Thain was CHAIRMAN of NYSE. Madoff was CHAIRMAN of NASDAQ

[lxlxlxl]

Amazing how the media just treats both associations as just passing facts, but what does this really say about our markets? People at the HIGHEST LEVELS of 'leadership' are complete phonies and not worth the spit in my mouth, yet they lived like kings while keeping normal people from achieving their potential and for what exactly?

And why does our press refuse to make this the most important issue?

Do we trust that both individuals didn't push through rule changes or adjustments in the way the markets worked that benefited them? Does it take a goddamn masters in journalism to look at the public record and tell us what these people ACTUALLY did in their tenures, instead of looking at their expensive toilets?

Who are their friends? Who made money and how much? Where the fuck are our 'liberal media'?

[blm]

1. Financiers have long been key operatives for BFEE over the decades. Like Marc Rich -

he was named in both IranContra and BCCI - the biggest criminal bank in the world, but you never hear about that connection.

Madoff is sounding more and more like another Marc Rich, but, on an even GREATER scale of criminality. Why else did so many in government look the other way?

[mod mom]

4. speaking of Marc Rich:

In December 2008, it was estimated that he had suffered a loss was $10 million to $15 million, according to someone with long knowledge with Mr. Rich’s finances who insisted on anonymity because he had not been authorized to speak. Another person, also knowledgeable about Mr. Rich’s finances, said the loss stemmed from Mr. Rich’s association with the money manager J. Ezra Merkin. Mr. Merkin, a hedge fund investor whose Park Avenue firm claimed until recently to have $5 billion under management, has been investing for Mr. Rich for years. Mr. Merkin told his clients last month that he had entrusted more than $1 billion of their money to Mr. Bernard L. Madoff, and that the likelihood of recovery was difficult to gauge.

from wiki

[blm]

6. BFEE in action.....I don't trust any of their own 'cry for me' stories. They only serve as useful

distractions, like Clintons' whining about Whitewater which conveniently covered for BFEE going into Rose Law Firm and scrubbing Jackson Stephens' files.

[JuniperLea]

2. Add to that list...

The heads of the ratings agencies... AM Best, Standard and Poor's, etc., who consistently rated companies like AIG AAA Best all the while their exposure to bad investments was so massive! And all the banks that have floundered, their ratings didn't tank until the whole mess was on a runaway train!

You hear little blurbs about such things, then nothing... crickets.

I'm hoping the media will turn around now that they don't have to carry dirty water for BushCo. They will want access to the WH and to the POTUS. Unless they are honest, I can't see that happening.

[lxlxlxl]

5. Oh god your so right...I didnt want to open that can of worms

I guess if we cant expect people to focus on the most obvious associations, then the obviously corrupt shit that happens at Moodys/S&P should be saved for later.


Everytime I read S&P is threatening to lower so and so's tripleAAA I don't trust it. The ratings people were given a slap on the wrist after Enron after it was clear they made the behind-the-books stuff possible.

[JuniperLea]

9. Which leads one to ask...

Why did they again turn a blind eye? Who benefits? Uh huh...

[kenny blankenship]

3. I'll kick and rec that. People have been trained to worship wealth and defer silently to ppl w money

They say the trend is your friend
(Until the end when it bends)

The ziggurat is crookedest at its top.

[lxlxlxl]

7. funny quote

hahaa...awesome...never heard that 'until the end' line before =)

[Frustratedlady]

8. Why do so many names keep popping up in different situations?

This financial mess is so intertwined that the common folk can't wade through without guidance/map.

I have a question about the TARP. Is it possible that some of the first bailout went to pay people the money they had lost from the likes of Madoff...from the loss in the market? Why is it so secret? Someone has to have a listing, ledgers or whatever that can be audited.

If we tried to pull this type of theft, we'd be behind bars. I think the public should demand answers or begin calling in and investigating the whole bunch.

Why does the BFEE and Clinton keep popping up?

[lxlxlxl]

10. I doubt the Bushes/Republicans arent connected though

What sort of transparency was demanded of the Bush family for the past eight years? We got absolutely nothing from them, and that is a huge family invovled in private finance for decades in this country. Somehow 'transparency' from Clinton foundation means more than transparency from Republicans.

I guess the same names keep popping up because that corrupt world really is so small and incestuous. For all the hand wrangling and 'deep thought' that goes into conspiracy theories, they rarely focus at what is clearly in view, opting for more fantastic and counter-productive theories. Marx is right 80% of the time.

[Frustratedlady]

12. No wonder if it so complicated.

I guess there isn't much that can be done, if they are that powerful. I hope they enjoy their greed and can sleep at night. Watching this unfold makes me sick to my stomach...especially, if there is no end.

Thanks for your input.

[Greyhound]

11. Because it is a small, exclusive club that, with rare exception, you have to be born into.

You will always see the same families, though the names change due to marriage, ruling for millennia. Over time the club does expand, but never forget that they rule the world and have for far longer than this nation has existed.

They used to enjoy "the Divine Right of Kings" and the rule of/through religion (primarily Catholic) and currently through finance.

[Frustratedlady]

13. I have read about these ruling families, but it was so complicated...

I couldn't finish. Each book is more a novel than fact, it is so bizarre.

This small, exclusive club probably isn't worth our attention. I know I've spent many sleepless nights wondering what is happening to our country and why no one is doing anything about it. At the same time, they are sleeping quite nicely.

I give.

Thanks for the info....I think. :headbang:

[Greyhound]

16. It does quickly get too complicated to follow without devoting an inordinate amount

of time. I've yet to find a comprehensive document, rather the information comes in drips and drops in various stories and articles. You might remember the story about how 41 (and therefore shrub) is related Queen Elizabeth that made the rounds in the 80s.

Add in the shadowy figures that hold controlling interests in many multinational corporations and a disturbing picture begins to form.

[leftofthedial]

14. Geithner was the president of the NY Fed.

[rvablue]

15. Kick. Because if the "fifth esate" is supposed to inform the public

why in the hell aren't they repeating this nightly??

Both of these crooks belong in jail.