Saturday, 10 August 2013
Friday, 9 August 2013
The shady side of coal seam industry investment in Australia 2013
"He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas"
Attributed: Poor Richard’s Almanack
The Sydney Morning Herald 9 August 2013:
US banking giant JPMorgan Chase is facing parallel civil and criminal investigations over its sale of mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis.
In a securities filing on Thursday, JPMorgan said it was notified in May by the civil division of the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California that it had preliminarily concluded that the bank ‘‘violated certain federal securities laws’’ in connection with the subprime mortgage-backed securities offered over 2005-2007.
The filing described a federal criminal inquiry in parallel to the civil investigation, but did not provide further details…
The company last week agreed to pay $US410 million to resolve US charges that it manipulated power prices in California and the Midwest…
Bloomberg.com ( Au8gust 2013:
JPMorgan, led by Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, is seeking to resolve U.S. and U.K. probes after botched trades by its chief investment office fueled more than $6.2 billion of losses last year. Senate investigators concluded in March that the bank dodged regulators and misled investors amid souring bets by Bruno Iksil, a trader dubbed the London Whale because his positions were so big.
The Huffington Post 8 August 2013:
JPMorgan -- once a darling in Washington -- on Wednesday disclosed a raft of expected enforcement actions that have been broadly mentioned by the bank and its chief executive and chairman, Jamie Dimon, but never before in such detail. Once finalized, the enforcement orders may further damage the bank’s already-battered reputation and lead to heightened scrutiny of its practices.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is investigating JPMorgan's collection and sale of delinquent consumer credit card debt, including its use of sworn documents to pursue bad debts. Kamala Harris, California attorney general, has sued the bank over similar practices.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency told JPMorgan it will punish the lender for its credit card collections practices and use of allegedly dubious documents, including for potentially cheating active-duty members of the military under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. JPMorgan has previously settled cases under the servicemembers act related to home mortgages.
In addition, the OCC and CFPB have told JPMorgan that they will formally discipline the bank for “unfair or deceptive” practices related to identity theft products it previously sold to consumers.
Perhaps in anticipation of expected settlements, the bank increased its estimate of possible legal losses in excess of its reserves by $800 million to $6.8 billion…
According to www.jpmorgan.com:
J.P. Morgan’s
Oil & Gas Investment Banking group provides investment banking services to
the oil and gas industry on a global basis. Our clients include many of the
world’s leading players and producers. The group is headquartered in New York,
with additional offices in Houston, Calgary, Toronto, Europe, Latin America and
Asia Pacific….
The
Oil & Gas Investment Banking group covers the complete oil and gas value
chain, which includes exploration and production, natural gas processing and
transmission, refining and marketing, and oilfield services.….
Through its subsidiary, JP Morgan Nominees Australia Ltd, JP Morgan Chase is one of the top shareholders in many companies involved in the Australian coal seam gas industry, including Metgasco Limited and ERM Power Limited.
It would appear that all the dogs have fleas when it comes to coal seam gas.
What on earth is Abbott doing?
This is Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott allegedly aiming a kiss at a baby and missing the mark this week.
On seeing the photograph I immediately recalled this report in the First Nations Telegraph earlier this year:
On seeing the photograph I immediately recalled this report in the First Nations Telegraph earlier this year:
On March 6 the
mulit-award-winning author was having a working breakfast with two work
colleagues at Borcellis Café in Adelaide when she alleged the Federal
Opposition Leader approached her table and without making eye contact
inappropriately rubbed his finger up and down her bare arm.
You be the judge.
* Photograph from The Sydney Morning Herald
* Photograph from The Sydney Morning Herald
The shallow end of the Liberal Party pool
Opposition Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey might mistake the ethnic background* of one of the Liberal Party candidates during a press conference, but another candidate James Diaz doesn’t even know the contents of that shallow party document Real Solutions.
* The original transcript of Joe Hockey’s 3 August 2013 press conference has disappeared from the Liberal party’s webpage but could still be found as a Google cache for a short time.
Now this press conference transcript can be found on Scribd. Hat tip to politicalalert.
Now this press conference transcript can be found on Scribd. Hat tip to politicalalert.
Thursday, 8 August 2013
Whichever way one looks at it, Murdoch, Kroger and Abbott have egg on their faces
The Age 5 August 2013:
News Ltd has publicly apologised to a former student politician who was branded a serial liar by Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger after she had accused Opposition Leader Tony Abbott of physically intimidating her.
In a remarkable twist that could reignite debate about Mr Abbott's alleged punching of a wall after losing a student election in the late 1970s, News Ltd's barrister read an extended apology in the NSW Supreme Court on Monday on behalf of The Australian to the alleged victim of the intimidation, Barbara Ramjan, as part of a settlement of a defamation action.
In an essay by former Fairfax Media journalist David Marr, released last September, Ms Ramjan said that in 1977, after she beat Mr Abbott for the presidency of the Sydney University Student Representative Council, he put his face close to hers and punched the wall either side of her head.
Mr Abbott denied the incident occurred and a few days later, Mr Kroger described Ms Ramjan in The Australian and on radio and television as a serial manufacturer or false complaints, "a nutter", and "a nobody"…..
An end run around transparent local government in the Clarence Valley
Letter to the editor published in The Daily Examiner 7 August 2013:
What a masterful piece of misdirection on Clarence Valley Council’s part can be found in “Not so ‘sensitve’ after all” [The Daily Examiner, 2August 2013].
Point to the front cover of the “Review of Environmental Factors – Yamba Bypass Section 2” report and cry; the consultant did it not us – nothing to see here!
Actually, the form Clarence Valley Council was required to submit with its referral documents, and which was co-signed by Council, listed two reports as "Not publicly available".
The “Review of Environmental Factors” (along with a second flora and fauna study) was ordered to be undertaken by unanimous vote of councillors on 26 July 2012 when considering Item 13.079/12 Stage 1 Yamba Urban By-pass Road and Urban Intersections Project and, should properly have been presented to councillors for their information by now.
The relevant motion in part resolved: "The scope of Stage 1 of the Yamba Urban Bypass and Urban Intersections project be: extend existing road from Yamba Road / Shores Drive intersection to Coldstream Street."
Management has now arbitrarily split Stage 1 of this bypass road into Section 1 and Section 2, in what looks suspiciously like an attempt to prohibit an integrated overview of flora and fauna along the length of the yet to be constructed road rather than a legitimate planning requirement.
However this does not remove its obligation to keep all councillors informed, as the motion went to the overarching Item 13.079/12.
Many Yamba residents will remember that the reason parts of this motion were put forward in the first place was the fact that neither councillors nor community has [sic] been aware that the Yamba Bypass was being progressed and in a different manner to earlier plans.
Thankfully, the Federal Environment Minister has been more obliging, so both councillors and Yamba residents can go to http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/epbc/epbc_ap.pl?name=current_referral_detail&proposal_id=6928 and download the referral form and all attachments - with the exception of the flora and fauna study/assessment as it is still missing from the public record.
If one believes Council’s referral form, all this need for sensitivity is supposedly an effort to protect one endangered species from public knowledge – which is laughable given Maclean Council documents openly mentioned its existence on the proposed bypass route, Clarence Valley Council documents helpfully point out what sort of vegetation clusters in Yamba are likely to contain this species and as late as 2006 was mentioning it in print and online media in relation to the bypass route
.
.
What this secrecy did achieve was to lock both the Yamba and Yaegl communities out of the ten day public comment period in which objections could be made to the Federal Environment Minister in relation to the contents of Council’s referral documents.
JUDITH M. MELVILLE
Yamba
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