LET THE LAW SUITS BEGIN : AND BRACE FOR THE STORM

writes Ellen Brown: Source: https://www.webofdebt.com/articles/bracing-storm.php
"Let the Lawsuits Begin: Banks Brace for a Storm of Litigation": 13th, July 2008:

In an article in The San Francisco Chronicle in December 2007, attorney Sean Olender suggested that the real reason for the subprime bailout schemes being proposed by the U.S. Treasury Department was not to keep strapped borrowers in their homes so much as to stave off a spate of lawsuits against the banks. The plan then on the table was an interest rate freeze on a limited number of subprime loans.

Olender wrote:
"The sole goal of the freeze is to prevent owners of mortgage-backed securities, many of them foreigners, from suing U.S. banks and forcing them to buy back worthless mortgage securities at face value - right now almost 10 times their market worth. The ticking time bomb in the U.S. banking system is not resetting subprime mortgage rates. The real problem is the contractual ability of investors in mortgage bonds to require banks to buy back the loans at face value if there was fraud in the origination process.

". . . The catastrophic consequences of bond investors forcing originators to buy back loans at face value are beyond the current media discussion. The loans at issue dwarf the capital available at the largest U.S. banks combined, and investor lawsuits would raise stunning liability sufficient to cause even the largest U.S. banks to fail, resulting in massive taxpayer-funded bailouts of Fannie and Freddie, and even FDIC . . . "
What would be prudent and logical is for the banks that sold this toxic waste to buy it back and for a lot of people to go to prison. If they knew about the fraud, they should have to buy the bonds back."

Toxic subprime paper-writing - design of banks' 'financial products':
The thought could send a chill through even the most powerful of investment bankers, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson himself, who was head of Goldman Sachs during the heyday of toxic subprime paper-writing from 2004 to 2006. Mortgage fraud has not been limited to the representations made to borrowers or on loan documents but is in the design of the banks' "financial products" themselves.

Among other design flaws is that securitized mortgage debt has become so complex that ownership of the underlying security has often been lost in the shuffle; and without a legal owner, there is no one with standing to foreclose. That was the procedural problem prompting Federal District Judge Christopher Boyko to rule in October 2007 that Deutsche Bank did not have standing to foreclose on 14 mortgage loans held in trust for a pool of mortgage-backed securities holders.
If large numbers of defaulting homeowners were to contest their foreclosures on the ground that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue, trillions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) could be at risk. Irate securities holders might then respond with litigation that could indeed threaten the existence of the banking Goliaths.

States leading the charge
MBS investors with the power to bring major lawsuits include state and local governments, which hold substantial portions of their assets in MBS and similar investments. A harbinger of things to come was a complaint filed on February 1, 2008, by the State of Massachusetts against investment bank Merrill Lynch, for fraud and misrepresentation concerning about $14 million worth of subprime securities sold to the city of Springfield. The complaint focused on the sale of "certain esoteric financial instruments known as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) . . . which were unsuitable for the city and which, within months after the sale, became illiquid and lost almost all of their market value."

The previous month, the city of Baltimore sued Wells Fargo Bank for damages from the subprime debacle, alleging that Wells Fargo had intentionally discriminated in selling high-interest mortgages more frequently to blacks than to whites, in violation of federal law.

Mayor of Cleveland - no different to organised crime:
Another innovative suit filed in January 2008 was brought by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson against 21 major investment banks, for enabling the subprime lending and foreclosure crisis in his city. The suit targeted the investment banks that fed off the mortgage market by buying subprime mortgages from lenders and then "securitizing" them and selling them to investors. City officials said they hoped to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the banks, including lost taxes from devalued property and money spent demolishing and boarding up thousands of abandoned houses.

The defendants included banking giants Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citigroup. They were charged with creating a "public nuisance" by irresponsibly buying and selling high-interest home loans, causing widespread defaults that depleted the city's tax base and left neighbourhoods in ruins.

"To me, this is no different than organized crime or drugs," Jackson told the Cleveland newspaper The Plain Dealer. "It has the same effect as drug activity in neighbourhoods. It's a form of organized crime that happens to be legal in many respects." He added in a videotaped interview, "This lawsuit said, 'You're not going to do this to us anymore.'"

Full article at: https://www.webofdebt.com/articles/bracing-storm.php

Books for further reading and understanding of the Money System:

"A History of Monetary Crimes," by Alexander Del Mar, first published 1899. Mr. Del Mar explains "the insidious crime of secretly or surreptitiously altering the monetary laws of a State is not new." $20.00 posted.

"In This Age of Conflict" by Ivor Benson. $8.50 posted. Mr.Benson traces the modern source and technology of this illegitimate and fraudulent Power.

"The Babylonian Woe" by David Astle. $42.00 posted. In this scholarly work true-born Anglo-Saxon David Astle, in the greatest tradition of his nation presents to the world a history of the effects of 'monetary mechanics' even in very ancient times.

"The Tallies: A Tangled Tale" by David Astle. $20.00 posted. This book includes: A brief study of the Tally Stick as an instrument of State finance; a glimpse at the activities of the Money Changers during the so-called Middle Ages and a copy of the original Charter of 'The Bank of England' - a virtually suppressed document.

"The Money Bomb" by James Gibb Stuart. $20.00 posted. We believe this book must have come into Dr. Mahathir's hands in order for him to ask Gibb Stuart in 1998 to "provide advice" on "Defending -Malaysia's -) National Economic Sovereignty" (OT Vol.44, No.26).

"The Money Trick": From the Institute for Economic Democracy. $13.00 posted
Discover how a credit monopoly creates our money and then charges us for the privilege! Most of us have grown up with only the vaguest notions of money. We are fairly certain that it is the Government's right to print notes and mint coins. For the rest, our knowledge is distinctly foggy...

FINE WORDS TO BE SURE - BUT ARE THEY ENOUGH ?

by Betty Luks:
As editor of O.T. I am responsible for its content. Fair enough. Occasionally I receive an indignant letter from a reader because of a published article, and, occasionally a letter of appreciation encouraging the League to 'keep up the good work'.
Sometimes I personally reply, but editors of League journals do not have the luxury of office helps and such, so that doesn't happen often. Recently an indignant reader disagreed with John Brett's letter in O.T., Vol.44 No.21, and, because I think the matter is fundamental to what we are about in this big wide world of ours, I thought it important enough to respond publicly.

John Brett wrote:
"Faith and revelation: Sir, Christianity changed the world because of its revelation, not its "faith". The under-girding revelation was that all power and authority arose from within the individual, not external to the individual, as all other religions believed then, and as most still do. Unless there has been a new recent discovery, all doctrine and philosophy arises from one or the other of these beliefs, which then becomes a Faith.
The tragedy is that so-called Christian faiths have abandoned this revelation, creating the vacuum that is being filled by the religions whose adherents believe all power and authority arises external to the individual, exactly where we were before the Christian revelation. The Spirit is either Incarnate, or still wandering around at random in space." - -Signed, etc.

To quote the reader's response in full:
Dear Sir, Re: Bulletin (OT) Letter 6/6/08. Faith and revelation. Christianity did not change the world because its under-girding revelation was that all power and responsibility arise from within the individual and not external to the individual. All power comes from God and revelation from His Son, Christ the Lord and from the Holy Ghost, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity [John XIV, v.26 Acts (John) II, vs 38 & 42].
The doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the Apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. There has been no new revelation since the death of the last Apostle.
Truth and reality are objective, words have their objective meanings and deeds their objective consequences. The combination of the orthodox and the heterodox is the essence of Modernism which is the synthesis of all heresies. Faith is not a blind sentiment of religion but a genuine assent of the intellect to truth revealed by hearing from an external source. The modernist sees nothing of unalterable permanence in the Church and ultimately denies the very concept of objective truth itself.
P.S. The gifts of the Holy Ghost: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and the fear of the Lord.
The fruits of the Holy Ghost: charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency and chastity. - - Yours sincerely, J. Craig, Rosebud Vic.

The Editor's Response:
Along with "Jane Eyre" in the Charlotte Bronte classic, I see that when 'things (in the temporal order) have changed, I must change too.' This also means a continual 'binding back' (the English word religion comes from the Latin words re-ligare; meaning, to 'bind back') to the body of Christian teaching, and the seeking of ways to apply the teaching in changed human situations, conditions and/or environments.

"The Kingdom of God is within you." I knew from earlier correspondence John Brett's letter was prompted by his delight with Owen Barfield's essay "Philology and the Incarnation" which appeared in O.T. Vol. 44. No.10. Barfield presented a most inspiring word-picture of the stirrings of the inner consciousness of man; the evolution of man (an unfolding from the centre outwards, as in organic growth), over a particular time-slot in human history. Barfield presented the evidence through the study and understanding of the development of the English language; he pointed the reader to look at the evidence of this organic growth, coinciding as it did with the Incarnation and the presence of the Holy Ghost within.

Mr. Craig, you write that "faith is not a blind sentiment of religion but a genuine assent of the intellect to truth revealed by hearing from an external source '" I presume you mean by the teaching of the Church? Fine. But what comes next? After intellectually assenting to the truths, what comes next? Or does nothing follow? Do not those truths take form and content as the fruit of our lives? Do not those truths have to be 'incarnated'?

The League has always argued that until Christians match their intellectual belief with a practical application then they are merely espousing fine words. Didn't St Paul refer to Christians without love as being empty vessels without 'the fruit', the form and content, of the Spirit?
It was not always so: Christian men did not always believe that their faith was to be merely intellectually assented to. If they had, there would have been no individual growth, no community growth, no national growth, no such thing as a Western Christian Civilisation taking form with content - incarnated.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BRITISH CULTURE AND TRADITION FOR OUR FUTURE:
The following passages taken from "Christian Philosophy in the Common Law" are presented as examples of what I endeavour to highlight. I have used passages from Richard O'Sullivan's booklet before.
It is an expansion of a paper he presented to the Aquinas Society in March 1942. A photocopied version is available from our Book Services.

O'Sullivan writes: "The Common Law of England: Now it is reasonable to suppose that a system of law which had its origin in England in the 12th and 13th centuries would be Christian in inspiration and character. In fact, each of the men who are named on the memorable last page of the Great History of Pollock and Maitland was a prelate of the Christian Church. Martin of Patteshull was Archdeacon of Norfolk and Dean of St. Paul's; William of Raleigh was Bishop of Norwich and (after a stern struggle with the King) Bishop of Winchester; and Henry of Bracton was Archdeacon of Barnstaple, and at his death in 1268, Chancellor of Exeter Cathedral.

God and the Christian Faith:
Ever since the period of the Norman Conquest, the emerging principles of the Common Law were being shaped by Christian kings and by Churchmen who were also Canonists. And at all times the Canon Law 'made a natural bridge to connect legal ideas with ethical and theological discussion.' …
The separate organisation of spiritual and temporal Courts which is contemplated in the Charter of William (the Norman) reflects the view of the relations between Church and State that had been put forward as early as the fifth century by Pope Gelasius I. …

Christian sense of personal freedom and responsibility:
Behind the declaration of Gelasius lies the development of the concept of human personality and of liberty that was unknown to the ancient world… The teaching of our Lord put an end to ancient doctrines of State absolutism: 'Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's'.

The political theory of the Middle Ages:
The political theory of the Middle Ages was profoundly affected or rather controlled by certain conceptions which were distinctly Christian in their form, if not in their origin. The first of these is the principle of the autonomy of the spiritual life which in these ages assumed the form of the independence of the spiritual authority from the control of the temporal.

Behind the forms of the great conflict (i.e. between Papacy and Empire) we have to recognise the appearance in the consciousness of the civilised world of principles new and immensely significant. … men have been compelled to recognise that the individual religious and moral experience transcends the authority of the political and even of the religious society, and that the religious society as embodying this spiritual experience cannot tolerate the control of the State

The Dignity of Man:
The sense of Christian dignity and the principles of Christian philosophy thus converted England into a society of free men and women living in the fellowship of a free community.

Freedom and responsibility:
At Common Law Everyman is answerable for his own acts. No man is answerable for the act of another unless he has commanded it or consented to it…

With freedom goes responsibility.
A free man is answerable for his own acts and omissions. The Common Law conception of the legal responsibility of Everyman for his own acts springs from the conviction of the moral and intellectual autonomy of Everyman.
By virtue of this autonomy each man is an original source of spontaneous and rational action….

Animated by the principles of Christian philosophy and theology, the Common Law in the centuries of its creative power and achievement slowly built a social system on the basis of the dignity of human personality and moral autonomy of Everyman…"

THE WILL-TO-POWER VERSUS THE WILL-TO-FREEDOM

In 1992 Eric D. Butler wrote a letter to a friend, setting out how he saw Australia's place and position in the battle for our freedoms and British-Australian culture. He observed:
"History has brought Australia to a situation where it is in the front line of an international power struggle. What happens in Australia is therefore critical for the whole Crown Commonwealth and those countries which still accept the Monarchy as a central factor in Commonwealth relations.

But there are deeper implications. Our Monarchy and our Royal family now occupy the focal point of the crucial spiritual and political conflict of the Age, between those forces who treat people as unique, living, human persons and the forces who treat people as merely indistinguishable economic, financial and political units in the human herd.

Prince Charles went right to the root of the human drama in his 1991 Shakespeare birthday lecture insisting that people; who wish to survive into the future must go back to their roots. And Charles shares the same philosophical concept as does that towering literary genius Alexander Solzhenitsyn, whose programme for regenerating Russia stresses the importance of building from local communities upwards, instead of trying to centrally plan from the top down.

A background picture:
The will-to-power has always been a major factor in the human drama and will always be a constant. The roots of the unique British contribution to minimising, even if not eliminating, the corrupting influence of centralised power can be traced back to the early influence of Christianity. The underlying philosophy has always been anti-monopoly, with power divided and decentralised.

While the idea of Kingship goes back a long way in human history and Monarchy is not uniquely British, the Constitutional Monarchy we have inherited is a long-term invention of the genius of the British peoples, and developed organically along with the Common Law, both under the influence of Trinitarian Christianity.
The overall result was a culture reflecting a basic decency, tolerance and a deep sense of fair play. The Australian sense of mateship is one reflection of British culture, as has been the flair for voluntary co-operation.

Whatever the explanation for what the peoples of the British Isles have developed, with the English playing a special role in Constitutional development, they have, with great resourcefulness taken the concepts right around the world.
Yes, the old British Empire had its defects, but apart from its civilising influences, with its colonial record far more humane than that of any other colonial power, it pointed mankind in a new direction following the loss of its American colonies.

The philosophy of decentralising power, permitting the development of self-governing, sovereign nations resulted in a demonstration of the truth that true unity comes from diversity.
Pax Britannia had developed to the stage where it was the dominant influence in world affairs and was setting an example to all the world of how people could live together in harmony.

It was a major barrier to any programme seeking to establish New World Orders (an old idea, not a new one) or World States. With the advent of World War I there emerged a long-term programme to destroy the sovereign nation states." - - Signed, Eric D. Butler.

Mr.Craig of Rosebud Victoria, it is this philosophy of the 'will-to-power', i.e., external power over the Individual originating from some point, whether it be in the State, the Party or even the Church, versus the Christian concept of the will-to-freedom.
This concept of the will-to-freedom' brings forth the fruit of, i.e., incarnates, a social system built on the basis of the dignity of human personality and the moral autonomy of Everyman. It is this concept, that I understand, John Brett was referring to.

DANCING ON THE GRAVE OF THE WEST

by Brian Simpson
Each month The Australian Literary Review is sure to have a wide range of material to 'get up the noses' of those of my nationalist political temper. Bill Emmott's "Power Rises in the East" (4 June 2008) is an extract from his new book "Rivals : How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade."

Emmott goes a little bit beyond the usual "our future is Asia" rhetoric.
Power will go to Asia but "Asia" is not a unified entity. Indeed, there are bitter rivalries between China, India and Japan : they all generally hate each other. The greatest fear is fear of China, a fear that "is not going to go away."
The prospects of war, just from conventional economic and political turns of events are enormous. The extract from "Rivals" does not discuss looming resources crises. Add it all up and the situation is explosive.

Back in 1991 Emmott published "The Sun Also Sets : The Limits of Japan's Economic Power." The recognition of the severe economic, political and environmental vulnerabilities of China, India and Japan seem to have passed this author by.

The ethos is like that of Kishore Mahbabani in "The New Asian Hemisphere : The Irresistible Shift of Power to the East" which urges the West to gracefully give up its dominance. If so, expect global anarchy as one narcissistic Asian nation squares off against the other. Expect President Obama to join in on this dance on the grave of western civilisation.

FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH REALMS

Virtually all of our members in the United Kingdom have been totally engaged in rallies and lobbying politicians in the United Kingdom to hold a referendum on Britain entering into the Treaty of Lisbon.

The Lisbon Legislation - in the UK it is not Queen who gives Assent:
However, as anticipated, the legislation enacting the Treaty has passed through the Commons and the Lords and has received Royal Assent.
I would mention that in the United Kingdom, it is not The Queen who now personally gives Assent, but 'Lords Commissioners', comprising certain members of the House of Lords, in her name. Notwithstanding the failure of the referendum held in Eire, it seems that the intent of the European Union is to proceed, even though a requirement is that ALL member nations must agree. However- politicians being politicians etc. etc. etc!

The new map of Europe
The redrawing of the map of Europe is proceeding. On St George's Day, the National Day of England, draft maps were released in which there is no 'England' and no 'English Channel'. England is split into three and joined together with other countries to create what is called: "transnational regions". Under the programme, known as INTER-REG, counties along England's south coast join with northern France to form the "Manche Region"

Western England is joined to Eire, Wales and parts of Portugal, Spain, France and Scotland to form the 'Atlantic Region' and Eastern England becomes a part of the "North Sea Region", which covers areas of Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. None of these 'Regions' will have a headquarters based in the UK. The 'Manche Region' will be ruled by the French, the 'Atlantic Region', by the Portuguese and the 'North Sea Region' by the Danes.

To add insult to injury, the map purposefully omits the words "England" and "Britain" from the official maps of each area and the Manche Region renames the English Channel "The Channel Sea"!

Judicial Review
The private court case seeking a 'Judicial Review' over the British Government's refusal to hold a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, despite the implied commitment to put the matter to the people, has been rejected by the Law Lords who have also refused leave to appeal their judgment. Hopes are now pinned on a Conservative Victory in the anticipation that a new government will put the matter to the people at a referendum.

The emphasis, of course of the Association is the work to bring together the peoples of the Commonwealth Realms. That is those nations of which Her Majesty is Queen. It is hoped to establish contact with monarchists in Papua New Guinea It is little known in Australia that many of our northern neighbours are zealously loyal to The Queen.

For those readers who want to know more about The Association of the Commonwealth Realms, details are: Address: Suite 3303 70 Market Street, Sydney, Phone: (02) 9232 4959 Fax: (02) 8580-4923 Email: secretary@monarchist.org.au

WE HAVE FINANCIAL, NOT ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

by Betty Luks:
The above heading encapsulates the truest words from the mainline media that I have read in a long time. (business.timesonline.co.uk 14/7/08)
The real world of sun and moon, rain and seeds and germination and photosynthesis, and pollination and cultivation and harvesting has not stopped just because the financial system is in a mess. No sirree

But this message has been proclaimed for nearly 100 years! In the 1930s Clifford Hugh Douglas travelled the western world and warned the leaders, unless the financial system is adjusted to take into account the industrial revolution, (and now automation and technology) with the changed economic environment, and this included the money system's very important function of distribution of the abundance of the advanced economic processes, there would be nothing but chaos and disorder.

Not only that, unless there were also changes in our understanding of the purposes of a money system, the financial elite of the world would continue to push towards centralisation of all power under their control.

WATER IS THE WAY TO GO !

from Wallace Klinck, Canadian correspondent
As a matter of (considerable) interest, I just heard a newscast today saying that the hydrogen-powered car has now entered the market in California with fifty to sixty now being on the road. I don't know what variant of hydrogen power is being used--but in any event I find this quite exciting. The economic incentive now certainly exists!

William Hugh McGunnigle, 27/6/08 wrote:
In view of the recent comments by Wallace Klinck I have a reference for those interested in the use of Hydrogen as a possible replacement fuel for Hydrocarbons in Internal combustion engines.

It is from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and is a book called "Hydrogen Energy" - authors are D.A.J. and R.M. Dell, copyright 2007 and cost 45 pounds Sterling in hardback copy. It is recommended as a study reference for Post Graduates in Chemistry and allied sciences, and for those with a good understanding of environmental science problems.
It is a very recent publication and is recommended by the RSC who do not give their blessings to any publication unless it meets their stringent research requirements. The two authors are from a prominent Australian university research dept.

It can be obtained directly from the RSC by logging on to their website, and following the purchasing procedure they have in place.