📅 Aug 30, 2012 REDACTED

August 28 update

From: Office of Terje Rod-Larsen <executiveoffice@ipinst.org>

28 August, 2012

Article 1.
Reuters

New Egypt leader steps out on world stage seeking "balance"

Sarnia Nakhoul and Edmund Blair

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Aug 28, 2012 -- CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new Islamist president said on Monday he would pursue a "balanced" foreign policy, reassuring Israel its peace treaty was safe, hinting at a new approach to Iran and calling on Bashar al-Assad's allies to help lever the Syrian leader out. Mohamed Mursi, who was elected in June and consolidated his power this month by dismissing top military leaders, is seeking to introduce himself to a wider world ahead of a trip to Iran - the first by an Egyptian leader in three decades - and China.

"Egypt is now a civilian state ... a national, democratic, constitutional, modern state," he told Reuters in his first interview with an international news organisation since taking office as the candidate of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood. "International relations between all states are open and the basis for all relations is balance. We are not against anyone but we are for achieving our interests," said the U.S.-educated engineer, appearing confident and assertive in the marble-lined presidential palace. The first leader Egyptians have elected in a 5,000-year history dating back to the pharaohs, he spoke in a room for visiting dignitaries surrounded by monarchy-era furniture, oil paintings and a grand tapestry on the wall. Mursi, 61, came to power after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, who served for decades as a loyal U.S. ally and the guarantor of Egypt's status as the first Arab country to make peace with Israel. His emphasis on balance suggests he is seeking a less explicitly pro-American role in the region, but he has also been at pains to reassure traditional allies.

Mursi's Brotherhood describes Israel as a racist and expansionist state, but he resigned from it on taking power and has avoided inflammatory language. He repeated his position that Egypt will continue to abide by international treaties, including its 1979 peace deal. Without mentioning Israel by name, he indicated Egypt's neighbour had nothing to fear from a new military campaign in the Sinai Peninsula, which he ordered after gunmen attacked an Egyptian border post, killed 16 guards and tried to burst across the frontier into Israel. "Egypt is practicing its very normal role on its soil and does not threaten anyone and there should not be any kind of international or regional concerns at all from the presence of Egyptian security forces," he said, referring to the extra police, army and other forces moved to the area. The military campaign was in "full

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respect to international treaties", he said. The Egypt-Israel peace deal includes limits on Egyptian military deployment in Sinai. Officials in Israel, already concerned that Egypt's Islamists will support the Brotherhood-offshoot Hamas in Gaza, have voiced worries about Egypt's build-up of heavy armour in Sinai to quash militants. Mursi would not say if he would meet Israeli officials. Mubarak regularly received top officials although only went to Israel once for a funeral. In an effort to increase Egypt's role in regional affairs, Mursi has called for dialog ue between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran to find a way to stop the bloodshed in Syria. Notably, the initiative has been welcomed by Iran, the only country in the group that supports Assad. During his interview, Mursi gave a particularly strong call for Assad to be removed from power, suggesting that he is comfortable taking a high profile role in regional affairs. It is a message he will tak e on his trip to Iran and China, which, along with Russia, are the main countries backing Assad. "Now is the time to stop this bloodshed and for the Syrian people to regain their full rights and for this regime that kills its people to disappear from the scene," Mursi said.

"There is no room to talk about reform, but the discussion is about change," Mursi said, adding Egypt had repeated that "the friends of the Syrian people in China and Russia and other states" need to back ordinary Syrians. However, Mursi said he opposed foreign military action in Syria "in any form".

FIRST VISIT TO IRAN

In what could be an important sign of a shift in the region, Mursi's visit to Iran this week will be the first by an Egyptian leader since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. The two countries broke off diplomatic relations at the time over Egypt's support for the ousted Iranian Shah and its peace with Israel, and have yet to formally restore ties.

Officially, Mursi's visit is to attend a summit of the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement, and he would not be drawn on whether Egypt would resume full diplomatic ties with Iran.

Asked whether he saw a threat from Iran, whose nuclear programme has sparked fears in the West and Israeli warnings that it could consider a military action, Mursi said: "We see that all the countries in the region need stability and peaceful co-existence with each other. This cannot be

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achieved with wars but through political work and special relations between the countries of the region."

After Iran, Mursi will travel in September to the United States, which still gives the Egyptian military $1.3 billion in aid a year.

Asked how the outcome of the U.S. election in November might change ties, Mursi said Egypt works with the United States as "a stable institution" rather than dealing with personalities.

TRANSFORMATION

Stocky and well-dressed, Mursi spoke in good humour in the palace where Mubarak held court for decades.

Criticised at the start of his election campaign as a stiff politician who seemed more of a Brotherhood functionary than statesman-in-waiting, he has warmed to the role. His dramatic move against the army on August 12 stamped his authority on the nation far more quickly than many had expected.

Mursi's rise to the presidency is not only a transformation for Egypt but also for him personally, climbing from a poor Nile Delta village to study in California before joining the Brotherhood. Like many members of the group, he was jailed for periods under Mubarak. They have swapped places and the 83-year-old former president is now serving life in jail.

Mursi sealed his rise to power this month with his audacious move to pension off military leaders who had ruled the country during the long transition after Mubarak was toppled last year. In his interview, he took care to praise the army in its transitional role and describe it as part of Egypt's "national fabric."

Liberals worry that the rise of Mursi and his Brotherhood group could lead to the imposition of Islamic sharia law, which they fear will impose social restrictions in a country where a tenth of the 82 million people are Christians and tourist visits to its beaches and pharaonic ruins are a vital source of income.

Mursi said tourism would grow under his rule.

When asked whether the new constitution, now being drawn up by an assembly before being put to the nation on a referendum, would seek to implement the Islamic code, he said it was up to the Egyptian people to decide.

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Artick 2.
Foreign Policy
The Talkfest in Tehran

David Bosco

August 27, 2012 -- This week, Iran will be more than the country struggling under the weight of U.N. sanctions, imposed for its controversial nuclear program. It will be more than a potential target for Israeli airstrikes. It will be something other than the home of a theocratic government routinely pilloried by leading human rights groups. On Sunday, Iran became host to the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), heralding the start of a three-year turn for Tehran at the group's helm.

Dozens of world leaders and foreign ministers, reportedly including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, new Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, India's Prime Pinister Manmohan Singh, Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari, and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez are descending on the Islamic Republic for the summit. Sudan's Omar al-Bashir, subject of an International Criminal Court warrant, will also attend -- and it's a fair bet that he won't be dragged from Tehran in handcuffs. North Korea is sending its nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam, instead of new leader Kim Jong Un. In all, as many as 7,000 delegates are expected. The spectacle of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad playing host to such a major international gathering has caused heartburn in Western capitals. The United States publicly discouraged the U.N.'s Ban from attending and none too subtly urged others to stay away. "[W]e frankly don't think that Iran is deserving of these high-level presences that are going there," said a U.S. State Department spokesperson.

There is no doubt that Iran's leadership will seek to deflect international pressure and to showcase the diplomatic support it still enjoys in some parts of the world. The Iranian authorities have announced a tour of scientific and technical sites designed to simultaneously demonstrate Iran's scientific prowess and its peaceful intentions. The regime will have

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a largely sympathetic audience. Most states in the NAM are skeptical of what they see as a double standard that permits only certain powers to maintain nuclear arsenals. The last NAM summit document chastised the current nuclear-armed states for a "lack of progress ... to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals." In 2006, the movement approved a statement lauding Iran's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and warning against any military strikes on peaceful nuclear facilities.

This year, other issues on the agenda will likely include equitable economic development, the reform of major international organizations, and the Israel-Palestine conflict -- a perennial topic at NAM meetings. It's also certain that the assembled leaders will discuss Syria, whose regime Tehran strongly backs. Russia's envoy to the NAM reportedly expressed hope that summit decisions "will lead to the development of a political solution to the Syrian crisis."

That seems highly unlikely, and the subject will be a tricky one for the hosts. Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem will attend the summit -- but as Reuters's Marcus George points out, a majority of NAM members have already voted to condemn the Syrian regime at the United Nations.

The impact of the Tehran summit on most major issues will likely be minimal, but it will nevertheless be an important moment for the NAM itself. The organization has endured a several decades-long identity crisis: It was, after all, a movement born early in the Cold War to provide diplomatic shelter and support for states not clearly identified with either the United States or the Soviet Union. The 1955 Bandung summit document, which, among other things, urged participants not to serve the "particular interests of any of the big powers," was the movement's ideological breakthrough. The 1961 Belgrade summit represented its formal coming-out party. The prime movers of that era were giants from large and populous non-Western states: India's Jawaharlal Nehru, Indonesia's Sukarno, Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Yugoslavia's Josef Broz Tito.

As decolonization speeded up in the 1960s, the NAM became a sprawling collection of diverse states with heavy representation from Africa and Asia. Particularly at the United Nations, it had a significant diplomatic

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impact. The movement was instrumental in the 1965 expansion of the U.N. Security Council to 15 members, which gave its members more weight in that body. In the early 1970s, the NAM marshaled support for a "New International Economic Order," which emphasized the obligation of former colonial powers to redistribute wealth to the global south. Along the way, Washington came to see the NAM as a mostly hostile movement that, for all its protestations of independence, tended to line up with Moscow. Cuba's active role in the organization -- Havana hosted the 1979 summit -- only intensified U.S. skepticism.

The end of the Cold War -- and the rigid diplomatic alignments against which the NAM supposedly militated -- posed an existential challenge for the movement. At its 1992 summit in Jakarta, key players in the NAM claimed that the end of the Cold War vindicated their worldview, but they also recognized that the organization needed to generate a new sense of purpose. Indonesia's Suharto warned that NAM "cannot afford to be passive" in the face of new challenges.

He need not have worried. Multilateral organizations often endure even when their initial purpose has expired (witness NATO's post-Cold War activism). Right on cue, the NAM found its new raison d'être in the outsized economic, military, and diplomatic power of the West that persisted throughout the 1990s. In many respects, the movement shifted from being a voice for Cold War neutrality to serving as a rhetorical bulwark against what many members saw as U.S. hegemony and interventionism.

NAM members condemned U.S. airstrikes against Iraq in the late 1990s and opposed the 2003 invasion. In 2004, South Africa's deputy foreign minister exhorted a NAM gathering to "heighten awareness of the threats to multilateralism through the imposition of unilateralism and it ought to galvanize us into concrete courses of action."

Given the diversity of its membership, the NAM's pronouncements tend to be stem-winders that give everyone something; the last summit document totaled more than 100 pages. But a persistent and distinct worldview permeates the verbiage: NAM members remain skeptical of the leading Western powers, watchful for all forms of incipient neocolonialism and racism, mostly hostile to Israel's policies, and animated by the vast gulf between the world's rich and poor.

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This week's summit in Tehran poses distinct tactical challenges for the movement. Not only does Syria badly divide its members, but some Western diplomats have speculated that moderate states won't be pleased about being used as a foil in Tehran's nuclear struggle with the West. But a deeper question is whether even Nonalignment 2.0 makes sense in a world where many see U.S. and European power in decline relative to that of India, South Africa, and China (a NAM observer state). In small but notable ways, these states have acquired new standing and weight in bodies like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The United States has even backed India's bid for a permanent Security Council seat. The NAM has often claimed to speak for the world's weak and marginalized. But it's increasingly hard to put the likes of India and Indonesia in that category. What happens when some of the NAM's most important players become part of the global establishment?

David Bosco, a Foreign Policy contributing editor and author of the FP blog The Multilateralist, is assistant professor at American University's School of International Service. He is at work on a book about the International Criminal Court'sfirst decade.

Ankle 3.
Los Angeles Times

Isolating Iran?

Najmedin Meshkati and Guive Mirfendereski

August 28, 2012 -- The 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran this week will draw dignitaries and representatives from more than 100 countries — 35 heads of state, including Mohamed Morsi, the current chair of the movement and the first democratically elected president of Egypt, as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. For the next three years, Iran will serve as the chair of the movement, which was formed in 1961 to counterbalance the superpowers. In early August, Iran hosted a high-level meeting that included Russia on the crisis in Syria. All this points to the abject failure of the U.S. policy in the last 30 years to "isolate" Iran.

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Policies of restriction or containment through sanctions and economic mechanisms do not work. In a porous world, sanctions are largely ineffective. Sanctions didn't change the behavior of Saddam Hussein or Moammar Kadafi (despite what some think, other factors forced Kadafi to disarm his nuclear program) or affect North Korea, and Cuba has survived in spite of comprehensive U.S. sanctions. Where a U.S. sanctions policy has been successful, it has been coupled with constructive or positive engagement: the ending of apartheid in South Africa and of communism in Eastern Europe, Arab-Israeli peace (through U.S. engagement of Jordan and Egypt), protection of intellectual property in China — all have come about because of influence through involvement.

Proponents of further tightening of the so-called crippling sanctions or the oxymoronic "smart sanctions" on Iran point to the significant drop in Iran's oil exports, shortage of foreign currency and the economic hardship in Iran as evidence of the effectiveness of sanctions. However, the sole intended consequence of all these sanctions has been zero insofar as scaling back or curtailing Iran's nuclear program.

The underlying rationale for Iran's pursuit of nuclear technology is a need to achieve self-sufficiency in production of fuel for its planned nuclear power industry and a desire for prestige that goes with technological advancement. The fact that nuclear power capability might be weaponized acts also as deterrence against Iran's adversaries. The Iraq-Iran war of 1980-88, in which the West backed Saddam Hussein and his Arab allies, showed Tehran the need for strong deterrence if the country were to survive in a secure and stable environment. But for the United States, Iran's nuclear "issue" is a political matter.

As Homi Jehangir Bhabha, father of India's nuclear technology, said in 1965, "a way must be found so that a nation will gain as much by not going for nuclear weapons as it might by developing them."

During the Truman administration, Secretary of State Dean Acheson's policy of containment of China pushed Chairman Mao Tse-tung to greater extremes and arguably led to the Chinese invasion of southern Korea that produced the Korean War, ensnaring the United States. Likewise, his treatment of President Gamal Abdel Nasser and refusing to fund the construction of the Aswan Dam further radicalized the Egyptian leader, pushing him into the arms of the Soviet Union.

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Likewise, imposing more sanctions on Iran would result in further radicalization, adding fuel to the fire of hard-liners and eventually marginalizing the democratic forces in Iran. Instead of sanctions, the West is better advised to support and promote the Iranian private sector, which is the engine of economic growth and social change.

When it comes to building relationships, the recipe for Iran should be the same one that the U.S. followed in overcoming its ideological angst with respect to the Soviet Union, China and Vietnam. In the case of Iran, the U.S. could take a baby step by allowing the Iranians to purchase goods, know-how and other services that enhance the safety of Iran's civil aviation. This confidence-building initiative, which is powered by science and engineering-enriched diplomacy, is a correct approach and promotes global aviation safety.

To begin the process, there must be a willingness on the part of the U.S. or Iran to admit that one day there could be a meaningful relationship between the two. Then we must consider the circumstances that can bring about the relationship — not conditions precedent to talks or the like but rather to imagine what the relationship itself would be. In that relationship, all other external issues, such as terrorism, regional concerns and weapons of mass destruction, could be discussed. The U.S. needs to see Iran as part of the solution to its strategic challenges in the Middle East, which have little to do with Iran itself. For example, the Syrian quagmire, which is fueled by the Sunni governments, mostly dictatorial monarchies, is not of Iran's making. But, first, Washington and Tehran must be able to communicate directly and reciprocally on matters of mutual interest. Resolving their differences can come later, much later. As the gathering of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran demonstrates, Iran is isolated mostly in the minds of some U.S. policymakers and their cheerleading pundits. It is U.S. interests that suffer as a consequence. By not reckoning with Iran as a major player in the Middle East, the U.S. deprives the American private sector of a lucrative market, indirectly keeps Israel's security in a state of limbo and deepens the stagnation in the Arab-Israeli peace process. A fresh and bold approach to U.S.-Iran relations is not only desirable but imperative for the United States' national interests in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

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Najmedin Meshkati is a professor of engineering at USC and was a senior science and engineering advisor in the Office ofScience and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of State (2009-2010). Guive Mirfendereski is an international lawyer and lecturer in legal studies at Brandeis University; he is the author of "A Diplomatic History of the Caspian Sea: Treaties, Diaries and Other Stories."

Artick 4.

Washington Institute

Fresh Concerns about Health of Saudi King

Simon Henderson

August 27, 2012 -- This morning, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia left the country for an undisclosed destination after deputizing Crown Prince Salman to take over his responsibilities in his absence. The reason for the trip has not been revealed, but there is widespread speculation that the eighty-eight-year-old king will head to New York City for medical treatment, perhaps after a brief stop in Morocco. He had operations for a back complaint in 2010 and 2011, and he was almost bent double while standing during an Islamic summit in Mecca two weeks ago. Photographs showed him in obvious discomfort as he left the kingdom today. Despite the lack of information about the trip, now is a good time to examine Saudi Arabia's regional role and relationship with the United States. The Obama administration sees King Abdullah as a crucial ally in several fields. In Syria, Riyadh is providing arms to the anti-Assad rebels. In the oil market, it has expanded production to offset the drop in Iranian exports caused by nuclear sanctions. Although Riyadh was reportedly disappointed with Washington's swift removal of support for longtime ally Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, the kingdom appears to share many policy objectives with the United States. Washington undoubtedly views Saudi leadership of the Arab and Muslim worlds as useful, not to mention its role as a major oil supplier.

Having Crown Prince Salman stand in for the monarch is no particular relief. Although he serves as defense minister and is, at seventy-six, significantly younger than Abdullah, some have expressed concerns about

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his own health and his ability to focus on detail. An additional worry is that the House of Saud has no obvious crown-prince-in-waiting behind him. The need for such a candidate has become more urgent in the past year given the deaths of no fewer than two crown princes, Sultan and Nayef, who were half-brothers of Abdullah and full brothers of Salman, yet died within eight months of each other.

Saudi foreign policy capacity is already strained due to the ill health of longtime foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. In his absence, the kingdom is being represented at this week's Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran by the king's son and deputy foreign minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah. It is unclear to what extent Prince Bandar bin Sultan's recent appointment as intelligence chief has boosted Saudi capabilities.

Meanwhile, the continuing threat of al-Qaeda terrorism in the kingdom became apparent this weekend with the announcement of arrests targeting terrorist cells in Riyadh and Jeddah. The suspects were mainly from Yemen, but the cell leaders were said to be Saudi. Police displayed a considerable amount of seized explosives for the press. The discovery of the cells, which were said to be targeting "security men, citizens, foreign residents, and public facilities," can probably be credited to Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, the assistant interior minister for counterterrorism. He is reportedly very capable but has yet to be promoted to the vacant position of deputy interior minister, in part due to apparently intense competition for promotion among the sons of the current generation of leaders. The deputy interior position remains open after its previous incumbent, Prince Ahmed, was made interior minister after the death of Prince Nayef, who held that post while serving as crown prince. Saudi help for Washington in terms of oil policy is another issue demanding attention. Although the kingdom has increased production to its highest level in many years, global prices remain stubbornly high, apparently because of Riyadh's preference to store extra volumes rather than put them on the market.

The short-term challenge is to work out who is the main point of contact: King Abdullah or Crown Prince Salman. In the longer term, Washington must ensure that it develops a good working relationship with whoever

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might emerge as a future crown prince -- and one day, probably sooner than later, as a future king.

Simon Henderson is the Baker fellow and director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at The Washington Institute, specializing in energy matters and the conservative Arab states of the Persian Gulf

Artick 5.
Asia Times Online

China's Challenge: Balancing State and
Market

James A. Dorn

August 24, 2012 -- The slowing of the global economy is forcing China as the world's largest exporter to confront the issue of rebalancing, which at heart is a problem of striking the right balance between state and market.

State-owned banks still dominate the financial sector and are kept profitable by a positive spread between loan and deposit rates dictated by government policy.

Financial repression has penalized savers while rewarding banks. The recent decision of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to allow greater flexibility in interest rates is a welcome sign.

In June, the PBOC announced that banks will be allowed to offer loans at interest rates up to 20% below the benchmark rate and be free to pay savers a rate up to 10% above the ceiling rate. With CPI inflation at about 2%, real rates on saving deposits are now positive. Wang Tao, chief China economist at UBS in Hong Kong, calls the deposit rate reform "unprecedented" and a "milestone for interest-rate liberalization." The

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influence of the state in controlling key prices — notably interest rates, the exchange rate, and prices for refined energy products, water, and electricity — politicizes investment decisions, artificially spurs export-led growth, and favors manufacturing. China's challenge is to expand the scope of private markets and use competitive pricing to allocate resources efficiently. Once prices are right, China's growth path can be rebalanced toward greater domestic consumption. President Hu Jintao wants to build a "harmonious society" by creating a more extensive growth model that spreads growth to less developed regions and by decreasing income inequality. Yet, as Nicholas R Lardy, one of the world's leading China scholars, notes in his new book, Sustaining China's Economic Growth after the Global Financial Crisis (Peterson Institute for International Economics), present leaders have not done much to extend liberalization in the post-Deng Xiaoping era. Modest reforms are not sufficient to free interest rates and other key prices from the hand of the state. The new leadership team that is soon to take over will need to take bolder steps if China is to end financial repression and extend prosperity. China's 4 trillion yuan (US$586 billion) stimulus program was launched in 2008 to counter the global financial crisis. Monetary easing and infrastructure investment, financed primarily by loans from state-owned banks, helped keep real gross domestic product (GDP) growing by more than 9% in 2009 and more than 10% in 2010, while the United States, Europe, and Japan languished.

Critics of that program, such as MIT economist Huang Yasheng, argue that state intervention during the crisis has set back the reform effort and harmed the private sector. In particular, it is claimed that the bulk of bank loans went to state-owned enterprises.

Lardy does not accept that verdict. Relying on official data, he concludes that "the stimulus program did not lead to a wholesale advance of the state at the expense of either private firms or individual businesses." In particular, "state-owned firms did not increase their share of bank lending." Nevertheless, he recognizes that the state continues to retain control over the so-called pillar industries such as banking, finance, telecommunications, and petroleum. And he acknowledges the "stepped-up level of state industrial policy", although he thinks it is premature to predict the impact on "the balance between state and market".

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The question about the proper balance between state and market should be at the center of any debate regarding China's future. Promoting capital freedom — that is, the right to acquire and exchange titles to capital assets — would allow private individuals a wider range of investment choices and limit the power of state officials. Lardy and others argue that one way to increase consumption in China is to extend the social safety net to include rural residents, who now have to pay most of the costs of education, health, and retirement. What is neglected, however, is that reliance on private savings reduces one's dependence on government and thus fosters civil society. In contrast, expanding state welfare would tilt the balance between state and market toward more government power and less individual responsibility. Private firms, many of which are foreign-funded, have been the most important contributors to growth in manufacturing, primarily in tradable goods. Exporters and import-competing industries have benefited greatly from China's opening to the outside world, beginning in 1978. The existence of widespread shadow banking serving the private sector, however, indicates that state-owned enterprises have much easier access to credit.

The recent Wenzhou experiment (based on a town in eastern China noted for its entrepreneurial activity), which officially recognizes and sanctions the informal banking sector, is an explicit admission of past discrimination. Also, the use of investment platforms (special investment vehicles) to fund local governments steers funds to SOEs involved in development projects, thereby affecting the balance between state and market. There is also the problem of identifying recipients of loans from state-owned banks by type of ownership. No official data exists on bank credit by ownership type. Thus, Lardy looks at bank loans by firm size, assuming private firms are mostly small enterprises, and finds that their share of new loans made under the stimulus program exceeded credit going to larger enterprises. He also finds that the share of industrial output produced by SOEs has continued to decline — from more than 80% in 1978 to less than 28% today. Nevertheless, Lardy is critical of the lack of any significant progress in reforming the state sector by liberalizing factor prices, especially interest rates, during the stimulus program. The government continues to set a ceiling on deposit rates and a floor on lending rates. The positive net interest spread enhances bank profitability

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and gives state-owned banks an incentive to favor financial repression. Low or negative real interest rates on deposits, including saving accounts, provides a low-cost source of funding for state-owned banks. Households appear to have a target rate of saving in order to meet expected expenditures for housing, education, healthcare, and retirement. Thus, Lardy finds that when interest rates decline, households tend to save more. Meanwhile, relatively low lending rates encourage investment, including in residential housing.

The sources of the imbalances in China's economy are due to the distortions in the price system and the politicization of investment decisions. Unless those distortions are removed by ending financial repression and allowing a greater scope for private markets, China will face increasing disharmony.

The most fruitful reform, notes Lardy, would be to end financial repression by liberalizing interest rates, which would increase real rates on deposits, thereby decreasing saving if the income effect is strong, and increasing consumption. That process now appears to have begun. Of course, if interest rates are to be market-determined, there must be fully competitive private capital markets, which would require privatizing state-owned banks and bringing shadow banking into the daylight not just in Wenzhou. In addition, the renminbi (also referred to as the yuan) needs to be convertible for all transactions, not only for trade in goods and services. Investors need to be free to choose both domestic and international assets for their portfolios. Using credit quotas and interest rate controls to allocate scare capital leads to corruption and inefficiency. The essential condition to normalize China's balance of payments, shift to a more service-oriented economy, slow investment growth, and increase consumption is to get relative prices right — especially interest rates and the exchange rate. Economists at the central bank and elsewhere have called for faster liberalization and restructuring, but the pace of reform will depend on political factors in a one-party state. The United States and others can put pressure on China for further reform, but such pressure is limited and could backfire. It would be better for Western debtor countries to get their own fiscal houses in order than to attack China for an undervalued exchange rate and threaten protectionist measures that would reduce world trade and wealth.

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A capital-poor country like China should not be a net exporter of capital. By holding trillions of dollars of low-yielding foreign debt, China deprives its citizens of the wealth that could be created by relaxing capital controls and encouraging imports by allowing market-determined exchange rates and freely determined interest rates. China's challenge is to undertake institutional reforms that protect individual rights, strengthen the private sector, get prices right, and thus tilt the balance between state and market toward more freedom and less coercion.

James A. Dorn is a China specialist at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., and co-editor of China's Future: Constructive Partner or Emerging Threat?

Article 6.

NYT
New Book in Battle Over East vs. West

Jennifer Schuessler

August 27, 2012 -- In 1988 Pankaj Mishra was a recent university graduate in the northern Indian city of Benares with big literary ambitions he had little idea how to fulfill. But when he heard that a local library was going to be auctioning back issues of The New York Review of Books as waste paper, he knew exactly what to do. "I convinced a friend of mine who was a student to pose as a paper recycler," Mr. Mishra recalled recently. "He put in a very high bid and brought a whole bunch of stuff over in a rickshaw." It's an anecdote that might seem plucked from the pages of a novel by Balzac by way of V. S. Naipaul — or, for that matter, from the essays and reportage that, in the years since, have made Mr. Mishra, 43, a regular presence in the pages of not just The New York Review, but also The New Yorker, The London Review of Books, The Guardian and seemingly every other prestigious publication in the Anglo-American literary world. Mr. Mishra's flair for the grace note is matched by a sometimes ferocious instinct for the jugular. In 1999 a denunciation of Salman Rushdie's novel

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"The Ground Beneath Her Feet" as "an alarming new kind of anti-literature" helped establish him as a force to be reckoned with in India's fractious literary scene. More recently, a blistering takedown of the historian Niall Ferguson in The London Review last November prompted extensive coverage in the British news media — and threats of a libel suit from Mr. Ferguson.

Now Mr. Mishra seems poised for a fresh round of intellectual battle. His latest book, "From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia," has already been greeted by some in Britain as a fuller, footnoted riposte to Mr. Ferguson's sunny view of Western imperialism, with the historian Mark Mazower, writing in The Financial Times, praising its "power to instruct and even to shock."

Some on the right have dismissed the book as a polemic, but Mr. Mishra brushes aside the term. "If your writing collides with the conventional wisdom, there's going to be some kind of friction," he said in a telephone interview from his home in London. And when it comes to the mainstream media, he added, "there are still very few people presenting perspectives other than that of the West."

"From the Ruins of Empire," to be published in the United States next Tuesday by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, is a richly detailed account of late 19th- and early-20th-century Asian intellectuals' often bitter responses to what one Japanese scholar quoted in the book called "the White Disaster."

Mr. Mishra's own story, however, suggests a young man who fell hard for Western literature but was sometimes too shy to consummate the affair.

He grew up in the northern city of Jhansi, the son of a railway worker whose prosperous Brahmin family had been impoverished by India's 1951 land reform. At Allahabad University Mr. Mishra studied commerce but nursed dreams of publishing a novel in English, "a language that no one around me spoke well, if at all," as he put it. He sent pages of a novel in progress to Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, a poet on the English faculty, who later sought him out at his student hostel for what Mr. Mishra recalled as "the first literary conversation I had ever had."

Even then, Mr. Mehrotra said in a phone interview, Mr. Mishra struck him as bound for big things. "I told my wife: `I must meet this person. We will hear about him later,' " he said, adding, "He was someone who needed to know everything."

EFTA01146727

Which isn't to say that Mr. Mishra embraces the narrative of the young provincial who moves to the center of the literary world by sheer force of talent, at least not geographically.

"I still hesitate to say I've moved to London," he said, noting that until his marriage in 2005 to Mary Mount, a book editor and the daughter of Ferdinand Mount, the former editor of The Times Literary Supplement, he was at best a "frequent visitor." The arrival of the couple's daughter, now 4, has curtailed his travels somewhat, but Mr. Mishra still spends several months a year writing in a rented cottage in Mashobra, a sleepy Himalayan town of 2,000.

His rise to prominence, however, does seem studded with lucky breaks and chance encounters that Mr. Mishra himself regards with wonder. The first came in 1994, when he was scraping by in Mashobra writing book reviews for Indian newspapers in the morning and reading and "filling notebooks like a crazy person" in the afternoon.

One day he got a letter from David Davidar, the publisher of Penguin India, asking if he'd like to do a book for the princely advance of $125.

"Butter Chicken in Ludhiana," a travelogue about small-town India based on six months of very bumpy bus travel, appeared in 1995 to good reviews and respectable sales. Next came a six-month stint as an editor at HarperCollins India in New Delhi, where Mr. Mishra quickly made a mark by acquiring Arundhati Roy's "God of Small Thing

His next big break came in 1997, after he'd moved back to Mashobra to start writing again. One day he noticed that Barbara Epstein, an editor at The New York Review of Books, would be giving a lecture in Delhi, and he sent her a note asking to meet.

After a friendly dinner Ms. Epstein invited him to submit a piece. His essay "Edmund Wilson in Benares," about discovering Wilson's books in the local library and finding curious echoes of his own chaotic world, appeared the next year, followed by a check for $4,000 — nearly 40 times the advance for "Butter Chicken."

Next came a deal for a novel, "The Romantics," about a shy young Indian man's encounter with Western spiritual seekers, published in 2000 by Random House to strong reviews. Mr. Mishra seemed to be riding the global vogue for Indian fiction, but he turned his attention instead to nonfiction, filing long pieces of reportage for The New York Review,

EFTA01146728

along with investigative pieces about suspected human rights abuses by the Indian Army that did not endear him to Hindu nationalists at home. "Pankaj was one of the first people to write serious nonfiction from India at a time when everyone else was writing fiction," said Akash Kapur, the author of "India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India." "His work was a harbinger of the nonfiction boom we're seeing right now." Mr. Mishra, who has contributed articles and reviews to The New York Times, also began writing increasingly about non-Indian subjects, filing dispatches from Afghanistan, China and beyond, some of which appeared in the 2006 collection "Temptations of the West."

But even as he has spent less time in India, he can still raise hackles there. In a 2010 speech to the Indian Parliament, the prominent pro-globalization economist Jagdish N. Bhagwati denounced Mr. Mishra's harsh critiques of India's economic liberalization as "fiction masquerading as nonfiction." And last year the writer Patrick French, whose "India: A Portrait" had been dismissed by Mr. Mishra, published a riposte in the Indian magazine Outlook, charging him with self-righteously attacking any writer who dares to praise capitalism, even cautiously.

As for the fracas with Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Mishra professes continued puzzlement. "I don't know why he took it so personally," he said. The review's provocative comparison between Mr. Ferguson and Theodore Lothrop Stoddard, the author of the 1920 best seller "The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremacy," Mr. Mishra insisted, was not meant to imply that Mr. Ferguson was a racist, as Mr. Ferguson charged in a long reply to The London Review, accusing him of "character assassination."

In his new book Mr. Mishra — an ardent critic of the American-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — has disdainful words for unnamed "pundits" who substitute ideological certainties for the messiness of experience. And while he writes a regular column for Bloomberg News, he doesn't want to hang the label on himself.

"It's a frightening, frightening word," he said.

For all his success, Mr. Mishra still retains a bit of what, in "Edmund Wilson in Benares," he called "the furious intensity of a small-town boy for whom books are the sole means of communicating with, and understanding, the larger world."

EFTA01146729

"My dominant feeling every day is one of great ignorance," he said.

Article 7.

NYT
The Man in the Moon

Lydia Netzer

August 27, 2012 -- MOST technological advances are actually just improvements. One thing builds on the next: from shoddy to serviceable, from helpful to amazing. First you had a carriage, then a car, and then an airplane; now you have a jet. You improve on what is there. Technological advances are like that.

Except for the one that involved landing on the Moon. When a human went and stood on the Moon and looked back at the Earth, that was a different kind of breakthrough. Nothing tangible changed when Neil Armstrong's foot dug into the lunar dust and his eyes turned back at us.

We didn't get faster wheels or smaller machines or more effective medicine. But we changed, fundamentally. What had been unknown, was known. What had been unseen was seen. And our human horizon popped out 200,000 miles. Forever, we would see the Earth differently, because we had seen it from someplace truly foreign.

This is why Mars is important. When we get a human to Mars — in the next few decades, NASA has predicted — our horizon will expand 1,000 times farther, and it will never go back.

Watching the first images from the rover, Curiosity, which landed on Mars early this month, I was reminded of a short story by Ray Bradbury called "Mars Is Heaven!" In it, Mars is populated by aliens who fool visiting Earthlings into thinking they're in a familiar environment before murdering them. It's about how stupid nostalgia is, how it tricks us into wanting things that were never that great in the first place. What strikes me about the story is that, just over 60 years ago, someone could seriously write about aliens on Mars.

Can you imagine what it was like then? Mars was an impossible frontier; we wouldn't even have decent pictures of the planet until almost 20 years

EFTA01146730

after the story was published. Now it reads like a fairy tale in which the moon is made of cheese, or the sun is a horse-drawn chariot bearing a god, or the stars move in crystal spheres around the sky. When humanity was in its infancy, we thought the universe revolved around us. Then, with Copernicus, we aged into heliocentrism, became aware we were one of a family of planets inside the walls of our house, the solar system. Nearby stars gather like a town, rotating through the galaxy, our country. Clusters are like continents. We realized in stages that we were very insignificant. And then, almost like grown-ups, we pulled our boots on and began to try to leave a significant mark anyway. We don't get anywhere by staying home from Mars. By pushing our little mine carts around the earth and making speedier mine carts, by connecting long pipes to communicate with one another and then creating better pipes to shout down, louder ways to shout. All of our squabbles with other humans and all of our possessions here on earth, the things we make faster, easier, smaller, really mean very little. How could they, when the universe is so big? Significance is in science — not the science that leads to better mine carts and more efficient shouting, but the science that leads to more ideas.

Remember Plato's allegory of the cave. In the cave, the people look at shadows moving on the wall. They watch the shadows move, and they think that's living. What if they could go outside and see the sun? That's us, moving from the Earth to the Moon. That's Neil Armstrong, who died at the age of 82 over the weekend, standing on the Moon, and looking back at Earth.

The thing about the cave is, it's not just one cave. It's more caves, and more, all nested within one another. The Moon was our first cave; Mars will be next. And then there will be another cave, and another. When people scoff at sending humans to Mars, and say that pictures of wheel marks on a red desert are not worth the trouble when there are so many things here at home that we could be spending money on, it makes me claustrophobic. It's as if we're trying, out of guilt or shame, to crawl back into the cave and watch the shadows on the wall. We're trying to stay children in our parents' house, knowing that the road leads to town, and then to another town. We're saying, "Look, we made a really great toilet that flushes itself! Remember that printing press? That was pretty

EFTA01146731

neat. We even made pyramids — those things are huge! Can't we just be happy with making a great toilet even greater? Do we really have to go to Mars?"

But Mars is waiting. It spins now outside our human reach. We must realize that the work of growing up is not something we can cut when the budget gets tight. It is mission critical, for the intellectual life of the species, for the future of humans, not to stagnate, not to wither, but to stretch, and reach, and always to expand.

Lydia Netzer is the author of the novel "Shine Shine Shine. "

EFTA01146732

📅 Aug 30, 2012 REDACTED

Re:

From: Unknown

To: jeevacation@gmail.com

Hi Jeffrey, we couldn't go, but I figured out how to download the photo... I think they are both free next Thursday - - On Thu, 8/30/12, Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmaiLcom> wrote: From: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com> Subject:<empty> To: <> Date: Thursday, August 30, 2012, 8:45 PM did you go out last night? ***** ********** *************** The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and i

Hi Jeffrey, we couldn't go, but I figured out how to download the photo... I think they are both free next Thursday

- - On Thu, 8/30/12, Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmaiLcom> wrote:

From: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>
Subject:<empty>
To: <>
Date: Thursday, August 30, 2012, 8:45 PM

did you go out last night?

*****

**********

***************

The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of Jeffrey Epstein Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to jea®gmail.com, and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved

📅 Aug 31, 2012 REDACTED

YACHT DELIVERY

From: Warren Eisenstein

Keep on Pushin' Warren YACHT DELIVERY 85 foot custom-built motor yacht complete with 4 state rooms, a state-of-the-art galley, GPS System and radar for navigation, twin supercharged diesel engines, etc. $7,474,793.00 ***** Champagne, chocolate covered strawberries with cream and music dockside for the excited 'soon to be owner' and a small group of his friends. $1500.00 EFTA01146741 A white yacht is being lifted by a crane over a body of water, with a distant industrial waterfront in th

Keep on Pushin'

Warren

YACHT DELIVERY

85 foot custom-built motor yacht complete with 4 state rooms, a state-of-the-art galley, GPS System and radar for navigation, twin supercharged diesel engines, etc.

$7,474,793.00

*****

Champagne, chocolate covered strawberries with cream and music dockside for the excited 'soon to be owner' and a small group of his friends.

$1500.00

EFTA01146741

A white yacht is being lifted by a crane over a body of water, with a distant industrial waterfront in the background. The yacht has a dark hull and visible propellers. The image context states a cost of "$2,500.00 a hour minimum" for corporate representatives, crane, and rigging.

Two corporate representatives, crane, and rigging $2,500.00 a hour minimum...

a faulty turnbuckle...
$25.00

EFTA01146742

The image depicts a white yacht accelerating rapidly, creating a large amount of spray. Two individuals are visible on the stern of the yacht. In the background, a harbor with cranes and other vessels is visible under a clear sky.

(Note the owner in the stern/back of the yacht)

Watching your 7 million dollar dreamboat nose dive into the harbor, accompanied by two corporate

Representatives from the company that built it just prior to 'inking' the final paperwork and handing over a 7 million dollar bankers check

EFTA01146743

A partially capsized boat, with its hull submerged in green water. Two individuals are in the water nearby, wearing life vests and holding onto life rings.

PRICELESS!

So, how was your day? No virus found in this message.Checked by AVG - hltp./Avww avgsam/Version: 2012.0.2197/ Virus Database: 2437/5227 - Release Date: 08/27/12

EFTA01146744

📅 Aug 31, 2012

Size matters

From: David Stern

To: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>

The image is not a chart. It shows three men in suits, with one man (Yao Ming) being significantly taller than the other two. The setting appears to be an indoor event, possibly a reception or formal gathering, with decorative elements on the walls and ornate wooden doors.

The image is not a chart. It shows three men in suits, with one man (Yao Ming) being significantly taller than the other two. The setting appears to be an indoor event, possibly a reception or formal gathering, with decorative elements on the walls and ornate wooden doors.

📅 Aug 31, 2012 REDACTED

Hell update

From: Unknown

To: jeevacation@gmail.com

Jeffrey, The paint work is completed, see attached photos,.Heli is in Fort Lauderdale at this time, the Toy store is finishing the Aft divan leather wrinkle, Bose headrest pad, will be completed today. -Aft facing divan head rest on R/H side has been removed. -The two passenger window black trim repair will be completed today and will arrive Tomorrow, Saturday. -The arm rest will not be addressed by Toy Store till Sept 10th + due to work load on BBJ completion that has to be done Sept 7th,.

Jeffrey,

The paint work is completed, see attached photos,.Heli is in Fort Lauderdale at this time, the Toy store is finishing the Aft divan leather wrinkle, Bose headrest pad, will be completed today.

-Aft facing divan head rest on R/H side has been removed.

-The two passenger window black trim repair will be completed today and will arrive Tomorrow, Saturday.

-The arm rest will not be addressed by Toy Store till Sept 10th + due to work load on BBJ completion that has to be done Sept 7th,. Their idea is to install a steel or large aluminum plate to mounting bracket base to prevent the arm rest from swaying/wobble and also lower the arm rest approx 1 112 inches to make better contact with seat cushion and closer to wood ledge height.

Since Toy store is unable to address arm rest for a while, I would like to get Plane Perfect's opinion on the arm rest and see if they have better solution on Monday, they are located in West Palm beach, and have done good work in the past with S76 interior repairs etc,.

(Weather between West Palm Bch and St Thomas is perfect) fyi

-LSJ Golf Cart, Black and Tan,

I am heading to Ex-go cart store for purchase of the golf cart, will have firm price shortly.

-working third wheel truck and other equipment today,. more info later,.

-B&W tweeter and woofer for Gym has arrived, I will ship to 71st for Barrent or Scott to install

-I sent two other Great Dane choices earlier this morning,.

thank you,

Larry

📅 Sep 1, 2012

(no subject)

From: Brock Pierce

To: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>

The Ukraine is now my favorite country. :-) Bp Attachments: - 188617_198170590212142_100000576066024_649480_4820623_n.jpg - 189527_198169796878888_100000576066024_649461_7655461_n.jpg - 196004_201111519918049_100000576066024_670853_5473407_n.jpg - 229401_215236848505516_100000576066024_781424_4699993_n.jpg - 229401_215236851838849_100000576066024_781425_4037690_n.jpg - 247193_219236091438925_100000576066024_810776_985310_n.jpg - 250053_219236394772228_100000576066024_810778_7031271_n.jpg - unti

The Ukraine is now my favorite country. :-)
Bp

Attachments:
- 188617_198170590212142_100000576066024_649480_4820623_n.jpg
- 189527_198169796878888_100000576066024_649461_7655461_n.jpg
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- untitled.jpg
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- 61883_157076080988260_100000576066024_366061_816163_n.jpg
- 68037_160543037308231_100000576066024_387531_7730338_n.jpg
- 69010_160783620617506_100000576066024_388500_485225_n.jpg
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- 164892_187807821248419_100000576066024_572681_659426_n.jpg
- 165388_185835774778957_100000576066024_559050_7165762_n.jpg
- 167008_186083014754233_100000576066024_561122_1228189_n.jpg
- 167877_192236300805571_100000576066024_604477_7403790_n.jpg

📅 Aug 31, 2012

JPM View 08.31.2012

From: US GIO <us.giogpmorgan.com>

To: Undisclosed recipients

Attachments: JPM_View_08.31.2012-pdtzip Inline-Images: image003.png EFTA01146786 This image is not a chart. It is a decorative element with a calligraphic script on a dark brown background, bordered by a pale blue strip on the right. The script appears to read "Life's Treasure". Morgan Global Asset Allocation 31 August 2012 The Morgan View Adding risk in the US • Asset allocation-Cover long EMFX funded in euros and instead go outright long US equities as US has least event risk in Septemb

Attachments: JPM_View_08.31.2012-pdtzip
Inline-Images: image003.png

EFTA01146786

This image is not a chart. It is a decorative element with a calligraphic script on a dark brown background, bordered by a pale blue strip on the right. The script appears to read "Life's Treasure".

Morgan

Global Asset Allocation
31 August 2012

The Morgan View

Adding risk in the US

• Asset allocation-Cover long EMFX funded in euros and instead go outright long US equities as US has least event risk in September, upside risk on the economy and a more supportive central bank.

▪ Economics — Upside risks on US. due to better consumption. are offset by downside risks on China and Japan to keep our global growth forecasts and risk balance unchanged

▪ Fixed Income — Portugal 2-yr yields include some 3% in EMU exit premium. making a clear case for new ECB SMP buying.

- Equities — Overweight US industries that benefit from sustained housing recovery.

- Credit — US HY and CMBS should benefit front any mow to QE3. and are less exposed to event risk in Europe.

- Currencies — Shorts on EURiUSD are about 75% covered.

- Commodities — Stay OW energy vs. base metals.

- Nlarkets have been largely in a holding pattern over the past fortnight. though giving back a touch of the risk rally of the previous fortnight. Equities are a percent or so lower. credit spreads a few bp wider and government bond yields some 10bp lower. With little news. investors are waiting for the potential policy fireworks over the next few weeks to decide which way to tilt their holdings.

• Two weeks ago, we upgraded our global growth outlook from a negative risk bias to a more balanced one. There has not been a lot of news since then. but the releases we did receive appear to be confining that a bottoming process has taken place in world growth. We currently have the world economy e:gliating at a rh. pace in Q3, slightly up from Q2. We have seen no reason to change our 2012 and 2013 global projections for the past month now. Across regions, better consumer spending is creating some upside for Q3, but only modestly so given the recent rise in gas prices. European data are largely tracking our forecast for continued contraction of the economy. In Asia. weaker data are creating downside risks to both Japan and China.

• Economic data not getting worse is no source of comfort, as the current growth pace is same 1% below potential and risks driving the world into global deflation if not depression_ Hence, our eyes remains on what policy makers can do to prevent this. The US Federal Reserve is probably closest to having exhausted its armory. but is also seen as the policy maker most willing to do whatever it takes to reverse conditions. Hence, the preference of many investors to hold US equities relative to the rest of the world. Mr Bernanke today confirmed his commitments again at Jackson Hole. but is making us wait to the next FOMC meeting for details. He will then likely extend rate guidance for another year. with close to even odds of another bout of balance sheet atellS1011

See page 7 for analyst certification and important disclosures.

| Asset Class | YTD Return (%) |
|---------------------|----------------|
| EMBIG | 6.9 |
| S&P500 | 5.6 |
| EM $ Corp. | 4.8 |
| US High Yield | 4.3 |
| MSCI AC World* | 3.9 |
| MSCI Europe* | 3.6 |
| US High Grade | 3.0 |
| Europe Fixed Inc* | 2.6 |
| MSCI EM* | 2.1 |
| EM Local Bonds** | 1.2 |
| Gold | 0.8 |
| GSCI TR | 0.6 |
| US Fixed Income | -0.3 |
| EM FX | -0.8 |
| Topix* | -1.1 |
| Global Gov Bonds** | -1.4 |
| US cash | -2.5 |

This email is confidential and subject to important disclaimers and conditions includin on offers for the rehase or sale of securities, accuracy and cOmpleleneti of information, viruses, confidentiality. legal privilege. and legal entity disclaimers. available at

EFTA01146787

📅 Aug 31, 2012

Financial Trust / Haze Trust Month End MTMs

From: Giuffrida, David J

To: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>

Jeffrey, Please find attached today's updated MTM report. Let me know if you have any questions. David J. Giuffrida J.P. Morgan I Global lnvcstmcnt Opportunities Group 320 Park Avenue, 14th Floor New York, NY 10022 T: 212-622-2972 F: 212-310-0108 IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates do not provide tax advice. Accordingly, any discussion of U.S. tax matters contained herein (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used,

Jeffrey,

Please find attached today's updated MTM report.

Let me know if you have any questions.

David J. Giuffrida
J.P. Morgan I Global lnvcstmcnt Opportunities Group
320 Park Avenue, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10022
T: 212-622-2972
F: 212-310-0108

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure:

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates do not provide tax advice. Accordingly, any discussion of U.S. tax matters contained herein (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, in connection with the promotion, marketing or recommendation by anyone unaffiliated with JPMorgan Chase & Co. of any of the matters addressed herein or for the purpose of avoiding U.S. tax-related penalties.

This is not an official confirmation.

JPMorgan Private Bank" is the marketing name for the private banking business conducted by JPMorgan Chase & Co., and its subsidiaries worldwide. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N. A. and J.P. Morgan Trust Co., N. A. are members of the FDIC. J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. (JPMSI) is a member of the New York Stock Exchange and other national and regional exchanges. JPMSI is the broker-dealer, member NASD, SIPC. In addition, JPMorgan Chase & Co. may opemte various other broker-dealers or investment advisory entities.

The following is being provided for informational purposes only and/or in response to your request. Information contained in this message and any accompanying documentation, including but not limited to any research, market valuations, statements, confirmations, cakulations or estimates, is believed to be reliable, but we do not warrant is completeness or accuracy. Opinions and estimates constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. The broker-dealers and/or their affiliates and employees may hold a position or act as market maker in the financial instruments of any issuer discussed herein or act as underwriter, placement agent, advisor or lender to such issuer. Valuations provided reflect price estimate on the date(s) specified. Please refer to your official statement/confirmation. We cannot guarantee that different prices would not be available elsewhere and suggests that several valuations from other source be obtained for the purpose of making required calculations. Target prices and anticipated yields are based upon research material and there can be no assurances that these prices or yields can be realized. The obligations and the securities soll, offered, or recommended, inchiding mutual funds, are not deposits and are not obligations of, or endorsed or guaranteed by, any bank or thrift, nor are they insured by the FDIC or cay governmental agency.

Please contact your JP Morgan Private Bank representative for further infamation or regarding any transaction

This information is for the sole use of the person to whom it is addressed, and may be privileged and confidential. Any use. distribution, or duplication by anyone other than the addressee is prohibited. If you receive this in error, please notify the sender immediately and return it by mail. © 2005 JPMorgan Chase & Co.

This communication is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument or as an official confirmation of any transaction. All market prices. data and other information are not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and are subject to change without notice.

EFTA01146796

Any comments or statements made herein do not necessarily reflect those ofJPMorgan Chase & Co., its subsidiaries and affiliates. This transmission may contain information that is privileged, confidential, legally privileged, and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you arc hereby notified that any disclosure. copying. distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Although this transmission and any attachments arc believed to be free ofany virus or other defect that might affect any computer system into which it is received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that it is virus free and no responsibility is accepted by JPMorgan Chase & Co.. its subsidiaries and affiliates, as applicable, for any loss or damage arising in any way from its use. If youreceived this transmission in error, please immediately contact the sender and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in electronic or hard copy format. Thank you. Please refer to http://www.jpmorgan.comipagesidisclosures for disclosures relating to European legal entities.

EFTA01146797

📅 Aug 7, 2012

Re: Dinochicken meeting proposal

From: Jack Horner

To: Assistant to Jeffrey Epstein

Hi I wanted to thank you for all your help in getting me to Jeffrey's ranch, it was a lot of fun, and [ ] although we didn't find any dinosaur fossils, we did discover that he has ocean front property, a nice beach with loads of shellfish, potential for marine reptiles, and a really cool old railway. Jeffrey and the girls were very gracious hosts as were Brice and Karen. And, of course, the food was incredible!! Jeffrey indicated that he would help out my Dinochicken Project by supporting a con

Hi I wanted to thank you for all your help in getting me to Jeffrey's ranch, it was a lot of fun, and [ ] although we didn't find any dinosaur fossils, we did discover that he has ocean front property, a nice beach with loads of shellfish, potential for marine reptiles, and a really cool old railway. Jeffrey and the girls were very gracious hosts as were Brice and Karen. And, of course, the food was incredible!!

Jeffrey indicated that he would help out my Dinochicken Project by supporting a conference of all our various participants, so I need to know what sorts of information you might need from me, or how I should proceed.

Jeffrey also indicated that he might be able to come out to visit a dinosaur site in September, and if this is a possibility, it would be good to get an approximate potential date so that I could make arrangements to and from the closest airports. There is one site located in northern Montana about 300 miles north of Bozeman, and another about 350 miles east of Bozeman. The one to the north is private land and many the fossils found could be kept. The site to the east is government land and found specimens have to go to the museum. Both sites produce a great many dinosaur fossils.

Please give my best to Jeffrey and the girls.

All the best,

jack

📅 Aug 31, 2012

Re: Dinochicken meeting proposal

From: Assistant to Jeffrey Epstein

To: Jack Horner

Hello Jack! HOpe all is well with you and you have been enjoying the rest of summer. Jeffrey is asking if you could send us your request and a budget for the conference you would like to have Jeffrey support! Might you be able to email something at your earliest convenience? Assistant to Jeffrey Epstein

Hello Jack! HOpe all is well with you and you have been enjoying the rest of summer.

Jeffrey is asking if you could send us your request and a budget for the conference you would like to have Jeffrey support! Might you be able to email something at your earliest convenience?

Assistant to Jeffrey Epstein

📅 Aug 31, 2012

Re: Dinochicken meeting proposal

From: Jack Horner

To: Assistant to Jeffrey Epstein

Thanks =I I'll send it first thing in the morning. Jack

Thanks =I I'll send it first thing in the morning.

Jack

📅 Sep 1, 2012

Re: Dinochicken meeting proposal

From: Jack Horner

To: Epstein Jeffrey <jeevacation@gmail.com>

Dear Jeffrey, First off, many thanks for the invitation to your ranch, I had a great time, especially spending time with you and the girls, and seeing your Cretaceous sediments and the old railroad. I don't get many chances to spend time with non paleontologists or see places and things like that these days. I talked to my post docs and Co-PI when I returned and got the scoop on the transgenic chickens situation, for as you know I was very surprised to hear that such a thing existed since my c

Dear Jeffrey,

First off, many thanks for the invitation to your ranch, I had a great time, especially spending time with you and the girls, and seeing your Cretaceous sediments and the old railroad. I don't get many chances to spend time with non paleontologists or see places and things like that these days.

I talked to my post docs and Co-PI when I returned and got the scoop on the transgenic chickens situation, for as you know I was very surprised to hear that such a thing existed since my co-researchers were saying they didn't. As it turns out, although there are such a thing, there is simply no established protocol to create them, and they, at present do not pass on their characteristics, so in effect are useless for our project. What it is that we need to do is to be able to target a specific region of DNA, and that technology is not yet available in birds, but is expected within a year or two, so within our time frame. We hope someone else will do it first so we can use it, as this technology (homologous recombination technology, aka knockout technology) is essential to the success of this project. We do not aim to generate chickens that express an extraneous gene (a transgene), but we plan on finding the very small changes in the regulation of existing genes that curb tail, hand, and tooth development. In order to make these very small changes in the chicken genome, homologous recombination technology needs to be developed.

Anyway, this is the sort of stuff we will discuss in our summit meeting, and I very much appreciate your considering the funding of this meeting. It is obviously the most important first step, and I thank you for suggesting we do it.

Please give all the girls my very best wishes, and to you, whom I envy,
Thanks again,

Jack

9.1.12

Proposal Attached and Separate (attachment)

📅 Sep 2, 2012

Greg Brown's Weekend Reading and Other Things....

From: Gregory Brown <gbrown1970@gmail.com>

To: undisclosed-recipients:;

Dear Friends...... Over the next weeks we will hear many promises from both parties. They both will claim that they are going to lower taxes, reform entitlements, reverse the deficit and grow the economy. They will talk allot about whet they will do for the Middle Class and both parties will try to allay the fears of the rich that that their policies won't hurt them. But neither party will seriously push for policies that favor the poor. We live in a country where a sports team last week acquir

Dear Friends......

Over the next weeks we will hear many promises from both parties. They both will claim that they are going to lower taxes, reform entitlements, reverse the deficit and grow the economy. They will talk allot about whet they will do for the Middle Class and both parties will try to allay the fears of the rich that that their policies won't hurt them. But neither party will seriously push for policies that favor the poor. We live in a country where a sports team last week acquired four players whose combined salaries exceeded a quarter of a billion dollars, and many politicians chose to not support the notion that every citizen should have access to affordable (or free) comprehensive healthcare. We live in a country where we celebrate the winners as American Exceptionism but refuse to understand that we are only as strong as our weakest citizens. We live in a country where our children are ranked 14th in Reading, 17th in Science and 25th in Math.... and still we are cutting funding for Public Education so that we can extend tax breaks for the rich. Our politicians tell us that we have the best healthcare in the world, while The World Health Organization ranks the US 37th - just before Slovenia and after Costa Rica — with more than 40 million Americans not covered. We live in a country where we call rich people 'yob creators" and suggest that civil servants are moochers and that union workers should take additional pay cuts and pension reductions, while Wall Street bonuses are the largest ever.... Something is wrong with this picture and I am not sure that I have the answers either, but I do know that doubling down on the failed Bush/Cheney policies will only make things worse, as they did during the eight years under their Administration.

Still Republicans and their Conservative supporters see no problem with the Ryan budget that would devastate social services/programs and cuts food stamps to the poor. And they want you to think they're applying the savings to the deficit, but they're not. What they're doing is they're cutting taxes for the wealthy. Preferential treatment to protect the poor was an essential component in America for the past hundred years. Today this commitment is gone. We have the elderly who can't make it on their social security payments or pension payments that they have. We have millions of single-parent families and now two-parent families living in poverty. We have kids out of college who can't get a job that pays enough to pay rent or their student loans. And that most of the jobs available today are minimum wage, basic pay, and this just doesn't cut it anymore. At the

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same time Goldman Sacks paid $15.38 billion, or $430,700 per employee in bonuses last year with more 90% going to the top 100 employees.

Since supply-side economics became policy in the 1980s during the Reagan Administration, economic inequality has grown to a staggering proportion. According to calculations by Council of Economic Advisers chairman Alan Kruegar, "the shift in income inequality over the last three decades has been the equivalent of moving $1.1 trillion of incomefrom the 99 percent to the top 1percent every single year. "And this is not going to change with more tax cuts for the rich. The federal budget recently passed by the Republican Majority in the house, titled "The Path to Prosperity" by its author, Republican Congressman, and now Vice Presidential candidate, Paul Ryan does not have any provisions to reverse this inequality or strengthen the safety net for the poor. In the richest country in the world, why spend almost 30% of the budget on the Military and at the same time not try to protect our most venerable citizens with a safety net?

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For those who didn't see the season finale HBO's THE NEWSROOM created & written by Aaron Sorkin, you should as this week's show 'The Greater Fool' theme is about 'voter suppression' and distortion of facts, science, history, etc and most of all, it is as thoughtful and smart as good television can get. Like most great art, theater, music, poetry, comedy and the visual media, THE NEWSROOM employs multiple themes over its dramatic storylines, providing depth and accessibility.

This week's show blasts the Tea Party and unveils the myth of Republican claim of voter fraud.

THE NEWSROOM is at its best and brightest when it covers issues in the news. The most revealing and scathing segment of 'The Greater Fool' is when ACN delves into the claim by Republican conservatives of rampant nationwide voter fraud sweeping across the U.S. It's this story that rallies Will (our central character) from his hospital bed and gets his butt back in the anchor seat. The idea of the story comes to Will's attention after an outraged nurse storms into Will's hospital room. The nurse demands he cover the news about her 90- year-old aunt who has been voting for 70 years, but now is barred from voting because she doesn't have a driver's license or a passport to qualify for getting registrated under the new voting laws in her state.

While Republicans cite a government issued photo ID as a requirement to vote, the truth is that this is a veiled excuse to keep people who typically vote for Democrats out of the voting booth permanently. Will uncovers that over the past eight years only 84 voters throughout the entire U.S. fraudulently vote, which isn't even a full one thousand ofl% of all votes cast. Republicans hope in barring people the right the vote, they can keep a whopping 11% of the entire voting population from casting a vote in the Democrats' favor. 33 states have proposed or adopted voter ID laws supposedly to cut down on voter fraud. Of the 33 voter ID laws, 32 were proposed by Republican legislators, past by Republican control state houses and signed by Republican Governors. Hence, the real intent of the new wave of ID laws....

Also telling is THE NEWSROOM's scathing coverage of the Tea Party. Several members of the Tea Party are quoted for their blatant hatred of Obama and their Christian zealotry. Perhaps the best scene of the night was when a long list of damning qualities about the Tea Party were presented in Will's news broadcast. "Today's Republican Beliefs are:"

• Ideological purity

• A fundamentalist belief in scriptural literalism

• Compromise as weakness

- Denying science

• Unmoved by facts

• Undeterred by new information

⚫ A hostile fear of progress

⚫ A demonetization of education

• A need to control woman's bodies

• Severe xenophobia

• Tribal mentality

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• Intolerance of dissent

• A pathological hatred of the US Government

Will intones the Tea Party as xenophobic; ignores the facts; impedes progress; claims it works for America, but hates Americans; is ruled by tribal mentality; and tries to control women's bodies.

• Tea Party believes in loving America but hating Americans: Rep. Allen West (R) Florida, "I must confess, when I see anyone with a Obama bumper sticker; I recognize them as a threat to the gene pool."

• The Tea Party believes in loving America but hating its government: Grover Norqvist, Founder & President, Americans For Tax Reform, "I don't want to abolish government I simply want to reduce it to the size that I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."

• The Tea Party believes that anyone who disagrees with them have sinister anti-American motives: Herman Cane "the objective the liberals it to destroy this country the objective of liberals is to make this country mediocre."

• The Tea Party believes that most of all you most never and under any circumstance seek to reach a with compromise with your opponent: .Senator Mitch McConnell (R) Kentucky "Our top political priority over the next two years is to deny President Obama a second term."

• The Tea Party believes that if you are poor it means that you are either too lazy or to stupid to be rich: Lt. Governor Andre Bauer (R) South Carolina. "My grandmother was not a highly educated woman but she told me as a small child to quitfeeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed."

Will concludes.... "the Tea Party is the American Taliban. When seen in that light perhaps the real enemy isn't some remote terrorist organization in Afghanistan. Our worst enemy has hijacked our government and is holding our country hostage." I hate to quote facts from a television entertainment show, but themes in the show mirror the ugly truth of the current state of partisan politics in America, where candidates and their supporters are willing to distort the truth, ignore the facts, malign opponents and cheat to win at all cost.

A example of the re-write of history is that Republicans will tell you that America was founded as a Christian nation.... But this absolutely is not true....

• John Adams: (The Treaty of Tripoli) "As the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion..."

• Thomas Jefferson: "That our civil rights has no dependence on our religious opinions"

• 1st Amendment in the US Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,...."

As will surmise in the season finale of THE NEWSROOM, "Its almost hard to believe that Republicans can't get a 92 year old black woman to vote for them." Please read again and then think back to this week's Republican National Convention...... Because you will see that it is all true..... When I was growing up there was a saying "that even television couldn't make this shit up." Today, it doesn't have to.......

******

One of the major themes at the GOP Convention in Tampa this past week centered around President Obama for his "you didn't build that line" about job creation in America which Mitt Romney and the GOP have hammered for past weeks. So on Wednesday night the theme of RNC shenanigans is "We Built It " The infamous, truncated line from President Barack Obama's Roanoke, Va., speech appears at least once in every single set of remarks from the stage.. But if you cut through the "code" the theme really was, "let me tell you something" was how the uppity, socialist incompetent prey who told businessmen that they never achieved anything." AND MOST OF ALL, HE IS NOT ONE OF US

HERE IS WHAT THE PRESIDENT ACTUALLY SAID

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S "YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT" TRANSCRIPT - Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event in Roanoke, Virginia

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"But you know what, I'm not going to see us gut the investments that grow our economy to give tax breaks to me or Mr. Romney orfolks who don't need them. So I'm going to reduce the deficit in a balanced way. We've already made a trillion dollars' worth ofcuts. We can make another trillion or trillion-two, and what we then do is ask for the wealthy to pay a little bit more. (Applause.) And, by the way, we've tried that before — a guy named Bill Clinton did it. We created 23 million new jobs, turned a deficit into a surplus, and rich people did justfine. We created a lot ofmillionaires. There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me — because they want to give something back. They know they didn't — look, if you've been successful, you didn't get there onyour own. You didn't get there on your own. I'm always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smartpeople out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tellyou something — there are a whole bunch ofhardworking people out there. (Applause) If you were successful, somebody along the line gaveyou some help. There was a great teacher somewhere inyour life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business — you didn't build that Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money offthe Internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because ofour individual initiative, but also because we do things together:"

The point is that when we succeed because of our individual initiative, and because we worked together with others, on the shoulders of those who proceed and helped us, including the government. During the GOP Convention there was much talk about the Founding Fathers and the US Constitution, but here was little to no mention, that the moon landing, desegregation, transcontinental highway system, GI Bill, Internet and World War II were all events and things in which government played the leading role. Look, if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own. I'm always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else — there area whole bunch of hardworking people out there. If you were successful, I can promise that somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business — you didn't build it by yourself because as any grandmother will tell you, "to really raise a childyou needa community/village " - family,friends, church, school, doctor; daycare, Boys & Girls Clubs, Pop Warner Leage, and most ofall the government, local, state andfederal - and building a business is like raising a child.

As Robert Reich wrote in his blog this week, the most troubling economic trend facing America today is the increasing concentration of income, wealth, and political power at the very top -- among a handful of extraordinarily wealthy people -- and the steady decline of the great American middle class. Inequality in America is at record levels. The 400 richest Americans now have more wealth than the bottom 150 million of us put together.

Republicans claim the rich are job creators. Nothing could be further from the truth. In order to create jobs, businesses need customers. But the rich spend only a small fraction of what they earn. They park most of it wherever around the world they can get the highest return. The real job creators are the vast middle class, whose spending drives the economy and creates jobs. But as the middle class's share of total income continues to drop, it cannot spend as much as before. Nor can most Americans borrow as they did before the crash of 2008 -- borrowing that temporarily masked their declining purchasing power. As a result, businesses are reluctant to hire. This is the main reason why the recovery has been so anemic.

As wealth and income rise to the top, moreover, so does political power. The rich are able to entrench themselves by lowering their taxes, gaining special tax breaks (such as the "carried interest" loophole allowing private equity and hedge fund managers to treat their incomes as capital gains), and ensuring a steady flow of corporate welfare to their businesses (special breaks for oil and gas, big agriculture, big insurance, Big Pharma, and, of course, Wall Street). All of this squeezes public budgets, corrupts government, and undermines our democracy. The issue isn't the size of our government; it's who our government is for. It has become less

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responsive to the needs of most citizens and more to the demands of a comparative few. The Republican response -- as we saw dramatically articulated this past week in Tampa -- is to further reduce taxes on the rich, defund programs for the poor, fight unions, allow the median wage to continue to fall, and oppose any limits on campaign contributions or spending. And it does not take a great deal of brainpower to understand this strategy will lead to an even more lopsided economy, more entrenched wealth, and more corrupt democracy.

Weekend Reading

We live in a world where there is so much information and so many distractions that we often miss things that were and are important to us. Today I found out that one of my heroes died two months ago without me noticing. Although he was not a famous movie star, director, producer or studio executive he was one of the most important influences in American cinema, as he championed the auteur theory, and one of the main reasons why people bought The Village Voice every week. My hero Andrew Sarris died on June 20, 2012 in New York City at the age of 83.

It's hard to imagine that there was a time when Alfred Hitchcock, Jean-Luc Godard, Orson Welles, John Ford and Martin Scorsese were not considered artists — and "Laurence ofArabia," "The Bicycle Thief" "High Noon" and "Citizen Kane' as art or --- at least not the in way they are today. But it took a critic to argue that a movie director could call a work his own in the same way any poet or novelist or painter could. And for this, American filmgoers should thank Andrew Sarris. And although he didn't invent this notion — now called auteur theory — but he did bring it to American shores, and in the United States he gave it its name.

Taking his cue from Cahiers du Cinema critics like Francois Truffaut, Sarris argued loudly for the primacy of the director as the creator of a film. In 1968 he laid out his judgments on each of these artists in The American Cinema: Directors and Directions (1929-1968), still one of the most influential books on the way we think about the movies.

While widely accepted by American movie lovers and critics today, Sarris's ideas and arguments were at first quite controversial. In the 1960s film fans paired off between Pauline Kael's Paulettes, who found the theory too reductive, and Sarris's Sarristes. The rivalry was vicious; Kael called the auteur theory "an attempt by adult males tojustibr staying inside the small range of experience of their boyhood and adolescence, that period when masculinity looked so great and important " While battles about authorial intent have since fallen out of fashion across the arts, Sarris's ideas helped legitimize the cinema as a great art form, and animated many of the directors of the New Hollywood.

In addition to popularizing these ideas, Sarris will be long remembered for the pointedness of his pen. Simply look to Sarris's first review for The Village Voice, of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. While New York Times critic Bosley Crowther wrote a review that now seems square and even tone-deaf—he criticized the film's lack of subtlety, and found its shocks to be a bit juvenile—Sarris found the art in Hitchcock's commercial effort, wasting no time before declaring, "A close inspection of Psycho indicates not only that the French have been right all along, but that Hitchcock is the most-daring avant-garde film-maker in America today."

Although Sarris's fights with Kael, and these historic debates as a whole, would soon cool down (Kael, who later became less resistant to auteur theory, died in 2001), Sarris remained combative into his 80s. He left the Village Voice for the Observer in 1989, and continued to review films there until 2009. Like almost every other would-be young filmmaker in the late 1960s, I remember buying "The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929-1968" in 1969 and hoping that one day I would make it into The Pantheon.... He truly was a giant.. who change the way that Americans and the world view cinema... Please feel free to read his New York Times obituary, written by Michael Powell.

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Please feel free to read the article by Nicholas Sambanis in the New York Times, "Has 'Europe' Failed?," as it challenges Germany's leaders to come clean with their people "what it means to be European, how good

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European citizens should behave toward other Europeans and why a strong Europe is good for German interests in a world dominated by the United States, China and emerging powers like India and Brazil. Without such a discussion, and real concessions to Greece, a Greek exit is inevitable — and with it the triumph of parochialism in Europe." Because if Greece pulls or is forced out of the Eurozone, the Eurozone most likely will come apart creating a huge problem with German banks who have propped up Greece and the other troubled economies.

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During this current silly season of presidential politics, Hurricane Isaac and the last season of MTV's 'Jersey Shore; it is easy to miss one of the one of the most important litigation going -- Apple vs Samsung lawsuit whereby Apple alleged that at least 17 Samsung products infringe its patents. In the litigation, Apple is seeking to halt U.S. sales of a number of Samsung products including its hugely successful Galaxy S3 Smartphones (10 million sold in the first three months) and Galaxy Note/Note 10.1. In documents filed , Apple said those 21 Samsung smartphones, media players and tablets released after August 2011 were "copycat products."

Apple: "Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung stylefor its smartphone and tablet computer products, Samsung has chosen to copy Apple's technology, user interface and innovative style," Apple said in one document.

In Vivek Wadhwa's article, Why Apple needs to lose the Samsung appeal' in The Washington Post this week, he says that he hopes that Apple loses the lawsuit — because ":I am worried about the future of innovation — not only in Silicon Valley, but also at Apple. Another Apple victory will escalate the patent wars and cause more innovative startups to get trampled while tech-industry titans battle each other. Another patent victory could also cause Apple to become complacent — just as Microsoft was at the height of its Windows monopoly. Innovation requires a thriving ecosystem — one in which companies build on each other's ideas and where they are forced to continually reinvent themselves."

Wadhwa believes that patents have become a destructive force in the technology sector. Fledgling startups have to constantly worry about big companies such as Apple or Samsung — or worst of all—a patent troll, bankrupting them with a frivolous lawsuit. Research has shown between 1990 and 2010, patent lawsuits have caused a loss of half-a-trillion dollars in wealth and forced U.S. companies to divert substantial resources from production to litigation support.

He points out that Apple also got its start by building on technology developed by others. The graphical user interface and mouse that the Macintosh popularized and the tablet computer were in different stages of development at institutions such as Stanford Research Institute and Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Steve Jobs built on these innovations. If he was embroiled in lawsuits or had to pay hefty fees to patent trolls, the Macintosh computer, iPhone, iPad, and iPod would very likely not have existed. Wadhwa's believes that if Apple wins Samsung's anticipated appeal, it will escalate the patent wars and cause more innovative startups to get trampled.

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Since 1978 college tuition has increase by 1,120 Percent, as schools are investing and building more than ever — and students are paying for it. See the attached Bloomberg Businessweek graph 'College Tuition's 1,120 Percent Increase.' As schools are investing and building more than ever — and students are paying for it

State spending for public colleges and universities has dropped sharply over the last three decades, as the state-by-state numbers contained in this special report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education demonstrate. At the same time, tuition and required fee charges rose significantly in many states, and some states reduced their student financial aid programs. The result was the worst fiscal news for public higher education institutions and their students in at least a decade, as the economic recession struck almost every state. So far this year, the picture looks even bleaker, with states continuing to cut higher education appropriations and campuses responding by raising tuition even higher, imposing new fees and reducing student financial assistance.

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For many years, it has been unknown to the general public that all of the major elements comprising the student lending system (i.e. lenders, collection companies, guarantors) made far more money when students defaulted on their loans. Nevertheless, this is a fact, and it is well documented. It is most disturbing, however, that recent analysis of the President's Budget data reveals that even the US Department of Education, on average, recovers $1.22 for every dollar paid out in default claims. Assuming generous collection costs, and even allowing for a nominal time value of money of a few percent (the governments cost of money is very low), it still appears that the federal government, even, is making a pretty penny from defaults.

How could this be possible? The primary reason for this is that unlike all other types of debt, bankruptcy protections, statutes of limitations, and other standard consumer protections have been removed from federal student loans, and draconian collection powers have been given to collect on hugely inflated, defaulted student loan debt. Today Americans owe more than $1 trillion in student loans. Forget taxes, we have saddled our current generation with more than $1 trillion that they have to repay. With the increasing need for higher education for young people and workers of all age to stay competitive, accept that the cost of education will continue to rise, government spending for education cut and Americans saddled with more and more debt.

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Echoing the above is an article in the Financial Times by Shannon Bond, 'Jobless generation puts brakes on US.' The story centers around Andrew Grzywacz, a 23-year-old who graduated from Boston's Emerson College in December with a degree in film and television writing and now has a job that pays $8.50 an hour — and more than $30,000 in student debt. According to the International Labour Organisation,.youth unemployment has reached crisis levels around the world, with almost 13 per cent of the global youth labour force out of work this year. But the problem has a unique in the US, where the weak job market has collided with record levels of educational debt — about $25,000 for the average graduate. Together, they pose a threat to the future earning power of young Americans such as Mr Grzywacz — and could have long-lasting effects on US growth.

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One of the great myths that Americans believe and is often touted by our politicians is that the Founding Fathers envisioned, believed and supported our two-party system. As Willard Sterne Randall points out this week in his article in the Buffington Post, Did the Founding Fathers Really Want Two Parties?' - Nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, George Washington ran unopposed in the first two presidential elections but ever since 1796, the first election in which there were two competing candidates, Jefferson and John Adams, one political party has always tried to utterly destroy the other. From the outset, American presidential elections have been vicious. They didn't just get that way in the 21st century.

To begin with, the Constitution did not provide for any political parties. It's not that the Founding Fathers didn't think about them but, to them, even the word "party" was anathema. They preferred a presidential election, the linchpin of our political system, in which the top vote-getter got to be president; the number two man, vice president. Why would you need parties? To the Founders, opposition to the new nation's political leadership meant opposition to the government -- treason.

Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans became Andrew Jackson's Democrats. They held power, except for a single term, for 60 years. And then it was Abraham Lincoln's turn. His new Republicans were ushered into the White House by the nearly terminally-divisive Civil War. To oppose the governing party again became treason, Lincoln's critics rounded up and incarcerated, the writ of habeas corpus suspended. No Democrat would be elected president for another generation. The GOP of Abraham Lincoln held sway, with only two brief interruptions, for nearly 80 years until Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Through much of our nation's history, in effect, there has been only one real national political party thriving at any given time in our winner-take-all system. And even though the pendulum swings may be shorter these days, neither party seems to want to relinquish the possibility of utterly destroying the other. Another myth debunked.

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Politics

The real stupidity of the week started when Rush Limbaugh alleged that Obama Tampered With Isaac Forecasts To Get GOP To Cancel Convention. Rush Limbaugh had a typically unique take on the threat of Tropical Storm Isaac during his Monday show, appearing to suggest that the Obama administration had tampered with the forecasts of the storm to hurt the Republicans. To hear Limbaugh tell it, though, that was the point. "With none of this am I alleging conspiracy," he said on Monday. It sure sounded like he was alleging one, though. He went on to note that the Hurricane Center that monitors such things is "the regime," as he put it. "It's the government. It's Obama." Limbaugh said that he grew suspicious because he noticed that the forecast for Isaac had shifted dramatically away from Florida soon after the Republicans canceled the first day of the convention. "What could be better for the Democrats than the Republicans to cancel a day of this?" he said. "...I'm alleging no conspiracy. I'm just telling you, folks, when you put this all together in this timeline, I'm telling you, it's unbelievable!"

The highlight of the second night of the Republican National Convention was Rep. Paul Ryan's speech accepting the vice presidential nomination. (As a long-time Condoleezza Rice watcher, The Fact Checker was also fascinated by the enthusiastic response to her primetime speech.) I would like to go point to point but the speeches were so much full of bull, that is almost impossible. So I urge you to read Glenn Kesslerat article in The Washington Post, `Fact checking the GOP convention's second night,' and remember Benjamin Franklin's wise words about partisan politics, "Anyfool can criticize, condemn and complain and mostfools do."

As Fox News columnist Sally Kohn wrote in her article this week, 'Paul Ryan's RNCSpeech Was Attempt To Set World RecordFor Blatant Lies,' about vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan's speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday "was an apparent attempt to set the worldrecordfor the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slippedinto a single politicalspeech." In her column, Kohn called out four lies in Ryan's speech. She critcized Ryan for blaming President Obama for the shutdown of a General Motors plant in Janesville, Wis., that actually was closed during the Bush administration. She also knocked Ryan for pinning the blame for S&P's downgrade of U.S. debt on Obama, when Republicans in Congress helped precipitate the downgrade by threatening to refuse to raise the debt ceiling. "The good news is that the Romney-Ryan campaign has likely created dozens of new jobs among the legions of additionalfact checkers that media outlets are rushing to hire to sift through the mountain of cow dung that flowed from Ryan's mouth," Kohn wrote. Playing the role of "Romney's attack dog," Ryan has made the calculation that the misleading won't hurt him with voters. And the shame is that he might be right. CNN's David Gergen, while acknowledging some "misstatements" in Ryan's address, suggested that pundits focus elsewhere. "But let's notforget that this was a speech about big ideas," he told his audience. As Charles Blow wrote in his op-ed piece titled 'The G.O.P. Fact Vacumn' this week in the New York Times, "Honesty is a lost an. Facts arefor losers. The truth is dead." And "Saying incredible things in a credible way is the art; using math of vapors to sell dreams ofsmoke is the craft."

In The Daily Beast article, 'PaulRyan AndPrivate Charity' by Andrew Sullivan , "A critical element in the GOP's attempt to unravel the 20th century's welfare state is the argument that individual charity will step in to help those in need. Many private charities, including religious ones, do amazing work in part because they are independent of the state and driven by zeal. The Salvation Army springs to mind - but so do countless food banks, shelters, volunteerism etc. Enlarging the space for these groups is essential if we are to restrain government and not forsake the needy." And like Andrew Sullivan, I too would abolish every single tax deduction but that for charity.

Sullivan.... "The Bureau ofLabor Statistics' latest survey of consumer expenditurefound that the poorest fifth of

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U.S. households contributed an average of 4.3 percent of their incomes to charitable organizations in 2007. The richest fifth gave at less than half that rate, 2.1 percent. PaulRyan falls into the richest fifth category: The Ryans donated $12,991 to charity in 2011, and $2,600 to charity in 2010 — which are 4 percent and 1.2 percent of his income, respectively. Lets round it out at 2.5 percent. The average is 3.5 percent. How much did the Obamas give in 2010? 14.2 percent - compared with Ryan's 1.2 percent - and Santorum's 1.7percent. Romney wasfar more generous, largely through tithing - but he was still beaten inpercentage terms by Obama in 2010. But it's Ryan who is the most prominent advocate ofreplacingstate care withprivate charity. It'sjust that others will have to supply the charity. Judging by his past, he sure won't "

******

Also please read the New York Time's Editorial, `Paul Ryan's Social Extremism' as it points out that the Republican Party's Vice Presidential candidate is the most extremist far right nominee in recent history and sending the strongest signal of solidarity to those who have made the party unrecognizable to moderates. Strident conservatives had been uneasy with Mr. Romney, but it is the rest of the country that should be nervous about conservatives' now-enthusiastic acceptance of the Republican ticket. Although not new news, it echoes the sentiment that the values and policies of the Republican party are no longer mainstream to the point that they are extreme.

******

Echoing the above sentiment, attached is the formal endorsement of President Obama in the 2012 election by former Florida Governor Charlie Crist in last Sunday's Tampa Bay Times, calling him "the right leaderfor our state and the nation." Today, there is no room in the Republican Party for moderates like Crist, Simpson, Weicker, Powell and Bloomberg (cynically referred to by Conservative Republicans as RINOs - Republicans In Name Only) and if they were still alive - Eisenhower, Rockefeller, Javits, Reagan or Lincoln either. WHY?

Although they would like you to believe that It's just Akin. By pushing some of the most invasive state policies in modem history, the men of the GOP are driving their party off a cliff. Included is an article in Newsweek Magazine by Kathleen Parker, `What the et* a Is Wrong With Republican Men?!' The article points out that Akin's comments were not in isolation. They followed a year of explosive events and remarks involving Republican lawmakers and leaders, from laws attempting to require transvaginal probes for women seeking abortion to promises to defund Planned Parenthood to Rush Limbaugh's calling law student Sandra Fluke a "slut" when she testified about the need for insurance coverage for contraception. Agree or not with a woman's decision to end a pregnancy, elected officials shouldn't parse the definition of rape as "legitimate" or otherwise. For the record, the bill to redefine rape as "forcible" had 227 Republican cosponsors.

Taken in isolation, Akin's comments might have been only a blip in the news cycle. But coinciding with the GOP's platform and Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate, Ryan's signature issues — a human life amendment to the Constitution that could preclude abortion even for rape or incest — Ryan having coauthored with Akin legislation seeking to redefine rape as "forcible" (as opposed to statutory) as a way of limiting public spending on abortion. The GOP Platform endorsing the Ryan Budget that proposes cutting government funding from some of the most popular social programs favored by women, students, minorities, gays, elderly and the poor - their hard stance on Immigration and promise to resend and fight same-sex marriage..... you have to question the thinking of the Republican Party given the change in mainstream attitudes and the continuing shift in demographics to a more and more racially diverse and multi-cultural country.

******

Recently conservative political commentator Ann Coulter gleefully cheered "We Have Killed Off The Rockefeller Republicans" - Ann Coulter speaking about Mitt Romney: "I think he is the strongest candidate. I think ofthe four remaining, he is the most conservative as I said before. More conservative than any ofthe other candidates running other than Michele Bachmann, particularly on the most important issuefacing the country, which is illegal immigration. By in large, I think conservatives should be celebrating. We've killed offthe Rockefeller Republicans. In 2008 we had one candidate who waspro-abortion, one candidate who opposed Clinton's impeachment, we had one candidate who wanted to shut down Guantanamo, voted against Bush's tar

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cuts, called waterboarding torture, oh, and that's the one we ran."

"We have killed offRockefellerRepublicans. Basically all ofthem have conservativepositions now. I think Romney is appealing. He's gentlemanly. I think that's whatyou need from looking at how Reagan ran in 1980." - Obviously Ann Coulter is acknowledging that the moderate wing of the Republican Party is irrelevant, if not not dead and Romney is a hardline Conservative, willing to push a far right agenda. - Remember These people don't believe in bipartisanship or compromise.... Republicans want absolute power, and we saw how well this worked when Republicans, packed the courts and enjoyed majorities in both houses of Congress under Bush-Cheney As historian and moralist Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834- 1902) said in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887 "...Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely" But is this what we want a return to thefailed policies ofBush-Cheney polices on steroids, with a government believing that they have a Divine Mandate to decimate the safety-netfor the elderly, immigrants andpoor infavor ofunbridled power/access/supportfor the special interests groups, big businesses, Wall Street and rich individuals whofinanced their election, with the added compensation of reduced regulatory oversight in the name ofdemocracy and the reinterpretation of The US Constitution?

******

There were so many lies and distortions in the speeches at the Republican Party Convention that it was had to pick out the Biggest Lie until Romney gave his acceptance speech were he suggested that his party rallied behind President Obama when he won in 2008, hoping that he would succeed. "That president was not the choice of our party," he said. "We are a good and generous people who are united by so much more than divides us." When the truth is that the Republicans charted a course of denial and obstruction from the day Mr. Obama was inaugurated, determined to deny him a second term by denying him any achievement, no matter the cost to the economy or American security — even if it meant holding the nation's credit rating hostage to a narrow partisan agenda.

The Second Biggest Lie was his claim that a "Romney-Ryan Administration willprotect and strengthen Medicare." - When it is their goal to dismantle and kill the program. The idea that that they are deficit hawks is a joke being that Ryan proposes $4.3 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade versus only $1.7 trillion in specific spending cuts which has been endorsed by Mitt Romney dispells any myth that either one of them are serious honest conservatives.

Some of the distortions/fibs were trivial but telling, like Ryan suggesting that President Obama was responsible for a closed auto plant in his hometown, even though the plant closed before Mr. Obama took office. Others were infuriating, like his sanctimonious declaration that "the truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves." This from a man proposing savage cuts in Medicaid, which would cause tens of millions of vulnerable Americans to lose health coverage. But we have to remember that two years ago, Mitch McConnell said that Republicans top priority was to make Obama a One Term President — a failed Presidency and when any country has a failed Presidency the country and its people suffer — which leads me back to why Romney's assertion that he and other Republicans wanted and tried to help President Obama to be successful, which as we all know should receive Four Pinocchios. Please feel free the New York Times EDITORIAL, 'Mr. Romney Reinvents History.'

The fact that the Republicans did not invite Presidents George H Bush or George W Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Collin Powell, advisor to President George W. Bush, Karl Rove and GOP House Majority Leader Tom Delay or their most recent Vice Presidential Nominee (Sarah Palin) and most of the recent runners up from your most recent primary, (Rick Perry, Michele Bachman and Herman Cain) to the GOP Convention in Tampa this past week is most telling, because it shows that the party leadership has decided to run away from the failed policies of the Republican administrations since 1988, due

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to the failed supply-side economics policies, gun boat diplomacy and war mongering nation building were unmitigated disasters.... while ignoring the GOP's recent history.

For Republicans in Tampa, life started with a "white" God who created the world in seven days and move to the Founding Fathers who wrote the most perfect document after the Bible, although it did not include blacks, native Americans and women, followed by the first Republican President Abraham Lincoln and then skipping to Ronald Reagan, ignoring the twelve years of Bush Administrations — enabling them to blame the current economic problems, foreign policy malaise and erosion of the standard of living and quality of life in the Middle Class on the policies enacted during last three and a half years under President Obama.

And YES, Mr. Romney..... The country is better off today prior to the day when President Obama took office Remember - on January 19, 2009 we were in two wars with no end, Al Qaeda & Bin Ladden was mocking America from their safe havens, the country's international prestige was at an all-time low, the stock market was half of what is it is today, hundreds of thousands of families were being evicted from their homes each month, the financial markets were in free-fall, with the economy bordering on a depression and the country was losing, than 700,000 jobs a month with the US auto industry and the major banks on the verge of bankruptcy, leaving the country with a trillion yearly deficit and the Bush/Cheney Administration didn't have a clue on how to fix any of this

As such, I ask what will be different if Romney-Ryan are elected, being that they have promised to double-down on Bush/Cheney failed policies; including extending the Bush Tax Cuts, increase military spending, diluting regulatory oversight, rekindling confrontational gun boat diplomacy to deal with Iran, China and Russia, at the expense of dismantling safety net programs (Medicare, food stamps, adult education Pell Grants, pre & after school care) that protect the elderly, poor, unemployed, students and children.... Not to mention trying to make things so tough that eleven million immigrants will flee the country.... Obviously, if this vision comes to pass the reality will be ugly, but then when past mistakes are not acknowledged, chances are they will be repeated.... Hence, the number one reason to not vote for the Romney-Ryan ticket or support the 2012 GOP Platform..... They Offered Their Vision This Past Week In Tampa It Was Based on Lies And It Is Ugly.....

Something Special

How to Get to Mars. Very Cool! HD - YouTube ...... Check it out......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRCIzZHpFtY&feature=related

Very cool video-animation of Spirit / Opportunity's flight to mars!

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER) is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the sending of the two rovers—MER-A Spirit and MER-B Opportunity—to explore the Martian surface and geology.

This Week's Music

This week I am feeling Earth Wind & Fire which in my Pantheon List is one of the greatest live bands to ever grace the stage..... so please enjoy EWF close your eyes and remember where you were when you first heard these songs.... And as they use to say back in the day.... "So nice, I had to send some tracks twice Again please enjoy...

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Earth Wind & Fire - mats the way of the world - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R2RsP43rmg and http://y• utu.be/_R2RsP43rmg

Earth Wind & Fire - Keep your Head to the Sky - http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=10JTNNvodu4&feature=related and http://youtu.be/10JTNNvodu4

Earth Wind & Fire Devotion - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXrgnZvRg-
c&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg-9AIdf-oDDL0ZRzIehPw5WY6 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=VXrgnZvRg-c&feature=share&list=AL94UKMTqg-9AIdf-oDDL0ZRzIehPw5WY6

Earth Wind & Fire Reasons (Live) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYQrLAkDLR4 and http://youtu.be/YYQrLAkDLR4

Earth Wind & Fire - I write a song for you - http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=jOk6o5MZ8Bw&feature=related and http://youtu.be/jOk6o5MZ8Bw

Earth Wind & Fire (Live) SEPTEMBER - http://www.youtube.com/watch? -
v=8bF9X7qnWro&feature=related and http://youtu.be/8bF9X7qnWro

Earth, Wind & Fire - Sunday Morning - http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=v_2Xy84EPP0&feature=mr_meh&list=AL94UKMTqg-9AIdf-oDDL0ZRzlehPw5WY6&playnext=0 and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_2Xy84EPP0&feature=share&list=AL94UKMTqg-9AIdf-
ODDL0ZRzlehPw5WY6

Earth Wind & Fire (Live Concert) - Keep your - Head to the Sky - Devotion - Reasons - Thats the way of the world - Sing a Song - http://www.y • utube.corn/watch?v=Scom4y-ND3M&feature=related and http://youtu.be/Scom4y-ND3M

Joke of the Week

Judge's Dilemma

In a small town, a person decided to open up a brothel right opposite a church. The church and its congregation started a campaign with petitions to block the brothel from opening and prayed daily against his business.

Work progressed. But when the brothel was complete and about to open, lightning struck it and burnt it to the ground. The church folks were rather smug after that, till the brothel owner sued the church authorities on the grounds that the church through its congregation and prayers was ultimately responsible for the destruction of his brothel, either through direct or indirect actions or means.

In its reply to the court, the church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection, or that their prayers were reasons for the act of God.

As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork at the hearing and commented: "I don't know how I'm going to decide this case, but it appearsfrom the paperwork that we have a brothel owner who believes in the power ofprayer and we have an entire church that doesn't "

Quote of the Week

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"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."

H. L. Mencken

Gregory Brown
Chairman & CEO
GlobalCast Partners, LLC

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📅 Sep 2, 2012 REDACTED

Re:

From: Unknown

To: jeevacation@gmail.com

here is my bank acc !!!! THANK YOU !!! Tell me , did you buy the bed for your appartement? did you change the windows in the appartement? I found one russian guy who has all windons you need, he make them in Latvia not in France, it can cost you half price then the french told you. I hope its not too late, its my dad friend, i just spoke with him a week ago about the prices they gave you and he said he can check what the best price he can do. kisses 2012/9/2 Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gm

here is my bank acc !!!!

THANK YOU !!!

Tell me , did you buy the bed for your appartement?

did you change the windows in the appartement? I found one russian guy who has all windons you need, he make them in Latvia not in France, it can cost you half price then the french told you.

I hope its not too late, its my dad friend, i just spoke with him a week ago about the prices they gave you and he said he can check what the best price he can do.

kisses

2012/9/2 Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>

give me your bank details

On Sun, Sep 2, 2012 at 7:40 AM wrote:

i will try to survive till then ..))

i found super scout for you ) .. the guy serbian 25yo, doing just this, placed in ny, london,paris ) you will love what he has, i spoke with him for possible collaboration.

Best regards,

The image contains contact information for an "Official representative France" of "WORLD FASHION CHANNEL". It lists two GSM numbers and an email address. The specific contact details are redacted.

2 sept. 2012, a 13:20, Jeffrey Epstein leevacation@gmail.com> nanncan(a):

i will be back in oct

**********************

The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of Jeffrey Epstein

Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited

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and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation@gmail.com, and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved

*****************

************

***************

The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of Jeffrey Epstein

Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation®gmail.com, and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved

Best regards,

Official representative France
WORLD FASHION CHANNEL

GSM -
GSM -
E-mail:

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📅 Aug 26, 2012 REDACTED

Greg Brown's Weekend Reading and Other Things....

From: Gregory Brown

Dear Friends.... I am starting with Congressman Todd Akin's comments this past weekend on abortion. As Eugene Robinson said in an op-ed, 'Todd Akin's comment brings 'war on women' back to prominence' in The Washington Post this week; "At least until Election Day, Republicans were supposed to pretend that their party's alleged "war on women" was nothing but a paranoid fantasy stoked by desperate Democrats. Obviously, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) didn't get the memo. Akin, campaigning to unseat Sen. C

Dear Friends....

I am starting with Congressman Todd Akin's comments this past weekend on abortion. As Eugene Robinson said in an op-ed, 'Todd Akin's comment brings 'war on women' back to prominence' in The Washington Post this week; "At least until Election Day, Republicans were supposed to pretend that their party's alleged "war on women" was nothing but a paranoid fantasy stoked by desperate Democrats. Obviously, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) didn't get the memo.

Akin, campaigning to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in November, was Dying to explain his stance against abortion Sunday when he committed what cannot be dismissed as a mere gaffe. It was an abomination that could only stem from benighted ignorance — and it brings the whole "war on women" thing back into son); focus.

Ifyou think I'm exaggerating, let me quote Akin infull. He was explaining why he opposes abortion even in

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cases of rape — and how pregnancy as a result of rape, in any event, isn't something that should overly concern us:

"It seems to me, first ofall, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to by to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. You know, I think them should be somepunishment, but the punishment ought to be ofthe rapist, and not attacking the child."

Whoa."

Robinson's continues "Let's begin with the ignorant and offensive distinction Akin tries to draw between "legitimate rape" and some other kind of rape. He did not elaborate, but I'mpretty sure I know what he means.

He's obviously talking about what Republicans call "forcible rape." Last year; Akin co-sponsored a bill in the House that wouldhave narrowed the exception that allows Medicaid funds to payfor abortionsfor women who are raped. Theproposedmeasure would have permitted the use of funds only to endpregnancies resultingfrom 'forcible rape." PaulRyan, now Mitt Romney's running mate, was another co-sponsor of the measure, which ultimatelyfailed.

The statutory rape of a child by an adult would not fit the definition the House Republicans tried to impose; nor would the rape ofa woman who was drugged, say, or who had limited mental capacity. Never mind thefact that, as far as criminal law is concerned, rape is rape. Never mind thefact that all rape, by its very nature, is 'forcible."

Akins assertion about "legitimate" rape is really nothing but an attempt to blame the victim. It stemsfrom the view that the only true victim is a woman who is raped while violently resisting a ski-masked assailant who came in through the bedroom window Anything short ofthat, she must have been askingfor it."

Yes.... Akin's stupid, sexist remarks were immediately denounced by Romney and other prominent Republicans.

He initially suggested that he misspoke. Misspoke is when you accidentally introduce your vice presidential running mate as the "next president ofthe United States." Misspoke is when your mouth gets ahead of your brain. Misspoke is a politician's way of never having to say he's sorry, the first cousin to the non-apology apology("I'm sorry ifyou were offended").

But suggesting that in situations of "legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down" is not misspeaking. It's mis-thinking.

By midday Monday, Akin was in full grovel, appearing on Mike Huckabee's radio show to disavow his remarks without ever managing to explain them.

The Romney campaign followed a similar arc. First came the non-denunciation denunciation. On Sunday night, hours after the story broke, the campaign put out a joint statement by Romney and Paul Ryan mildly saying that they "disagree" with Akin's statement and "a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape."

Disagreement is when you differ over the proper tax treatment of capital gains income. When an ally comes under assault, the first impulse of politicians of both parties is to circle the political wagons, to concede only as much as politically necessary and not a millimeter more.

Just so that you don't think that I am totally partisan, I believe that the Democrats were wrong when the Obama campaign's steadfast — and wrongheaded — refused to distance itself from an inflammatory ad by an Obama-supporting super PAC insinuating that Romney helped contribute to the death of a laid-off worker's wife.

But as Soraya Chemaly wrote in The Huffington Post this week, "ToddAkin's comments are notjust a war on women as much as it is a war on critical thinking and democracy hi America. It's Not a War on Women, It's a War on Critical Thinking andDemocracy." And I would like to add, "CIVILITY"

Although I personally believe that the Republicans play this game the most, but the problem for me is that the Democrats are sliding down the slippery slope of falling in the same civility deficit trap. Please take time to read the New York Times editorial, 'New Frontiers of Extemism' as it suggests that many in the leadership in the

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Republican party believe in the same things that Akin and other ultra conservatives except when they become embarrassing on a national level. Echoing this is Andrew Rosenthal's op-ed piece in the New York Times, 'The G.O.P. Platform.'

This week American military deaths passed 2000 - in the eleven year war in Afghanistan. Now, the longest war in America's history .... And although the military claims that the recent troop surge which now has 80,000 US soldiers in Afghanistan, knowledgeable people say, that at best when American troops leave, they will leave a weak borderline friendly government unable to defend itself against militant opponents. We have to ask why did we go into this war and why is the Obama Administration still backing this disastrous war.

WEEKEND OFFERINGS

If you are like me, you are too busy to keep up with the weekly flow of new bank scandals. Personally, I can remember only 4 or 5 of the latest `bankster' attempts to out-do the Robber Barons of over a century ago. To help you keep track, a scoreboard is attached, written by Cora Currier and Lena Groeger article, "A Scorecard For This Summer's Bank Scandals," in ProPublica this week.

There's not much new on the scoreboard. The financial sector has not even tanked the economies of advanced industrial nations since Q4 2008. Nope, the attached scoreboard only has your garden variety financial sector venality, such as Libor Rate Fixing, Money Laundering, the London Whale's $6B loss (to date) on can't-miss derivatives gambles, Misleading Credit Card Customers, Conducting Business with Iran by Funneling Money Through US Banks, and, the ever expanding Illegal Foreclosures (with special Support Our Troops F/C for Military personnel - relieving them of the burden of home ownership while on deployment in the Middle East).

Even Steering Minorities to more Costly Loans is included on the list, possibly inadvertently. Isn't it part of a banking franchise to charge poor people more than wealthier people. Didn't Countrywide's CEO Angelo Mozilo mconfirm that practice when he gave mortgage rate discounts to Senator Dodd, Rep. Frank, Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines, both former CEOs of Fannie Mae. Senator Conrad....

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Please read Frederick Kaufman's article in Foreign Policy, 'How Goldman Sachs Created the Food Crisis,' as it spells out how in1991 Goldman bankers came up with a new kind of investment product, (a derivative that tracked 24 raw materials), from precious metals and energy to coffee, cocoa, cattle, corn, hogs, soy, and wheat. They weighted the investment value of each element, blended and commingled the parts into sums, then reduced what had been a complicated collection of real things into a mathematical formula that could be expressed as a single manifestation, to be known henceforth as the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI). They structured GSCI derivative product as 'long only," which meant the product was constructed to buy commodities, and only buy. At the bottom of this "long-only" strategy lay an intent to transform an investment in commodities (previously the purview of specialists) into something that looked a great deal like an investment in a stock -- the kind of asset class wherein anyone could park their money and let it accrue for decades (along the lines of General Electric or Apple).

Now that the commodity market was made to look more like the stock market, bankers could expect new influxes of ready cash. But the long-only strategy possessed a flaw, at least for those of us who eat. The GSCI did not include a mechanism to sell or "short"a commodity and paid no heed to the centuries-old buy-sell/sell-buy patterns of the commodities markets This imbalance undermined the innate structure of the commodities markets, requiring bankers to buy and keep buying -- no matter what the price. Every time the due date of a long-only commodity index futures contract neared, bankers were required to "roll" their multi-billion dollar backlog of buy orders over into the next futures contract, two or three months down the line. And since the deflationary impact of shorting a position simply wasn't part of the GSCI, professional grain traders could make a killing by

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anticipating the market fluctuations these "mils" would inevitably cause. Needless to say these types of derivative products have driven up the prices of commodities at the cost of the market (producers & users) players who have a real, physical stake in wheat, corn, soy, coffee, cocoa, cattle and hogs, as well as precious metals, coal, crude. petroleum products, etc. with market makers like Goldman and professional speculators making the lion share of the profits.

As Robert Reich said, "Mitt Romney hasn't provided details so we should be grateful he's selected as vice president a man with a detailed plan Romneysays is "marvelous," "bold and exciting," "excellent," "much needed," and "consistent with" what he's put out. So let's look at thefive basicfeatures of this "marvelous" Ryan plan." Please see his blog, '5 Reasons Why The Ryan-Romney Economic Plan Would Be A Disasterfor America' because cutting taxes, raising the defence budget and turning Medicare into a voucher program is not going to grow economy, cut the deficit or reduce healthcare costs without reducing coverage and damaging the country's economy.

At a time of cuts in education please take a read of Justin Poke's article in the Associated Press, 'New studies weigh college value and cost' - the gap between those with a college credential and those without one is growing. The unemployment rate for all four-year graduates is 4.5 percent. For recent graduates, it's 6.8 percent. For recent graduates trying to work with only a high school diploma, it's nearly 24 percent. So when it is asked, "Is college worth it?" That's the cost of college, and that has been rising rapidly. The answer is pretty clear: A degree is worth it, to the tune of $1.3 million in additional lifetime earnings, a very good return on even an expensive degree.

Today about 4o percent of students leaving school with debt, on the average of $22,000 and students from families earning between $40,000 and $59,000 are saddled with $6,000 more on average than peers from families earning less than $40,000. Even though federal grant aid targets the lowest-income students — roughly go percent who receive Pell Grants come from families earning under $50,000. "These kids, even though they have pursued the American dream, they're starting their careers with hugely unequal amounts of student loan debt," that could be the difference of a kid who can take an unpaid internship that would put their career on an upward trajectory. Still, graduating with a moderate amount of student debt is still much better than not graduating. And a college agree is still the best avenue to a higher standard of living and quality of life.

******

For those of us who grew up reading George Orwell's '1984' or saw the movie by the same name directed by Michael Radford about a totalitarian future where society is tyrannized by The Party and its totalitarian ideology. In the story the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and public mind control, dictated by a political system euphemistically named English Socialism under the control of a privileged Inner Party elite that persecutes all individualism and independent thinking as thoughtcrimes. Their tyranny is headed by Big Brother, the quasi-divine Party leader who enjoys an intense cult of personality, but who may not even exist. Big Brother and the Party justify their rule in the name of a supposed greater good.

In March 2002, John M. Poindexter, a former national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan, sat down with Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the director of the National Security Agency. Mr. Poindexter sketched out a new Pentagon program called Total Information Awareness, that proposed to scan the

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world's electronic information — including phone calls, e-mails and financial and travel records — looking for transactions associated with terrorist plots. The N.S.A., the government's chief eavesdropper, routinely collected and analyzed such signals, so Mr. Poindexter thought the agency was an obvious place to test his ideas.

He never had much of a chance. When T.I.A.'s existence became public, it was denounced as the height of post-9/11 excess and ridiculed for its creepy name. Mr. Poindexter's notorious role in the Iran-contra affair became a central focus of the debate. He resigned from government, and T.I.A. was dismantled in 2003.

But what Mr. Poindexter didn't know was that the N.S.A. was already pursuing its own version of the program, and on a scale that he had only imagined. A decade later, the legacy of T.I.A. is quietly thriving at the N.S.A. It is more pervasive than most people think, and it operates with little accountability or restraint.

The foundations of this surveillance apparatus were laid soon after 9/11, when President George W. Bush authorized the N.S.A. to monitor the communications records of Americans who analysts suspected had a "nexus to terrorism." Acting on dubious legal authority, and without warrants, the N.S.A. began intercepting huge amounts of information.

Today the US government collects more data than the rest of the governments combined, with little oversight. This scares me and it should scare you too. If this is of interest to you, please take a look at Shane Harris' article in the New York Times, 'GivingIn to the Surveillance State,' because Big Brother is here and we don't really know who he is or what he is doing with our information.

******

Partisanship in America is to the point that even after the debacle of last summer when the Congressional stalemate over raising the nation's debt ceiling which caused the credit rating of the country to be downgraded for the first time in history, the country finds itself in the same situation again. But the ugly secret in the basement is that massive spending cuts and tax hikes due next year will cause even worse economic damage than previously thought if Washington fails to come up with a solution, said by the CBO. See David Lawder's article in Reuters,"CBO sees worse economic wreckage from "fiscal cliff."

******

In Keith Bradsher's article in the New York Times this week, China Confronts MountingPiles ofUnsold Goods,' he points out that after three decades of torrid growth, China is encountering an unfamiliar problem with its newly struggling economy: a huge buildup of unsold goods that is cluttering shop floors, clogging car dealerships and filling factory warehouses. There is a glut of everything from steel and household appliances to cars and apartments hampering China's efforts to emerge from a sharp economic slowdown. It has also produced a series of price wars and has led manufacturers to redouble efforts to export what they cannot sell at home. The severity of China's inventory overhang has been carefully masked by the blocking or adjusting of economic data by the Chinese government — all part of an effort to prop up confidence in the economy among business managers and investors. With unsold goods are piling up in China at the fastest rate since surveys of inventories began and the country also ramping up auto production even as car sales growth is slowing - the Chinese economic miracle may be over.

Problems in China give some economists nightmares, which in the worst case, the United States and much of the world slips back into recession as the Chinese economy sputters, the European currency zone collapses and

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political gridlock paralyzes the United States.

China is the world's second-largest economy and has been the largest engine of economic growth since the global financial crisis began in 2008. Economic weakness means that China is likely to buy fewer goods and services from abroad when the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is already hurting demand, raising the prospect of a global glut of goods, falling prices and weak production around the world.Wow.. How will this affect the rest of the world?

******

As the GOP prepares for its National Convention in Tampa, Fla., next week, drafts of the party's platform "call for an audit of Federal Reserve monetary policy and a commission to look at restoring the link between the dollar and gold;' according to the Financial Times. "These [issues) were adopted because they are things that Republicans agree on," co-chair of the platform committee Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told the Financial Times. "The House recently passed a bill on this, and this is something that we think needs to be done." She is, of course, referring to Rep. Paul's 'Audit the Fed" bill, which passed 327-98. The FT report notes that the 2012 "gold commission" is similar to the one created in 1991 by Ronald Reagan's (it ended up deciding against reestablishing a link between U.S. currency and gold ... obviously). Any commission on a return to the gold standard would have to address a host of theoretical, empirical and practical issues. Inflation has remained under control in recent years, despite claims that expansion of the Fed's balance sheet would lead to runaway price rises, while gold has been highly volatile. The price of the metal is up by more than 500 per cent in dollar terms over the past decade. A return to a fixed money supply would also remove the central bank's ability to offset demand shocks by varying interest rates. As any economist can tell you this could mean a more volatile economy and higher average unemployment over time. Unfortunately for the GOP, there are huge policy problems with a gold standard. As Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke pointed out, there isn't enough gold to back the supply of money the economy actually needs. Worse, a gold standard would shackle monetary policy's ability to respond to economic downturns. Interest rates could not be lowered to combat recessions or high unemployment. Instead, they would be driven by the price fluctuations of the gold supply, regardless of the needs of the broader economy. How did this supposedly "crazy" idea make its way back into mainstream politics? Forget Voodoo Economics because this is Neanderthal Thinking.

*****

As my friend Wallace Ford says in his Point Of View newsletter this week, "if there was ever a definition for stupidity, it would be the Drugs and Guns policies in the US." In 2010 — the latest year for which detailed statistics are available - there were 12,996 murders in the US, of those, 8,775 were caused by firearms. During the same year there were only 2 deaths by firearms in Japan. Even after Columbine, Beltway Sniper attacks, Virginia Tech massacre, Tucson shooting, Aurora, Colorado theater shooting and the recent Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and the shooting at the Empire State Building this week in New York that ended with two deads and nine wounded, (not to mention at least eleven assassination attempts withfirearms have been made on U.S. presidents), we still can't get politicians to enact stronger gun control laws. And after spending hundreds of billions of dollars fighting the war on illegal drugs, the government drug policy failures are as disastrous as Prohibition. Obliviously, these policies or the lack of with firearms, need to be seriously addressed the reign of misery connected to guns and drugs in America or neither will not end.

POLITICS

Attached please find two articles on the Republican Presidential Platform which draft was just released this week. Andrew Rosenthal's op-ed piece in the New York Times, 'The G.O.P. Platform' and the New York Times. Editorial, 'What the G.O.P. Platform Represents.'

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The draft reflects that the Republican Party has moved so far to the right that the extreme is now the mainstream. The New York Times calls it mean-spirited and intolerant and more aggressive in its opposition to women's reproductive rights and to gay rights than any in memory. It accuses President Obama and the federal judiciary of "an assault on the foundations ofour society," and calls for constitutional amendments banning both same-sex marriage and abortion.

This platform should hurt Mitt Romney going into the general election, as it hews closely to the views of his running mate, Paul Ryan. Mr. Romney ran far to the right to get the G.O.P. nomination, repudiating the more centrist views on social issues that he once held. He still has a chance now to move back toward the center by amending the G.O.P.'s extremist draft, but willhe take it? And as the New York Times says, "it will be interesting to see ifhe seizes it."

******

This week, at the Republican National Convention, delegates won't just be nominating a presidential candidate; they'll be voting on a 60-page policy platform prepared earlier this week in Tampa, Florida, by 112 Republican delegates. The platform, which won't be publicly released until Monday (Politico discovered a draft that was briefly posted online on Friday), has mainly attracted attention so far for its anti-abortion language.

But the committee also tackled pressing foreign-policy questions -- and the debates that ensued speak to the divisions that lurk behind the cohesive worldview the party will present to the nation next week. Sure, non-binding party platforms may have a limited impact on the positions presidential candidates take and the ways Americans vote, but they nevertheless highlight the issues at the center of a party's effort to define its international posture; in this case, the GOP's struggle to reconcile presumptive nominee Mitt Romney's embrace of American exceptionalism with Texas Rep. Ron Paul's considerably more modest vision of American power.

What are the most notable takeaways from this year's platform-drafting process, beyond one eagle-eyed delegate requesting that a reference to "Czechoslovakia," which ceased to exist in 1993, be changed to the "Czech Republic?" Here's a deeper look at what one committee member has called the "most conservative platform in modern history."

Here are the cliff notes:

1. Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The GOP Platform sidesteps this by stating that Republicans "envision two democratic states -- Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and Palestine -- living in peace and security" -- language that is nearly identical to wording used in the party's 2008 platform, without spelling out a solution and ignoring any of the desires of the Palestinians.

2. Defense spending: The Republican pledge to cut government spending has not extended to the military, driving a wedge between Ron Paul supporters, who want to scale back costly foreign adventures, and the Republican base. Romney and Ryan have called for increasing defense spending, though Ryan voted for defense cuts back in 2011. The idea that we can't cut defense spending when the US military budget is larger than the next 24 countries combined (and 23 of them are not described as enemies) is ludicrous.

3. Gays and women in the military: You would have thought that in 2012 this would not be an issue. But it dismisses the Obama Administration policies "use of the military as a platform for social experimentation," and pushes back against the Obama administration's decision in February to open up more combat positions to women.

4. Immigration: The Republican platform, calls for both a "legal and reliable soutre of foreign labor through a new guest-worker program" -- a first for the party's platform -- and embraces hard-line language on immigration. The platform also throws party support behind "humane procedures to encourage illegal aliens to return home voluntarily" -- an endorsement of the "self-deportation" inane scheme that Romney floated during the primary.

5. Cuba: Why is this in any election platform, other than to extend friendship and support to a neighboring country. The GOP's language on Cuba closely mirrors the tough rhetoric the party employed in 2008, to the point of repeating the florid description of Cuba as a "tnumtnified relic of the age of totalitarianism". The Castros are old and will die soon and once they are gone Cuba will change Like the Chinese, all we have to do is wait.... So why make it an election issue.

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6. Detention of enemy combatants: Unable to go to the right of Obama's unexpectedly aggressive national security policies. , The GOP platform committee meeting featured a fascinating conversation about detainee rights and counter-terrorism. Pat Kerby, a delegate from Nevada, offered an amendment opposing the indefinite detention of American citizens under the National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment was ultimately defeated.

7. National security leaks: Romney and the Republicans have repeatedly accused the Obama administration of boasting about the killing of Osama bin Laden and opportunistically leaking classified information. Realizing that this was not a vote getter, a Minnesota delegate and Ron Paul supporter took issue with the approach at the platform committee meeting, urging the party to remove an entire section condemning Obama's leaks 'forpoliticalpurposes."

8. Nation-building: Richard Ford, a delegate from Rhode Island and Ron Paul supporter, proposed that the party add a line in the document declaring, "the Obama administration has made the mistake of following thefailed and dangerous policy ofnation-building." "Nation-building is a failed policy ofthe Democrats and weRepublicans need to go back to the humbleforeignpolicy ofGeorge Bush before 9/11," he stated. "We need to go back to not creating democracies overseas that create Islamic regimes, and go back to the goal of getting our enemies and bringing our troops home as soon aspossible." Isn't Nation Building a Bush/Cheneypolicy creation?

9. Foreign aid: At the committee deliberations, Ford, the Rhode Island delegate, also requested a motion to strike the platform's entire section on international assistance, explaining, as Ron Paul has often argued, that the United States should halt costly and ineffectual foreign aid. The language now reads: Foreign aid should serve our national interest, an essential part of which is the peaceful development of less advanced and vulnerable societies in critical parts of the world. Assistance should be seen as an alternative means of keeping the peace, far less costly in both dollars and human lives than military engagement. The economic success and political progress of former aid recipients, from Latin America to East Asia, has justified our investment in their future. U.S. aid should be based on the model of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, for which foreign governments must, in effect, compete for the dollars by showing respect for the rule of law, free enterprise, and measurable results. Romney, for his part, has expressed disdain for foreign aid in the past, once remarking, "Ihappen to think it doesn't make a lot ofsense for us to borrow moneyfrom the Chinese to go give to another countryfor humanitarian aid." Ryan's"Path to Prosperity" budget plan doesn't mention international development once and proposes slashing funding for entities such as the State Department and USAID by nearly $5 billion for fiscal year 2013. These guys really don't get it, because as a friend of mine once said, "ifyou feed your revolutionaries, you willnever have to worry about a revolution."

10. Internet freedom: Ron Paul and his son Rand joined a push to defend the Internet from government regulation back in July, and the issue now appears to have made its way into the Republican platform. The section reads, in part: We will resist any effort to shift control away from the successful multi-stakeholder approach of Internet governance and toward governance by international or other intergovernmental organizations. HereI agree.....

If you have the time, please feel free to read the article by Uri Friedman, '10 Foreign-Policy Flashpoints in the GOP Platform.'

Please take a look at `Romney's lack ofspecifics shortchanges the debate on his tax plan' by The Washington Post's Editorial Board as it takes issue with Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Columbia Business School and an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney who faulted The Washington Post's editorial published Sunday, headlined "Mr. Romney's 'garbage.'"

The Washington Post - "Mr Romney says he will abolish the estate tax, permanently extend the Bush tax cuts, get rid of capital gains taxesfor families earning $200,000 or less, reduce the corporate tax, eliminate the alternative minimum tax and reduce income tax rates by 20 percent so that, for example, the top bracket will go from 35 percent to 28 percent. He says he can accomplish this reduction in rates without lowering revenue by "broadening the base," or closing loopholes. He hasn't said which loopholes, maybe because the most expensive

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ones are also very popular: Among them are tax breaksfor mortgage interest, charitable donations, state and local income tax and employer-provided health cam."

The Washington Post - "Mr. Romney:s tax reform plan exists," says Mr. Hubbard. "Great: Tell us what it is. Just repeating that possible, without explaining how, isn't much ofan argument."

******

Echoing an earlier article: The Republican Party's draft platform plank on foreign policy and defense, which was approved by its platform committee Tuesday, with same old nonsense. It criticizes President Obama for not doubling down on the failed policies of the Bush/Chaney Administration. it blasts China and Russia and asks for more money be given to the military, when we are cutting the safety need for the poor. And like the Democrats it chose to side step the Palestinian question in the section about Israel. See Walter Pincus' article in The Washington Post, `GOP plan forforeign policy and defense platform ispredictable.'

******

Included is David Brooks' op-ed piece in the New York Times this week, `Ryan's Biggest Mistake' castigating him for voting against the Simpson-Bowles plan which would have simplified the tax code and lowered rates. As he says that it would have capped the size of government. And for deficit hawks, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, it would have brought the federal debt down from 73 percent of the nation's gross domestic product today, to 67 percent of G.D.P. in 2022. Ryan voted no saying that it was silly to come up with a debt-reduction proposal that didn't fix the single biggest driver of the nation's debt — Medicare. Ryan said, "we're going to have an election in 2012; the country will choose between two different visions; if we Republicans win, we'll be able to reform Medicare our way andreduce the debt our way"

As David Brooks said, "In other words, Ryan was willing to sacrifice the good for the sake ofthe ultimate. In order to get this ultimate solution, though, Ryan was betting that three things would happen. First, he was betting that Republicans would beat President Obama. Second, he was betting that Republicans would win such overwhelming Congressional majorities that they would be able to push through measures Democrats hate. Third, he was betting that a group of Republican politicians wouldunilaterally slash one ofthe country's most popular programs and that they would be able to sustain these cuts through the ensuing elections, in the face of ferocious and highly popular Democratic opposition. To put it another way, Ryan was giving up significant debt progmssfor a political fantasy. Ryan's fantasy happens to be the No. 1 politicalfantasy in America today, which has inebriated bothparties. It is thefantasy that the other party will not exist. It is thefantasy that you are about to win a 1932-style victory that will render your opponentspowerless. Every single speech in this election campaign is based on this fantasy. There hasn't been a speech this year that grapples with the real world — that we live in a highly polarized, evenly divided nation and the nextpresident is going to have to try to pass laws in that context "

In looking for ways to save money and cut the budget, Paul Ryan's push for draconian cuts in Medicaid, food stamps and other programs that aid the needy, will make life much harder for the poor. In March, explaining his cuts in aid for the unfortunate, he declared, "We don't want to turn the safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives ofdependency and complacency, that drains them oftheir will and their incentive to make the most of their lives." More importantly. Ryan's policies would actually increase the deficit. Paul Ryan is considered the modem G.O.P.'s big thinker. but his ideas are unrealistic fantasies inspired by Ayn Rand which was required reading for his new staff and interns. And as Paul iCrugman said in an op-ed piece in the New York Times this week, "if the Republican ticket wins, Mr Ryan will surely be an influential force in the next administration — and bear in mind, too, that he would, as the cliché goes, be a heartbeat away fivm the presidency. So it should worry us that ME Ryan holds monetary views that would, ifput into practice, go a long way toward recreating the Great Depression."

David Brooks continues, "In the real world, there are almost never ultimate victories, and it is almost never the case (even if you control the White House and Congress) that you get to do what you want. The real world looks a lot like the Simpson-Bowles commission, where you get a diverse group of people who by to makeprogress in the areas where that is possible and try to sidestep the areas where it is not. When he voted no on the Simpson-

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Bowles plan he missed the chance to show that he also has a governing consciousness. He missed the chance to do something good for the country, even if it wasn't the best he or I would wishfor"

Peter Orszag article in The Washington Post speaks for itself, 'Five myths about Paul Ryan's budget.'

I. Paul Ryan's budget would reduce the deficit

2. The Ryan budget would help the middle class.

3. Ryan's proposal would cut health-care spending by reforming Medicare.

4. Ryan's plan would provide certainty to the markets and the economy.

5. If Romney wins, Ryan's budget will be his fiscal blueprint.

All false...............

******

I understand the need for strong moral ideology and I respect religions but as Timothy Egan pointed out in his op-ed in the New York Times this week, `The Crackpot Caucus' - "Take a look around key committees of the House and you'llfind a governing body stocked with crackpots whose views on major issues are as removed from reality as Missouri's Representative Todd Akin's take on the sperm-killing powers ofa woman who's been raped."

From evolution to climate change to elementary fiscal math, many Republicans in power cling to a level of ignorance that would get their ears boxed even in a medieval classroom. Congress incubates and insulates these knuckle-draggers. Republicans in Congress see climate change as a big hoax and almost all of them will tell you that they believe God created humans in the present form just within the last 10,000 years — even though they know that there is a wealth of anthropological evidence to the contrary. These same politicians are pushing to teach "Creation" as a science in our public schools.

Egan asks, "Where do they get this stiff The Bible, yes, but much of the misinformation and the fables that
inform Republican politicians comes from hearsay, often amplified by their media wing." Remember the crazy
statement that helped to kill the presidential aspirations of Michele Bachmann? A vaccine, designed to prevent
a virus linked to cervical cancer; could cause mental retardation, she proclaimed. Bachmann knew this, she
insisted, because some random lady told her so at a campaign event. Fearful of the genuine damage
Bachmann's assertion could do to public health, the American Academy of Pediatrics promptly rushed out a
notice, saying, "there is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement."

And in an on-air plea for sanity, Joe Scarborough, the former G.O.P. congressman and MSNBC host, said, "i'm just tired of the Republican Party being the stupid party." I feel for him. But don't expect the reality chorus to grow Egan ends his article, " if intelligence were contagious, his party would be giving out vaccines for it." AND HE IS RIGHT

******

This Week's Music Offerings

This week I am feeling three of my favorite musicians some of whom you may not know. Please enjoy

Rodriguez - It Started Out So Nice - http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Q1dOWdZRXnY&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg-9BRCJJukNtjnPRK42rCr2fC and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1dOWdZRXnY&feature=share&list=AL94UKMTqg-
9BRCJJukNtjnPRK42rCr2fC

Rodriguez - I Think Of You - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4wIUSM1CHo&feature=related and

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http://youtu.be/m4wIUSM1CHo

Rodriguez Cause - - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKFkc19T3Dk&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg-
9BRCJJukNtjnPRK42rCr2fC and http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=oKFkc19T3Dk&feature=share&list=AL94UKMTqg-9BRCJJukNtjnPRK42rCr2fC

Meshell Ndegeocello Outside Your Door - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CohuccUbdXM and -
http://youtu.be/CohuccUbdXM

Me'Shell Ndegeocello Call Me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=rNwrNp458tE&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DnB04OXmUnMC_N2MgguDVp and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNwrNp458tE&feature=share&list=AL94UKMTqg=
9DnB040XmUnMC_N2MgguDVp

Me'Shell Ndegeocello Step Into The Projects - http://www.youtube.com/watch? -
v=tILLhbVJdMM&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DnB040XmUnMC_N2MgguDVp and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tILLhbVJdMM&feature=share&list=AL94UKMTqg-
9DnB040XmUnMC_N2MgguDVp

John Mayer Free Fallin - - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=200v0cDPZy8 and
http://youtu.be/200v0cDPZy8

John Mayer Bold As Love - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBoGX9E6-
KE&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg-9ChWODupunUby9628jkaRqK and http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=vBoGX9E6-KE&feature=share&list=AL94UKMTqg-9ChWODupunUby9628jkaRqK

Have Fun With These Below

Come travel with me !!!!

This is pretty good and a cheap way to visit some pretty nice places. Pick out any interesting location around the world and click on it. A page will come up with a photo. In the center is a circle with a triangle. Click on the triangle. Now you will get a full picture. If it's not a full screen, click on the 4 dots in the lower right corner. Now with full screen, place your curser anywhere on the screen and slowly drag the picture in any direction you want. Left, right, up, down, slow or stop. Try the Egyptian Pyramids in Egypt or Moscow Kremlin to get started. This is a one e-mail you will want to save. Enjoy.

Panoramas and 3D Tours of the Most Beautiful Places Around the World!

Click on the below City Names & Enjoy !

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Victoria Falls, Zambia • Venezuela, Surroundings of Angel Falls, Venezuela • Angel falls, Venezuela • Kalyan Minaret, Bukhara, Uzbekistan • Miami, USA • Las Vegas, USA • Lake Powell, USA • Manhattan, New York, USA • Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, USA • Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, New York, USA • Oahu, Hawaii, USA • Las Vegas, Nevada, USA • Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, New York, USA • Golden Gate Bridge, USA • Statue of Liberty, New York, USA • Manhattan, New York, USA • Hollywood, California, USA • San Juan and Colorado rivers, USA • Goosenecks, Utah, USA • Mono Lake, California, USA • Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, New York, USA • Chicago, Illinois, USA • Los Angeles, California, USA • Kiev, Ukraine • Ay-Petri, Ukraine • Dubai, UAE • Dubai, Islands, UAE • Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE • Bangkok, Thailand • Sankt-Moritz, Switzerland • Cape Good Hope, South Africa • Cape Town, South Africa • Moscow, MSU, Russia • Moscow, Kremlin, Bolotnaya Square, Russia • Moscow, Russia • Moscow Kremlin, Russia • 55.748765;37.540841, Russia • Moscow City, Russia • Kremlin, Moscow, Russia • Moscow, Russia • Saint Petersburg, Russia • Trinity Lavra of New Jerusalem Monastery, Russia • Saint Petersburg, Russia • Novodevichy Convent, Moscow, Russia • Ramenki, Moscow, Russia • MKAD, Moscow, Russia • Moscow, Center, Moscow, Russia • Moscows Region, Russia • Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand • Fiordland, New Zealand • Nepal, Nepal • Maldives, Maldives • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia • Grimsvotn, Iceland • Amsterdam, Holland • Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany • Egyptian Pyramids, Egypt • Hong Kong, China • The Iguassu Falls, Brazil • Twelve Apostles, Australia • Buenos Aires, Argentina • Egyptian Pyramids, Egypt

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

The legitimate object of government, is to dofor a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at alt or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities.

Abraham Lincoln July 1, 1854

I hope that you enjoyed this week's offerings..... And wishing you a great week......

Sincerely,
Greg Brown

Gregory Brown
Chairman & CEO
GlobalCast Panne's. LLC

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📅 Oct 1, 2014

AICE Update: Does the PA Negotiator Want Peace?

From: AICE

To: jeevacation@gmail.com

**In This Issue:** * Myths & Facts: Exclusive Mitchell Bard at The Times of Israel * October Is Israel Innovation Month * Myths & Facts - Chinese Edition **This Week in Jewish History:** * Egyptian King Saladin Conquers Jerusalem (1187) * First Jewish Congregation Founded in Chicago (1846) * Palestinian Riots Ignite the Second Intifada (2000) **AICE PROJECTS** The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise Jewish Virtual Our 20th Year E-Newsletter October 1, 2014 Myths & Facts: Online Exclusive Doe

**In This Issue:** * Myths & Facts: Exclusive Mitchell Bard at The Times of Israel * October Is Israel Innovation Month * Myths & Facts - Chinese Edition **This Week in Jewish History:** * Egyptian King Saladin Conquers Jerusalem (1187) * First Jewish Congregation Founded in Chicago (1846) * Palestinian Riots Ignite the Second Intifada (2000) **AICE PROJECTS** The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise Jewish Virtual Our 20th Year E-Newsletter October 1, 2014 Myths & Facts: Online Exclusive Does the Palestinian Authority Peace Negotiator Truly Want Peace? Myths & Facts: 2012 For many years, the chief peace negotiator for the Palestinian Authority has been Saeh Erekat, an urbane, articulate spokesperson for the Palestinian cause. Unfortunately, he is also a serial liar who has taken Joseph Goebbels' concept of the "Big Lie" to a new low. One of the most shocking things is not Erekat's lies, but the willingness of the media to continue to give him a forum to spread them. It is fair to ask why the media does not challenge his fabrications and, more to the point, why they continue to treat him as a credible spokesperson. Click Here to Continue Reading Mitchell Bard at The Times of Israel Myths and Facts about American Campuses #2: College Campuses Have Become Unsafe for Jews As the author of Myths and Facts, my focus is on the fabrications by Israel's enemies. The growing hysteria over the situation on college campuses, however, impels me to dispel a few popular myths that are creating unwarranted fear among Jewish students and their parents. American Jews often prefer to believe the worst, despite all evidence to the contrary. Now don't misunderstand me; there are legitimate concerns on campus. Read the Complete Story October Is Israel Innovation Month EFTA01146858 The image is not a chart. It contains four empty boxes, each with a small icon in the top left corner that appears to be a placeholder for an image. The background is a solid dark teal color. October is Israel Innovation Month October Is Israel Innovation Month To stay updated on a daily basis, find us online! Myths and Facts Update - New Chinese Edition Now Available in Mandarin! Myths and Facts, A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict is now available in Mandarin Chinese! The book has now been translated into 8 foreign languages, including Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, German, Hebrew, and Swedish. You can find them all at the Myths and Facts page of the Jewish Virtual Library. To stay updated on a daily basis, find us online! Sincerely, Mitchell Bard AICE Executive Director EFTA01146859 forward this email This email was sent to jeevacation@gmail.com by Update Profile/Email Address Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribeT" Privacy Policy. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise 2810 Blaine Dr. | Chevy Chase | MD | 20815 EFTA01146860

📅 Aug 18, 2012

(no subject)

From: Jeffrey Epstein

To: Pritzker, Tom

news?

news?

📅 Aug 18, 2012

RE:

From: Pritzker, Tom

To: jeevacation@gmail.com

Four days, five hours per day with these guys. We need to compare notes. tjp

Four days, five hours per day with these guys. We need to compare notes. tjp

📅 Aug 18, 2012

(no subject)

From: Jean luc Brunel

To: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>

Inline-Images: photo.JPG Sent from my iPhone The image is not a chart. It depicts a beach scene with a wooden structure over the water, adorned with white curtains. In the foreground, there are beach umbrellas and lounge chairs. The sea stretches to the horizon under a cloudy sky, with a small sailboat visible in the distance.

Inline-Images: photo.JPG

Sent from my iPhone

The image is not a chart. It depicts a beach scene with a wooden structure over the water, adorned with white curtains. In the foreground, there are beach umbrellas and lounge chairs. The sea stretches to the horizon under a cloudy sky, with a small sailboat visible in the distance.

📅 Aug 20, 2012

dave hope

From: Dave Hope

To: Warren Eisenstein

Forwarded Message ----- From: "Hope, Doug" < To: Dave Hope < Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 8:42 AM Subject: Small World Dave, Talk about a small world. I got on the airplane Saturday night and opened up the Palm Beach newspaper and here's what I found (see attached). Remember "Bear", Warren's friend from NY. Well, he is a Billionaire (Literally and really) and always seems to be in the news in South Florida. He competes with Trump on big property deals and seems to be quite the womanizer. The

Forwarded Message -----
From: "Hope, Doug" <
To: Dave Hope <
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 8:42 AM
Subject: Small World

Dave,

Talk about a small world. I got on the airplane Saturday night and opened up the Palm Beach newspaper and here's what I found (see attached). Remember "Bear", Warren's friend from NY. Well, he is a Billionaire (Literally and really) and always seems to be in the news in South Florida. He competes with Trump on big property deals and seems to be quite the womanizer. The only problem is he goes after some of the young ones sometimes and must not check there ID's.

Oh well, I thought you might get a kick out of this article. What a small world.

Take good care!!

Doug

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