the box, and arranged for it to be displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto, "where it was seen by tens of thousands of people and media from all over the world..."

Expert appraisals

After the forgery process was completed, according to the indictment, the antiquities were given to experts, both for them to verify that the forgery was successful and for them to appraise the importance of the objects. "After receiving an appraisal, attempts were made to sell the items or publicize them worldwide, with the aim of increasing their worth and selling them in the future," the indictment continues.

Among the evidence presented by the prosecution in court: photos and exhibits taken from the labs in Golan's home, where, according to the indictment, the forgeries were made; various sketches and other materials that were used in the preparation of the forgeries.

Lior Bringer, Golan's attorney, says his client denies all the charges attributed to him and stands by the authenticity of the items. "It seems unlikely to me," says Bringer, "that [Ghatas], who was in Israel so many times, encountered trouble coming here to testify. It doesn't seem to me that the Egyptian government prevented him from coming here. What seems more likely is that the man himself prefers, for reasons of his own, not to come to Israel. The antiquities that the Israel Antiquities Authority claims are forgeries - the Jehoash inscription, the ossuary and all the rest, are authentic," says Bringer.

Further Reading:

Alleged forger of Holy Land antiquities held

Abbas and the 2008 Budget

Mahmoud Abbas (L) with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice March 31, 2008 in Amman, Jordan. Rice has been charged, with numerous counts of criminal activity.

1 April 2008

by HRM Deborah

Fatah terrorist Mahmoud Abbas’s approval of the 2008 budget, when he has no authority, is not possible because it does not go through him and this is a case of impersonating a government and is fraud.

The budget actually goes through the Palestine legal government.

In this particular case if Abbas, is trying to make people believe he is doing this or trying, is just another criminal charge to add to the rest of his charge sheet.

Internationally Wanted Terrorist Attends OIC Conference

Mahmoud Abbas attends the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on March 13, 2008 in Dakar, Senegal.

13 March 2008

by HRM Deborah

Abbas is wanted, for numerous high crimes in Palestine and internationally, along with other’s in his Fatah Organization. Just one of the set of charges is international and domestic terrorism, on the domestic front, terrorism against Palestinians and Jewish people.

Personally, numerous account’s of attempted assassination on myself and other legal government representatives, as well as murder.

In addition, it should be known he is impersonating as a representative of the Palestine government.

Abbas is also currently trying to sabotage peace negotiations in Palestine, between the legal Palestinian government and Israel.

Islamists Plan Probe into Graft by US Company

7 March 2008

By Habib Toumi Bureau Chief

Manama: An Islamist society is pondering the formation of a parliamentary commission to investigate alleged financial abuses in one of the Bahrain's largest companies.

"We cannot remain idle and simply watch as stories of alleged financial corruptions with staggering figures are unfolding," Dr Abdul Lateef Al Shaikh, head of Al Menbar Islamic Society, said yesterday.

"We are currently consulting with the other blocs to agree on ways to look into this situation seriously and preserve national interests and funds," he said in a statement sent to the media.

The Bahrain Aluminum (Alba) last week sued US aluminum manufacturer Alcoa for at least $1 billion (about Dh3.67 billion), alleging a 15-year conspiracy involving overcharging, fraud and bribery.

Steering away payments

In the lawsuit filed in a US federal court, Alba accused Alcoa of steering payments for alumina, the key material for making aluminum, to a series of shell companies controlled by Alcoa to pay kickbacks to a Bahraini government official.

The alleged bribes and improprieties in the awarding of alumina contracts in Bahrain over the past 15 years caused Alba, one of the world's largest smelters, to overpay for the material starting in 1993, the Bahraini company said.

Alcoa has rejected the charges. "We have not had the opportunity to review these allegations and obviously will do so, consistent with our ongoing ethics and compliance activities. However, we are completely unaware of any wrongdoing by Alcoa or its employees," spokesman Kevin Lowery told Gulf News through e-mail.

In a statement, Al Shaikh said the alleged financial mismanagement should have been investigated during the 2002-2006 period when his society had called for a probe into what it believed were malpractices at the company. "The government should have listened to us then and monitored the transactions because it would have been able to confront the terrible situation," he said.

We cannot remain idle and simply watch as stories of alleged financial corruptions with staggering figures are unfolding."

-Dr Abdul Lateef Al Shaikh, Head of Al Menbar Islamic Society