Tax Investing IMHO

2 – CRATERAIR

Coffee, tea, or bankruptcy?

—Forbes, September 26, 1994

In the case of the Caterair buyout, Carlyle made up for the money they lost— like many of the company’s early deals, Caterair was horrendously unsuccessful—by hiring the man that would eventually be the leader of the most powerful country in the world: George W. Bush. Caterair may have been a complete failure by ordinary business standards, but the relationships cultivated therein were more than worth the stinging financial losses.

In Washington, it’s not what you know, but who you know, and knowing George W. Bush, then son of the nation’s president, was a valuable connection indeed. But getting an in with the president’s son wasn’t easy, and it all started when the man known simply as “Mr. Marriott” got a hankering to sell one of his businesses.

Read Full Post »

Grab Them By the IMSI

A phone signal grabber or IMSI-catcher is one of the most powerful devices for conducting surveillance and invading your privacy – legally or illegally. Which is why not just anyone is allowed to possess one. This little beauty can perform loads of magic tricks including cloning your phone, intercepting calls and SMSes, turning your phone into a transmitter and much, much more.

Meet The Grabber: How government and criminals can spy on you (and how to protect yourself)
By Shaun Swingler, 01 Sep 2016 (South Africa)

Last week an Israeli-made cellphone signal grabber, or IMSI-catcher, made headlines after amaBhungane published an investigation into Willie Lotter and Joseph Pooe, who were arrested by

Read Full Post »

Conputer Bank

How To Bolster Banking Technology Infrastructure and Address Cyber Risks
By S.K. Selvaraj, Tripwire, Apr 25, 2016 [Excerpt]

Technology infrastructure (TI) at banks involves a dizzying array of things – from employee laptops and desktops, software applications, and hosting networks to networking and cabling linking offices around the world, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, sophisticated enterprise tools, data centers… and so on.

Just as a country needs its critical infrastructure for economic growth, TI forms the backbone for the financial industry. TI used to be behind the scene for many decades and catered to important tasks, such as storing financial data in mainframes.

However, it then became an enabler of business with rapid growth in communication bandwidth, networking and software products. With the advent of internet followed by the mobile revolution, infrastructure became even more prominent as it became part of consumers’ daily life.

Read Full Post »

RottIng Inside Cover

Attacking Iran –
By ING, 2007 [Edited]

The market impact of a surprise Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities

The financial markets are assuming that an Israeli or US attack on Iran is unlikely. However, an imminent build-up of US forces in the Gulf suggest that they could be in for a shock.

An imminent attack would seem unlikely, given the weakness of the US administrations, and hopes for regime change in Iran. However, Iran’s threats that it will acquire nuclear weapons within two years, suggest that President Bush may sanction action before he leaves office at the end of 2008. And, within a month the US will have two aircraft carrier battle groups and a new expeditionary Marine strike force in the Persian Gulf, which might provide a shield for an Israeli bombing of Iran’s facilities.

Read Full Post »

Rott Office

ING Bank to Pay $619 Million Fine in Largest Ever US Economic Sanctions Penalty
From Steptoe.com, June 18, 2012

On June 12, 2012, ING Bank, N.V. (ING Bank), a [Dutch] financial institution, agreed to forfeit $619 million to settle criminal charges brought by the United States and the State of New York and civil claims raised by the US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).  ING Bank was charged with conspiring to violate US economic sanctions and with violating New York state laws by illegally moving billions of dollars through the US financial system on behalf of Cuban and Iranian entities.  The $619 million fine is the largest ever against a financial institution in connection with an investigation into US sanctions violations and related offenses.

Read Full Post »

Constructing the Anger

Committee on the Present Danger

The Committee on the Present Danger denotes a series of hawkish US establishment pressure groups. The original committee founded in 1950, was revived twice, in 1976 and 2004.

Both the first and second incarnations of the Committee sought to use public pressure to influence debates already underway within the Government, concerning the NSC-68 document in 1950, and the Team B exercise in 1976, each of which exaggerated the Soviet threat. The 1976 Committee was the first in which the neoconservatives emerged as a signicant force within the hawkish coalition. They would go on to be the dominant strand in the 2004 Committee which attempted to apply a similar logic to the war on terror.

First CPD (1950-1953)

Read Full Post »

Guatemala Tuskegee

US apologizes for infecting Guatemalans with STDs in the 1940s

By CNN, 2010

The United States apologized Friday for a 1946-1948 research study in which people in Guatemala were intentionally infected with sexually transmitted diseases.

A statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called the action “reprehensible.”

“We deeply regret that it happened, and we apologize to all the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent research practices,” the joint statement said. “The conduct exhibited during the study does not represent the values of the United States, or our commitment to human dignity and great respect for the people of Guatemala.”

Read Full Post »