Banks Laundering Mexican Drug Money

Wow. This is the biggest story I have seen in a while. This is a case of reading between the lines, and noting that the tip of the iceberg is only 2% of the actual berg itself.

http://rawstory.com/2010/03/wachovia-pays-160-million-stop-drugs-probe/

"Wachovia has agreed to pay US prosecutors 160 million dollars for its failure to stop drug money being laundered to Mexican affiliates, the DEA said Wednesday."

'Although Wachovia admitted that 110 million dollars could have been laundered, the DEA said "Wachovia failed to effectively monitor for potential money laundering activity more than 420 billion dollars in financial transactions with the CDCs." '

First of all, sure, let the bank execs get off the hook for laundering drug money that has probably led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, and much more law breaking. (Meanwhile, a 50 year old man in Texas has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for 4 ounces of pot.)

Next - $420 BILLION DOLLARS?! That is the amount of money they didn't 'check' for money laundering. A good portion of that could also be drug money.

Do you have any idea how much money the bank execs have probably already made, for decades, by laundering mexican drug money?

$160 million is a slap on the wrist. First of all, most of that is money the government KNOWS they made from the money laundering. $50 million of that is a fine. However, that $50 million is also probably drug money!

They should launch a huge fucking probe of this mess and bring them all down.

But they won't. Heck, if OJ can get away with murder, bank executives can get away with 1000 times worse, with 1000 times the money. God Bless Capitalism.

Israel Doesn't Want The West Bank You Idiot

Dear Thomas Friedman,

How can you be SUCH an IDIOT?

"Ever since Israel occupied the West Bank and its Palestinian population in 1967, Israelis have faced a dilemma: Do they want a Jewish state, a democratic state and state in all of the land of Israel (Israel plus the West Bank)? In this world, they can have only two out of three. Israel can be Jewish and democratic, but not if it keeps the West Bank, because the Palestinians there plus all the Israeli Arabs will eventually outnumber the Jews. It can be Jewish and keep the West Bank, but then it can’t be democratic; Arabs will be the majority. It can be democratic and keep the West Bank, but then it can’t be Jewish." http://www.nytimes.com//2010/03/17/opinion/17friedman.html

Israel doesn't want to live in the West Bank. They 'occupied' it in the interests of security. It is the birthing ground, staging ground, and launching pad of guerilla warfare AGAINST ISRAELI CITIZENS.

How can you miss this? Are you 1. Ignorant, 2. So egotistical that your thoughts outweigh real life, 3. Just stupid?

People like you, who are held up to be thought leaders and intellectual role models, are why people don't know wtf is going on at all anywhere.

Quote "Constructive Criticism of Israel" End Quote

I am truly sorry, but I simply do not respect any one who criticizes Israel. Now, I'm not saying, Israel is infallible. But, I have yet to find a critic of Israel who knows wtf they are talking about.

Take this NYT columnist for example:

His last sentence, summing up his argument, is the most illuminating, "Israel is wrong to mock its constructive critics. They alone can usher the country from the one-state dead end — a vital Israeli interest."

This is why I don't respect Israeli detractors. HOW IS ISRAEL SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST??!!

Not one, not a single damn Israel hater has ever shown me that they understand the fundamental issues that have created the middle east pressure cooker. Every single Israel critique always vilifies Israel, and Israeli policy, and points to the suffering of the Palestinian people, and never says, "On the other hand...", for instance:

1. The global community has spent billions of dollars in aid to the "Palestinian People." Where has this aid gone? Yassir Arafat, who won the Noble Peace Price for being two faced, stole every cent he could. The rest of the billions goes towards funding terrorists. Not at ending the Palestinians 4th world qualify of life. How is this Israel's fault?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/07/60minutes/main582487.shtml

2. Not once have any Middle East countries sued for Peace, except for Egypt and Jordan. When Egypt and Jordan said, "Let there be peace", Israel said, "forever and ever, our middle eastern brothers." Israel has asked for peaceful negotiations in good faith since 1948. Enemies of Israel never give it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt%E2%80%93Israel_Peace_Treaty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Jordan_peace_treaty

Israel has one desire: To remain a Jewish state. If arab countries would take that stipulation into account, there would be peace. But they don't. They state again and again, whether directly or through proxies like Hamas, "WE DESIRE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL."

How is Israel supposed to negotiate with that? NO Israel critiquer has ever even remotely attempted to tackle that question. So how am I supposed to take them seriously?

3. Israel is in a constant battle for its survival. If it wasn't "Little America", with all the military force that brings to bear, they'd be destroyed. Its that simple. Meanwhile, those wanting to attack it use civilians as shields, attack from hospitals, mosques, and schools, and kidnap innocents for torture and slaughter, in the name of "Freedom fighting." So, in fighting for its survival, Israel must contend with barbaric guerilla fighting that shows mercy to no one.

Remember this. Palestinians and Arabs attacking Israel are NOT fighting for peace. They are not fighting for a Nation State. They are fighting to destroy Israel.

No argument critiquing Israel acknowledges this fact. THIS FACT!!

Hamas charter:

Quotes:

"Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims."

"Leaving the circle of conflict with Israel is a major act of treason and it will bring curse on its perpetrators"

"Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors."

PLO Charter

Quotes:

"Article 15: The liberation of Palestine, from an Arab viewpoint, is a national (qawmi) duty and it attempts to repel the Zionist and imperialist aggression against the Arab homeland, and aims at the elimination of Zionism in Palestine."

"Article 19: The partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the state of Israel are entirely illegal, regardless of the passage of time, because they were contrary to the will of the Palestinian people and to their natural right in their homeland, and inconsistent with the principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the right to self-determination.

Article 20: The Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine, and everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void. Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong.

Article 21: The Arab Palestinian people, expressing themselves by the armed Palestinian revolution, reject all solutions which are substitutes for the total liberation of Palestine and reject all proposals aiming at the liquidation of the Palestinian problem, or its internationalization.

Article 22: Zionism is a political movement organically associated with international imperialism and antagonistic to all action for liberation and to progressive movements in the world. It is racist and fanatic in its nature, aggressive, expansionist, and colonial in its aims, and fascist in its methods. Israel is the instrument of the Zionist movement, and geographical base for world imperialism placed strategically in the midst of the Arab homeland to combat the hopes of the Arab nation for liberation, unity, and progress. Israel is a constant source of threat vis-a-vis peace in the Middle East and the whole world. Since the liberation of Palestine will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence and will contribute to the establishment of peace in the Middle East, the Palestinian people look for the support of all the progressive and peaceful forces and urge them all, irrespective of their affiliations and beliefs, to offer the Palestinian people all aid and support in their just struggle for the liberation of their homeland."

Those are the two organizations that Israel must negotiate with for peace with the "Palestinian People." Read those Mission Statements, and tell me if you an negotiate with THAT.

So every one you who thinks they can take the moral highground against a peaceful democratic state fighting for the survival of its citizens and their security - you're actually taking the low road. Because you don't know wtf you are talking about.

P.S. Do you remember the Munich Olympics of 1976? How Palestinian terrorists kidnapped and murdered Israeli Olympic athletes? This is what Israel fights against. To keep that from happening. Again. Meanwhile, it is Israel's responsibility to "...usher the country from the one-state dead end..." This kind of unreasonable worldview is why I will never respect anyone who doesn't keep that in mind, when talking about "Middle East Peace."