Thursday, December 20, 2012

Vanguard Group, Campus Crest, And Ted Rollins Form A Match Made In Privatization "Heaven"

Vanguard HQ in Malvern, PA

If you think it's a good idea to turn public facilities over to private enterprises, Vanguard Group and Campus Crest Communities are on your wavelength.

But if you carry a healthy skepticism about such public-to-private ventures, you might want to think twice about these firms. That goes double if you have serious concerns about child welfare. That's because Vanguard and Campus Crest have connections that indicate they don't take the well being of children all that seriously.

In the case of Campus Crest CEO Ted Rollins, he has a documented history as a child abuser. But that does not seem to bother Vanguard, which is the No. 1 institutional investor in Rollins' company.

What does that say about the values these firms hold, and why should the public care? Well, they might someday try to provide housing for you, especially if you are a prisoner or a college student. And they clearly intend to make large chunks of money off institutions that your tax dollars support.

Is that a good thing? The Vanguard Group, based in the Philadelphia suburb of Malvern, Pennsylvania, manages $1.7 trillion in assets and is credited with creating and popularizing index funds for individual investors. Recent events, however, raise serious questions about Vanguard's values--and the values of certain companies it supports.

As we reported yesterday, one of those companies is gun manufacturer Sturm Ruger. In the wake of last Friday's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, stocks in gun companies are falling and some investors are distancing themselves from the industry. Vanguard, however, appears to be deeply enmeshed in a gun culture that contributed to the slaughter of 26 people, including 20 children between the ages of 5 and 10. A statement from Vanguard spokesman Doug Hoffman indicates the firm is in no hurry to alter its relationship with gun makers. Here is how Huffington Post's Chris Kirkham reports it:

A spokesman for Vanguard, David Hoffman, said the company will always appear to have a larger investment in any given corporation because it pegs investments to certain stock index funds. Therefore the investment in a company such as Sturm Ruger doesn't necessarily reflect an active position, he said. 
Hoffman added that investors who invest in actively managed funds can choose to invest in a social index fund, which screens out companies such as firearms manufacturers based on "certain social, human rights, and environmental criteria."

Vanguard's culture of index funds seems to provide a convenient explanation--some might call it an excuse--for relationships with dubious enterprises. Vanguard's dubious relationships, it turns out, are not limited to the gun industry.

A CCA prison
The firm is among the leading shareholders in Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and The GEO Group (GEO), the top private-prison operators in the country. Earlier this year, Truthout reporter Dina Rasor focused on CCA and GEO in a pair of articles with titles that say a lot about the industry. The first article is titled "Prison Industries: "Don't Let Society Improve Or We Lose Business." The second is titled "America's Top Prison Corporation: A Study In Predatory Capitalism And Cronyism."

Rasor's reports paint an unflattering picture of private prisons, which Vanguard helps underwrite. From one of the Truthout articles:

Just as I have feared that privatizing the logistics of war will encourage private war-service industries to lobby for a hot war or long occupation to keep their industries viable, there has emerged a group of prison industries, state and federal legislators, and other players who will continue to benefit from our disgraceful ranking as the world's largest warden. . . . 
This is an industry that needs misery, long sentences, rounded-up undocumented immigrants and increasing crime to flourish.

One bad actor who has tried to cash in on the prison-industrial complex is former Vice President Dick Cheney. How did he do it? Reportedly by investing $85 million in Vanguard Group. Cheney and former Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez were indicted in 2008 in Willacy County, Texas, for alleged prisoner abuse in federal detention centers. The case against Cheney and Gonzalez languished when Juan Angel Guerra, the prosecutor who brought it, lost in a primary election.

Before leaving office, however, Guerra shined light on Dick Cheney and The Vanguard Group in an interview with Democracy Now! and Amy Goodman. From that interview:


AMY GOODMAN: Juan Guerra, the Vice President’s attorney says this is bizarre, that you had Cheney invested in Vanguard Group, which is a mutual fund that, yes, does invest in the private prison industry, but can you indict him for being responsible for abusive behavior in the prison? 
JUAN ANGEL GUERRA: Well, yes, because, again, you have the activities, the criminal activities, that his involvement is that he is aware with the Vanguard Group. The Vanguard Group has invested — is invested. It’s a top ten companies that are investing in the three top private prisons companies, the private prisons. So if you follow Vanguard, then he ended up investing $85 million. The problem here is that the Vanguard Group is not part of his blind trust. This is money that he has, quote, "on the side." It is reported in his income tax with his signature there. So he knows exactly where his money is invested. If this was part of his blind trust, then he would have no control. So because he has control, so now they’re trying to increase the number, the price. Instead of $80, they’re trying to go to $120, which means that these private companies are going to end up making more money, which means that Vanguard would make more money, which means that obviously the Vice President would make more money.

A skeptic might view The Vanguard Group's business model this way: Invest in companies that make guns, which all too often are used to commit crimes. Then invest in private prisons to house the criminals you helped create.

Sounds like a winner, doesn't it?

Vanguard apparently thinks it has another winner in Campus Crest Communities, which designs, builds and markets student housing near some 40 universities around the country. The Campus Crest market consists of young people, but is Vanguard concerned that company CEO Ted Rollins has a history of abusive actions toward young people? Given that Vanguard has invested almost $47.8 million in Campus Crest, it doesn't look like it.

It's not as if the ugliness in Ted Rollins is a secret, and information on it is not particularly hard to find. Public records show Rollins has a criminal record from his conviction for an assault on his 16-year-old stepson. We also know that North Carolina social-services officials, acting on a citizen complaint, investigated Rollins for child sexual abuse of the same stepson.

Why does Vanguard seem to ignore Ted Rollins' ties to criminality? Maybe it's because the investment firm and the CEO share a vision for how private enterprises can reap huge profits from operating facilities that traditionally have been public concerns.

We will take a closer look at that shared vision in upcoming posts.

56 comments:

John Cell said...

As always, you're either too stupid to comprehend the truth or you are deliberately ignoring it to fit your narrative.

Vanguard's CEO said their investment in the gun company is because of their index funds.

This means that they invest in a non-discretionary manner to mimic a certain basket of stocks (like the S&P 500 or the Russell 2000). If those indexes drop the gun stock or campus crest (due to valuation or delisting), then vanguard sells out. Simple as that.

What part of his explanation do you not understand?

Anonymous said...

So Vanguard and Ted Rollins, Campus Crest, are doing the same thing to the college housing/dorm living situation as is going on in the prison system. Where young people used to live in dorms and be under the careful watch of the campus police, they are now lured away to live in privately owned "campus" apartments where there is no supervision whatsoever. No hall monitors, no dorm mothers, no resident assistants. And the most important part about these apartments is they are advertised as being "student" housing but what they don't tell you is that they are rented to anyone with the money to live there. No one is turned away . Students should not be living with the typical 500 per month resident who is not even screened as to background but only for what they can pay each month. He and Vanguard are together on this because it is privatization of student housing for profit just as Vanguard is taking over the prisons and filling them anyone with a temperature and yes, people who can't even renew a license plate on a car and the police contribute with students they pull out of schools on trumped up charges to fill their prisons.

Anonymous said...

Off Topic-But not really-as all is intertwined-What if any details are available on the divorce that has been in progress for over 2 years of Ruth and Gary Rollins? There have been numerous rumors but no real confirmations. You were able to pull together a good bit of info on Danielle and Glen Rollins divorce which is consistant with the rumors plus some good background information.

Anonymous said...

Sounds a lot like the "kids for cash" scandal back in 09. Those 2 judges were tight with the private prison owner. Wonder of that was Vangard?

legalschnauzer said...

John Cell:

Welcome back. Always great to have words of wisdom from you. What statement did Vanguard's CEO make about this issue? Can you provide a link to it?

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 6:04--

I would say you nailed it. Privatizing prisons and privatizing dorms. They seem to go hand in hand.

TLR said...

I have a question for John Cell:

Is Vanguard investing in the gun industry or not? If the answer is yes, what part of that do you not understand?

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 6:38--

Good question about the Ruth/Gary Rollins divorce. It's been very quiet on that front. I've had a ton of response to the Danielle/Glan story. Great public interest in that. But I've not had the first reader e-mail about Ruth/Gary. Perhaps the difference in the couples' ages explains that. Also, Danielle has a high public profile. But I will try to find out something.

Anonymous said...

I love this part of the quote from Juan Angel Guerra, referencing Dick Cheney:

"So because he has control, so now they’re trying to increase the number, the price. Instead of $80, they’re trying to go to $120, which means that these private companies are going to end up making more money, which means that Vanguard would make more money, which means that obviously the Vice President would make more money."

That goes right to the heart of the greedy mindset with Cheney and Vanguard--and probably with the Bush Admin, from top to bottom.

Anonymous said...

@8:01. Robert Mericle was the developer of "kids for cash" prisons. He sued Travelers Ins (a subsidiary of Citigroup) because they refused to pay out to the families of the victims for civil claims. In that suit Mericle was represented by Ted Cruz who was running for a Texas senate seat. Crucial timing in this case considering Cheney indictment. Sacrificial lambs maybe?

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 8:01--

Good point about the "Kids for Cash" story. I'm not sure what role geography might play in this, but my memory is that the KFC story was based in Pennsylvania, and Vanguard happens to be based in PA. The KFC judges, I think, were on one end of the state, near Pittsburgh, and Vanguard is on the other end, near Philly.

Raymond said...

LS, you laid some profound stuff on us here. Cuts to the chase:

"A skeptic might view The Vanguard Group's business model this way: Invest in companies that make guns, which all too often are used to commit crimes. Then invest in private prisons to house the criminals you helped create."

Anonymous said...

LS that's the same block in Corporate America. This is getting good!

Anonymous said...

I'd be interested to know who is now running the prisons involved in the kids for cash scam!

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see Obama pull a "Riley vs Seigleman" on the Bush/ Cheney admin! Wishful thinking and will surely never happen! Mr O wouldn't be where he is if not for Bush/Cheney. I heard Bush voted for Obama.

Spasmoda said...

Speaking of Siegelman, I would like to know who runs the prison in Oakdale, LA. Does Dick Cheney have an interest in that? Does Mark Fuller have Vanguard in his portfolio?

legalschnauzer said...

Spas:

Those are excellent questions. How many judges, who send people to prison, have a financial interest in private prisons?

Anonymous said...

This might be the most important post you've ever written, LS. I hope your readers understand that tying all of this stuff together is big. You are doing a darned good job of it.

Anonymous said...

John Cell you are truly not in the understanding department about how money works.

Guns, weapons, the military industrial complex IS the primary investment for all the "Judges," and the Vanguard Group has been the umbrella for the "courts," too, as well any and all "government" hide the retirements under many umbrellas.

Naturally the BIG PLAYERS are the so called "banks," criminals that sell credit as debt with interest that can never be repaid, these INDEX FUNDS are of course the DERIVATIVES, which simply means there are no limits to the FRAUD: "Housing Bubble" was and is one of the greatest Fraudulent Inducements and Transference of Wealth via the "Fed" [NOT a Federal U.S. of A.].

The Vanguard Group are one of the biggest players, FIDELITY also is in on the RICO.

That's what it's all about John Cell, RICO, go study up on the 18 Titles cause all are being violated by The Vanguard Group's "unjust apartheid system."

Roger S, I agree with the person who says - this is the most important investigative journalism - you have sunk your Legal Schnauzer nose into the real dirt on this! BRAVE are those wonderful dogs' noses, barks, bites and fearlessness!!

Anonymous said...

With the passing of NDAA Cheney/ Vangard stands to make a fortune!

Anonymous said...

LS,

How many judges send people to prison? Oh my god, there are so many "programs," which are of course set-up in society for the "failed" CRIMINALS.

DISP, for an example.

Clearly Bonnie Wyatt proves how different the system operates.

The criminals that run the crime RICO, Corrections Corporation of America [CCA], are traded and exchanged in "government" retirement portfolios.

Of Course the pharmaceuticals replaced the "houses."

Unbelievable.

The numbers of properties are countless, that were recycled and continue to be recycled in the "Public Employees' Retirement Systems [PERS]!"

Our "pillars of society."

THE WOE INDUSTRIES. What would the courts do should the society not be made dis-eased, there would be no "job."

Here is the problem. "Government" was not supposed to be a collective of ignorant people who steal for the criminal class.

The criminal class is the Federal Reserve System, FED, and the International Monetary Fund, IMF.

World Bank, and all the globalists are pedophiles for the majority, and the acts performed on our society are not healthy.

Digits, these monsters have a way to sell as many humans that can be defrauded, "digital dust" as though money.

Selling humans the WOE INDUSTRIES is in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, but it is working marvelous for those that commit the crimes in whatever way chosen. NATO is behind them and traded in Vanguard, no doubt about this, the umbrella?

Anonymous said...

Off subject but seeing as all is some how eventually intertwined AND speaking of Siegleman. I'm wondering just how far back the Siegleman issues go? I noticed that Robert Vance's father was Siegleman's law partner back in 80's and that Vance Sr was killed by a mail bomb in 89.

Anonymous said...

With all due respect comparing prison privatization, in which your "clients" are placed in your "business" by the public court system, with private student housing near a public university is a big stretch (and frankly way off base). These are not dorms, they are off campus housing/apartments, just like can be found adjacent to any university. Several larger companies (EDR and ACC are public) also provide this service, in addition to dozens of private operators. There is no exclusivity. The students are not assigned to these apartments, they are part of the free market system just like any prospective tenant and the student/parent may choose a specific home for personal reasons. Of course, if they researched Campus Crest, they may stay clear. I am VERY familiar with Campus Crest, and not a fan, but this comparison is painfully flawed.

Anonymous said...

Yes the NDAA. Diane Feinstein's daughter can't get elected in the State of California, too corrupted in the money department.

So what's Diane going to do? Yes a BILL upon the 2013, reconvening of the "Congress," to stop gun violence.

Let her begin by dumping all the war, weaponry and of course her families' HUGE INVESTMENTS in the Apartheid State of Israel ~ which the U.S. of A. invests so much money into the WARS AND WEAPONS, globally, maybe this is HOPE?

Downsizing the Pentagon where The Vanguard Group no doubt umbrellas whatever can be, let the KILLING industry at the Pentagon begin to be a new balance sheet of a negative ZERO sum, many years to catch up in the "war against We The People Americans."

Anonymous said...

I notice that John Cell tends to show up when you are writing about debt collectors. He shows up today when you write about Vanguard.

Obvious question: Does Vanguard have ties to the debt-collection industry?

Certain LS posts apparently step on John Cell's toes. I'm just nosy enough to try to connect the dots.

Anonymous said...

"... There is no exclusivity. The students are not assigned to these apartments, they are part of the free market system ...."

Fucking dumb.

"free market system."

Fucking dumb.

Anonymous said...

Great Rhetorical: "... Does Vanguard have ties to the debt-collection industry...?

Anonymous said...

John Cell may be so fucking dumb that it can show how bad off we truly are in the U.S. of A.

He appears to know what he is talking about and there are too many that would believe his fucking dumbness.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of NDAA. Out of the states seeking to repeal it, AL is not one of those. Also both AL senators voted yes on the bill. Might that be a reason rumors are out that Sessions may be retiring because looks like he and Shelby BOTH should be!

Anonymous said...

See, China is not stupid and does not like U.S. of A. in this time of Wall Street vs. Main Street:

"... US Asian pivot fails academic test ....

.. The stagnant number of Southeast Asian students choosing universities in the United States for higher learning could prove fatal for the future of the US's Asian pivot policy, with tens of thousands selecting China and providing a significant boost to Beijing's "soft power" credentials. Improving the situation requires significant changes to enrollment and visa procedures, but such upheaval is needed to capture the region's best minds. - Curtis S Chin and Jose B Collazo

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 12:34--

You ask an important question. I think the roots of the Siegelman story go back a long way. We took a look at that issue in a post at the following URL:


http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2012/08/siegelman-case-has-roots-in-iran-contra.html

Anonymous said...

"... Unlike the civil rights activists of the 1950s and 60s who “conscientiously violated domestic laws for the express purpose of changing them,” says Francis Boyle, “today’s civil resistors are acting for the express purpose of upholding the rule of law, the US Constitution, human rights, and international law.” As such, they cannot be arrested by authorities or sentenced by the courts for their actions.

.. Boyle, of the University of Illinois, Champaign, said under US and international law, American citizens have the basic right to engage in acts of civil resistance “designed to prevent, impede, thwart, or terminate ongoing criminal activities perpetrated by US government officials in their conduct of foreign affairs policies and military operations purported to relate to defense and counter-terrorism.”

.. Mistakenly, however, “such actions have been defined to constitute classic instances of ‘civil disobedience’” as historically practiced in the United States. However, “nothing could be further from the truth,” Boyle says. “Today’s civil resisters are the sheriffs” and “the US government officials are the outlaws!”

.. Boyle made his remarks in a speech December 9 before the Puerto Rican Summit Conference on Human Rights, in San Juan. His topic was “The Condition of Human Rights at the International Setting.”

.. “Civil resistance,” Boyle said, “is the last hope America has to prevent the US government from moving even farther down the path of lawless violence in Africa, the Middle East, Southwest Asia, military interventionism into Latin America, and nuclear confrontation with Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, Russia, and China.”

.. Today’s civil resistors “disobeyed nothing, but to the contrary obeyed international law and the US Constitution. By contrast, US government officials disobeyed fundamental principles of international law as well as US criminal law and thus committed international crimes and US domestic crimes as well as impeachable violations of the US Constitution.”

.. Boyle warned the public not to permit any aspect of their foreign affairs and defense policies to be conducted by acknowledged “war criminals” according to the US government’s own official definition of that term as set forth in US Army Field Manual 27-10(1956), the US War Crimes Act, and the Geneva Conventions.

.. He said Americans must insist upon the impeachment, dismissal, resignation, indictment and convictions of the guilty and that taking such actions is the “right and the duty” of everyone around the world.

.. People everywhere could act against nations allied with the US such as Britain and the other NATO states, as well as Australia, Japan, South Korea, Georgia, and Puerto Rico. “If not so restrained, the US government could very well precipitate a Third World War.”

.. Boyle is the author of numerous books on international affairs, including Destroying World Order, from Clarity Press, Atlanta, Ga., USA.

Global Research articles by Francis Boyle

Anonymous said...

@1:10 you clearly are a city boy! Maybe a summer on a sheep or cattle farm would have been good for you.

Anonymous said...

We must demand Don Siegelman not get dead.

In a trial, Las Vegas, Nevada, after one month -there was no question of the M.D. and his innocence, but he was found guilty in one of America's most infamous judicial hell holes:

Clark County, Nevada.

What happened to this Doctor who was considered a "saint" in pediatrics [was NOT a pedophile and called most of 'em there out, in LV NV], well mysteriously he went in for an operation on his neck and after that operation he was somehow left off a monitor and he is dead.

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 12:38--

Your points are well taken, and there certainly are differences between The Grove complexes and on-campus dorms. But I think it's worth noting the following:

* Campus Crest's business model is built on the idea that state universities are experiencing tight budgets and can't keep up with housing demand. The Groves are not like dorms, but they are a response to the apparent need for student housing.

* Campus Crest markets specifically to students and to specific universities. Their public documents state that they work closely with university officials, and they depend heavily on the schools' reputations. So they are linking themselves with taxpayer-funded institutions, and the CCG market comes directly from the student populations of state universities.

* You soon will be hearing about private companies taking over entire university housing systems. I think that is about to happen at U of Kentucky, with the firm based in Memphis getting the contract.

You are correct to point out certain differences. But these private companies are making themselves closely aligned with public institutions, and the ties will be getting stronger, not weaker.

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 1:05--

You have an inquiring mind. I like that.

Not sure I can answer your question, but I did find this at the "Vanguard Safety" Wikipedia page:

"All of the funds managed by Vanguard have their assets held with JPMorgan Chase."

You might recall that NCO, one of the nation's largest debt collectors, is owned by JPMorgan Chase. And Chase and Vanguard are tightly aligned.

Perhaps that explains John Cell's interest in certain subjects.

Anonymous said...

Dear God . . . are you telling me that Dick Cheney helps fund Ted Rollins and Campus Crest Communities?

Anonymous said...

Anon at 1:10PM- you seem to have a strong feeling about student housing in addition to being quite the wordsmith. I have more than a passing familiarity with this industry- perhaps you could explain how I am incorrect.

Anonymous said...

LS it's also important to take notice when these private companies are pushing "sustainable development"!!!!!

Ie; Campus Crest/ Ted Rollins recent award

Ie; UN Agenda 21/ ICLEI

Anonymous said...

The private is the public, Orwellian speak. All receive "Federal Funding," or "Federal Spending Clause," is what it is called, ALL "Congress," ET AL that receive "digital money."

JUDICIAL COMMISSION writes on the binders of their "meetings" regarding the "money," "federal spending clause."

Diane Feinstein is remarkably, moving to the Judicial, from the current government held paid position as "public employee." With a privatization globalist stand.

"... The Section Preventing Indefinite Detention of Americans Without Trial Removed From Final NDAA Bill -Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/20/2012

.. While the Feinstein-Lee Amendment wasn’t perfect, it was a small step forward as Mike Krieger outlined in his piece: My Thoughts on the Feinstein-Lee Amendment to the NDAA. Amazingly, this small victory has been stripped out of the final bill by our “representatives.” If this doesn’t prove without a shadow of a doubt that this government is criminal and wants the power to lock up citizens without trial we don’t know what will....

zerohedge

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

@1:10 you clearly are a city boy! Maybe a summer on a sheep or cattle farm would have been good for you.

December 20, 2012 1:33 PM

Got a better idea anon 1:33 PM, since I'm a female I suggest your fucking dumbness buy a blow up boy doll, there are lots these days and make sure all the places to put your mouth, etc. are working real well for your mind is not smart enough to know what is what.

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 1:39--

LOL, although your point actually might not be that amusing. Still, it strikes my funny bone.

Not sure exactly how these index funds work. But if Dick Cheney put $85 million into Vanguard, and Vanguard put $47 million or so into Campus Crest, I suppose there could be some "cross pollination" there

If so, I guess that would mean you are right: Dick Cheney and Ted Rollins are sort of in business together.

That should be enough to keep anyone awake at night.

Anonymous said...

UN / ICLEI: how to further sell the U.S. of A. into a foreign controlled gulag. Good reminder here, this should NEVER be ignored as it was in 1992, THE how we got to this point.

Anonymous said...

Dick Cheney is our defacto Vice President for life.

The pedophile David Rockefeller is the U.S. President via the UN, and this is on video, search engine these two telling We The People, how our reality truly is.

It was at a Bilderberger meeting and scary is an understatement.

The world has not stopped from the carnage, wreckage and other internal wars on America, since Dave and Dick privatized US in the UN, 1990s.

Anonymous said...

"... Federal judge deals blow to Goldman Sachs in fight against Reno

.. A federal judge on Monday agreed the city of Reno could take Goldman Sachs into private arbitration, bypassing the federal court system, to continue fighting for a settlement from the bank potentially worth millions of dollars.

.. In February, the city hired a team of private attorneys and took its case to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in New York, which acts as a private arbitrator between financial organizations and their customers. In response, Goldman Sachs said Reno needed to take the matter to federal court and asked a federal judge to stop Reno's attempt to start arbitration.

.. Over the last four years, governments around the country have sought billions of dollars in settlements from banks as a result of the auction rate securities market failure in 2008.

.. Read the court order here:

http://renomemo.rgj.com/federal-judge-deals-blow-to-goldman-sachs-in-fight-against-reno/

Anonymous said...

scary alright, keep us up at night?! Dick and Dave on video ~

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_globalization43.htm

"... The U.S. House of Representatives has already approved TPA during December, 2001 by a vote of 215 vs 214. In June of 2002, the House appointed conferees. In May, the Senate passed TPA legislation with a strong bipartisan vote of 66-30, and in July, appointed its conferees. The conference has begun.

.. In addition to TPA, the conference will address differences in the House and Senate bills on the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), and Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programs.

.. On July 8, 2002, the President urged Congress to send trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation to his desk before going home for the August recess.

.. One of the milestones of completing the American Union will be to outlaw private ownership of firearms by the U.S. citizens. The Elite know that when they finally tell the Americans that they must turn in their arms, that the Militias will very quickly be reconstituted all across the nation in protest to this move.

.. To prepare for this confrontation, the Elite have created the new Office of Homeland Security, not to protect us from terrorists, but to try to control the Militias once they are stirred up about gun confiscation. They have already established concentration camps on military bases in almost every state, in preparation for confining resisters to the transition to the American Union.

.. They will then change the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) (Created by President George H.W. Bush in 1989) to its new name - ASIAN UNION, by around 2010. During this same period, the former SOVIET UNION will be resurrected, but this time not under hard line Communist control, but under the direct and absolute control of the Elite.

Anonymous said...

"... [CFR] Vice President Dick Cheney speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations takes a question from David Rockefeller, Chairman Emeritus of the CFR, about the Free Trade Agreements for the Americas (FTAA), Cheney confesses to having been a Director of the CFR and having concealed it during his Congressional career from his constituency in Wyoming,

HOW GOOD ARE YOUR INVESTIGATIVE "READERS," LS?!

This video appears to not be available in the land of FREE AND EXCEPTIONAL AMERICA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brYWujMC-0k

Transcript by Project Humanbeingsfirst

Anonymous said...

LS- (anon 12:38 here) appreciate the response without the unnecessary verbal assault of your reader at 1:10. That being said your points are correct in that they, among others, are capitalizing on the lack of funding at the state level to either improve or build student housing while enrollments are expanding. Additionally, their relationships with the local universities are sometimes exaggerated- in some cases they are friendly, in some cases its cordial, and in some cases, they would prefer that the Grove never showed up. Finally, the move to privatization of student housing is an extension of privatization of other campus services that has been occurring for decades, such as food services, bookstores, etc. Of course, few of these services come with the risk of housing in which generating a little extra profit by having less stringent security or second rate construction (see UNT door that opens to a non patio) can literally put lives at risk.

Anonymous said...

Oh sugar britches.....touché

Anonymous said...

"... UBS and Barclays are among some 20 major financial institutions under investigation for colluding to manipulate the benchmark rate, including HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Sumitomo Mitsui, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America.

.. The Libor scandal has laid bare the rampant criminality in the operations of the world’s major banks and exposed the fact that the so-called

“free market”

is rigged by the most powerful banks and corporations for their own profit....

.. UBS Libor-rigging settlement exposes pervasive bank fraud By Andre Damon, Global Research, December 20, 2012

.. UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland, announced Wednesday it had agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement with regulators in three countries, admitting that between 2005 and 2010 it intentionally manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), the most important global interest rate.

.. A report issued by the British Financial Services Authority (FSA) on the settlement provides voluminous documentation, in the form of emails and instant message exchanges, of the falsification on virtually a daily basis of UBS’ submissions to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), which oversees Libor.

.. The settlement comes six months after a $450 million deal between regulators and Barclays, the fourth-largest global bank, to settle charges that it similarly manipulated Libor.

Anonymous said...

btw, before underwriting for the creditors went into complete technology efficiency ["on line DU"], I underwrote "loans" and had to audit the "Judicial" as well as doctors, nurses, et al, etc., and The Vanguard Group was quite an interesting auditing experience.

Here's more of how the reality continues to be more of the same reality:

"... The report cited specific exchanges, such as an email from September 18, 2008 in which a UBS trader told a broker at another firm: “if you keep [the Libor rate] unchanged today… I will f___g do one humongous deal with you… Like a 50,000 buck deal, whatever… I need you to keep it as low as possible… if you do that… I’ll pay you, you know, 50,000 dollars, 100,000 dollars… whatever you want … I’m a man of my word.”

.. The FSA reported noted: “There was a culture where the manipulation of the Libor and Euribor (the euro equivalent of the dollar-denominated Libor) setting process was pervasive. The manipulation was conducted openly and was considered to be a normal and acceptable business practice by a large pool of individuals.”

.. In an email published in relationship to last June’s Barclays settlement, one trader said that for every .01 percent Libor was changed, the bank would receive “about a couple of million dollars.”

.. Libor was created in 1984 to provide a common basis for valuing a broad range of complex securities, including interest rate swaps and derivatives, which had sprung up during the decade’s finance boom. In keeping with the global policy of deregulation and “self-regulation,” the Libor-setting process was placed under the control of the BBA, a private British banking lobby dominated by the most powerful London-based banks, and based on daily reports submitted by major international banks.

.. Given the scale and pervasiveness of the manipulation of Libor by virtually every major bank in the world, it is impossible to credibly claim that financial regulators and governments were unaware of the fraud that was being perpetrated. On the contrary, documents requested by a US House of Representatives committee and released last July by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Bank of England, following the announcement of the Barclays settlement, showed that both institutions knew of the Libor-rigging as early as 2007.

.. The documents included emails from Barclays employees to the New York Fed and the Bank of England alerting them to the falsification of Libor submissions. Outside of a pro-forma letter from the New York Fed to the Bank of England in June of 2008, nothing was done to halt the practice.

.. On Wednesday, the Financial Times published internal emails at the New York Fed from 2008 discussing the rigging of Libor by banks.

.. The president of the New York Fed at the time was Timothy Geithner,

http://www.globalresearch.ca/ubs-libor-rigging-settlement-exposes-pervasive-bank-fraud/5316364

Anonymous said...

"... All this money went to Israel’s huge military-industrial complex, shutting out American companies. America’s national debt crisis could be solved with the enormous profits the Israeli Ministry of Defense is going to rake in selling Iron Dome to America and to its

captive market:

NATO, most European countries, South Korea, Pakistan, India and anyone else who can borrow money to purchase it. Yossi Druker, head of Rafael Corporation’s Air-to-Air Directorate, bragged that the deal would bring his corporation several hundred million dollars.

.. The cost of the eight days of Operation Pillar of Cloud was at least $30 – $40M to intercept 421 homemade rockets, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It cost $90K per Iron Dome missile to fire at a $200-$500 Qassam rocket put together from scrap pipe, sugar and fertilizer. In the first four days the IDF stated that 546 rockets struck Israel, but Iron Dome only intercepted 302 rockets. If the IDF numbers are correct, 55% is far worse than the 90-95% kill-rate trumpeted by Fox News, Wolf Blitzer and the Israeli cheering section.

.. U.S. taxpayers have spent over $10B for Israel’s anti-missile programs since the 1990s, yet the IDF “Goliath” can’t stop half of the “pebbles” lobbed by the tiny Christian and Muslim “Davids” of Gaza.

americanfreepress

Anonymous said...

This is the best post yet by far! Thank you LS! Love it! God Bless America! F the repugs!

jeffrey spruill said...

I see John Cell is back. (must really like your blog Mr. Schnauzer)

David W. Bouchard Esq. told me I was "digging my own grave Dec.22,2004:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bouchard-David-W/163172977045737

So apparently he had inside information on the Cheney/Prince hit squads:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/us/politics/12intel.html

Just another example of the ones who truly need to be locked up for the "protection of society"--flaunting the law because they know they're above it.

Anonymous said...

"... Qatar unloaded tons of weapons "like candy" (according to a US arms dealer) in "liberated" Libya. Only after the Benghazi blowback did the Pentagon and the State Department wake up to the fact that weaponizing the Syrian rebels may be, well, the road to more blowback. Translation: Qatar will keep unloading tons of weapons in Syria. The US will keep "leading from behind".

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NL22Ak03.html

Anonymous said...

So Cheney invested 85 mil in Vangard then wants (stock price?) raised from $80 to $120 , then NDAA gets passed. Wouldn't it be a little naive to call it coincidence?

Would insider trading be an understatement? Wonder if Ted Rollins owns Vangard stock?