07.26.10
Links 26/7/2010: CEO Tony Hayward Leaves BP, Banks Controversy Carries on, Wikipedia Stars in Massive Leak
Leftovers
-
Security/Aggression
-
Reliable Encryption for the Rest of Us
Many encryption utilities–such as the BitLocker feature in Windows 7 Ultimate, or the Rohos Mini Drive utility for protecting info on a thumb drive–are available. But my favorite tool covers all the bases: It’s free, it’s easy, it’s effective, and it works on all major operating systems. TrueCrypt lets you create virtual encrypted drives. Versions are available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux; if you install it on several machines running different OSs, you can open your encrypted files from a network share, thumb drive, or other shared storage device.
-
Afghanistan war logs: Massive leak of secret files exposes truth of occupation
A huge cache of secret US military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and Nato commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency.
-
-
Environment
-
BP Acquits Itself of Sole Blame for Gulf Spill after Internal Inquiry
BP has said that it is not the only oil Company responsible for oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Company is firm on the view that the claims of its negligence in the oil spill are baseless.
-
Tony Hayward to quit BP
Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, is to leave the company, bowing to pressure over his handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, the aftermath of which has become America’s worst environmental disaster.
-
-
Finance
-
Wall Street Exhales After Sidestepping Pay Czar’s Wrath
Wall Street took the latest government report on its pay practices in stride Friday, saying it would review U.S. pay czar Kenneth R. Feinberg’s suggestions about compensation while privately expressing relief that the report wasn’t tougher on them.
-
Citigroup, JPMorgan Said to Have Sold AIG Protection to Goldman
Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are among the banks that sold Goldman Sachs Group Inc. protection against a failure of insurer American International Group Inc., said two people with knowledge of the transactions.
-
Feinberg Says Companies Should Adjust Pay Policies for ‘Crisis’
Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration’s special master on executive compensation, called on 17 bailed-out financial firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. to adopt compensation policies that allow directors to lower top executives’ pay when a firm’s survival is under threat.
-
Levitt Sees No Link Between SEC-Goldman Suit, Bank Bill: Video
-
Issa Questions Timing of SEC’s Goldman Suit, Settlement: Video
-
Goldman Hands Over A.I.G. Hedge List, Report Says
Goldman Sachs told United States investigators which counterparties it used to hedge the risk that American International Group would fail, three people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News.
-
Top 5 White Collar Crimes: Goldman Sachs Settles Largest Fraud Case In US History For $550 Million
-
Weighing the Trade-Offs in the Goldman Settlement
-
Inquiry Begun of S.E.C. Timing in Goldman Fraud Case
The inspector general of the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether political or other factors influenced the timing of the filing and subsequent settlement of the commission’s securities fraud case against Goldman Sachs, according to letters between his office and a Republican congressman.
[...]
H. David Kotz, the S.E.C. inspector general, who is an independent watchdog for the agency, began the inquiry in response to an April 23 letter from Mr. Issa, a California Republican who is the ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The S.E.C. has denied that its timing was influenced by politics.
-
Did Goldman Sachs provoke a world hunger crisis?
A nonprofit accuses the bank’s traders of starving people by dramatically bidding up prices for wheat, corn and rice. Is that fair?
-
Documents Detail $4.3B in Goldman Sachs Payouts
International banks and financial companies were indirect beneficiaries of the government’s 2008 bailout of American International Group Inc., according to newly released documents.
-
Pay czar faults 17 companies over compensation
The government’s pay czar announced Friday that 17 companies benefiting from federal bailout money handed out $1.6 billion in excess executive pay at the height of the financial crisis. The firms include Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
Kenneth Feinberg, who was appointed as the Obama administration’s special master for compensation, examined executives earning more than $500,000 at the 419 companies that received taxpayer assistance. Of the 17 companies that he found were egregious in their compensation, 11 have paid back the assistance received from taxpayers.
-
Goldman Sachs to Get Ken Burns Effect
Goldman Sachs (GS) has contracted documentary film maker Ric Burns, co-producer of the Emmy-award winning 1990 documentary, The Civil War, to make an “industrial,” a movie about Goldman for internal consumption only, according to The Wall Street Journal’s Susanne Craig, citing a Goldman rep.
-
Goldman, the Movie. By Goldman
That isn’t a real movie title. But filmmaker Ric Burns, who created the PBS series “The Civil War” with his brother Ken, is shooting a documentary about the Wall Street firm. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is paying for the film, has editorial control and is overseeing the project through its marketing department, a Goldman spokesman said.
-
Goldman Sachs Sues to Overturn Arbitration Award
The creditors claimed the unit facilitated the fraud committed at Stamford, Connecticut-based Bayou, which filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2006. Bayou co-founder Samuel Israel pleaded guilty to directing a $400 million fraud and is serving 22 years in prison.
-
-
Censorship/Privacy/Civil Rights
-
Explosive Leaks Provide Image of War from Those Fighting It
In an unprecedented development, close to 92,000 classified documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan have been leaked. SPIEGEL, the New York Times and the Guardian have analyzed the raft of mostly classified documents. The war logs expose the true scale of the Western military deployment — and the problems beleaguering Germany’s Bundeswehr in the Hindu Kush.
-
War Diary
-
How to read the Afghanistan war logs: video tutorial
-
Implementing the Digital Economy Act: Consultation
The closing date for comments is 30 July, so you have a few days to mull things over before submitting.
-
Content is available under CC-BY-SA