-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Today's Lesson From Silent Coup by Len Colodny and Robert Gettlin Rather than experiencing a crisis of the soul and veering to the left, at Yale Bob Woodward became ever more closely tied to the establishment environment in which he had been raised. For decades, Yale had been a prime recruiting ground for the Central Intelligence Agency; professors and athletic team coaches would openly seek candidates for the Agency. The Navy, too, considered Yale good hunting grounds on which to find future officers. Many graduates who did not go into the Navy or the CIA often filled important posts in the government or in business, and all of these constituted an "old boy network" to rival those of the graduates of Oxford and Cambridge among the ruling elite of Great Britain. In many ruling elites, a large proportion of the members are initiated into the networks through secret societies. Legendary secret societies have long been a fixture of Yale life, mysterious, closed fraternities that enjoyed connections to powerful government figures who had been members in their own college days. Bob Woodward was "tapped" to join Book and Snake in his junior year. Though Book and Snake was not as well known as Skull and Bones, which counts George Bush among its members, "It is certainly among the top four," says Yale professor Robin Winks, author of Cloak and Gown, which documented Yale's ties to the intelligence community in the years 1939-1961. No evidence has emerged that Woodward was recruited from Book and Snake for the intelligence community, but from his year in Book and Snake he got a good grounding in an environment founded on secrecy, exclusivity, and the burnishing of old boy network ties. Founded in the 1880s and based on the Italian secret societies, those at Yale each have their own building, usually a windowless structure designed to keep its activities secret. The Book and Snake building is adjacent to the law school library, and across from a cemetary, and has a marble facade that makes it resemble a mausoleum. ===== Big Brother No Place for Bank Secrecy in the New World Order BCCI prosecutor attacks offshore havens The New York district attorney who successfully prosecuted the collapsed Bank of Credit and Commerce International called yesterday for an end to all bank secrecy laws. Speaking at a conference marking the first anniversary of the Financial Services Commission in the island of Jersey, John Moscow said banking and corporate secrecy laws had to be abolished if the rule of law was to be established in the new world order. "It is apparent that the economies of the world have become a unified global economy in which some countries are better able than others to participate and we need a new set of rules," he said. "Thomas Jefferson said eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. If we are to stop the criminals getting control of the world we must change and adapt to the times." He added: "Today's bank secrecy statutes are used by criminals of all types - they are not needed by honest folk engaged in honest transactions." Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands between England and France. The islands are British Crown territories with wide law-making powers. Mr Moscow, deputy chief of the investigations division of the New York district attorney's office, has been highly critical of the Channel Islands in the past, though in recent months he has said they were co-operating effectively with other regulatory authorities. However, he remained critical of other countries where he considered laws could facilitate money laundering. He said the world could no longer afford "legal quirks" such as the Cayman Islands, Antigua and the Netherlands Antilles. Howard Davies, chairman of the UK's Financial Services Authority, told the conference he had no reason to question last year's "well timed and well judged" UK report into financial regulation in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, which was generally benign in its comments on the islands. Jersey appeared to have "little to fear from heightened interest among global decision makers in the activities of financial institutions offshore", Mr Davies said. Offshore centres are being studied by one working party of the Financial Stability Forum set up by Group of Seven countries and international regulators. Mr Davies predicted that "the standards of regulation which will be demanded in the future will be higher than they were in the past". Mr Moscow's views were strongly opposed by Richard Thomas, director of public policy at Clifford Chance, the law firm. Formerly with the UK Office of Fair Trading and the International Consumer Council, he said it would be heading down "a slippery slope" to abandon bank secrecy laws. "Confidentiality remains at the heart of the banking relationship," he said. The Financial Times, July 13, 1999 Single Currency Euro Falls Close to Parity with Dollar Dropping like a rock The euro yesterday slid to another lifetime low, taking it to within striking distance of parity with the dollar. Aside from its symbolic importance, market participants said, a fall to parity could trigger a violent lurch lower in the European single currency. Large automatic sell orders by investors are believed to be lurking at the $1.00 rate and a breach of that level could create new downward momentum. The main cause of the latest fall, which took the embattled currency down to $1.0114 during the day, was weaker than expected German industrial production figures, economists said. Finland, which took over the European Union's six-month rotating presidency this month, sought to bolster the currency by saying it had "potential for appreciation" based firmly in price stability in the EU. But this did little to dispel the belief that further falls would not be met by European Central Bank intervention in the currency markets. Sauli Niinistö, Finland's minister for finance, said after a meeting of EU finance ministers that the euro's exchange rate reflected differences in global economic developments and temporary factors such as the Kosovo crisis. As the European economy recovered, this would be likely to be reflected in the exchange rate of the euro "in due course". The euro rallied slightly to close in London at $1.014 but analysts said that, in the absence of more verbal support from European officials, a fall to parity with the dollar was all but inevitable. "The question is not whether but when, and where it goes next," said Nick Parsons, chief currency strategist at Paribas in London. Paul Meggyesi, currency strategist at Deutsche Bank in London, said: "If policy makers are seen to tolerate a fall to parity it suggests a level of apathy." There has been mounting concern at the currency's failure to respond to positive news about the euro-zone. A variety of economic indicators have recently shown signs of recovery in the European economy. Despite this the euro has continued to tumble, falling almost 15 per cent from the peak of $1.1877 that it touched on January 4, its first day of trading. Mr Niinistö said ministers of the euro-zone countries had discussed the 11 member states' budgetary developments and found they were better than expected a month ago. The Financial Times, July 13, 1999 Sugar Market Will Prices Plunge If Russian Sweet Tooth Ends? Tariffs Headed to 46 Percent from 5 Percent The rally in sugar prices over the past month is set to go into reverse as Russia, the world's largest sugar importer, drops out of the world market. Analysts say Russian imports have been one of the main factors driving sugar's price recovery, which saw raw futures rise 50 per cent in two months, in spite of oversupply on the world market. The most actively traded raw contract on New York's Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange jumped to over 6 cents a pound at the end of June, from around 4 cents in May, before a bout of selling forced it down to 5.4 cents at the beginning of July. October raw sugar closed at 5.52 cents last week. However, on August 1, Russia will introduce tariffs of 46 per cent on foreign raw sugar, from the current 5 per cent. The tariffs, designed to protect domestic sugar beet growers, will run until December, effectively ending sugar imports. "A fall in prices is likely to occur this month, as the Russian buying slows down," said Chris Pack, at C. Czarnikow, the London-based brokers. Russia's tariffs are likely to have a significant impact on Brazilian exporters. Brazil, which overtook the European Union this year as the world's largest sugar producer, has increased its overseas sales of sugar and other commodities such as coffee this year, encouraged by the devaluation of the Real in January. Cane growers have also been diverting more of their crop into sugar production because of a domestic oversupply of alcohol. Mr Pack said the partial recovery of the Real - coupled with Brazilian government steps to support alcohol prices - meant that sugar exports had fallen this year. However, overseas sales for May and June were still double those for the same period last year, at 2.3m tonnes against 1m tonnes. "It's not clear yet how Brazil will manage the changing pattern of demand this season, including Russia's tariffs on August 1," Mr Pack said. "But Russia accounts for a substantial chunk of those Brazilian exports." Brazil shipped 961,900 tonnes of sugar to Black Sea ports in May and June, compared with 415,600 tonnes in the same period in 1998, Mr Pack said. Sugar prices will remain vulnerable to fund activity. As prices fell to around 4 cents a pound earlier this year, funds moved from short positions to long, believing sugar was at the bottom of its fall. As prices head back down, the risk is that funds will decide to trade their long positions for short, further depressing the market. The Financial Times, July 13, 1999 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. 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