http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/enron/ en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:14:47 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416801/posts The approach of the new year might be an appropriate time to summarize what I have learned in researching the several books and articles that I have written this decade. That I came to own -- or even break -- many of the stories involved, although satisfying to me, should appall any ordinary citizen. These stories were too big for a responsible media to miss.  They became mine as a result of what I call the "ABETTO Syndrome."  For at least the last generation, the left in general, and the media in particular, have been turning A Blind Eye To... American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416801/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:14:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2404234/posts It is becoming increasingly clear that in western society the inmates are running the asylum. The idiot elite that holds power in most western nations have demonstrated their insanity by accepting the outright lie that the essential atmospheric gas carbon dioxide is a undesirable pollutant that needs to be regulated. The scam begun by the crooked Enron corporation in the 1990's falsely claims that very slight increases in CO2 would substantially raise air temperatures. Enron, and its successors, hoped to profit from trading carbon credits like it had profited from trading credits in sulfur dioxide, a byproduct of coal combustion.... Town hall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2404234/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:52:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2404222/posts There are three levels of resistance that I have to the massive fraud that is Global Warming/Climate Change. 1st--the intent of the proponents. There were some occasional reports and studies published, and some discussion among the scholarly community, but the political and corporate involvement in the man-caused global warming discussion started 1990-1992-ish. The first major "legitimate" non-environmental-science-agenda-driven-pony-tailed-professor actors that started pushing and massively funding the global warming crap were General Electric and Enron. It just turns out that Enron was the largest provider of solar cell panels in the world, and G.E. was the largest supplier of wind turbines. So... Town Hall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2404222/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:34:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2402563/posts “If there is one thing I have been impressed with over the last decades, it is that when the environmental community defines a number one priority, something happens. Not always something good—but something.”1 Dr. Kenneth L. Lay, Chairman, Enron Corporation, June 1997 (1) Who was the late Ken Lay, the architect and chairman of Enron throughout its 16-year history? All parties to the current legislative debate on a CO2 cap-and-trade bill should know. After all, Lay’s tireless efforts to promote CO2 regulation and enact renewable energy quotas make him a father figure for HR 2354, the Waxman-Markey climate bill, what... MasterResource http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2402563/posts#comment Tue, 8 Dec 2009 03:15:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2401512/posts Backing Gas Ken Lay’s political niche began innocently enough with a unique, highly focused natural gas strategy, one that would culminate in Enron’s 1995 self-description as “the world’s first natural gas major.” In pursuit of that goal, Lay promoted gas-fired power generation relative to coal. He countered the coal lobby’s contention that the 1970s shortages were the inevitable result of a tiring North American gas resource base. “We had a surplus of regulation, not a shortage of gas,” Lay would say, and Enron backed up its claim by offering utilities long-term fixed-priced gas contracts. Enron also challenged the tendency of... Master Resource Energy Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2401512/posts#comment Sun, 6 Dec 2009 15:37:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2398835/posts First, there were those infamous hacked e-mails from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia. Now, a mere seven days before the Copenhagen Conference on climate change, this breaking news story takes the breath away. The whole ‘global warming’ shambles is falling apart. Today, The Copenhagen Post declares: “Denmark Rife With CO2 Fraud”: “Denmark is the centre of a comprehensive tax scam involving CO2 quotas, in which the cheats exploit a so-called ‘VAT carrousel’, reports Ekstra Bladet newspaper. Police and authorities in several European countries are investigating scams worth billions of kroner, which all originate in... Clamour Of The Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2398835/posts#comment Thu, 3 Dec 2009 00:00:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398867/posts Warming Scandal: The architect of climate fraud steps down, the creator of the infamous "hockey stick" is investigated, and Australia's parliament defeats cap-and-trade. We love the smell of truth in the morning. As the high priests of what Czech President Vaclav Klaus has called a "religion" prepare their pilgrimage to worship the earth goddess Gaia in Copenhagen, complete with humanity being sacrificed, the heresy of climate truth is finally being heard. The gospel of climate change, once expressed with the messianic fervor of an Elmer Gantry by Al Gore, is now expressed with the stammering incoherence of an Elmer Fudd... Investor's Business Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398867/posts#comment Thu, 3 Dec 2009 00:42:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2397467/posts Enron executives worked closely with the Clinton administration to secure support for the Kyoto Protocol because the company believed the treaty could provide it with a financial windfall. An internal Enron memo circulated immediately after the 1997 Kyoto meeting - and first reported by The Washington Post - shows the company believed the treaty "would do more to promote Enron’s business than will almost any other regulatory initiative outside of restructuring the energy and natural gas industries in Europe and the United States." So Enron philanthropists lavished almost $1.5 million on environmental groups that support international energy controls to reduce... Columbia daily tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2397467/posts#comment Tue, 1 Dec 2009 10:36:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2361483/posts WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling's appeal of his convictions for his role in the collapse of the energy giant, accepting another high-profile challenge to a favorite tool of prosecutors in white-collar and public corruption cases. Skilling's appeal stems from his convictions in 2006 on 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors involving the 2001 collapse of Enron. The justices already are entertaining similar claims from former newspaper magnate Conrad Black and a former Alaska lawmaker ensnared in a public corruption scandal. At issue in... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2361483/posts#comment Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:29:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2361373/posts WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will consider throwing out the convictions of former Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling for his role in one of the largest scandals in U.S. business history. The court said Tuesday it will hear Skilling's appeal of lower court rulings that upheld all 19 of his 2006 convictions of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors involving the 2001 collapse of the one-time energy giant. Skilling, serving a 24-year prison term, is asking the court to consider whether the federal "honest services" fraud statute was applied correctly. AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2361373/posts#comment Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:21:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310695/posts A decade ago, General Electric was the shining star of American business. Its longtime chief executive, Jack Welch, was named manager of the century by Fortune Magazine, and its stock seemed always to go up. It ran a bewildering array of businesses but somehow always managed to make the expected profits. That record was viewed as proof of superior management, and the battle to succeed Mr. Welch in 2001 was watched all over the business universe. When a winner emerged, the losers quickly were hired to run other major companies. G.E. is different now. The stock has fallen and the... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310695/posts#comment Fri, 7 Aug 2009 17:51:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276049/posts The Clinton administration's interest in an international agreement to combat global warming also dovetailed with Enron's business plans. Enron officials envisioned the company at the center of a new trading system, in which industries worldwide could buy and sell credits to emit carbon dioxide as part of a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases. Such a system would curtail the use of inefficient coal-fired power plants that emitted large amounts of carbon dioxide, while encouraging new investments in gas-fired plants and pipelines -- precisely Enron's line of business. Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276049/posts#comment Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:49:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2276048/posts Former NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw has been reduced to doing infomercials. I don't know if it's because he has some psychological need to be on tv or he lost his money to Bernie Madoff. Perhaps he expects to profit from trading carbon credits. Most of us have watched at least portions of infomercials. They often use a similar format. A shill pretending to be a real interviewer asks the questions the seller wants to answer. Usually the seller has a manufactured product, some medical treatment, a book or perhaps some get rich quick scheme. The format can also be used... Town Hall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2276048/posts#comment Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:37:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2272346/posts ...Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay, keen to engineer an encore, saw his opportunity when Bill Clinton and Al Gore were inaugurated as president and vice-president in 1993. To capitalize on Al Gore’s interest in global warming, Enron immediately embarked on a massive lobbying effort to develop a trading system for carbon dioxide, working both the Clinton administration and Congress. Political contributions and Enron-funded analyses flowed freely, all geared to demonstrating a looming global catastrophe if carbon dioxide emissions weren’t curbed. An Enron-funded study that dismissed the notion that calamity could come of global warming, meanwhile, was quietly buried... Financial Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2272346/posts#comment Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:23:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2272343/posts Critics of the tea parties held in April noted that participants lacked a common theme. They carried signs dealing with a variety of issues making it difficult for simple minded critics to understand what was going on. Critics don't understand that protesters felt that government wasn't interested in them except as a source of funds for government programs that sometimes have little or no apparent value. The original Boston Tea Party had a specific theme - a symbol of what colonists felt was wrong. Colonists were tired of people an ocean away making decisions without considering their input. The new... Town Hall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2272343/posts#comment Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:15:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2252483/posts With a reach across the political divide for Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman as ambassador to China, President Barack Obama may have sidelined for now a potentially formidable Republican moderate and possible White House challenger in 2012. ... Huntsman, 49, is fluent in Mandarin Chinese from his days as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan. He previously served as U.S. ambassador to Singapore and as a deputy U.S. trade ambassador. ...As ambassador, Huntsman could play a critical role in getting China to sign onto a new international agreement to curb the emissions blamed for global warming. The Obama administration has said it... WCCO http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2252483/posts#comment Sun, 17 May 2009 02:18:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2246130/posts With the Recession in full swing, one can’t help but ponder on the causes leading up to the effects we are feeling now. While profit is good and it has been much anticipated, this is only short-term profit. Big Banks are announcing major 1st Quarter Profits. In the long term, there is not much that can be done about continued success in a corrupt financial system. There will come a time in which the quick patches will no longer prop up failing businesses. These failing businesses are wreaking in the benefits, while others suffer. I recall a time in which... riseupfor thenewday http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2246130/posts#comment Thu, 7 May 2009 15:44:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2243574/posts Last week, almost every major US bank manufactured profits out of thin air by changing their regular reporting periods to exclude months in which huge losses occurred by changing their definitions of bad debt, and by revaluing their assets at fantasy land valuations that they will never receive in the open market, courtesy of FASB. This event was a non-event to me because it merely continued the process known as the Enronization of America. This event, the systemic injection of fraud and deceit into nearly every aspect of American life, has been unfolding for decades, even prior to the Enron... Seeking Alpha http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2243574/posts#comment Mon, 4 May 2009 05:08:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2222291/posts This is big. Obama's administration is now seeking to prevent Congressional restrictions on companies receiving bailouts from applying to future companies that receive bailouts, on the grounds that failure to do so will prevent more companies from accepting bailout relief funds. http://digg.com/u1CB4 http://digg.com/u1CB4 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2222291/posts#comment Sat, 4 Apr 2009 15:48:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2211560/posts Double jeopardy in before US Supreme Court HOUSTON A former Enron Corp. executive is hoping a little known component of the Fifth Amendment's double jeopardy clause will help him avoid a retrial on charges related to financial fraud at the once mighty energy giant. Attorneys for F. Scott Yeager are set to present oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday on the issue of whether double jeopardy prevents prosecutors from retrying individuals after a jury votes not guilty on some charges, but fails to reach a verdict on others that share an element with the acquitted charges. Prosecutors... news.aol.com/article http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2211560/posts#comment Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:59:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2208592/posts RUSH: Here's Brad in Severn, Maryland. Great to have you. Welcome to the program. CALLER: Thank you, Rush. I'm glad you moved me ahead of Carol. RUSH: She asked for it. She asked for it. CALLER: She did indeed. RUSH: There you have it. Okay. CALLER: I was just calling about this issue with the execs at AIG, and I think this is another one of the numerous plays that the Obama administration is making, because it really is absolutely pointless. They could solve a lot of their problems with a few accounting moves. One of them is getting off... www.rushlimbaugh.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2208592/posts#comment Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:47:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2203667/posts There was a newsflash this morning on Reuters that "Mark to Market is NOT going to be suspended", allegedly sourced from someone at the SEC. MTM was put into place after ENRON due to the amazing abuses on their balance sheet with asset "valuations" in an attempt to prevent re-runs of that debacle. It has been circumvented to a large part by "Level 3" assets, which are in fact marked to model (same thing as non-MTM eh?) So why the furor? Let's say you are a bank and have $1 billion of some bond issue that was stuffed to the... The Market Ticker Guy http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2203667/posts#comment Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:56:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2160408/posts New online program can replace trip to a field office WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration, envisioning the near-future prospect of 10,000 baby boomers applying for benefits every day, has put together a new online service that will allow people to get their benefits without ever traveling to a Social Security field office. The agency, in introducing the program Tuesday, said most people will be able to apply for their retirement or disability benefits in 15 minutes or less. AP via The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2160408/posts#comment Wed, 7 Jan 2009 19:35:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2139177/posts NEW YORK - Just in time for Valentine's Day, The New York Times today delivered a remarkable front-page bouquet to Robert Rubin, in the form of an unusually generous assessment of the former Treasury secretary's attempted string-pulling on Enron's behalf. Forbes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2139177/posts#comment Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:42:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2136697/posts The bank’s downfall was years in the making and involved many in its hierarchy, particularly Mr. Prince and Robert E. Rubin, an influential director and senior adviser. Citigroup insiders and analysts say that Mr. Prince and Mr. Rubin played pivotal roles in the bank’s current woes, by drafting and blessing a strategy that involved taking greater trading risks to expand its business and reap higher profits. Mr. Prince and Mr. Rubin both declined to comment for this article. When he was Treasury secretary during the Clinton administration, Mr. Rubin helped loosen Depression-era banking regulations that made the creation of Citigroup... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2136697/posts#comment Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:35:43 GMT