US Govt Admits Using Fake Vaccination Programs To Gather Intelligence; Swears It Won't Do It Again
Submitted by Mike Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
As someone who spends the vast majority of his time trying to keep up with what is happening in the world, I am always embarrassed when confronted by an extraordinarily important story that I somehow completely missed. The story I am referring to in this case is the fact that the CIA organized a fake vaccination program in Pakistan several years ago in order to get Osama bin Laden’s family DNA. The Guardian reported this back in 2011:
The CIA organised a fake vaccination programme in the town where it believed Osama bin Laden was hiding in an elaborate attempt to obtain DNA from the fugitive al-Qaida leader’s family, a Guardian investigation has found.As part of extensive preparations for the raid that killed Bin Laden in May, CIA agents recruited a senior Pakistani doctor to organise the vaccine drive in Abbottabad, even starting the “project” in a poorer part of town to make it look more authentic, according to Pakistani and US officials and local residents.The doctor, Shakil Afridi, has since been arrested by the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) for co-operating with American intelligence agents.
Naturally, many Pakistanis were none too pleased about this situation. After all, how would you feel if let’s say Chinese health workers were caught using the guise of humanitarian activities in order to spy on American citizens. Yeah, that’s what I thought.
So thanks to the CIA’s idiocy, the entire world will now never trust any vaccine program that has any connections to the USA. There has already been an armed backlash against American immunization programs where 56 people have died. Furthermore, there has been a resurgence of polio in Pakistan. Of the 77 cases of polio documented worldwide so far in 2014, 79% have been in Pakistan.
While this is horrible in its own right, there is a much bigger story here. The fact that the United States holds no claim to any sort of moral high ground whatsoever. Rather, due to the many factors that I have outlined on this site over and over, the U.S. is now seen, internally by its citizenry, as well as externally, as a thieving, corrupt, nuclear armed Banana Republic ruled by a cadre of childlike oligarch puppet figureheads concerned only with how much they can steal before society collapses. This has been proven and reinforced over and over again by stories such as this one, as well as the recent revelation of: Conspiracy Fact – How the U.S. Government Covertly Invented a “Cuban Twitter” to Create Revolution.
Now we learn from Yahoo News that:
Amid a deadly backlash again vaccinations and a resurgence of polio in Pakistan, the White House has promised that the CIA will never again use an immunization campaign as a tool of spycraft.
Sure, let’s go ahead and take professional liars at their word.
“I wanted to inform you that the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) directed in August 2013 that the agency make no operational use of vaccination programs, which includes vaccination workers,” President Obama’s top counterterrorism and homeland security advisor, Lisa Monaco, wrote to the deans of 12 public health schools. Yahoo News obtained a copy of the May 16 letter (below).“Similarly, the Agency will not seek to obtain or exploit DNA or other genetic material acquired through such programs,” Monaco wrote. “This CIA policy applies worldwide and to U.S. and non-U.S. persons alike.”The Central Intelligence Agency had enlisted a Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, to collect intelligence under the guise of an immunization effort in the city of Abbottabad as part of planning for the high-risk May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound there.The agency aimed to confirm intelligence that bin Laden was at the compound by comparing DNA obtained from children living there to a sample from the fugitive al-Qaida chief’s late sister, the Guardian newspaper reported in July 2011.Another result of the CIA’s actions was to lead many Pakistani parents to forgo vaccinations for ailments like polio. The crippling and sometimes fatal illness has no known cure – but there are several safe and effective vaccines, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Nice work guys.
Monaco’s letter came nearly a year and a half after the deans of 12 schools of public health wrote a letter to Obama saying that “as a general principle, public health programs should not be used as cover for covert operations.”“While political and security agendas may by necessity induce collateral damage, we as an open society set boundaries on these damages, and we believe this sham vaccination campaign exceeded those boundaries,” they wrote, referring to the CIA’s hoax campaign.
What a total fucking joke we have become.
and......
White House vows CIA will not stage fake vaccine programs
May 19, 2014 6:05 PM
Washington (AFP) - The White House has promised the United States will not use vaccination programs as cover for spy operations -- after the move was attempted during the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
As Pakistan suffers a resurgence of polio, a top White House official pledged in a letter dated May 16 that intelligence agencies would foreswear the tactic, which is partly blamed for the spread of the crippling disease.
Islamic militant leaders are reluctant to embrace vaccination programs after Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi attempted to help the CIA track down the Al-Qaeda terror chief through a fake vaccine project.
President Barack Obama's top White House anti-terrorism advisor Lisa Monaco told deans of 13 US schools of public health that CIA chief John Brennan had directed last year that agents would "make no operational use of vaccination programs."
"Similarly, the agency will not seek to obtain or exploit DNA or other genetic material acquired through such programs."
"This CIA policy applies worldwide and to US and non US persons alike."
The letter by Monaco was first reported by Council on Foreign Relations fellow Laurie Garrett on Twitter and by Yahoo News.
Pakistan last week announced that residents of its restive tribal belt would not be able to travel to other parts of the country without getting vaccinated against polio.
The order came days after Pakistan said it would set up mandatory immunization points at airports to help stop its polio outbreak spreading abroad, in response to new guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO warned that polio has re-emerged as a public health emergency -- with the virus affecting 10 countries worldwide and becoming endemic in three, including Pakistan -- and urged infected nations to implement vaccine requirements for all international travel.
The Taliban and other militants violently oppose polio vaccination campaigns, seeing them as a cover for foreign spying and regularly attack immunization teams. Some 56 people have been killed in such incidents since December 2012.
The CIA reportedly engaged Afridi to stage a fake vaccination campaign in the city of Abbottabad, Pakistan where the Al-Qaeda leader was eventually killed in a daring US special forces raid in 2011.
The idea had apparently been for the doctor to secure DNA material after vaccinating bin Laden's children, as a way of positively identifying the Al-Qaeda leader.
http://rt.com/usa/160300-us-ukraine-russian-journalists/
State Dept. fails to recognize ‘individuals’ detained by Kiev as Russian journalists
Washington has failed to condemn the detention of Russian journalists working in Ukraine, instead doubting they were journalists at all and accusing them of smuggling weapons based on a “reports and conversations” on the ground.
The US State Department claims that Russian journalists were in possession of press accreditation that was given to them by the self-proclaimed Donetsk republic, which Ukraine and the US do not recognize.
“The Ukrainian Security Services, according to reports, have detained a number of people who were in possession of fake journalist credentials issued by the non-existent Donetsk People’s Republic,” US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a daily press briefing.
Psaki did not specify precisely which journalists she was referring to, but Associated Press reporter Matt Lee at the briefing was asking about the Russian TV crew working for LifeNews who were detained by the Ukrainian Security Forces (SBU) on Sunday.
“Reportedly they were carrying portable aircraft missiles in the trunks of their cars at the time of their detention. So I haven't looked in your trunk lately but it is unlikely you have those in there. That raises some questions about these individuals and whether they were actually journalists,”Psaki said.
After persistent attempts by Lee to find out whether Psaki had any proof or credible source to back such claims, she acknowledged that these reports were “credible” as considered by a US “team on the ground” which is “in touch with Ukrainian authorities.”
Reports “about these individuals and what they were carrying with them, certainly raises the question as to who they are,” Psaki answered
When again pushed to answer whether the accusations were based on rumors, Psaki hinted that the information comes from Kiev.
“This is from our team on the ground who are certainly in touch with our Ukrainian authorities,”Psaki replied.
When asked about the detention of an RT stringer working on the ground in eastern Ukraine, Graham Phillips, Psaki replied that she was not aware of “specific details” of his arrest yet, but promised to look into that.
Psaki said that the State Department will condemn the move of illegal detention of journalists, however emphasizing that Washington will first of all focus on “continuing to press for the release of the Ukrainian and international journalists who have been detained by Russian separatists.”
On Sunday, two Russian LifeNews journalists, Oleg Sidyakin and Marat Saichenko, were captured by Ukrainian troops near Kramatorsk in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Ukrainian authorities claimed on Tuesday that the detained journalists confessed during interrogation to entering the territory of the country without press cards. The crew are now in Kiev but so far have not been charged.
Previously the OSCE urged the Kiev authorities to release the Russian journalists saying that intimidation and obstruction of media is “unacceptable.”
In the meantime, RT has lost contact with the channel's contributing journalist Graham Phillips who had earlier reported that he had been detained by the National Guard at a check point in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine. The British journalist Phillips may be turned over to the Ukrainian Security Service and sent to Kiev as well, a source told RT
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for human rights labeled the harassment of journalists as the obstruction of media that doesn’t support the coup-appointed authorities’ policy.
“This is another step de facto made by Ukrainian authorities to curb the activities of unwanted journalists,” said Konstantin Dolgov. “The journalists who work professionally and show an objective picture, the ugly side of the outrages made by ultranationalists, the results of [Kiev’s] punitive operation in the southeast.”
In both cases involving the RT stringer and LifeNews crew, it appears the SBU was responsible in detaining and neutralizing reporting. Dolgov added that Phillips’ arrest followed the “unlawful seizure, detention of Russian journalists,” adding that Moscow is continuing to work for their speedy release.
On Monday, pro-Kiev activists again called to “immediately detain and deport” Phillips, who they believe is “cooperating with terrorists,” according to a message posted on EuroMaidan Kharkov's Facebook page.
The same day, LifeNews said that journalists held captive by Ukraine's coup-installed government were reportedly arrested after they released footage showing a UN-marked helicopter used by Kiev’s armed forces engaged in an operation against civilians in the east. A few days prior to the journalists’ arrest on Sunday, the authorities in Kiev issued an order to “find and neutralize” the authors of the video, a LifeNews source in SBU told the channel.
Meanwhile, RT Arabic’s news crew who arrived in Kiev to cover the upcoming May 25 Ukrainian presidential election has not been allowed into the country and was sent back to Moscow under the pretext that they were unable to properly explain the purpose of their visit, despite being accredited by the Ukrainian Central Election Commission.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-20/german-tv-exposes-gold-price-manipulation-fit-financial-thriller
German TV Exposes "Gold Price Manipulation Fit For A Financial Thriller"
While we have done our best to expose the utterly disgusting manipulation that occurs day-in-and-day-out in the precious metals markets over the last few years (how the "fix" is manipulated, who is responsible, and the blowback from European investigations), but mainstream US media remains actively ignorant of exposing these realities (even as another 'gold-"fixer"' gets the ax today). But not the Germans. As the following brief documentary exposes "an examination of gold prices reveals machinations fit for a financial thriller." With the Germans still wanting their gold back, we suspect this German TV documentary explaining the "lack of oversight.. and serious manipulations of the gold price," will stir up more than a little public concern about ever getting it back.
and.....
Gold Price Manipulation Goes Mainstream On German TV
Public TV channel 3sat, which is a cooperation between Germany, Austria and Switzerland, broadcasted a short documentary on gold price manipulation on May 9, 2014. More and more mainstream news outlets are covering the allegedly gold price manipulation, after evidence is pilling up and many other market manipulations, like LIBOR, are coming out. From the Financial Times February 23, 2014:
Global gold prices may have been manipulated on 50 per cent of occasions between January 2010 and December 2013, according to analysis by Fideres, a consultancy.The findings come amid a probe by German and UK regulators into alleged manipulation of the gold price, which is set twice a day by Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Barclays, Bank of Nova Scotia and Société Générale in a process known as the “London gold fixing”.Fideres’ research found the gold price frequently climbs (or falls) once a twice-daily conference call between the five banks begins, peaks (or troughs) almost exactly as the call ends and then experiences a sharp reversal, a pattern it alleged may be evidence of “collusive behaviour”.“The behaviour of the gold price is very suspicious in 50 per cent of the cases. This is not something you would expect to see if you take into account normal market factors,“ said Alberto Thomas, a partner at Fideres.
Oddly enough this article from the Financial Times was removed from their website two days after publication.
One of the most extensive researches that has been done on gold price manipulation is by Dimitri Speck in his book “The Gold Cartel”. On his website there is a chart that illustrates what Fideres’ found about the London gold fix. Dimitri Speck was, amongst others, interviewed by 3sat for the documentary.
I do not agree with everything that’s being said in the video, for example they state Chinese gold demand was 1066 tonnes in 2013, which is based upon numbers from the World Gold Council I happen to disagree with, or that it’s not necessary to invest in physical gold stored outside the banking system, though I thought it was worth sharing this clip with subtitles for the English speaking world. Germany is one of the few Western countries where there is a broad consensus about the importance of gold and sound money.
Transcript:
Presenter: Good evening and welcome to the business magazine Makro. For many people, the purchase of gold represents a safe reserve for bad times. No wonder that, at the height of the financial crisis savers were queuing up at gold dealers. Throughout history, gold has served as a promise of reliability and stability. But today there are considerable doubts as to whether that promise remains valid, because an examination of gold prices reveals machinations fit for a financial thriller.
Narrator: London, the most important gold market in the world. Whether the price of gold rises or falls is determined here. Twice a day, a handful of bankers confer on the phone to fix the daily price of the precious metal. Thus arises the most important reference value for physical gold, used by businesses ranging from jewellers to gold mines. There is no public oversight for the “Fixing”. Apparently, this lack of restraint has led to serious manipulations of the gold price, as pointed out by a current investigation which has detected strange price movements spanning a number of years.
Rosa Abrantes-Metz: The setting of the gold fixing is, in my view, problematic. It opens the door for abuse and manipulation. There is absolutely no transparency in the arrangements made during the private phone conversations of this small group of participants as they decide what the price of gold should be.
Narrator: Experts have long complained that this system is particularly susceptible to manipulation. Only five banks participate in the London gold fix, thus far including the Deutsche Bank. In the more extreme futures markets, where bets are made on gold price developments in future months, the quantities that exchange hands are of quite different magnitudes.
Folker Hellmeyer: We have a situation where this market is dominated by three essential players, three banks, in the USA. These banks have a market share on the order of 80 percent. In other words, we are talking about an almost monopolistic structure which of course also provides the power to manipulate the market.
Narrator: And which power is apparently being abundantly used. The futures market, intended to provide predictability and stability for future prices, is controlled by the following three banks: HSBC, Citibank, and JP Morgan. Their tool: paper gold securities.
Thorsten Schulte: It is possible to simply sell scraps of paper, thereby creating fear, especially fear among those who possess gold in its physical form, and who may then arrange to sell their metal, eventually resulting in such a a wave of fear …
Narrator: The gold price has been attacked in this fashion time and again, often with massive price declines within a matter of a few minutes. Yet, there is quite a bit more to the story.
Dimitri Speck: Gold is the opponent of debt based moneys, i.e. currencies, and in particular the US Dollar. Therefore, the US Federal Reserve has an interest in a weak gold price, and the US government protects the manipulation of the gold price by the private banks.
Narrator: For years, the US Federal Reserve has served as the lender of last resort. Gold must be weak if a loss of confidence in the US Dollar is to be averted. It has been difficult to prove that this is a rigged game with a stacked deck, but if the gold market manipulations are indeed encouraged in addition to being condoned, that would explain why oversight bodies have thus far turned a blind eye to it, despite years of massive conspicuous activities in the futures markets, as with the gold fixing in London.
Presenter: Incidentally, the Deutsche Bank intends to withdraw from the gold fix. As of now, no other bank has expressed an interest
in filling that spot. Too many banks are scared to damage their good reputation in London. Gold is a speculation commodity with a high symbolic power. Its price is therefore strongly influenced by many fears and hopes. Here are a few facts about that from our Makroskop.
in filling that spot. Too many banks are scared to damage their good reputation in London. Gold is a speculation commodity with a high symbolic power. Its price is therefore strongly influenced by many fears and hopes. Here are a few facts about that from our Makroskop.
Narrator: 31.1 grams, the weight of one ounce of refined gold. The precious metal is regarded foremost as protection in times of crisis. Gold climbed rapidly during the financial and economic crisis. Currently gold trades for about USD $1300 per ounce. Yet the more hopes grow for an end to the international economic slowdown, the more the price of gold declines. The US government continues to hold the largest governmental gold reserves at 261.6 million ounces, over 8100 metric tonnes. The US is followed by Germany, Italy, France, and China. But the largest demand comes from the Middle Kingdom. From gold coins to gold bars, the Chinese are accumulating large quantities. In 2013 the Chinese acquired 1065.8 tonnes, moving for the first time ahead of the Indians who purchased 974.8 tonnes in 2013. Jewellery accounts for the highest portion of the demand. In China, jewellery sales have tripled since 2004. They represent about 30 percent of worldwide demand. About 400 tonnes was purchased by businesses. In particular, China’s electronic manufacturers need industrial gold for production. Meanwhile, in the mining sector, China has risen from being a small player to become the number one gold producing country. In the past tens years, Chinese gold production has more than doubled from 217 to 437 tonnes.
Presenter: Today, the course of the gold market is being set by China. What are the worldwide consequences of this? Let’s talk about that with the chief editor of the Frankfurter Börsenbrief.
Presenter: A very good evening to you, Mr. Bernhard Klinzing. These days the flow of gold seems to be from the west to the east, as we have just seen. There are considerably more buyers in Asia than in the developed western countries. What do you attribute this to?
Klinzing: The reason is that India and China, which together make up half the gold market, do not have state provided elder care, which is valued differently there. Inflation fears are another factor. “The Chinese are the Germans of Asia”, it is said, and so they sit on gold.
Presenter: We have seen that the price of gold is heavily manipulated. There are manipulators that are apparently backed
from the highest places. Do you believe that, or do you regard it as a conspiracy theory?
from the highest places. Do you believe that, or do you regard it as a conspiracy theory?
Klinzing: I don’t believe that based on the Deutsche Bank and the London fix, but based on what we just saw from the Americans I absolutely do see that danger, because there is a quasi “Edward Snowden”. His name is Paul Roberts and he worked at the US treasury department and he has confirmed that the Fed, together with a number of banks, are preventing gold from rising above $1400 per ounce by continually providing gold bids which put downward pressure on the price.
Presenter: Given the unsound loans that came to light in the Libor scandal or the forex markets, do you believe that this is only the tip of the iceberg in the gold trade?
Klinzing: I would say that we are only seeing a snow ball from the iceberg while a lot more is hidden at the bottom. The banks earn a hefty sum whenever they fix the gold price by as little as 1/10th of a US Dollar upwards or downwards. You can see that with Goldman Sachs who published studies predicting gold’s decline to $950 per ounce while at the same time increasing their own gold positions by 20%. That does not match up. Presenter: What are some consequences for other market participants? You stated that the banks are lining their pockets, but what are some of the consequences?
Klinzing: Yes, there is a hedge fund manager by the name of William Kaye who has said that the German gold is no longer stored in the vaults of the Fed in New York, but has already found its way to China because the Fed needed the gold in order to carry out its market manipulations. This is as yet only a suspicion, and it may even be a conspiracy theory, but the Germans were denied an opportunity to touch or take samples of their own gold in New York.
Presenter: One could hardly think up a better plot for an economic thriller. I would like to talk about investors again. Is gold a good investment for the, let’s say, small investor?
Klinzing: One should not construct a portfolio with only gold, that much should be clear. But of course gold is a very attractive portfolio addition, whereby investors can insure the value of their portfolio against currency risks. Because if the Euro rises, the value of gold falls, so you can participate only less than possible, therefore invest always in a currency protected fashion.
Presenter: How can I do that as an investor?
Klinzing: There are certificates for doing this, there is no need for an investor to store gold in their own vault or under their pillow. For that there are very good solutions on the financial markets.
Presenter: Before we wrap up, what are your thoughts on how the gold price develops further from here?
Klinzing: We can see that in China the standard of living is rising, the middle class will grow from 300 million people to 500 million by 2020, and urbanization is accelerating. This means that there will be much more demand for gold from China, as well as from India. I don’t believe that gold will break $1400 per ounce this year, but we will see a new gold rally in the next few years.
Presenter: An overview of the gold price from Bernhard Klinzing of the Frankfurter Börsenbrief. Thank you for being on the show with us tonight. Dear viewers, if you have any questions for our studio guest, please visit the Makro blog where Mr. Klinzing will be available for a little while longer after the show. On our homepage you will also find additional background material on the topic of gold.
http://enenews.com/cbs-news-potential-imminent-threat-new-mexico-nuclear-waste-official-substantial-endangerment-health-environment-possible-57-barrels-nuclear-waste-risk-unknown-number-stored-wipp-being-monito
CBS News: “Potential ‘imminent’ threat from New Mexico nuclear waste” — Official: Risk of “substantial endangerment” to public health — 57 barrels of nuclear waste could rupture, came from multiple gov’t labs — ‘Unclear’ how many are now at WIPP — Being monitored for rise in temperature (VIDEO)
CBS/Associated Press, May 20, 2014 (Emphasis Added): Potential “imminent” threat from New Mexico nuclear waste, officials say — Los Alamos National Laboratory packed 57 barrels of nuclear waste with a type of kitty litter believed to have caused a radiation leak at the federal government’s troubled nuclear waste dump, posing a potentially “imminent” and “substantial” threat to public health and the environment, New Mexico officials said Monday. [...] two of those containers are known to be at WIPP. It doesn’t say where the rest of the barrels are [...] The lab has taken a series of precautionary measures, the statement said, including packing the drums into special containers and moving them under a dome with a fire protection system. The lab is also monitoring the drums for any rise in temperature.
New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Secretary Ryan Flynn, May 20, 2014: “Based on the evidence presented to NMED, the current handling, storage, treatment and transportation of the hazardous nitrate salt bearing waste containers at LANL may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment.”
KUNM, May 19, 2014: Flynn on Monday gave the lab two days to submit a plan for fixing the problem, saying the barrels may “present an imminent and substantial threat” to public health and the environment.
Xinhua, May 19, 2014: Troubled U.S. nuke lab has new woes: officials — A nuclear laboratory in the U.S. state of New Mexico packed dozens of waste containers with a type of kitty litter believed to have caused a radiation leak at another nuclear facility, posing a potentially “imminent” and “substantial” threat to public health and environment, officials said Monday.
Carlsbad Current Argus, May 20, 2014 (Emphasis Added): State officials announced this week that the DOE was analyzing 57 drums of waste containing a mixture of kitty litter and nitrate salts suspected of causing a reaction that led to the radiation leak. The 57 barrels of waste originated from Los Alamos and Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. The drums in question are scattered across the state at Los Alamos, WIPP and Waste Control Specialists, a private nuclear waste disposal facility in Andrews County, Texas, straddling the Texas-New Mexico border. The number of drums stored at each site is unclear [...]
China Arrests Former CEO Of JPMorgan Asia
Just one day after the FBI issues arrest warrants for 5 Chinese military officials,Caixin reports that Fang Fang - the former CEO of JPMorgan Asia - has been arrested in Hong Kong by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (or anti-graft agency). Coincidental timing we are sure; and while details are sparse, the arrest appears linked to the hiring of the children of Chinese officials. Bloomberg reports that Fang declined to comment after being released on bail (under restrictions not to leave Hong Kong).
48-year-old Morgan Chase vice chairman of investment banking in Asia and the former CEO of China Fang Fang was arrested recently in Hong Kong by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the reason is still suspected of hiring a child of officials to get projects and getting burned....Two independent sources of information on condition of anonymity, told reporters that the news respectively...Sources pointed out that square and was released on bail after exit restrictions.Need to wait and cooperate with the investigation and judicial developments related to the case...."Scandals fermentation, someone to pay the price."Person close to JPMorgan Chase earlier told the new financial reporter.."China's internal JPM Asian investment banking team now feel insecure." Who comes close to JP Morgan, JP Morgan Chase also helped bankers hired lawyers to deal with possible future investigation. "The major investment banks in the self-examination, lawyers are busy now."..."Although the U.S. Department of Justice is to blame investment banks, but investment banks will generally push to individuals looking for a scapegoat." An investment bank executives said.
Or simple old retailation? Of course - the big retaliation will be signing the 'holy grail' gas deal with Russia tomorrow.
The Inquest of JPMorgan VP Gabriel Magee: Case Closed; Move Along
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: May 20, 2014
Jonathan Shatford, Former Member of Metropolitan Police in London, Headed the Internal Investigation for JPMorgan Into the Death of Gabriel Magee
If it’s at all possible, don’t die on the premises of a too-big-to-fail bank like JPMorgan. That’s because if you do your otherwise meritorious life and career is likely to be turned into a circus of slanderous tidbits in order to promote the reputation of the global banking behemoth as the benevolent guardian of all things noble and saintly.
A coroner’s inquest began at 10 a.m. in London this morning to investigate how 39 year old Gabriel Magee, a technology Vice President who worked in JPMorgan’s European headquarters at 25 Bank Street in London, came to be found dead on a 9th level rooftop at approximately 8:02 a.m. on the morning of January 28 of this year.
The inquest had barely begun when the wire service, Reuters, ran this headline: “JP Morgan Executive Had High Alcohol Level Before Skyscraper Plunge, London Inquest Hears.” That’s called framing the story. Within the next hour, newspapers around the globe who had no reporter at the inquest to do first hand reporting, were running with the Reuters headline and abbreviated story.
Next up was a seriously specious headline from the UK Mirror newspaper. The headline that ran in bold black type at the newspaper’s web site declared that “A JP Morgan Bank Vice-President Said He ‘Couldn’t Handle This’ Before Falling Canary Wharf Tower Block.” (The word “Off” seems to be missing from the headline as well as any semblance of truthful reporting.)
The Mirror headline neglects to explain that those words were uttered at least six years prior to Gabriel Magee’s death, when he was working for JPMorgan in New York – words that 90 percent of computer programmers have likely uttered at some point in their career; sometimes a dozen times a day. (That JPMorgan investigators were forced to dig out this ancient nugget and present it at the inquest shows just how little they had to go on to make this suicide story stick.)
The Mirror also ferreted out a tidbit from an ex-girlfriend, reporting: “She added that Magee had had thoughts about life in another universe that she did not understand and that he had continually refused help from those close to him.” The idea of “life in another universe” is shared by the majority of 2.18 billion people, otherwise known as Christians, who believe in life after death and heaven. Typically, they are not urged to get “help” for those beliefs.
The cold hard facts on the ground are these: Gabriel Magee was in a loving relationship with a beautiful young attorney, Veronica Strande. They were happily living together. Ms. Strande testified at the inquest that “there was no problem.” Sources close to both of them say that Magee had brought Strande to the U.S. to meet his parents and was very happy in the relationship.
As far as being a kook as portrayed by the ex-girlfriend, Magee’s own career nullifies that assertion. He had worked for JPMorgan in one of the most demanding of technology jobs for more than a decade. He has received promotions and bonuses and risen to the rank of Vice President. He was a key player in one of the most important areas of technology at the company. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was currently engaged in “Technical architecture oversight for planning, development, and operation of systems for fixed income securities and interest rate derivatives.”
A former colleague told Wall Street On Parade that Magee “focused extensively on Java and Sybase databases. He also did C++ and many other UNIX related languages.”
In fact, Magee’s career history was staid and stable compared to the history of his firm which has been charged by regulators with an endless series of crimes over the past 18 months, including lying to Congress, facilitating the Madoff fraud (two suspended felony counts for that one and two years of probation), rigging electric markets in California and the Midwest, fraudulently selling mortgages, losing $6.2 billion of bank depositors’ money in a crazy derivatives scheme (London Whale), rigging Libor interest rates and on and on.
The bank’s reputation under its current CEO and Chairman, Jamie Dimon, was summed up thusly by Senator Carl Levin: The bank “piled on risk, hid losses, disregarded risk limits, manipulated risk models, dodged oversight, and misinformed the public.” (See our series here for an in depth look at the culture of this firm.)
The sensational reporting of news from Gabriel Magee’s inquest this morning was matched only by the outrageous and unprecedented reporting on the morning his body was discovered on January 28 of this year.
The Independent newspaper in London flatly stated that Magee “died after falling from the roof.” The London Evening Standard tweeted: “Bankers watch JP Morgan IT exec fall to his death from roof of London HQ,” which linked to their article which declared in its opening sentence that “A man plunged to his death from a Canary Wharf tower in front of thousands of horrified commuters today.”
The only person who seemed to give a whit about reporting this story honestly was Iain Dey, Deputy Business Editor of the Sunday Times in London, who flatly disputed the notion that a plunge from the rooftop had been observed by anyone when he reported that: “Gabriel Magee’s body lay for several hours before it was found at 8am last Tuesday.”
Lost in this morning’s sensational headlines was the very disturbing detail that out of those “thousands of horrified commuters” and the “bankers” reported to have seen Magee fall, not one eye witness has been produced by the police to this alleged jump from the top of JPMorgan’s offices at 25 Bank Street.
As it turns out, an ole pal of the Scotland Yard was put in charge of the internal JPMorgan investigation. Jonathan Shatford is a former Metropolitan Police officer from New Scotland Yard and a career detective who rose to the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent over 32 years. Shatford previously worked for Bear Stearns, which collapsed during 2008 and was taken over by JPMorgan. Shatford is responsible for JPMorgan investigations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
As if there had been any doubt from the beginning as to the outcome of this inquest, the coroner, Mary Hassell, ruled at the end of the proceeding that “I am wholly satisfied that Gabriel jumped off the 32nd floor with the intention of killing himself.”
Case closed. Nothing to see here. Move along.
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Good morning, Fukushima updates are extremely sad as usual.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised the Russians and Chinese haven't done the energy deal yet. I still think it will be done.
gold bounced back really quick yesterday and Bitcoin had a big move up, Very interesting
Have a great day, my kitten is preventing my usual computer time.
DeleteFukushima is fairly consistent in being a source of depressing news .....
DeletePrice , price , price ( it does have a way of getting in the way of deals getting done. )
Bitcoin had a good day , PM recovered from early manipulation .....
Cats and kittens will be playful in the morning - my daughter's cat was just batting around one of his toys a minute ago ...... Mr rory loves to swat and chase his mouse toy up and down the first floor hallway in the morning !