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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#46751: Jan 10th 2013 at 1:34:42 PM

[up][up][up]

If I was Obama I'd be worried that some Right-Wing Militia Fanatic would come and have a go after I left office. The level of bilious hatred from the far-right is astonishing, and it only takes one nutjob to take it seriously.

Also, I remember having a conversation with Michael Howard (a former British Home Secretary during The Troubles - he visited my school) who said that living with constant security protection is actually extremely grating and unpleasant. It isn't anything to do with the security men, just the constant being watched. Obama's probably doing this because he feels they need it, not because he wants it.

edited 10th Jan '13 1:35:24 PM by Achaemenid

Schild und Schwert der Partei
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#46752: Jan 10th 2013 at 1:43:14 PM

[up][up]

Here's John Stewart's take on the HSBC thing

I'm not sure who has the authority to punish them, but I believe the task belongs to either the British Government or the UN.

edited 10th Jan '13 1:45:13 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#46753: Jan 10th 2013 at 1:45:53 PM

[up]

So they're off Scot-free, then.

Schild und Schwert der Partei
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#46754: Jan 10th 2013 at 1:49:34 PM

[up]

I'm not sure who has the authority to punish them, but I believe the task belongs to either the British Government or the UN.

Quite. American Regulatory Authorities can issue a fine, but since the firm isn't an American company, they can't press charges — and anyway, even if they did, they'd need British approval*

Keep Rolling On
DrTentacles Cephalopod Lothario from Land of the Deep Ones Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Cephalopod Lothario
#46755: Jan 10th 2013 at 1:52:13 PM

So, let me get this straight. We extradite teenagers who download and seed music, and try them in NYC...but we don't do the same to bankers who help terrorists launder money?

Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#46756: Jan 10th 2013 at 1:56:22 PM

...but we don't do the same to bankers who help terrorists launder money?

You've got to find them first, and have a solid case against them — that is the hard part...

EDIT: ...and who knows who else they've been banking for?

edited 10th Jan '13 2:03:48 PM by Greenmantle

Keep Rolling On
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#46757: Jan 10th 2013 at 1:58:45 PM

@Achaemenid: My point is that the article claims that it saves money, yet unless I'm missing something, it costs them money.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Bluesqueak Since: Jan, 2010
#46758: Jan 10th 2013 at 2:09:49 PM

HSBC is short for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation - and while it's a British owned bank, East Asia is indeed where they make most of their money.

And since East Asian governments tend to take a very dim view indeed of involvement in drug trafficing, HSBC may be in far more trouble than you'd think.

It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#46759: Jan 10th 2013 at 2:12:32 PM

Biden sees support for universal background check for gun owners

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#46760: Jan 10th 2013 at 2:12:45 PM

[up][up]Yup: a lot more. Their social stock might take quite a hit. Not least because they got caught doing it. tongue

edited 10th Jan '13 2:12:56 PM by Euodiachloris

Bluesqueak Since: Jan, 2010
#46761: Jan 10th 2013 at 2:34:32 PM

[up]You can read the business journalist Robert Peston's take on it here

It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#46762: Jan 10th 2013 at 2:39:24 PM

[up]

...and here are some important parts:

What apparently weighed on Mr Breuer was that a criminal indictment of HSBC could have led it to lose its banking licence in New York.

This could have destroyed HSBC's relatively small US retail banking business and - more importantly - severely impaired its ability to conduct business anywhere in the world: the reputational damage of being blacklisted in America would have been terrible and, without access to dollars from the New York Fed, HSBC's vast international wholesale operations would have been in trouble.

As Mr Breuer put it: "The goal is not to bring HSBC down."

And, Secondly:

So does this mean, to use a resonant phrase gaining a good deal of global traction thanks to the power of social media, that banks such as HSBC are not only "too big to fail" but also "too big to jail"?

When a bank becomes a lynchpin of the global economy, in the way that HSBC has done, are the hands of justice shackled in relation to it - because a proper spanking would be too much for a fragile global economic recovery to bear?

It is an important question. And one that the parliamentary committee on banking standards here in the UK, chaired by Andrew Tyrie, will probably be examining.

To be clear, however, even 30 years ago, before banks became quite as big and global as HSBC, it was never easy for the authorities to strip a bank of its licence. The disruptive impact on savers, businesses and the wider economy was always a significant deterrent to imposing the ultimate sanction on a misbehaving bank.

And for what it's worth - and you can judge whether it's worth a lot or a little - bankers themselves do not believe they're being given an easy ride by the authorities.

The boss of one of the world's biggest banks told me over the weekend that the greatest threat to the recovery of his bank and of the British economy - in his view - is the ever rising burden of fines and compensation faced by all banks for their sloppy, reckless and rule-breaking ways in the boom years.

Even for HSBC, there may be painful ramifications for many years yet of the money-laundering settlement.

First, because HSBC's former chairman, Lord Green, is a minister in David Cameron's government, the opposition Labour party has a powerful interest in shouting loudly and often about what Mr Breuer called the laundering by HSBC of billions of dollars accrued by narcotics' traffickers and others.

Keep Rolling On
Skatepunk Since: Feb, 2011
#46763: Jan 10th 2013 at 2:45:36 PM

Paul Krugman declined the Treasury job that over 200,000 people petitioned him for.

Tomu's gonna be in tears.

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#46764: Jan 10th 2013 at 3:13:16 PM

I think I've stated from day one that Krugman would be horribly wasted in that position. I love Krugman, but that is just not the position for him.

He's an academic, not a policymaker.

edited 10th Jan '13 3:13:28 PM by TheyCallMeTomu

Trivialis Since: Oct, 2011
#46765: Jan 10th 2013 at 4:11:47 PM

I still think he should be in an advisory position. Maybe not a direct cabinet member.

Baff Since: Jul, 2011
#46766: Jan 10th 2013 at 5:21:35 PM

[up][up][up]

He can not decline something he hasnt been offered


Canadians offer to build a free bridge Detroit.

Problem? The other bridge, the ambassador bridge, the only other bridge from Canada to Michigan, is owned, by a single billionaire...

and thats where things get complicated.

[1]

edited 10th Jan '13 5:23:48 PM by Baff

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#46767: Jan 10th 2013 at 5:51:33 PM

They voted the prop to block the new bridge down.

Man, to see what's become of my old homestate...

edited 10th Jan '13 5:51:47 PM by TheyCallMeTomu

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#46768: Jan 10th 2013 at 6:08:40 PM

Okay. So Canada's willing to foot the entire bill for this project, and leaders in Michigan don't want to take them up on it?

Baff Since: Jul, 2011
#46769: Jan 10th 2013 at 6:15:53 PM

Yea!

We wont let those Canadian communist trick us into importing European socialism with their atheist bridge.

America: 1 Canada: 0

But seriously, what other excuse would you have to even try to block the building of such a bridge?

edited 10th Jan '13 6:16:57 PM by Baff

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#46770: Jan 10th 2013 at 6:17:59 PM

Well, the guy who owns the current bridge has a reason. An utterly selfish but understandable one. Everyone else has no such excuse. They've been bamboozled or drunk the kool aid.

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#46771: Jan 10th 2013 at 6:18:43 PM

Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but the voters voted in FAVOR of the new bridge, right?

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#46772: Jan 10th 2013 at 6:21:02 PM

Well, the video is dated yesterday, so unless they had the vote today I don't know.

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#46773: Jan 10th 2013 at 6:23:16 PM

It says at the end of the video. 5:48. Voters shot down prop 6.

OhnoaBear I'm back, baby. from Exiting, pursued by a... Since: Jan, 2011
Lascoden ... from Missouri, USA Since: Nov, 2012
...
#46775: Jan 10th 2013 at 6:24:59 PM

[up]And voting against the prop is voting for the bridge, right?

boop

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