The Italian Job—Billions In Counterfeit U.S. Securities Confiscated In Italy And No Closer To Any Answers Two Weeks Later

This story has been circulating for a few days now, but nobody is any closer to finding the answers to why two Asian men with Japanese passports were in possession of counterfeit U.S. securities worth approximately 134.5 billion dollars.

According to a June 23, 2009 article in AsiaNews.it, mystery still shrouds the events surrounding the whole affair:

“Italy’s financial police (Guardia di Finanza) seized US$ 134.5 billion last 3 June. In the following days the news hit the front pages of Italian newspapers and became a major story in the country’s news broadcasts.

AsiaNews is a missionary news agency, not an economic agency and began reporting the story a few days later (8 June) noting how foreign media were ignoring news of such importance which could have major social and economic implications for Asia (and the rest of the world) and this irrespective of whether the bills were real or not.

Despite the many uncertain explanations, one thing is certain, namely that the major print and electronic media and the authorities have said almost nothing about it.

So far the only official statement made by any government authority is that by the Italian financial police, on 4 June, right after the money was seized. The only new piece to this big puzzle is information from Japanese agencies which cite Japanese consular sources.

According to them, the two Asian men stopped at Ponte Chiasso (Italy) on their way to Chiasso (Switzerland) were indeed Japanese nationals, one from Kanagawa Prefecture (central Japan) and the other from Fukuoka Prefecture (western Japan).

The only other certainty is that both men were released after their identity was established.

If police had enough elements to conclude that the securities were fakes (and this is true even for lower denominations or net worth), it had to arrest the two men. Failure to do so would have meant charges for the police officers involved.

If this was not the case, then the two men were released because police authorities were convinced that the securities were real. In fact under Italian law, the authorities could not arrest the two Japanese nationals but could only impose a fine worth 40 per cent of the value of anything above 10,000 €.

If this did not happen, there is only one other possible explanation, namely that an order from higher up the chain of command in the government came on national interest grounds.

Neither the Guardia di Finanze nor any other Italian government agency has released an official comment or statement on the matter one way or the other. It is not even known if a written fine was issued (had it been it would indicate that the securities were real for the police).”

What does AsiaNews.it conclude? The June 23 article continues:

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (Waxman-Markey)—Contact Your State’s Representatives TODAY And Tell Them To Vote Against It!

One of the most socially and economically destructive pieces of legislation is coming up for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, June 26. The legislation I speak of is the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES 2009) or the “Waxman-Markey” bill [Documents – 1. American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (Full Text Discussion Draft) | 2. American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 Discussion Draft Summary | 3. American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 Discussion Draft Section by Section Summary]. Of course, this legislation has the full backing of President Obama and the lackeys working in his administration. It is with the utmost certainty that Obama would most definitely not veto such legislation, if it came to pass through the U.S. House and Senate.

For more discussion on how ACES 2009 or “Waxman-Markey” would affect every American, please read this important information from the Heritage Foundation:

“Progressive” Groups Mobilizing Troops For Obama Health Care Reform Plan

No big surprise here. With the help of state-controlled media [Article – White House to Host Primetime Televised ‘Conversation’ On Health Care June 24], “progressive” groups representing tens of millions of people have been and are organizing Obamatons to push President Obama’s health care reform plan [Article – Progressive groups push public plan]. They are mobilizing their troops to do battle against opponents of Obama’s brand of health care reform. The list of donors who have spent or are spending up to 82 million dollars on spreading propaganda on “Obamacare” is a who’s who of powerful left-wing activist groups and labor unions:

• Health Care for America Now
• The Children’s Defense Fund
• MoveOn.org
• Americans United for Change
• USAction
• Campaign for Community Change
• Rock the Vote
• Campaign for America’s Future
• The AFL-CIO
• The American Federation of State
• County and Municipal Employees
• The Service Employees International Union

I have stated that this is just a step in the long staircase leading to socialized health care [Post – Public Health Insurance—A Stepping Stone For Single-Payer Health Care]. In the words of a well-known conservative, “Don’t doubt me.” If left unchecked, those who want nationalized health care will get what they want, much to the harm of the American people.

My stated position has been that I’m not against health care reform, as long as it is not socialized or nationalized health care disguised as health care reform, as I believe is the case with “Obamacare”. The very fact that leftist and “progressive” groups are backing Obama’s health care reform plan should set off a plethora of alarms.

Iran Presidential Election—Guardian Council Rules Out Fraud

Iran’s top electoral body, the Guardian Council said there was no voter fraud in the country’s recent presidential election. They recognized there were some voting irregularities in a few districts, but not enough to affect the outcome of the election. This gives the Iranian government the excuse they need to eliminate protests that have been going on for the past eleven or so days, once and for all. If the greatly feared and well-armed Republican Guard is called into action, the protesters will be forced to disband and disperse, most likely at the expense of more human lives. To be sure, there will be mass arrests, inquisitions and executions after the protests have been crushed, as is the case with any tyrannical regime. It has been made abundantly clear that the leadership in Iran does not care about world opinion and to solidify their power base, they will be less than reluctant to prove that they are in control. We’ll see how the protesters respond to the Guardian Council’s ruling [Article – Iran Guardian Council Rules Out New Election].