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Iron Mountain fire deemed arson
Although an earlier investigation led by en economic crime and money-laundering unit had eliminated “criminal hypotheses” concerning the fire in May 2014, it has been noted that the firms most affected by the fire were multinationals, large Argentine companies and financial entities. Among them was HSBC Argentina.
HSBC Argentina has been accused of tax fraud, tax evasion and money-laundering in a scheme that includes thousands of Argentine citizens transferring funds of up that US$3 billion to HSBC’s Geneva branch.
Iron Mountain itself has also been under investigation for money-laundering activities.
The police report, now in the hands of prosecutor Marcela Sánchez, opens up the door to further investigations to determine who may have been responsible for the fire and accordingly, to determine their responsibility in the deaths of the 10 firefighters that perished .
The Report from Iron Mountain is a book published in 1967 (during the Johnson Administration) by Dial Press which puts itself forth as the report of a government panel. The book includes the claim it was authored by a Special Study Group of fifteen men whose identities were to remain secret and that it was not intended to be made public. It details the analyses of a government panel which concludes that war, or a credible substitute for war, is necessary if governments are to maintain power.
According to the report, a 15-member panel, called the Special Study Group, was set up in 1963 to examine what problems would occur if the United States entered a state of lasting peace. They met at an underground nuclear bunker called Iron Mountain (as well as other, worldwide locations) and worked over the next two years. A member of the panel, one "John Doe", a professor at a college in the Midwest, decided to release the report to the public.
The heavily footnoted report concluded that peace was not in the interest of a stable society, that even if lasting peace "could be achieved, it would almost certainly not be in the best interests of society to achieve it." War was a part of the economy. Therefore, it was necessary to conceive a state of war for a stable economy.
The government, the group theorized, would not exist without war, and nation states existed in order to wage war. War served the vital function of diverting collective aggression. They recommended "credible substitutes" and paying a "blood price" to emulate the economic functions of war.
Prospective government-devised alternatives to war included reports of alien life-forms, the reintroduction of a "euphemized form" of slavery "consistent with modern technology and political processes", and - one deemed particularly promising in gaining the attention of the malleable masses - the threat of "gross pollution of the environment".
Justice Scalia was engaged in an onstage conversation with the school’s remarkable president, Shirley Ann Jackson, a physicist. She asked him to explain his dissent in the 2007 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency had the authority to regulate carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas emitted by human activities, as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.
“The issue was simply whether carbon was an environmental pollutant or not,” he said. “I did not think it was ever regarded as that. It is not the Atmospheric Protection Agency. It’s the Environmental Protection Agency. That was the basis for my dissent.”
Prospective government-devised alternatives to war included reports of alien life-forms, the reintroduction of a "euphemized form" of slavery "consistent with modern technology and political processes", and - one deemed particularly promising in gaining the attention of the malleable masses - the threat of "gross pollution of the environment".
Last week, the forensics team of the federal police investigation concluded that the fire, which took place on 5th February 2014, was the result of an “act of arson”. Marcela Sánchez, the lead prosecutor investigating the incident, said: “It has been determined that the fire had various sources and that combustible substances were used to start it.”
This morning, Sbatella said: “We believe there was a plot between Iron Mountain and clients to suppress evidence.” He went on to list a number of big banks “involved in money-laundering operations” – including HSBC and BNP Paribas – which stored documents in the warehouse.
Sbatella explained that when the UIF asked for documents in the tax evasion investigation against HSBC, the bank “claimed everything was burnt in the fire”.
Suspicions about the fire first arose last year when it was revealed that of the 43 corporations that stored documents in the ill-fated warehouse, many were involved in 29 active investigations by the Economic Crime and Laundering Unit (Procelac) at the time of the fire.
Nor was it the first time the corporation’s facilities have burnt down. Fires have occurred on five previous occasions at deposits in North America and Europe, at least two of which are suspected to have been caused by arson. Last year’s fire was, however, the first time that such an incident had caused deaths.
Project Camelot was a counterinsurgency study begun by the United States Army in 1964. The project was executed by the Special Operations Research Office (SORO) at American University, which assembled an eclectic team of psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, economists, and other intellectuals to analyze the society and culture of numerous target countries—especially in Latin America.
The goal of the project was the enhancement of the Army's ability to predict and influence social developments in foreign countries. This motive was described by an internal memo on December 5, 1964: "If the U.S. Army is to perform effectively its part in the U.S. mission of counterinsurgency it must recognize that insurgency represents a breakdown of social order and that the social processes involved must be understood."
Controversy arose around Project Camelot when professors in South America discovered its military funding and criticized its motives as imperialistic. The Department of Defense ostensibly canceled Project Camelot on July 8, 1965, but continued the same research in a more discreet way.
Question #1: How can I trust that my tapes and information are secure when they go offsite?
Look at it this way: If a fire or flood hits your building, your essential records could be destroyed in an instant. And consider the security of the data. If it's medical data at a research site or historical veteran service records, keeping it onsite puts sensitive information at risk for identity theft by keeping records where unauthorized parties can access them easily. A third-party outsourcer will handle your records with consistent processes and stringent controls, ensuring the security of your data during pickup, transport, storage and delivery.
A responsible offsite storage provider will transport your media in a dedicated vehicle that offers secure data transportation, tracking and an auditable chain of custody. It will use thoroughly vetted drivers, cleared only after extensive background checks. These professionals can work in tandem upon request and will stay with your media at all times during transport. The driver will follow a dedicated route from your facility to the offsite storage facility and back again, reducing any chance of inadvertent loss of storage media.
We safely store some of the world’s most valuable historical artifacts, cultural treasures, business documents and medical records.
To properly protect and render this information, Iron Mountain employs almost 17,000 professionals and boasts an unrivaled infrastructure that includes more than 1,000 facilities and 3,600 vehicles.
Trump tsunami: Republican hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer to become Rubio's finance chairman
Paul Singer, the influential hedge fund billionaire from New York who endorsed Marco Rubio in October, is set to be named as his national finance chairman according to various US press reports. Singer is well known in Argentina for bringing a lawsuit against the government in the holdouts dispute.
Hedge fund Elliott Management, run by Singer, brought numerous lawsuits against Argentina over the course of the 15-year-long sovereign debt default dispute. On Monday Elliot finally accepted a new offer by the Argentine government after rejecting previous ones in 2005 and 2010.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Argentina. We are hopeful that the completed negotiations, held under the aegis of Special Master Daniel Pollack, have cleared the way for other plaintiffs to reach satisfactory resolutions as well,” said a spokesperson for Elliot after the deal was reached.
GOP donor backs immigration reform
Republican mega-bundler Paul Singer has quietly gotten involved in the fight for immigration reform, making a six-figure donation to a group involved in marshaling conservatives to support an overhaul of federal laws, POLITICO has learned.
The group (Singer) has worked with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a linchpin of the Gang of Eight working on a bipartisan immigration reform package. And the group announced last week that one of its former officials is joining the White House as a Hispanic media adviser.
The involvement of a high-profile bundler on the GOP side has been a missing piece from the Republican column in the reform push, though party stalwarts like former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour have lent support.
For Singer, the move to become involved financially is in keeping with his history of pro-business policies — and dovetails with efforts by News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, who formed a group with New York City Mayor and businessman Mike Bloomberg to support immigration reform from a pro-business standpoint.
originally posted by: muse7
a reply to: SkepticOverlord
Singer is a longstanding Rubio donor, having served as Rubio's "second largest source of campaign contributions between 2009 and 2014," according to LobeLog.[21]
Singer's financial contributions have drawn criticism amid allegations recipients of his money have been among the more vocal proponents of the idea that Argentina has tried to cover up alleged Iranian terrorist attacks.
Singer—whose practice of purchasing the debt of developing nations has earned him the moniker "vulture Singer"[22]—has had a long-running dispute with Argentina over of its debt, which his hedge fund bought up after Argentina defaulted in 2001.[23]
In May 2015, Rubio introduced a Senate resolution accusing Argentina's government of attempting "to cover up Iranian involvement in the 1994 terrorist bombing" of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, and called for a "swift and transparent" investigation into the death of an Argentine prosecutor who was critical of the country's president and had originated the allegations regarding Argentina's ties to Iran.[24]
originally posted by: IAMTAT
Remember the Argentine prosecutor who was "suicided" just before he was to testify against Argentine President Kirchner?
Singer is a longstanding Rubio donor, having served as Rubio's "second largest source of campaign contributions between 2009 and 2014," according to LobeLog.[21]
Singer's financial contributions have drawn criticism amid allegations recipients of his money have been among the more vocal proponents of the idea that Argentina has tried to cover up alleged Iranian terrorist attacks.
Singer—whose practice of purchasing the debt of developing nations has earned him the moniker "vulture Singer"[22]—has had a long-running dispute with Argentina over of its debt, which his hedge fund bought up after Argentina defaulted in 2001.[23]
In May 2015, Rubio introduced a Senate resolution accusing Argentina's government of attempting "to cover up Iranian involvement in the 1994 terrorist bombing" of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, and called for a "swift and transparent" investigation into the death of an Argentine prosecutor who was critical of the country's president and had originated the allegations regarding Argentina's ties to Iran.[24]
rightweb.irc-online.org...
It looks like we have two factions in a secret little dirty war going on: Establishment Republicans & Democrats vs. Socialists.
One faction would be just as happy with electing Rubio, as they would be with Clinton...political parties are ancillary to their goals.
Both are engaging in assassination for personal gain and power.
The fact that they both hate Trump makes me want to vote for him.
Rubio was just crossed off my list of potential choices.