NEW YORK — A whistleblower who repeatedly warned the Securities and Exchange Commission that Bernard Madoff was perpetrating a massive investment fraud testified Wednesday that the regulatory agency that oversees financial markets is inept, ‘financially illiterate’ and far too cozy with the financial titans it is supposed to be regulating. ‘The SEC is also captive to the industry it regulates and it is afraid of bringing big cases against the largest most powerful firms,’ said Harry Markopolos, an independent financial fraud investigator. ‘Cleary the SEC was afraid of Mr. Madoff.’ Markopolos began contacting the SEC at the beginning of the decade to warn that Madoff was a fraud. He sent detailed memos, listing dozens of red flags, laying out a road map of instructions for SEC investigators to follow, even listing contacts and phone numbers of Wall Street experts whom he said would confirm his findings. But, Markopolos’ whistle-blowing effort got nowhere. ‘I gift wrapped and delivered the largest Ponzi scheme in history to them and some how they couldn’t be bothered to conduct a thorough and proper investigation because they were too busy on matters of higher priority,’ Markopolos told the House Financial Services Subcommittee on […]
BOZEMAN, Mont. — The Obama administration is off to a running start on climate change – pushing to let California and other states set tougher restrictions on greenhouse gases and accelerating higher gas mileage standards for cars and trucks. But those are just the most obvious early moves reflecting a philosophy likely to be seen throughout the federal government, involving rural as well as urban areas. Already, first steps are being taken that will engage farmers, woodlot owners, and the federal land management agencies that oversee hundreds of millions of acres of public land – areas with the potential to ‘capture considerable amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere and accelerate warming of the planet. Taking the lead here is a new bureaucratic mouthful called the ‘Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets. It’s part of the US Department of Agriculture, which not only works with farmers and ranchers but also includes the US Forest Service and its 193 million acres. Heading the new office is Sally Collins, a former Forest Service ranger who reports directly to new USDA head Tom Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa. Ms. Collins believes the approaches of […]
Attacks on Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust denier escalated Monday, with one theologian calling on him to step down as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Criticism following the pope’s January 24 announcement has been particularly cutting in Germany, where denying the Holocaust is a crime punishable with a jail sentence. ‘If the pope wants to do some good for the Church, he should leave his job,’ eminent liberal Catholic theologian Hermann Haering told the German daily Tageszeitung. ‘That would not be a scandal, a bishop has to relinquish his position at 75 years, a cardinal loses his rights at 80 years,’ he said. Pope Benedict is 81. Meanwhile, a senior Vatican official acknowledged the Vatican administration may have made ‘management errors’ with the decision to lift excommunication against four bishops, including Richard Williamson, whose comments sparked the controversy. ‘I observe the debate with great concern. There were misunderstandings and management errors in the Curia,’ said Cardinal Walter Kasper, who is in charge of the Vatican department that deals with Jewish relations. ‘The Pope wanted to open the debate because he wanted unity inside and outside,’ the […]
President Barack Obama will announce tomorrow that he’s imposing a cap of $500,000 on the compensation of top executives at companies that receive federal rescue funds, an administration official said. Any additional compensation will be in restricted stock that won’t vest until taxpayers have been paid back, said the official, who requested anonymity. The unprecedented steps — which also include restrictions on corporate jets, office renovations and holiday parties — come amid an outcry over an $18.4 billion bonus payout in 2008 to executives. The protests have been building since October when Congress passed a $700 billion financial-rescue plan. ‘People are still getting huge bonuses despite the fact that they’re getting taxpayer money, which I think infuriates the public, Obama said in an interview tonight with CNN. Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will announce the plan at 11 a.m. tomorrow. The regulations will also curb golden parachutes, compensation packages offered to executives when they leave the companies. The new pay guidelines won’t be retroactive to companies that have already taken money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Treasury Department program to buy bad assets from banks. Still, those companies must agree to […]
Redefining the possibilities of the word ‘offshore,’ IBM has invited its recently laid-off U.S. workers to find work with the storied company in developing countries like India – where salaries are a fraction of what Americans are used to. While the invitation is likely more than most U.S. companies have offered the 2.6 million Americans laid off in 2008, the company’s standing offer is probably cold comfort to most newly minted ex-IBM employees. An internal document circulating the company says that a program called ‘Project Match’ will ‘help you locate potential job opportunities in growth markets where your skills are in demand,’ according to InformationWeek. ‘Should you accept a position in one of these countries, IBM offers financial assistance to offset moving costs, provides immigration support, such as visa assistance, and other support to help ease the transition of an international move,’ the document says. There are lot of people who could theoretically accept an IBM job abroad: the company has laid-off at least 4,000 people in the United States since the beginning of the year, according to AllianceAtIBM, a union that is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America and represents a small number of […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
