good-buy-site.com

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The FBI is investigating 26 firms and 1,400 individuals involved in the US financial crisis for fraud and “sub-prime lending practices”. Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and AIG are among the firms being scrutinized after recently receiving federal bailouts.

Investigators, who are cooperating with the IRS, Postal Office, and other federal offices to complete their investigation, are concerned that major corporations may have also forced or bribed ratings agencies to favor them.

The probe, which is in early stages, began eight months ago when the FBI began taking a close look at the mortgage industry and widespread irresponsible loaning practices. At least one corporation has been raided, but so far no evidence of fraud has been found.

The FBI has questioned executives of each of the firms closely, and arrested two in June. An anonymous source told The Times that the firms had been ordered to “hold all papers and e-mails under lock and key” as the FBI scours the finances of each firm.

Many of the companies and individuals being investigated are at the center of the nationwide financial crisis and controversial bailout plans, and have been widely blamed for the country’s financial crisis. The investigation has come at a time when the eyes of many in the US and around the world are turned towards the financial markets, as Congress and politicians scramble to fix the crisis while the election date looms closer.

Officials told CNN that it would be a long time before the investigations were finished, adding a warning: “Don’t expect indictments tomorrow or next week or next month”.

December 2004

South American nations began the creation of an international economic and legislative bloc by a declaration made at the Third South American Summit on 8 December. Named the South American Community of Nations, the organization is a step toward greater coordination among South American states.

Two existing South American trade blocs, the Andean Community (Comunidad Andina) and the Southern Common Market (Mercado Común del Sur, or Mercosur), have been combined and three previously uninvolved states included to create the community.

The summit, held between 7-9 December at Cusco and Ayacucho in Peru, was attended by heads of state from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Foreign ministers attended for Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The summit was convened principally to sign the two-page Preamble to the Foundation Act of the South American Union on the second day of the summit. Although the Bolivian and Colombian presidents attended the summit, they did not attend the signing ceremony, this instead being done by representatives. Central American states Mexico and Panama attended the ceremony as observers.

The locations for the summit were chosen for their historical significance and their association with events that reflect well on South America. Cusco was the ancient capital of the advanced civilization of the Incas. Ayachucho was the site of an 1824 decisive victory against Spanish troops by the South American independence movement headed by Simón Bolívar. The First and Second South American Summits were held at Brasília, Brazil in September 2000 and Guayaquil, Ecuador in July 2002.

The community will include every state in South America with the exception of French Guiana, itself a territory of France. Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela join SACN from the Andean Community, a trade bloc established in 1969. From the more recent (1991) Mercosur comes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Guyana, Suriname, two small northeastern countries which had previously not participated in a South American trade bloc, will not immediately join the community. Chile will additionally join; it has, however, been cautious.

SACN is a more ambitious union than the previous Andean Community and Mercosur. It has been established to be more than a trade union. The “ultimate goal, which can hopefully be reached, in time, is the United States of South America,” explains Secretary General of the Andean Community Wagner. A common currency, tariff-free common market, and regional parliament are all proposed in the Cusco declaration.

Many disputes exist between South American nations that may be issues in advancing SACN.

The principal force behind SACN has been Brazil. The First South American Summit was held in Brazil through the efforts of Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

Chile has been an associate member of Mercosur since 1996. It was a member of the Andean Community from its inception in 1969, but withdrew six years later when ruled by General Augusto Pinochet. With 70% of its GDP attributed to foreign trade, Chile has traditionally favored relations with the United States or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum over South American agreements.

SACN’s short-term political and economic effects may be limited. The elimination of all trade tariffs has long been a goal of both the Andean Community and Mercosur, but has had little success.

However, 32 construction projects were approved at the summit. Worth US$4.3bn over five years, the projects focus on improving regional infrastructure. The largest is a US$700m road highway that will link Brazil and Peru across the Andes mountains. “These are anchor projects that will be carried out over five years,” said Wagner. “They were chosen because they do not serve merely as corridors between countries and zones, but also as a means of promoting development in border regions, which have traditionally been the poorest and most marginalised in our countries.” Wagner identifies 350 potential infrastructure projects of a combined cost of US$200bn.

Details of the South American Community of Nations are expected to be planned further at the first First SACN Summit in March or April of 2005 in Brazil. Work on a constitution is expected to begin in 2005. A Second SACN Summit of unspecified date is to be held in Bolivia.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Civil liberties campaigners have reacted angrily to the announcement that the largest police force in Britain has purchased a revolutionary computer system which will allow them to track everything a person does online in a three-dimensional graphic. The Metropolitan Police service, responsible for policing London, announced the purchase of Geotime, a computer program which can correlate information from satellites, mobile phones, social networking websites, IP logs and financial transactions. The software is already used by the U.S. military.

Lawyers and campaigners have questioned whether innocent individuals may be tracked by the software, likened to a computer program in the science fiction film Minority Report. Sarah McSherry, a lawyer representing a number of protesters, raised fears officers could breach data protection laws by tracking innocent protesters, endangering the democratic rights of demonstrators. “We have already seen the utilisation of a number of tactics which infringe the right to peaceful protest, privacy and freedom of expression, assembly and movement. All of these have a chilling effect on participation in peaceful protest,” she said. “This latest tool could also be used in a wholly invasive way and could fly in the face of the role of the police to facilitate rather than impede the activities of democratic protesters.”

Geotime correlates information from numerous sources allowing intelligence officers to view effectively every online move made by individuals, and its website says it can link one suspect to others. The computer software can reportedly create links between people and reveal relationships and private communications, disclosing “temporal patterns and behaviours.” A product director at the parent company, Oculus, said the program is available to purchase commercially.

A number of academics and intelligence experts have said the program could lead to more convictions in terrorism and organised crime investigations, with one professor describing its use as “absolutely right.” In contrast, an official at Privacy International called on police to explain how the software would be used. “Once millions and millions of pieces of microdata are aggregated, you end up with this very high-resolution picture of somebody, and this is effectively what they are doing here,” he said. “We shouldn’t be tracked and traced and have pictures built by our own government and police for the benefit of commercial gain.”

Data protection in Britain has become a major issue among public debate in recent years. The most recent controversy to emerge came last week after an elderly man with no criminal record was given permission to take senior officers who systematically recorded details of his attendance at peaceful protests to the High Court. The Metropolitan Police have not yet confirmed how the computer system will be used, but they are researching numerous possibilities; a spokesperson said they were still assessing whether they would permanently use the technology but declined to confirm how much it cost.

Monday, June 30, 2008

South Korean authorities are refusing to allow more protests against the government’s decision to allow beef imports from the United States, after hundreds of people were injured in clashes with riot police overnight Saturday.

Around 300 police buses blocked protesters from entering the plaza in front of Seoul City Hall on Sunday, where a candlelight vigil was scheduled for that night. Any rally held after sunset without police permission is considered illegal. Nevertheless, the daily vigils have continued for weeks, with as many as 80,000 in attendance.

After the plaza was sealed off, a group of about 1,700 protesters gathered in nearby streets, chanting slogans that urged President Lee Myung-Bak to cancel his decision allowing U.S. beef imports. Around 70 people were detained by police for illegally occupying roads, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, but no major clashes occurred.

Over 200 protesters and police officers were injured in Saturday’s protests. The demonstration turned violent when some protesters tried to drag away police buses used to prevent entry into Cheongwadae, the President’s house. Riot police responded by spraying water cannons and fire extinguishers at the protesters, who threw stones, water bottles and eggs at police.

Government officials said they would not tolerate violent, illegal demonstrations. “The candle-lit vigils, which were initially peaceful, have mutated into violent protests organized by a small faction,” said Justice Minister Kim Kyung Han. He vowed to “chase those who instigate violent protests” and “bring them to justice”. Kim warned that the government might begin using water laced with tear gas against protesters, even though tear gas has been banned since 1999.

In April, President Lee Myung-Bak agreed to resume the importing of U.S. beef, which was banned in 2003 after the United States discovered its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. Lee has faced a major backlash from this decision, amid fears of the possible spread of this sometimes fatal disease. He was forced to publicly apologize, and all but one of his top advisers were fired.

Jang Dae-hyun, a spokesman for the protesters, suggested that the police should stop using harsh tactics against protesters, which he says would lead to less violence. “We’ve been supporting peaceful rallies, but the police crackdown is too harsh,” Jang said. One protester, Kim In-seok, stated, “We are just here to express our opinions. I can’t understand why this government tries to ban our rally.”

On Monday, police raided the offices of two civic groups that have led the rallies. Documents, computers, pickets, flags, and other materials relating to the demonstrations were confiscated, and the leader of the group AntiMadCow was arrested on charges of staging illegal rallies, Yonhap reported.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

The upcoming 2006 Mississauga municipal election, to be held November 13, features an array of candidates looking to represent their wards in city council.

Wikinews contributor Nicholas Moreau has contacted as many candidates as possible, including Olive Rose Steele, asking them to answer common questions sent in an email. There is no incumbent in the ward; also competing for the position are Matanat Khan, Sean Semper-Whyte, Terry Pierce, Jr., Ron Starr, and former MP Carolyn Parrish.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Wikinews interviewed author Marc Headley about his new book Blown for Good, and asked him about life inside the international headquarters of Scientology known as “Gold Base“, located in Gilman Hot Springs near Hemet, California. Headley joined the organization at age seven when his mother became a member, and worked at Scientology’s international management headquarters for several years before leaving in 2005.