US-Cuba thaw: United Airlines plans flights to Cuba from Houston and Newark

January 16, 4:17 UTC+3
Earlier on Thursday, the US Departments of the Treasury and Commerce announced an official easing of the sanctions regime against Cuba

© EPA/TASS / LUKAS COCH

NEW YORK, January 16. /TASS/. US United Airlines plans to launch regular flights to Cuba from the airports of Houston (Texas) and Newark (New Jersey) as the US announces moves to normalize diplomatic an economic ties with Havana, company spokesman Rahsaan Johnson reported on Thursday.

Washington’s geopolitical interests behind restoration of relations with Cuba - analysts

“We plan to serve Cuba, subject to government approvals, and look forward to doing so from our global gateways of Newark and Houston," Rahsaan Johnson said in a statement.
Earlier on Thursday, the US Departments of the Treasury and Commerce announced an official easing of the sanctions regime against Cuba. In particular, some restrictions will be lifted on US citizens traveling to Cuba.
Earlier, the White House said it intended to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. However, the American president cannot lift the embargo completely without Congress that must abolish some laws for that.

Egyptian tourism minister: Russia, Egypt might use Russian currency in mutual settlements

Zaazou said that the sides were working on a mechanism of mutual settlements to abandon the U.S. dollar as a basic currency unit

CAIRO, January 17. /TASS/. Russia and Egypt might use the Russian currency unit, the rouble, in their mutual settlements, Egypt’s Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou told the Al Shorouk newspaper published on Friday.
He said that in condition of the rouble devaluation and in a bid to encourage tourism flows from Russia the two countries might begin to use the rouble as a payments unit in the sphere of tourism and in trade in general “already in February.”
Zaazou said that the sides were working on a mechanism of mutual settlements to abandon the U.S. dollar as a basic currency unit. Such settlements, in his words, might be made via the two countries’ Central Banks.
At the initial stage, the rouble would be used to pay for tourist vouchers and travel companies’ fees. Further on, he said, these funds might be used by Cairo to pay for imports from Russia.
Egypt is currently taking all possible measures to keep the tourist flow from Russia from falling in conditions of the financial crisis. In 2014, about three million Russians visited Egypt, but the overall positive situation was marred in December, when the number of Russian vacationers in Egypt nearly halved following the rouble’s slide.
In a bid to encourage tourism from Russia, Egypt cancelled visa fees for Russian tourists for a term of four months - from January 15 to April 30. Tourists who will buy package tours to the Red Sea resorts will not have to pay a fee of 25 U.S. dollars per capita.

 http://itar-tass.com/en/non-political

ROD CLASS DECONSTRUCTS THE SECRET FORMULA USED BY THE BANKING CARTEL

A moment of non-ordinary reality provides clues to lead us to our next ACTION STEPS…...

ROD CLASS IS THE FIRST GUEST FOR ADVENTURES INTO SOVEREIGNTY THIS FRIDAY, JANUARY 16

Join Rebecca Cope and Dr. Christina Winsey, Co-Hosts of Adventures Into Sovereignty, this Friday evening at 8:00 PM PST,11:00 PM EST.  Join us live on http://adventuresintosovereignty.org/live/.

Our Guest is Rod Class. Many have asked for an up-date. Rod and his team of 2,000 Researchers have some exciting information to share:  “If the DC court had not been so openly corrupt, Rod Class might have missed the vital clues that deconstructed the SECRET FORMULA used by a for-profit, private Banking Cartel to pull off the GREATEST DECEPTION that has ever been carried out against any one nation. 

Dr. Richard Cordero, Esquire, Judicial Discipline Reform, tried to warn us:  “Federal Judges have the most powerful means for wrongdoing since they wield power over our property, our liberty, and all the rights that determine our lives.”
Truth is quite often far more strange than fiction.  The film “The Matrix” is supposed to be fiction but it is real, and our lives and liberty are at stake.  We are standing at the edge of a cliff – a cliff that REQUIRES every man and woman to take personal responsibility and action to restore our freedom – which has been robbed from us right under our noses through such trickery that it is most definitely “stranger than fiction”!

Our team set out to show HOW the Courts in America really work.  We started with the SOURCE DOCUMENTS taken from the Congressional Records, Legislative Acts, and speeches made by Congressmen who tried to warn us.  What we uncovered can better be described as THE SORCERY DOCUMENTS meant to bind us, body, mind and soul/sole.  We have deconstructed the SECRET FORMULA so you can take back your FREE WILL CHOICES.  We have come to a crossroads……

We will be joined by Sue Rhoades, who is taking on the Role of Secretariat for the International Tribunal for Natural Justice.  We will discuss the need for an International Citizen’s Tribunal, the framework for such Tribunals, and how we can each participate to create the world of our dreams, rather than be caught in the dream of an International Corporation determined to WAGE WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLE.  Sue’s interests, from many years within the law field, bring quite a perspective to the Team.

Sometimes, moments of non-ordinary reality can force us to make new choices.  Let me illustrate what I mean with an analogy from my own personal adventures.  We never know what we are capable of until we take that next critical step…..

TRIUMPH WAITED AT THE END OF A FIREPIT FULL OF HOT COALS…….

A few decades ago, when I was young and green and eager, I dreamed of a project I thought could change the world forever.
I shared the podium with Barbara Marx Hubbard that Valentine’s Day.
But it was the Trickster, Edwene Gaines, who set me up. She discovered one sure way to help us cut through the bullshit and get on with it.

Triumph was waiting at the end of a fire pit full of hot coals. 

The woman leading the fire ceremony shared how cancer had all but destroyed her.  She had to take radical action to turn her life around.  She had to change her eating habits, her thinking habits, and make choices that could help restore her health.  She, too, was at a crossroads.

The doctors had given up on her.  There was nothing else they could or would do.  She had to take charge of her own life. In the process, her life took on meaning and purpose in ways she had never dreamed possible.    

She shared her story while we built up the fire. Four hours later, she raked the hot coals into a   4’ X 20’ pit.

The heat was so intense it melted the snow all the way down to the water’s edge. 

The cancer survivor, our fearless leader, walked to the head of the fire pit.
Crunch, crunch, crunch. Her feet smacked loudly against hot coals.

I admit it.  I expected her to levitate across the coals like Jesus walked on water.  NOT!

Did I really have the courage to pick up the gauntlet and step across those hot coals?
I have had occasion to think of that fire pit often as our work unfolded this past year.
OUR VALENTINE’S DAY GIFT TO THE WORLD: 

This Valentine’s Day marks a new chapter in the power of dreams.  The Founding Members of our team will proudly stand with Sacha Stone of New Earth Nation and Sir John Walsh of Brannagh to announce the formation of the International Tribunal for Natural Justice. 

The world prepares to celebrate the 800-year Anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede.  We, the Rebel Sovereigns of our age, stand with solemn dignity to challenge the very premise of “Divine Rulers” who use Mind Control and Violence, and Corrupt Courts, to enforce their illegitimate “Authority.” 

SOVEREIGN MEANS NOT A SLAVE!

Sovereign means NOT A SLAVE; No Masters; No Rulers; No Hidden Contracts.  That term has particular meaning to the 2,000 Researchers who followed the Rod Class DC Gun Case.  

2014 was a watershed year for our team.  We learned just how corrupt our Justice System has become. Rod’s case was beyond intense. Jenny and Wes were evicted from their home, our Lake Norman headquarters for the Video shoots last summer, with Police-State force. Jennifer, the Nurse from Alabama, had her furniture and all her belongings dumped out on the front lawn of her house in the rain.  Randy got jerked out of his vehicle and tazed and held for ransom; he could not get out of jail for a simple traffic stop; Eric got his truck impounded and lost his job; Rebecca got another round of IRS letters and liens.

Nothing stopped the arrogant Judges and Prosecutors.  These people act as if they are above the law with no accountability and no fear.

TAKE ACTION.  Send Judge Roberts a letter to let him know we are watching his every action.  Check into www.adventuresintosovereignty.org under BREAKING NEWS for the letter and instructions.

Watching these events unfold throughout 2014 just put new resolve in our spines.

We assembled on January 5, 2015, for our first three-hour meeting.  Sacha Stone, Alfred Webre, and Rod Class were joined by Rebecca Cope and team to discuss detailed plans of what else it would take to get the International Tribunal for Natural Justice seated this year. 

One thing we know.  There are no magic bullets. There is no “World Enforcement” standing by to come to our rescue.  If we want Justice, it will take Just Us.  Together, we are equal to the task at hand.

We accomplished much during 2014. Our team is putting the finishing touches on The SOURCE DOCUMENTS that led to our discovery of THE SORCERY DOCUMENTS.

These psychopathic rulers, and their willing minions, believe they have found a way around Universal Law.  They say we volunteered.  Every time we put our signature on their forms without questioning their motives, they say that gives them the right to bind up our free will.  Even when we protest, as Rod proved in his DC Case, they can claim we are “War Criminals/Slaves” with no rights and no remedy.

They think they have us beat.  They believe “Silence by Acquiescence” sealed their hidden contracts.

Our mantra this year is loud and noisy:  Non-Action is no longer an option.

These contracts are like a cancer that has cut us off from life.  It is a mind-virus so deadly it threatens to take us into an unimaginable hell of THEIR CREATION. 

We do have choices.  And we have to live with the consequences of our action, or non-action.
Just like the cancer survivor who led the firewalk.

She told us we would know when it was safe for us to walk across the hot coals.

I clearly remember the calm resolve that washed over me as I dropped my heavy overcoat behind me.  I slipped out of my shoes.  I felt the cold sand as I walked to the front of the coals. There was no fear as I stepped confidently onto the hot coals.  I did not rush. Heat and steam rose around me, but my feet felt as if they were cushioned by cool, wet moss. 

As I reached the end of that hot pit, a grin rose from deep inside and erupted in a joyful laugh that echoed across the still lake.

The sweet taste of victory I savor each Valentine’s Day.  I dream new dreams.

One can IMAGINE walking across hot coals; we can set our intentions and do our inner work.  It has been my experience that it is the ACTION STEPS we take in the 3-D world that leads to the real rewards. 

As our Team deconstructs the SECRET FORMULA that entwined us all in hidden contracts, it will take ACTION STEPS to unwind us and unbind our FREE WILL. 

We will share those steps with you throughout this year through webinars, shows, and fund-raisers as we prepare for the most critical year humanity has yet faced.  The chains have tightened around us.  We have all felt it as we dealt with our individual dramas. 

One thing you can do now is to send a letter to the Judge and court officers who stepped way outside the Rule of Law to harass and harm Rod Class.  The letter awaits on www.adventuresintosovereignty.org. 

TAKE ACTION.  Send Judge Roberts a letter to let him know we are watching his every action.  Check into www.adventuresintosovereignty.org under BREAKING NEWS for the letter and instructions.

2015 is the year we can choose to cancel the hidden contracts of the Ruling Criminal Cabal.  We will share ideas, and options, and strategies in our first webinar series, and in the ones we have planned.  We don’t have all the answers, we don’t pretend to, but we can put your feet firmly on the path of discovery.

Tune in as ADVENTURES INTO SOVEREIGNTY gets underway on Friday evenings at 8:00 PM PST, 11:00 PM EST.  The first show of the season starts this Friday, January 16, 2015, with guest Rod Class and co-host Dr. Christina Winsey.  We will introduce you to her work on Friday, January 16.

Dr. Winsey will offer a series of shows and Webinars on Health Sovereignty issues, including leading-edge material on cancer research and alternatives, on vaccines, and on diet and food security issues.

Live Shows, GO HERE:  http://adventuresintosovereignty.org/live/

Replay Archives, GO HERE: www.adventuresintosovereignty.org.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER here.  Do not miss a single issue as we fill you in on everything our team has in store for you in 2015. 

VOLUNTEER here.

Let's make 2015 the year we put impeccable attention to the task at hand. I want to look back on this year knowing I gave it everything within me.  I hope you’ll choose  to be right there beside me every step of the way until we get the job done.   Our job is simple:  STOP ABUSE OF POWER AT THE SOURCE.  Let’s take back our planet, one agent, one case, one choice, one cancelled contract at a time. 

Much love,

Co-host Rebecca Cope, Co-ordinator, New Earth Nation Law and Governance Faculty

PS. 

I wore the black soot that stuck to my feet like a badge of honor.  No water touched those soles until the last smudge faded into memory.  Our fears can control us, or they can liberate us.  The choice is ours.

PSS.  A special thanks to our friends, the Shibo Shaman of Peru, who surrounded Rod Class with their special ceremonies throughout the past year.  And for so many who sent donations, and prayers, and asked after his welfare.  Your care and concern kept us at our task. Several teams are hard at work posting case files and reports to help you understand the depth of Sorcery that has enmeshed us in Invisible contracts, and what we must do to cancel the contracts once and for all time.   

If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please Manage Your Subscription
Galactic Historian, P.O. Box 2327, Yelm WA, 98597

CHARLOTTE N.C. STADIUM PREPARATIONS

CHARLOTTE   N.C.

STADIUM PREPARATIONS

 

Charlotte, NC is remodeling their stadium, which includes installing a retractable roof, for the 2016 Democratic National Convention and Obama's farewell speech. 

 

 

48 suspicious banking deaths

Our advice is if JP Morgan offers you a job: politley decline. The list of top level bankers dying under suspicious circumstances has been growing rapidly in recent months.
Whether these are genuine deaths or something more sinister one thing is for certain, banking is becoming one of the most dangerous industries to be involved in right now with an extremely high death per employee ratio.
The causes of death given for some of the bankers seems quite odd to say the least including one banker shooting himself 8 times with a nail gun and another being crushed to death by their own SUV.
With the global financial system heading towards a major crash in the near future are these people buckling under the pressure of what they see coming or are they being silenced because of what they know?
We can only assume it’s a little of both.
Here’s the list of top level bankers who have died recently:
DEAD (48)
July – Julian Knott, 45, JPMorgan Executive Director,Global Tier 3 Network Operations, SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND
June – Richard Gravino, 49, Application Team Lead, JP Morgan, SUDDEN DEATH cause unknown/pending
June – James McDonald – President & CEO of Rockefeller & Co – apparently self-inflicted, GUNSHOT WOUND
May – Thomas Schenkman, 42, Managing Director of Global Infrastructure, JP Morgan, SUDDEN DEATH, cause unknown/pending
May – Naseem Mubeen – Assistant Vice President ZBTL Bank, Islamabad, SUICIDE jumped
May – Daniel Leaf – senior manager at the Bank of Scotland/Saracen Fund Managers, FELL OFF A CLIFF
May – Nigel Sharvin – Senior Relationship Manager Ulster Bank manage portfolio of distressed businesses, ACCIDENTAL DROWNING
April – Lydia (no surname given) 52, France’s Bred-Banque-Populaire, SUICIDE jumped
April – Li Jianhua, 49, Non-bank Financial Institutions Supervision Department of the regulator, HEART ATTACK
April – Benedict Philippens, Director/Manager Bank Ans-Saint-Nicolas, SHOT
April – Tanji Dewberry – Assistant Vice President, Credit Suisse, HOUSE FIRE
April – Amir Kess, co-founder and managing director Markstone Capital Group private equity fund, CYCLIST HIT BY CAR
April – Juergen Frick, Bank Frick & Co. AG, SHOT
April – Jan Peter Schmittmann – former CEO of Dutch Bank ABN Amro, (Possibly suicide, SHOT)
April – Andrew Jarzyk – Assistant Vice President, Commercial Banking at PNC Financial Services Group, MISSING/DEAD
March – Mohamed Hamwi – System Analyst at Trepp, a financial data and analytics firm, SHOT
March – Joseph Giampapa – JP Morgan lawyer, CYCLIST HIT BY MINIVAN
March – Kenneth Bellandro, former JP Morgan, SUICIDE jumped
Feb – John Ruiz – Morgan Stanley Municipal Debt Analyst, died suddenly, NO CAUSE GIVEN
Feb – Jason Alan Salais, 34, Information Technology specialist at JPMorgan, FOUND DEAD outside a Walgreens pharmacy
Feb –  Autumn Radtke, CEO of First Meta, a cyber-currency exchange firm, SUICIDE
Feb – James Stuart Jr, Former National Bank of Commerce CEO, FOUND DEAD
Feb – Edmund (Eddie) Reilly, trader at Midtown’s Vertical Group, SUICIDE
Feb – Li Junjie, JP Morgan, SUICIDE
Feb – Ryan Henry Crane, SUDDEN DEATH cause unknown
Feb – Richard Talley, UNKNOWN CAUSE
Jan – Gabriel Magee, SUICIDE
Jan – William ‘Bill’ Broeksmit, HUNG/POSSIBLE SUICIDE
Jan – Mike Dueker, SUDDEN DEATH cause unknown
Jan – Carl Slym, SUICIDE
Jan – Tim Dickenson, SUDDEN DEATH cause unknown
Dec 2013 – Robert Wilson, a retired hedge fund founder, apparent SUICIDE leaped to his death from his 16th floor residence
Dec 2013 – Joseph M. Ambrosio, age 34, Financial Analyst for J.P. Morgan, died suddenly from Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Dec 2013 – Benjamin Idim, CAR ACCIDENT
Dec 2013 – Susan Hewitt – Deutsche Bank, DROWNING
Nov 2013 – Patrick Sheehan, CAR ACCIDENT
Nov 2013 – Michael Anthony Turner, Career Banker, CAUSE UNKOWN
Nov 2013 – Venera Minakhmetova Former Financial Analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, CYCLIST HIT
Oct 2013 – Michael Burdin, SUICIDE
Oct 2013 – Ezdehar Husainat – former JP Morgan banker, killed in FREAK ACCIDENT when her SUV crushed her to death
Sept 2013 – Guy Ratovondrahona -Madagascar central bank, Sudden death – cause not confirmed
Aug 2013 – Pierre Wauthier, SUICIDE
Aug 2013 – Moritz Erhardt, SUICIDE
July 2013 Hussain Najadi CEO of merchant bank AIAK Group, SHOT
July 2013 Carsten Schloter, SUICIDE
July 2013 Sascha Schornstein – RBS in its commodity finance, MISSING
April 2013 David William Waygood, SUICIDE
Mar 2013 – David Rossi – communications director of troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), SUICIDE
LETHAL BUT NON FATAL (MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A BANKER) 
Fang Fang – JP Morgan, China, DISGRACED
Nick Bagnall – Director at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, son accidentally killed himself while trying to re-enact a Tudor hanging
Robin Clark – RP Martin -Wolf of Shenfield City banker shot, SURVIVED
Kevin Bespolka – Citi Capital Advisors, Dresdner Bank, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, Seriously injured and son dead
Robert Wheeler, 49, a Deutsche Bank financial advisor, DISGRACED
Chris Latham – Bank of America, ON TRIAL, Murder for Hire
Igor Artamonov – West Siberian Bank of Sberbank, Daughter found dead (POSSIBLE SUICIDE)
Hector Sants, Barclays – resigned due to stress and exhaustion, after being told he risked more serious consequences to his health if he continued to work – a remarkable turnaround as the Church reportedly approached him two months later and was told he had made a full recovery,
POSSIBLY INTERESTING/MILDLY STRANGE
April 21st Bruce A. Schaal, 63, died suddenly Banker in Twin Lakes for 35 years
April 20th Keith Barnish 58, Died Suddenly (Still working as Senior Managing Director at Doral Financial Corporation. Previously Bear Stearns, Bank of America Senior Vice President
March 12th Jeffrey Corzine, 31, son of MF Global CEO and Chairman Jon Corzine involved in major banking crime was found dead in an apparent suicide.
Keiran Toman, 39, former banker who believed he was being stalked by a reality TV crew starved to death in a hotel room, an inquest heard today.
An inquest was opened after his death in July 2010 but his family asked for a second hearing as they were not informed. Police found all of Mr Toman’s possessions in the room, but despite documents mentioning his family, failed to tell them he had died.
Nicholas Austin, 49, A former bank manager from Hersden died after drinking antifreeze in an effort to get high. was found in a coma by his wife Lynn at their home in Blackthorne Road on October 5. He died the same day.

 http://www.hangthebankers.com/48-suspicious-banking-deaths/

China unmanned lunar orbiter enters Moon orbit

After spin stabilization the service module of the lunar orbiter will be flying at an altitude of 200 kilometers above the Moon’s surface to validate key technologies for the next lunar probe mission

© TASS/Vladimir Smirnov

Read also

China to launch Chang'e-5 space vehicle with moon rover on board in 2017

Russians may visit China’s orbital module — space agency

US calls for more countries to join ISS project

China interested in producing Russian rocket engines — Roscosmos chief

BEIJING, January 13. /TASS/. A Chinese unmanned lunar orbiter has entered the lunar orbit with the rotation time of 127 minutes on Tuesday.
The craft has made three orbit transfers since Sunday, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported. After spin stabilization the service module of the lunar orbiter will be flying at an altitude of 200 kilometers above the Moon’s surface to validate key technologies for the next lunar probe mission.
The lunar orbiter was launched on October 24. The flight is being made as part of Chinese lunar exploration program. The project has three phases. During the first phase probes were launched that allowed making a 3D Moon’s surface map and setting landing areas for next crafts. During the second phase in 2013 China brought its self-propelled lunar rover on the Earth’s satellite surface.
China also makes massive launches of weather satellites. On the last day of December a second-generation polar-orbiting satellite used for environmental monitoring was orbited.

Infographics Chinese Lunar Exploration Program

Overnight to January, 13, 2015 the service module of Chinese unmanned lunar orbiter has performed the tests required for development of lunar landing try-out of Chang’e-5 vehicle. Infographics by TASS

China is also finalising a spacecraft for far flights.
“We cannot forget that any country with the space potential has its plans and ambitions in the space industry,” deputy chief of Federal Space Agency Roscosmos Sergey Savelyev told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily, noting “there is a major difference in the level of scientific and technological development.
“As for China, the idea is to fill Russian-Chinese space partnership programme with more large-scale projects. For instance, to explore the Venus and other close planets in the Solar System. Chinese partners are interested in these issues.”
Russian cosmonauts may visit the Tiangong-1 orbital Chinese manned spacecraft  in the future and Chinese counterparts may visit the International Space Station (ISS), Russian space agency chief Oleg Ostapenko said earlier.
This variant has already been discussed in confidential talks with Russian specialists, Ostapenko said.

Bank Of America Fires Thousands

Bank Of America Misses Revenue By $2 Billion As Trading Revenue Collapses; Fires Thousands

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Dan    

http://www.infowars.com/bank-of-america-misses-revenue-by-2-billion-as-trading-revenue-collapses-fires-thousands/

Without the Fed’s visible hand manipulating markets every day, banks are a ticking time bomb just waiting to blow

Image Credits: Billy Hathorn / Wiki

by Zero Hedge | January 16, 2015

Following disappointing results from JPM and Wells Fargo yesterday, it was Bank of America’s turn to “surprise” investors with its disclosure just how bad its quarter was. And with the bank reporting a 50% collapse in its sales and trading from Q3, down $600 million from a year ago to just $1.7 billion in Q4, it should come as no surprise that the bank just reported Net Income, before the usual spate of amusing addbacks, of $0.25 well below the $0.31 expected. And while one may argue whether or not BofA’s EPS deserve non-GAAP adbacks, it was the Revenue of $18.96 billion, which missed expectations of $21.03 billion by over $2 billion (!) and down $2.7 billion from a year ago, that was truly a showstopper and shows that without the Fed’s visible hand manipulating markets every day, banks are a ticking time bomb just waiting to blow.

In BofA’s own words: “Bank of America Corporation today reported net income of $3.1 billion, or $0.25 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to $3.4 billion, or $0.29 per diluted share in the year-ago period. Revenue, net of interest expense, on an FTE basis(B) was $19.0 billion, compared to $21.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013.”

And keep in mind that the $4.5 billion in pretax earnings included the usual piggybank accounting gimmick of adding back of $0.7 billion in loan loss reserve releases.



Here is the collapse in Sales and Trading, regardless of whether one observes it with or without DVA/FVA:



But here is the best indicator of what BofA’s earnings truly were: its headcount. And after firing over 4K FTEs, or down 2.5% from the prior quarter, dropping the total FTE count to 207.9, one can see which way management is positioned.



The good news is that the criminal enterprise that is BofA only had to pay $393 million in litigation expenses, far below the $2.3 billion a year ago. Then again, putting in context, BofA paid up $16.4 billion and $6.1 billion in 2014 and 2013, respectively, in “cost of doing business as a criminal enterprise.”

Finally, while JPM “forgot” to report its Net Interest Margin data, BofA was kind enough to provide it. One look at the chart below, which impact all banks, shows why JPM decided it could just do without this data in Q4.



And there you have it: lowest. NIM. Ever.
Q4 earnings presentation below
BAC Q4 Presentation Materials by zerohedge

Categories: US News

Russia’s presidency aims at turning BRICS into full-fledged cooperation tool

January 13, 14:58 UTC+3
One of the major goals of Russia’s presidency will be implementing the BRICS decisions on setting up its own financial institutions, namely the New Development Bank and a currency reserve pool

Meeting of BRICS delegations' heads (archive)

© ITAR-TASS/Valery Sharifulin

© ITAR-TASS/Yuri Smityuk

MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. Converting BRICS, a grouping of five emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — into a full-fledged cooperation mechanism in major issues of global economy and politics will be a key goal of Russia’s upcoming presidency, a senior Russian diplomat told China’s Xinhua news agency in an interview.

“Since April 2015, Russia assumes the functions of BRICS president,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said, noting that the grouping has become a “significant factor in the world economy and politics” since the first full-scale diplomatic meeting in Russia’s Yekaterinburg in 2009.

The long-term aim of Russia and its partners is to transform BRICS from a “dialogue forum and tool of coordinating positions on a limited range of issues into a full-fledged mechanism of cooperation in the key issues of global economy and politics.”

“This is our approach to defining the tasks for the upcoming Russian presidency in this grouping,” he said.

One of the major goals of Russia’s presidency will be implementing the BRICS decisions on setting up its own financial institutions, namely the New Development Bank and a currency reserve pool.

These institutions are aimed at “stabilizing capital markets of the member-states in case of crisis situations in the global economy and also deepening the integration of our states, increasing their trade and investment capacities,” Morgulov said.

© Nikolay Galkin/TASS

Morgulov said Russia is actively cooperating with Chinese partners to achieve this goal. He mentioned a draft BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy up to 2020 which could become an important benchmark for the operations of the New Development Bank, the Business Council and economic bodies of the member-states.

The diplomat said the BRICS member-states plan on increasing the efficiency of industrial and technological cooperation, deepening cooperation in such areas as energy, mining, metallurgy, agriculture, telecommunications, cutting-edge technologies and expanding cooperation in the humanitarian sphere.

And then it would seem that RT is having difficulties with  the timing of their articles- or do they?  Their recent article announcing that China and Russia are setting up a new Ratings agency gives the illusion of it being news (below).... till you go look at it up close and you find announcements from October.....



http://itar-tass.com/en/archive/684108

American Eagle Silver Bullion Soared to Record High in 2014

    U.S. Mint American Eagle Silver Bullion Coin Purchases Soared to Record High in 2014... 

 

Washington, D.C.  – January 15, 2015

 

The continuing appeal of silver for investors led to record sales of U.S. American Eagle Silver Bullion coins last year, topping the previous milestone established just the previous year.

The U.S. Mint announced that 2014 sales of American Eagle Silver Bullion coins reached 44,006,000 ounces.  The robust sales performance was primarily driven by a resurgence of demand in the fourth quarter last year.  To that point, December sales of the American Eagles Silver Bullion coins were up 104% year-on-year.

Sales of the American Eagle Silver Bullion one-ounce coin dramatically outpaced those of the one-ounce American Eagle Gold and Platinum coins last year.   Moreover, based on 2014 U.S. Mint sales figures and annual average metal prices, Silver Eagles eclipsed Gold Eagles’ sales by 59%.

Introduced in 1986, the 99.9% pure American Eagle Silver Bullion coins have experienced strong demand in recent years, with sales climbing sharply since 2008 and occasionally reaching levels where demand exceeded supply.  As a result, the U.S. Mint was forced to stop selling the Eagles on several occasions last year as demand swelled, instituting a policy to allocate available American Eagle Silver Bullion coins to its authorized purchaser distribution network.

Meanwhile, the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) reported healthy demand for its silver bullion products last year, ending on a high note having sold all 1 million of the Mint’s Bald Eagle coins from its new Canadian Birds of Prey 99.99% pure silver coins series.  The RCM said its flagship Silver Maple Leaf Bullion coin continues to generate solid customer interest.

Australia’s Perth Mint reported that while total silver sales were down 13.5% year-on-year, largely due to a sales tax increase in Europe, there was an increase in buying as the price came off through the second half of the year producing 20.8% higher sales over the first half.

Investors’ support for silver was not just limited to bullion coins.  Investment in silver-backed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) grew by 1.1 million ounces by the end of December last year.  Although a modest gain of 0.2%, when compared with the 8.8% decline in gold ETFs last year, it is clear that silver ETF’s remain a popular investment vehicle.  Early indications for physical bar demand are down in 2014 for both silver and gold, however.

While American investors continue to demonstrate support for silver, demand for the metal also increased through the year in India, where silver imports climbed 13% to an estimated 212 million ounces in 2014, setting a level of imports that surpasses the previous record volume of silver imports posted in 2013, according to analysts at GFMS Thomson Reuters.  Silver has benefitted from increased Indian demand due to uncertainty surrounding government import policies impacting the gold market.

Silver has historically been an attractive and affordable precious metal and provides investors an excellent opportunity to diversify their investment portfolio.

The Silver Institute is a nonprofit international industry association headquartered in Washington, D.C. Established in 1971, the Institute’s members include leading silver producers, prominent silver refiners, manufacturers and dealers.  The Institute serves as the industry’s voice in increasing public understanding of the many uses and value of silver, and also creates programs across various platforms that benefit the white metal. For more information on the Silver Institute, or silver in general, please visit: www.silverinstitute.org.

 

Capitol Bomb Plot Another FBI-Contrived Set-Up

Cornell portrayed as distrustful of media and government

by Paul Joseph Watson | January 16, 2015

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An alleged ISIS-inspired plot to bomb the U.S. Capitol was in fact almost wholly contrived by the FBI, fitting the pattern of previous domestic terror threats, the vast majority of which have been cooked up by the federal agency.

Authorities say 20-year-old Christopher Lee Cornell planned to detonate pipe bombs and then fire on fleeing lawmakers and employees, but his family assert that the young man was never capable of coordinating or funding such a conspiracy on his own.

Cornell’s father, John Cornell Sr., told ABC News that his son was “just a typical kid,” called his mother “mommy” and had a cat for a best friend.

When Cornell began tweeting out support for ISIS under the name “Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah,” he attracted the attention of the FBI. While it seems almost certain that the 20-year-old was just a loner making idiotic comments on the Internet, federal authorities saw an opportunity and set up a meeting with an FBI informant in Cincinnati over two days in October.

“They were taking him somewhere, and they were filling his head with a lot of this garbage,” said Cornell’s father, who disputes the claim that his son bought two semi-automatic rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition from a store in Ohio, noting that he only had $1200 in his bank account and the guns alone would have cost almost $2000.

“Where did that money come from? Well, it came from the FBI,” John Cornell Sr. said. “They set him up.”

The media portrayal of Cornell’s motives also serves to demonize those who have been vocal critics of how the war on terror has served to bolster the size of government to unprecedented levels.

We learn that Cornell voiced “distrust of the government and the media,” that he “didn’t pay attention to the news because he thought it was all propaganda” and that he thought “presidential elections were controlled by a secret society.” Cornell also expressed doubts about the official story behind 9/11.

Lawmakers immediately seized on the alleged plot to justify a continuation of NSA surveillance and call for more power in the name of fighting terror.

Cornell’s apparent entrapment and radicalization by the FBI fits the pattern of the federal agency contriving the very terror plots it then takes the credit for busting. As the New York Times reported in 2012, the vast majority of domestic terror plots in recent years were “facilitated by the F.B.I.”

“The agency does not disrupt planned domestic terror attacks but rather creates them, then publicly praises itself for stopping its own plots,” writes Glenn Greenwald.

With the threat of ISIS attacks on the United States a growing menace – largely as a result of the White House’s role in destabilizing Syria, which created thousands of new potential terrorists now returning to their home countries in the west – the FBI should be directing all its resources to stopping actual terror plots instead of creating them itself.