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Eric King Interviews Whistleblower Andrew Maguire And Adrian Douglas Of GATA

 Source: Zero Hedge

Recently, whistleblower Andrew Maguire gained substantial notoriety among LBMA circles after disclosing what could be an epic cabal of commodity price manipulation, and was subsequently involved in what could be classified as an attempted hit-and-run. In a first media appearance, Andrew is interviewed in this exclusive with Eric King of King World News, where he is joined by GATA director Adrian Douglas, who also made ripples at the recent CFTC hearing in which he used the words of former Goldman analyst Jeffrey Christian against him in proving that the gold market is nothing but one big Ponzi, in which a run to deliverables would result in 99% unsecured claims (a 1 in 100 dilution).

As Eric King summarizes:

Andrew Maguire, independent metals trader turned whistleblower is in the center of a storm for exposing what could be the largest fraud in history involving countries, banks and government leaders. Adrian Douglas Board of Director from GATA, the man who Andrew reached out to also joins in this interview where they discuss a fraud so extraordinary and so unimaginable that it is the kind of thing that hollywood thrillers are made of. In this interview they also discuss the CFTC sponsored meeting on metals which was an unmitigated disaster because it additionally exposed the fraud on a grander scale. Thanks to GATA, Adrian and everyone else involved in helping to make this exclusive King World News interview possible.

Click here for full interview

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sounds a warning on growing deficit

Source: Washington Post

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Wednesday that Americans may have to accept higher taxes or changes in cherished entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security if the nation is to avoid staggering budget deficits that threaten to choke off economic growth.

"These choices are difficult, and it always seems easier to put them off -- until the day they cannot be put off anymore," Bernanke said in a speech. "But unless we as a nation demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, in the longer run we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth."

His stern lecture came as the economy is emerging from the worst recession in years, sending the stock market up considerably over the past year and raising public hopes for a return to prosperity. But the economic downturn -- with tumbling tax revenue, aggressive stimulus spending and rising safety-net payments such as unemployment insurance -- has driven already large budget deficits to their highest level relative to the economy since the end of World War II. This has fueled public concern over how long the United States can sustain its fiscal policies.

The health-care bill signed by President Obama last month has further stoked the national debate over government entitlement programs, though the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that the legislation would actually reduce future deficits.

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Reuters families demand US troops be tried over shooting

BAGHDAD (AFP) – The families of two Reuters news agency employees killed in a 2007 US helicopter attack in Baghdad on Thursday demanded justice, telling AFP the Americans responsible should stand trial.

Graphic video footage of the shooting, which left several other people dead and wounded two children, was published on the Internet by WikiLeaks, a website that discloses information obtained from whistleblowers.

"The truth came out and the whole world saw. The American pilot should be judged by international justice and we want compensation because the act left orphans," said Safa Chmagh, whose brother Saeed Chmagh, a Reuters driver, died.

"He (the pilot) killed unarmed innocent people, among them a photographer whose camera was very visible. On top of that when they evacuated the wounded they opened fire again," said Safa, whose brother was 44 when killed.

Nameer Nooraddin Hussein, a 22-year-old photographer with Reuters, was also shot to death. The families said they have until now received no compensation for the incident which took place on July 12, 2007.

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Homes with Chinese drywall should be gutted, feds say

Source: USA Today

NEW ORLEANS — Thousands of U.S. homes tainted by Chinese drywall should be completely gutted, according to guidelines released Friday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The guidelines recommend that electrical wiring, outlets, circuit breakers, fire alarm systems, carbon monoxide alarms, fire sprinklers, gas pipes and drywall need to be removed.

FROM THE CPSC: Drywall Information Center

"We want families to tear it all out and rebuild the interior of their homes, and they need to start this to get their lives started all over again," said Inez Tenenbaum, chairwoman of the commission, the federal agency charged with making sure consumer products are safe.

About 3,000 homeowners, mostly in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, have reported problems with the Chinese-made drywall, which was imported in large quantities during the housing boom and after a string of Gulf Coast hurricanes.

The drywall has been linked to corrosion of wiring, air conditioning units, computers, doorknobs and jewelry, along with possible health effects. Tenenbaum said some samples of the Chinese-made product emit 100 times as much hydrogen sulfide as drywall made elsewhere.

The agency continues to investigate possible health effects, but preliminary studies have found a possible link between throat, nose and lung irritation and high levels of hydrogen sulfide gas emitted from the wallboard, coupled with formaldehyde, which is commonly found in new houses.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the question is who pays to gut the homes.

"The way I see it, homeowners didn't cause this. The manufacturers in China did," Nelson said. "That's why we've got to go after the Chinese government now."

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The Latest Gold Fraud Bombshell: Canada's Only Bullion Bank Gold Vault Is Practically Empty

 

Source: Zero Hedge

Continuing on the trail of exposing what is rapidly becoming one of the largest frauds in commodity markets history is the most recent interview by Eric King with GATA's Adrian Douglas, Harvey Orgen (who recently testified before the CFTC hearing) and his son, Lenny, in which the two discuss their visit to the only bullion bank vault in Canada, that of ScotiaMocatta, located at 40 King Street West in Toronto, and find the vault is practically empty. This is a relevant segue to a class action lawsuit filed against Morgan Stanley, which was settled out of court, in which it was alleged that Morgan Stanley told clients it was selling them precious metals that they would own in full and that the company would store, yet even despite charging storage fees was not in actual possession of the bullion. It appears that this kind of lack of physical holdings by all who claim to have gold in storage, is pervasive as the actual gold globally is held primarily in paper or electronic form. Lenny Organ who was the person to enter the vault of ScotiaMocatta, says "What shocked me was how little gold and silver they actually had." Lenny describes exactly how much (or little as the case may be) silver was available - roughly 60,000 ounces. As for gold - 210 400 oz bars, 4,000 maples, 500 eagles, 10 kilo bars, 10 one kilogram pieces of gold nugget form, which Adrian Douglas calculates as being $100 million worth, which is just one tenth of what the Royal Mint of Canada sold in 2008, or over $1 billion worth of gold. As Orgen concludes: "The game ends when the people who own all these paper obligations say enough and take physical delivery, and that's when the mess will occur."

Also note the interesting detour into what Stephan Spicer of the Central Fund Of Canada, said regarding his friend at a major bank, who wanted access to his 15,000 oz of silver, and had to wait 6-8 weeks for its to be flown in from Hong Kong.

It is funny that central bankers thought they could take the ponzi mentality of infinite dilution of all assets coupled with infinite debt issuance, as they have done to fiat money, and apply it to gold, in essence piling leverage upon leverage. They underestimated gold holders' willingness to be diluted into perpetuity - when the realization that gold owned is just 1% of what is physically deliverable, you will see the biggest bank run in history. 

3rd Member of Congress Receives Death Threat Over Health Care Law

Source: USA Today
The Associated Press reports that a California man was arrested for allegedly making threatening phone calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The AP based its report on sources. USA TODAY's Matt Kelley is checking into it.
The AP said:

Several federal officials say the man made dozens of calls to Pelosi's homes in California and Washington, as well as to her husband's business office, reciting her home address and saying if she wanted to see it again, she would not support the health care overhaul bill that was recently enacted. 

If confirmed, it would be the third time since the health care bill passed that someone has been arrested for threatening a member of Congress. As USA TODAY's Kathy Kiely wrote in today's paper, a 63-year-old man was arrested for allegedly calling and leaving numerous death threats at the office of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Last week, the FBI arrested a man who allegedly threatened the life of Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican.
More information to come as we get it.
Updated at 5:30 p.m. ET. USA TODAY's Kevin Johnson confirms that an arrest was made in the Pelosi case. He writes:

U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider confirmed the arrest, saying the investigation and arrest was a "coordinated effort'' between the FBI and Capitol Police. 

Updated at 5:43 p.m. ET. From Matt Kelley:

Pelosi has been the subject of threats before. In 2006, authorities arrested a Los Angeles man after he mailed envelopes filled with white powder and threatening messages to Pelosi and other political and entertainment figures. The powder turned out to be harmless. Chad Conrad Castagana was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to five years' probation.

Updated at 6:42 p.m. ET. San Francisco FBI spokeswoman Patti Hansen identified the suspect as Gregory Guisti, 48. He was arrested without incident in San Francisco at 12:15 p.m., and he is scheduled to make his initial court appearance at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Hansen said. She declined to elaborate on the allegations against Guisti.

Unemployment benefits expire for thousands

Even as unemployment benefits expired Monday for thousands of Americans, Democrats and Republicans renewed their haggling over whether to approve an extension when Congress returns from its spring break next week.

In the latest round of skirmishing, Senate Democrats rejected Republican claims that they had backed away from a GOP proposal to give quick approval to a one-week extension that would be paid for with budget offsets.

"There were a lot of conversations going on and things were moving very quickly, but no deals were made," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

At the heart of the dispute over extending jobless benefits is the question of how to pay for them.

Two weeks ago, when the Senate took up the question, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., objected that the $9 billion measure that had been approved by the House would add to the federal deficit.

Coburn's objection was similar to the one Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., raised earlier in the year over another extension that was not offset. But unlike before, failure to extend the benefits that expired Monday meant 212,000 unemployed people will lose benefits this week, according to data provided by the National Employment Law Project.

The GOP objection raised the specter of a filibuster, and Democrats do not have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

Democrats in both the House and Senate want the extension to be classified as "emergency spending," which can be added to the deficit and does not have to be paid for with specific cuts or new revenue.

Republicans have objected.

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Court: FCC has no power to regulate Net neutrality

Source: CNET.com

The Federal Communications Commission does not have the legal authority to slap Net neutrality regulations on Internet providers, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

A three-judge panel in Washington, D.C. unanimously tossed out the FCC's August 2008 cease and desist order against Comcast, which had taken measures to slow BitTorrent transfers before voluntarily ending them earlier that year.

Because the FCC "has failed to tie its assertion" of regulatory authority to an actual law enacted by Congress, the agency does not have the power to regulate an Internet provider's network management practices, wrote Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Tuesday's decision could doom one of the signature initiatives of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat. Last October, Genachowski announced plans to begin drafting a formal set of Net neutrality rules--even though Congress has not given the agency permission to do so. That push is opposed by Verizon and other broadband providers.

Comcast welcomed the ruling in a statement that said: "Our primary goal was always to clear our name and reputation." The National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the cable industry's lobby group, elaborated by saying that Comcast and its other members will "continue to embrace a free and open Internet as the right policy."

Supporters of Net neutrality claim that new Internet regulations or laws are necessary to prevent broadband providers from restricting content or prioritizing one type of traffic over another. Broadband providers and many conservative and free-market groups, on the other hand, say that some of the proposed regulations would choke off new innovations and could even require awarding e-mail spam and telemedicine the identical priorities.

Net neutrality proponents responded to Tuesday's ruling by saying the FCC should slap landline-style regulations on Internet providers, which could involve price regulation, service quality controls, and technological mandates. The agency "should immediately start a proceeding bringing Internet access service back under some common carrier regulation," Public Knowledge's Gigi Sohn said. The Media Access Project said, without mentioning common carrier regulations directly, that the FCC must have the "ability to protect the rights of Internet users to access lawful content and services of their choice."

In a statement on Tuesday, the FCC indicated that it was thinking along the same lines. The DC Circuit did not "close the door to other methods for achieving this important end," the agency said. A spokeswoman declined to elaborate.

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Pay of Hedge Fund Managers Roared Back Last Year

Source: NY Times
The Lazarus-like recovery of the nation’s big banks did not benefit just the bankers — it also created huge paydays for hedge fund managers, including a record $4 billion gain in 2009 for one bold investor who bet big on the financial sector.

The manager, David Tepper, wagered that the government would not let the big banks fail, even as other investors fled financial shares amid fears that banks would collapse or be nationalized.

“We bet on the country’s revival,” Mr. Tepper, who describes his trading technique as a mix of deep analysis and common sense, said Wednesday in an interview. “Those who keep their heads while others are panicking usually do well.”

That strategy handed Mr. Tepper, a plain-spoken Pittsburgh native who first made his name at Goldman Sachs, the top spot on the annual ranking of top earners in the hedge fund industry by AR: Absolute Return+Alpha magazine (subscription required), which comes out Thursday.

His investors did not do badly, either — Mr. Tepper’s flagship fund gained more than 130 percent last year.

The runner-up in the ranking was George Soros, the Hungarian émigré who has become better known in recent years for supporting Democratic candidates and making political headlines than for picking stocks. His fund, Quantum Endowment, grew 29 percent in 2009, earning Mr. Soros $3.3 billion in fees and investment gains.

Hedge funds — the elite, lightly regulated investment vehicles open to a restricted range of investors — enjoyed a winning streak during the buyout boom that preceded the financial crisis in 2008. Then the bottom fell out of the industry, handing even top hedge funds double-digit percentage losses. In turn, the earnings of the top 25 fund managers in the 2008 survey tumbled 50 percent.

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Wikileaks leaked video of Civilians killed in Baghdad - Full video

Utah governor signs bills to seize federal land

Source: LA Times

Salt Lake City - Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert has signed two bills authorizing the state to use eminent domain to seize some of the federal government's most valuable land.

Supporters hope the bills, which the Republican governor signed Saturday, will trigger a flood of similar legislation throughout the West and, eventually, a Supreme Court battle that they hope to win -- against long odds.

More than 60% of Utah is owned by the U.S. government, and policymakers complain that federal ownership hinders their ability to generate tax revenue and adequately fund public schools. Governments use eminent domain to take private property for public use.

Initially, the state would target three areas, including the Kaiparowits plateau in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which is home to large coal reserves. Eminent domain would also be used on parcels where Interior Secretary Ken Salazar scrapped 77 oil and gas leases last year.

Are We Being Prepared For An EMP Attack?

Mainstream news outlets from Fox News to Time Magazine are reporting on the new threat of an EMP based on the hyped up report from the "hawkish" Heritage Foundation.
While there is a certain amount of possibility in an EMP attack, what's the probability? Is this another "Osama Bin Laden is the boogie man" type threat to squeeze more money out of congress by the military industrial complex? Or is there a real and highly probable threat looming on the horizon? I don't know, but either way it's getting more and more air time at the moment. Even Examiner.com is running a story about how the Navy confirms EMP threat. I guess we'll just have to keep our eyes peeled to see what's what. In the mean time here's a short video about it:

Pfizer ordered to pay up over ‘AIDS-like’ virus infections

In what is being hailed as a major victory for workers in the biotech and nanotech fields, a former scientist with pharmaceutical firm Pfizer has been awarded $1.37 million for being fired after raising the alarm over researchers being infected with a genetically engineered "AIDS-like" virus.

Becky McClain, a molecular biologist from Deep River, Connecticut, filed a lawsuit against Pfizer in 2007, claiming she had been wrongly terminated for complaining about faulty safety equipment that allowed a "dangerous lentivirus" to infect her and some of her colleagues.

The Hartford Courant describes the virus as "similar to the one that can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS." Health experts testified that the virus has affected the way McClain's body processes potassium, which they say causes McClain to suffer complete paralysis as often as a dozen times per month, the Courant reports.

McClain's lawsuit (PDF) asserted that Pfizer had interfered with her right to free speech, and that she should have been protected from retaliation by whistleblower legislation.

Pfizer challenged her assertion, claiming McClain only started complaining about safety problems once her employment was terminated, the Associated Press reports. Pfizer also claimed to have investigated McClain's claims about safety violations and found them to be untrue, according to the New London Day.

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Anti-Government "Guardians" Target Governors

The FBI is warning police across the country that an anti-government group's call to remove governors from office could provoke violence.

The group called the Guardians of the free Republics wants to "restore America" by peacefully dismantling parts of the government, according to its Web site.

For now, the letters stand as merely a citizens' uprising movement trying to put pressure on the administration, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

Investigators do not see threats of violence in the group's message, but fear the broad call for removing top state officials could lead others to act out violently.

As of Wednesday, more than 30 governors had received letters saying if they don't leave office within three days they will be removed, according to an internal intelligence note by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The note was obtained by The Associated Press.

Orr reports the FBI-DHS advisory uses language including this passage: "...they (the group) advocate for their views through the use, support, or facilitation of violence or illegal conduct..."

One U.S. security official says the advisory was distributed "...out of an abundance of caution to ensure that state and local partners have tools they need to recognize behaviors," Orr reports.

The FBI expects all 50 governors will eventually receive such letters.

Governors whose offices reported receiving the letters included Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Chet Culver of Iowa, Dave Heineman of Nebraska, Jim Gibbons of Nevada, and Gary Herbert of Utah, where officials stepped up security in response to the letter.

In Nevada, screening machines for visitors and packages were added to the main entrance to the state Capitol as a precaution after Gibbons received one of the letters.

"We're not really overly concerned, but at the same time we don't want to sit back and do nothing and regret it," Deputy Chief of Staff Lynn Hettrick said.

Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said federal authorities had alerted the governor that such a letter might be coming, and it arrived Monday or Tuesday. Boyd, who described the letter as "non-threatening," said it was opened by a staffer and immediately turned over to the Michigan State Police.

Jindal's office confirmed the governor had received one of the letters and directed questions to the Louisiana State Police.

"They called us as they do for any letter that's out of the norm," said Lt. Doug Cain, a state police spokesman.

He declined to provide specifics about the letter, but said, "not knowing the group and the information contained in the letter warranted state police to review it."

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Mexican Drug Gangs Attack Army Bases Near the Border

Drug gangs in Mexico have attacked two army bases in a serious escalation in the country's drug war.

Eighteen gang members died in the ensuing gun battles, in which gunmen attacked in force in bulletproof vehicles, using hand grenades and assault rifles.

The attempts to blockade soldiers inside their bases were part of seven attacks across two northern border states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon - areas that have seen escalating violence in recent months.

Army General Edgar Luis Villegas called the attacks "desperate reactions by criminal gangs to the progress being made by federal authorities" on

He said gunmen parked trucks and SUVs outside a military base in the border city of Reynosa trying to block troops from leaving. At the same time, other armed men blocked several streets leading to a garrison in the nearby border city of Matamoros.

And yet another gang opened fire from several vehicles on soldiers guarding a road in General Bravo, in Nuevo Leon.

Troops fought back, killing 18 gunmen and wounding two.

The violence mainly involves a fight between the Gulf cartel and its former allies, the Zetas - a gang of hit men.

The cartel, which has apparently formed an alliance with other cartels seeking to exterminate the Zetas, has been warning people in the region that the conflict would get worse over the coming months.

Source: Foxnews.com

More Crack Downs on Militia

A federal grand jury in New Haven, Connecticut returned a seven-count indictment charging five individuals with conspiracy and firearms offenses stemming from an alleged attempt to sell firearms and explosive grenades to a white supremacist group located outside of Connecticut.

Charged in the indictment are Kenneth Zrallack, 29, of Ansonia, the leader of the Connecticut White Wolves, a self-described white supremacist group now known as Battalion 14; Alexander DeFelice, 32, of Milford, and William Bolton,31, of Stratford, both members of the Connecticut White Wolves/Battalion 14; Edwin Westmoreland, 27 of Stratford, who is alleged to have participated in some of the activities of the Connecticut White Wolves/Battalion 14; and David Sutton, 46, of Milford, an associate of DeFelice.

The indictment was returned under seal on March 18. Zrallack, Westmoreland and Sutton were arrested by members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force on Saturday morning, March 20. They appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport, CT, entered pleas of not guilty to the charges, and are detained pending a detention hearing that is scheduled for Thursday.

The indictment identifies an individual — “WITNESS A” — who participated in meetings and activities of the Connecticut White Wolves/Battalion 14, and who identified himself as a convicted felon and as a member of an out-of-state white supremacist group that had an interest in obtaining firearms.

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