Bad time in England. We have Barclay's Bank getting reamed and firing their leadership for "alledged" accounting problems. Turns out they hired an American Irish Catholic as their CEO (surprised given history) and he apparently didn't keep an eye on his traders. Secondly, John Terry, the Chelsea Captain, in court for racial slurs against an opponent. Barack sends his thanks to England as his time getting hard balls thrown at him on CNN and Fox News has been reduced as attention is tossed across the pond. As a republican, I file a protest.
Yes PatO....it's going to play out of for a while in the UK. Listened to business analyst on the radio yesterday and his take was - the Barclay's scandal will grow. It seemed to him that it was strange about a dozen rouges working for many different British banks...somehow, accidentally, and in sync......rigged the LIBOR......There will be a few billion in class actions coming soon... Back to the US, and the Republicans have come up with a droll candidate who is almost certain to lose. I'm lukewarm about Obama, done what he could under very adverse circumstances. Would have rather seen McCain at the helm....but now Obama - really has no competition. He will be re-elected. Not a wonderful thing....but it will do. Very disappointed that Sarah Palin lacked the ticker to have a go. I like Alaskans...fiercely American..and she would have been very refreshing to stare down the enemies of the Western world...And giving them something to remember if they were naughty.
Barclays have been shafting their customers for years, and now it's time for them to get a good slapping. The Bank of England base rate has been 0.5% for a number of years, yet some cards under the Barclaycard banner charge 35.5%; 7000% higher than the B of E base rate. Barclays have been creaming the small user and the small saver, while paying eye-watering bonuses to their senior staff, in keeping I might add, with all the other banks. Fixing Libor has been going on for a while. It has come to light while the current government is in office, and the previous government is shouting the odds, but it actually started on the last governments watch. The banks and bankers are entirely responsible for the monetary quagmire that Europe finds itself in. As far as the John Terry issue goes, this is handbags at five paces. Two players on a soccer pitch having a dig at one another. After the match, Ferdinand was neither "upset" nor "shocked" and said so. It seems that the case was only initiated because Ferdinands girlfriend wanted it to be. Unfortunately now in UK, the race card is thrown around like confetti, and encouraged by that scourge of humanity, the lawyer. Feelings are claimed to be hurt and the person concerned is mortally offended, but a few thousand in compensation can heal all the hurt, and the lawyer will cream off his cut. I wonder how long it will be before someone claims to be irrepairably damaged because a piano has more white keys than black ones ?? Right now, there is a furore going on with Tescos, who offered a white doll for sale at a set price and the black version of the same doll was a pound cheaper. Pathetic. These sad cretins create a problem where none exists and they need to get a life.
Would have thought the scourge of humanity all over the world is more likely to be the sensationalist gutter press and the paparazzi...lawyers merely see opportunity created by these sicko, commie morons.
Update. HSBC have now been dragged into the mire for possible money laundering in the US. After a 5 day trial, John Terry has been found not guilty of racial harrassment (and win or lose, the lawyers are grinning).
