So what's the number .......Cowards?

Sassy wrote:Condoms, having children etc are not the reason for Africa still being poor.   Multi-nationals and Banks are.

Hiding Africa's Looted Funds: The Silence of Western Media

By Lord Aikins Adusei
Quite often when you read newspapers, listen to the radio and watch television in the West you will are bombarded with how poor and corrupt Africans are. However, you will never watch, read or hear anything in these media outlets on the role play by : Western banking institutions; property development and estate companies; technology corporations; oil and mining cartels; defense and engineering companies; and western political and business elite in promoting corruption in Africa.

When it comes to Africa and the developing world, the Western media pretend to be doing a good job only when there is an embarrassing story or a scandal that undermines their own credibility as the watchdog of the state. It is not uncommon to see poverty stricken Africans being shown in documentaries, movies, and television screens in the West but these same documentaries fail to show the involvement of Western capitalist institutions in fanning the poverty. Although corruption involves a giver and recipient, it is always the taker who is reported in the media. In many instances bribes are offered in order to secure contracts, secure official favour or to induce officials in order to influence the out come of a government decision. In other instances people become corrupt because of the existence of favouring conditions as can be seen in most western countries with their banking secrecy laws.

Why does the media in the West ignore the role of western institutions in corrupt deals? The media in the west tend to ignore the role of western institutions for many reasons. They would rather show the poverty level in Africa but refuse to show the role play by western institutions for fear of loosing revenue through adverts. Most media outlets survive through advertisements from mega businesses and the multinational corporations so for fear of loosing revenues the media turn a blind eye to their activities such bribing politicians, public officials and polluting the environment. Again the editors, programme directors and the other big wigs in the media are thelselves shareholders in the companies in question so why would they want to jeopardise the source of their own wealth?

The enthusiasm with which CNN, BBC, ABC, CBS, ITN, SKYNEWS, television producers portray Africa as poor, backward, least developed and corrupt is not displayed when they report on the role play by Western institutions in perpetuating the aforementioned. They fail to tell the world that the looted funds that make Africans poor are sitting in Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand and other offshore Islands controlled by the West. They fail to tell the world that Africa would be a different place if all the stolen monies are returned from Switzerland, Britain, America, France, Luxembourg, Austria and Liechtenstein. After years of foot draggings Swiss authorities decided to repatriate monies stolen by the Abacha regime. So I asked myself where was the western media when Swiss and British Banks were receiving the looted funds? The fact still remains that until recently and with the exception of the BBC none of the western media establishment had permanent reporters based in Africa with reason only best known to themselves. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3577032.stm

Corruption is rife in Africa because banking institutions in Europe especially Switzerland, France, Jersey Island, Britain, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Austria and US among others accept money from African leaders without questioning its source. According to the UN and the AU around $148 billion is stolen from the continent annually by political leaders, multinational corporations, the business elite and civil servants with complicity of banking and property industries in Europe and North America.

Even though western banks act as safe havens for looted funds, very little attention is received from the western media to expose them. No effort has been made by the political elite in Europe and America to force the banks to return these stolen monies because they are often the shareholders and beneficiaries of profits made by these banks. They have no agenda to combact corruption as that would mean no fat dividends for them and no cheap credits for their citizens.

Within five years of his reign (1993-98) Sani Abacha of Nigeria according to official sources was able to stash four billion dollars and between 12 and 16 billion dollars according to unofficial sources. After his death in 1998, investigators in Nigeria, Europe and America stumbled on over 130 bank accounts in Australia, New Zealand, London, New York, France and Switzerland among other countries where some of the money stolen was kept.

According to France24, a French police investigation has established that Bongo and his family own at least 33 luxury properties in France, including a villa located at Rue de la Baume, near the Elysée Palace, in Paris bought in 2007 for 18.8 million Euros. The French President Nicolas Sarkozy was spotted greeting Bongo in this villa bought with funds looted from Gabon. http://www.france24.com/en/20090226-french-court-seizes-gabonese-presidents-accounts-omar-bongo-bank. Other investigations have uncovered that he and his family have at least 59 properties, several bonds and stocks in France alone.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was embarrassed when it was revealed that Bongo’s government paid his consultancy firm a staggering 2.64 million Euros for advice on health policy drawn up by Kouchner before he took office. Source: Timesonline February 5, 2009. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5661746.ece.Kouchener is not the only person in France, Europe and America to have benfited from the shady and corrupt dealing of Africa's political and business establishments. It has recently come to light that Omar Bongo secretly financed Jacques Chirac and Francois Mitterand election campaigns using money he had stolen from his country.The question is who assisted him to steal and hide his ill-gotten wealth in France I mean the 70 banks accounts stashed with hundreds of millions of euros and the 33 luxury mansions that he bought? Is it not those he helped to become presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers? The fact is that Bongo was able to steal, mismanage and poorly run his country because of the support he received from those he helped win elections in France.

Araminta Wordsworth of Nationalpost.com says:"The French media are operating under no constraints in commenting on Africa’s longest-ruling despot, a man successive French presidents played a huge role in keeping in power and vice-versa. Bongo contributed to the election campaigns of François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac; Nicolas Sarkozy’s first act as president-elect was to call the Gabonese president and thank him for his advice. Bongo also worked for the French secret service. But oil was key to his power, as Laurent d’Ersu notes in La Croix". Source: National Post, June 9, 2009

The disgraced Elf-Aquataine executives said they paid Bongo between 30 to 50 million dollars through secrete bank accounts in Switzerland but no attempt has been made to expose and prosecute these banks.

On February 26, 2009 a French court had Omar Bongo’s nine bank accounts containing several millions of Euros frozen. In confirming the court’s decision, lawyer Jean-Philippe Le Bail said, “This concerns Crédit Lyonnais, in which the president of Gabon has two current accounts, two savings accounts and a share account, and BNP, in which he has two checking accounts, a savings account and a share account”. These are the banks whose shady deals with the political and business elite impoverish African countries but which for profits sake the media refuse to tell the world about. The banks know these corrupt leaders have stolen the money yet they pretend not to know until there is a scandal before they begin to act as if they are responsible institutions. How and why Bongo was able to open so many bank accounts in France is only known to the banks and the political establishment in France but it is an undisputable fact that the media in France did notdo enougth to expose the rot in involving Bongo and the institutions in that country.

Most foreign banks have been implicated for receiving billions of dollars of looted funds from the late Mobutu of Zaire; Lansana Conte of Guinea; Eyadema of Togo; and a number of tyrants such as Omar Bongo of Gabon; Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea; Dos Santos of Angola; Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo; Paul Biya of Cameroon; Arap Moi of Kenya; Jerry Rawlings of Ghana; Ibrahim Babadjinda of Nigeria and a number of sitting and ex-presidents in Africa yet western media is silent about where the funds are being kept.

The banks in Europe and America that aided, abetted and provided sanctuary for Abacha´s $4 billion stolen funds are: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, ANZ, London Branch; Bank Len, Zurich; Bankers Trust Company, London; Bankers Trust Company, Frankfurt; Bankers Trust Company, New York; Banque Barring Brothers, Geneva; Bank in Liechtenstein A. G. Vaduz; Barclays Bank, New York; Barclays Bank, London; Banque Edouard Constant, General; Banque Nationale De Paris, Geneva; Banque Nationale De Paris, London; Banque Nationale De Paris, Basle; Citibank N. A. London; Citibank N. A. New York; Citibank N. A. Luxembourg; Citibank Zurich; Credit Lyonnais , New York; Credit Suisse , New York; Credit Suisse, General; Credit Suisse, Zurich; Deutche Morgan Grenfell, Jersey; FIBI Bank (Schweiz) A. G. Zurich; First Bank of Boston , London; Goldman Sachs and Company, Zurich; Gothard Bank, Geneva; LGT Liechtenstein Bank, Vaduz; Liechtenstein Landesbank, Vaduz; M. M. Warburg and Company, Luxembourg; M. M. Warburg and Company,Zurich; M. M. Warburg and Company, Hamburg; Merrill Lynch Bank, New York; Merrill Lynch Bank, Geneva; Midland Bank, London; National Westminister Bank, London; Paribus, London; Paribus, Geneva; Royal Bank of Scotland , Leeds; Standard Bank London Limited, London; UBS AG, Zurich; UBS AG, Geneva; Union Bancaire Privee, Geneva; Union Bancaire Privee, London; London Branch; Verwaltungs Und Private Bank A. G., Vaduz; and ANZ, New York; ANZ, Frankfurt. Source: Tell Magazine, October 7, 2002. Only heaven knows how much of Abacha´s loot still remain in these banks. We did not hear anything about these banks in the Western media and how they were helping Abacha to loot Nigeria's resources until his death in the until his death in 1998.

According to a 110 page report prepared by international risk consultancy firm Kroll, Arap Moi and his family have banked £1 billion in 28 countries including Britain but the media in the west will not expose the banks involved.The Guardian, Friday 31 August 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/aug/31/kenya.topstories3

Apart from the banking sector, the property sector in Europe, America and Australia have also connived with the political and business elite in Africa to impoverish the people. Several African leaders have bought properties in Europe and America using monies stolen from their poor countries. It is on record that Mobutu of DRC (Zaire) bought several villas in France, Switzerland, Belgium and many European Countries. Yet again the companies selling the villas have been kept secret by the media. Why ?

It has recently come to light that Arap Moi of Kenya and his family bought several multimillion pound properties in London, New York, South Africa including 10,000-hectare ranch in Australia and bank accounts containing hundreds of millions of pounds. While majority of Kenyans live in slums and in rural areas, with little roofing on their heads and lacking water and other basic necessities of life, Moi’s family live in a £4m home in Surrey and £2m flat in Knightsbridge yet the media will not expose the estate companies involved. The Guardian, Friday 31 August 200, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/aug/31/kenya.topstories3

It is common for western companies looking for lucrative contracts to pay bribes and kickbacks to induce officials into awarding them contracts. For example on 17th September 2002, a Canadian firm called Acres International was convicted by a High Court in Lesotho for paying $260,000 bribe to secure an $8 billion dam contract. Source: Probe International.http://www.eprf.ca/pi/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=5484

In 2002, Halliburton, a company once controlled by Dick Cheney (former US Vice President) was accused of establishing $180m fund and used it to bribe Nigerian officials in order to secure a $10 billion Liquefied Gas Plant contract in Nigeria. Source: Royal Dutch Shell plc .com http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2008/09/04/halliburton-paid-180-million-in-bribes-to-senior-nigerian-government-officials/

Achair Partners (a Swiss company) and Progresso (an Italian company) have been accused of bribing Somalia’s Transition Government officials in order to secure contracts to deposit highly toxic industrial waste in the waters of Somalia. Such corrupt practices by western companies seeking contracts in Africa are one of the reasons why poverty and diseases are rife in the continent.

The catastrophic environmental damage being caused by Oil, mining and timber companies such as Shell, BP, Total, Elf, Texaco, Mittal, Anglo-America Corporation in Nigeria, Ghana, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, DR. Congo, South Africa, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal do not make the news in the West. How often do we hear about the huge environmental price Africans are paying to satisfy the west’s insatiable appetite for energy and technology? Apart from the huge profits being made by these conglomerates which we often hear in the news, do we hear also their complete disregard for environmental rules; the pollution of rivers, lakes, streams, wells, and the environment? On June 30, 2009 a report by Amnesty International entitled "OIL INDUSTRY HAS BROUGHT POVERTY AND POLLUTION TO NIGER DELTA" catalogues list of environmental destruction and damage that the Oil Cartel is causing in the region. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/oil-industry-has-brought-poverty-and-pollution-to-niger-delta-20090630, http://www.democracynow.org/features/shell_on_trial.

In October 2002, after a three year investigation a UN Panel of Experts implicated Cabot Corporation (Boston), Eagle Wings Resources International, and George Forrest’s OM Group (Ohio) for arming rebel groups and collaborating with them to traffic from DR. Congo gold, diamond, timber and most importantly coltan (columbo-tantalite)-a precious ore essential to Sony playstations, laptop computers, and cell phones. Coltan is often spirited out of DRC to U.S., Swiss, Belgian, and German clients by Uganda and Rwanda army officers, rebel groups and through a network of criminal syndicates. In all 85 companies were implicated by the report.http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4999, http://globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/181/33592.html

Except the wars and the stranded faces of hungry refugees, do these illegal activities by the corporations make the news in the Western media? Definitely not. Even when local journalists and writers document this for broadcast in the west, it is not published as it does not serve their interests. The media only publish stories after NGOs and civil society organisations have fought to expose corruption and shady deals involving western corporations, business and political leaders.

This is the hypocrisy and double standard of the western media. They want the world to know how poor Africans are but fail to tell the world that Africans are poor because Western banking institutions, property development companies, defence companies and defence contractors, oil and mining corporations are major stakeholders in promoting Africa’s poverty and underdevelopment. Corruption and bribery in Africa and indeed the developing world could be reduced tremendously if the media for once put aside the pick and choose journalism and attached the same importance to show the degree of involvement by western capitalist institutions Europe, America and Japan and their role in keeping Africans poor.

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Hiding_Africa%27s_Looted_Funds:_The_Silence_of_Western_Media


If only the problems in Africa was that people were having too many children, how easy it would be to fix.   Once again, that is how the media present it, once again the poor are blamed for their problems, while the rich actually causing it are getting away with blue murder.

Shady wrote:
Good evening Folks & the Cowards amongst you.

So you all avoided answering the question.......how quaint of you,especially you silly Billy lefties.

What's the limit? What's the number? How many?

.......................

Ben_Reilly wrote:Can I just say, I love how Shady manages to deride people for name-calling and not "mixing well" in a thread he/she started off by calling everyone who disagrees with him/her "cowards." That's pretty priceless.

Beekeeper wrote:

Shady wrote:
Good evening Folks & the Cowards amongst you.

So you all avoided answering the question.......how quaint of you,especially you silly Billy lefties.

What's the limit? What's the number? How many?

.......................

  

HOW ABOUT if out here in "the far-flung colonies" all British-born immigrants were to be re-exported (i.e. "deported"..) back to their original ports of departure from the Motherland ???

METHINKS that bonny wee Britain could indeed find itself with even MORE 'new settlers' from such displaced 'expats' than one is ever likely to see out of Eastern Europe !

 

Shady wrote:

Beekeeper wrote:
  

HOW ABOUT if out here in "the far-flung colonies" all British-born immigrants were to be re-exported (i.e. "deported"..) back to their original ports of departure from the Motherland ???

METHINKS that bonny wee Britain could indeed find itself with even MORE 'new settlers' from such displaced 'expats' than one is ever likely to see out of Eastern Europe !

 

Good afternoon Beekeeper.

I think that's a very good idea because then the cream off the top would come home instead of the islamic fanatics & gypsies from eastern Europe.

In fact it's a very good idea.An idea that's worthy of maximum marks......10/10.

Original Quill wrote:

Shady wrote:

Good afternoon Beekeeper.

I think that's a very good idea because then the cream off the top would come home instead of the islamic fanatics & gypsies from eastern Europe.

In fact it's a very good idea.An idea that's worthy of maximum marks......10/10.

WTF...Shady, why don't you just admit you are a racist?  "Cream off the top," indeed.  

I have to say, I'm beginning to look into the kind of emigration of which Bee speaks, myself.  My idea is to populate many of the vast reaches of Brasil with exported Republicans and Southerners.  How beautiful if the entire nation were residually populated with laid back Californians and industrious New Englanders, bent on voting progressively.  No more George Zimmermans.  No more John Boehners, Sarah Palins, or...who is that Canadian Senator...oh, Ted Cruz.  All that delicious talk by Gov. Perry about succession has whet my appetite for progressive separatism.

Ah well...I can dream.  ::%:: 

PhilDidge wrote:So basically Shady and Sexy are thinking of themselves and not the world problem of our population which of course the Uk cannot even sustain itself on its own resources and if all took this approach then we would be screwed.

Again immigration needs to be controlled to sensible levels, but top look to yourself when we are taught and teach people to share shows how we go against something we teach our own children

Original Quill wrote:Hi Shady,

No, they're serial victims...of Republicans.  :D   You would love living among Newporters or Angelinos.  Warm sun, great beaches, great women...I could see you now.....



Sassy and I are both arch-liberals.  You're not going to lay a trip on me like that.  We may have different styles, but I'm not switching sides.

Shady wrote:

Original Quill wrote:Hi Shady,

No, they're serial victims...of Republicans.  :D   You would love living among Newporters or Angelinos.  Warm sun, great beaches, great women...I could see you now.....



Sassy and I are both arch-liberals.  You're not going to lay a trip on me like that.  We may have different styles, but I'm not switching sides.

I forgot to shave that day & is that you in the background wearing those cheap white trousers/pants?

Vintage wrote:

PhilDidge wrote:So basically Shady and Sexy are thinking of themselves and not the world problem of our population which of course the Uk cannot even sustain itself on its own resources and if all took this approach then we would be screwed.

Again immigration needs to be controlled to sensible levels, but top look to yourself when we are taught and teach people to share shows how we go against something we teach our own children

People trade with each other anyway, you don't have to invite half a country to come and live with you to trade with the remaining half do you ?
We only have vacancies in medical professions now because after the second world war the government downsized the numbers of people entering medical schools and now can't afford to train too many and its cheaper to import ready trained personel - and it can only get worse with the financial situation as it is.
There's no problem with exchange job experience with various countries for everyone to learn new techniques etc. before you say no one will play with us if we don't let half their relatives come to stay.

veya_victaous wrote:@bee
are u insane?  I dont want even half of me to go back to cold and Damp England.

@Shady
Umm we have some bogans that might be of interest to you... The Lowest class Aussies are almost universally of English Decent.

Ben_Reilly wrote:I don't know what it says about this forum when we get yet another British right-winger, and I'm just breathing a huge sigh of relief that it wasn't Andrea Borman trying to sign up again ...

PhilDidge wrote:

Clarkson wrote:

I'm not at all sure your figure is right but 500,000 net stayers is 50 times more than the 10k predicted! Over a million did come a 10 times more than predicted. As to my assertions about schools in particular areas being overrun that is equally well documented. Lets be clear immigrants settle in clumps not spread evenly over the country.

There are many schools in central London that are towers of Bable with over 30 languages spoken. I might add in providing comprehensive translation services we exascerbated the situation.

The wholesale inward immigration has been a disaster. BTW I am not against inward immigration I just want it to be controlled as many democracies do e.g. Canada Australia etc.

The points you are missing though Drinky is by and large immigration has benefited this country more than negatives. I am all for controlled numbers, but not for it to stop as seen by my many points of an ethos culture of those thinking work is beneath them in this country, who do as little at school as possible and try to get through life doing as little as possible. This all brought about by Labour policies on a benefit culture. Thus companies have turned to migrants and are much of the reason why migrants have stayed, those from within the EU. They are the most employed and least in claiming benefits, because mainly they work hard and are keeping the economy going where many are over qualified doing minimum paid jobs that some Brits in this country as stated think are beneath them.

So there is much more to this than is being stated, lets face some realities, the root cause is a requirement of workers needed to fill vacancies that indigenous Brits did not want to do or in many cases those that did were unreliable. Would are economy have ever requirement without this mass of immigrants from within the EU that have helped the economy recover? yes there are problems like infrastructure and schools, but these are being overcome and grades have actually improved during the Coalition. So I do not see it as a disaster and if anything they have helped bail this country out of a mess.

Weigh up the pro's and con's and you will see it has benefited us more than it has created problems and as stated the root cause is a culture of people thinking they can get through life on benefits which created the need for immigrants to fill vacancies.

Immigrants always settle together in towns and within a generation in any country their children are more so British, so even that is of no relevance

grumpy old git wrote:Says a R/W . Interesting that the collective psyche of the R/W still cant/wont argue my points on the significance of benefits in the overall costs of the nation.....
and of course we have to note that the R/W garner their information from that bastion of accuracy the daily fail  ://?roflmao?/: 

the R/W of course wouldn know R/W ism if it slapped them with a wet kipper but hey ho.

As for truth....they even deny camergoon is R/W....well one of em does any way....

and of course they lack any empathy or decent humanity, soley being interested in their own deep pockets....

grumpy old git wrote:Says a R/W . Interesting that the collective psyche of the R/W still cant/wont argue my points on the significance of benefits in the overall costs of the nation.....
and of course we have to note that the R/W garner their information from that bastion of accuracy the daily fail  ://?roflmao?/: 

the R/W of course wouldn know R/W ism if it slapped them with a wet kipper but hey ho.

As for truth....they even deny camergoon is R/W....well one of em does any way....

and of course they lack any empathy or decent humanity, soley being interested in their own deep pockets....

grumpy old git wrote:about the level i expected....

Sassy wrote:Nope, just pointing out the obvious about them.

Clarkson wrote:Be assured the lefties on here will discourage the couple of RWers posting here.

Usual tactics completely ignore posts by anyone right of centre particularly when facts undermine their prejudices.

Keep on repeating completely incorrect posts that fit their own distorted views.

Encourage each other by written nods.

Seek to ban dissenting voices after ingratiating themselves with the forum owner and becoming a moderator. (Sassy's favourite tactic)

Produce post after post from Labours spin dept Irn Bru and Scrat. Of course they deny they even like Labour. The truth is a stranger to these guys.

can't have your righteous reactionary ravings washed away in those floods now, can we now ?