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  1. #1
    Senior Member AirborneSapper7's Avatar
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    Bloomberg Supporting Ground Zero Mosque Business Reasons

    Is Bloomberg Supporting Ground Zero Mosque for Business Reasons?

    By Noel Sheppard
    Fri, 08/27/2010 - 16:56 ET



    In recent days, New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has become a beloved press figure as a result of his unshaking support for the Ground Zero mosque.

    Isn't it fascinating how in this environment where rich people are being demonized at every turn all you need to do is a support a popular liberal cause and your financial sins are instantly forgiven?

    With this in mind, the good folks at Big Journalism have uncovered some rather startling financial connections between this media mogul and the Arab world that haven't raised any eyebrows from journalists that love to follow the money when there's a conservative at the other end of the smoking wallet.

    Consider the uproar last week surrounding News Corporation's contribution to the Republican Governors Association.

    As you read Mondo Frazier's marvelous piece "Follow the Money: http://bigjournalism.com/mfrazier/2010/ ... ro-mosque/ Could Mayor Bloomberg's Media Business Interests in the Middle East Have Anything to Do with His Support of the Ground Zero Mosque?" ask yourself why the seemingly always curious press have ignored any examination of this billionaire's motives:

    On October 2, 2009, The Dubai Chronicle reported http://www.dubaichronicle.com/business/ ... ties-14826 Chairman and President of Bloomberg LP Peter T. Grauer met with UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at Maktoum's Emirate office. According to the Dubai Chronicle, Grauer gave a presentation of Bloomberg future expansion plans in the ‘area of business information' in the United Emirates, North Africa, and India. Grauer stated the UAE was a great place to expand, the UAE's "logistic facilities" the ‘biggest incentive for investors and companies to expand their businesses in the country and the region beyond'.

    "Particularly since the meltdown of the western capitalist system, there has been an increasingly large focus on the virtues of Islamic finance. Today, there is no one single provider of information that caters to the Islamic finance market. So by Bloomberg being here, we are in the process of building out an Islamic finance product. We are very confident that we can build a product that meets the needs of the market right now."

    -Max Linnington, Regional Head of Bloomberg Middle East and South Asia on the company's plan to build a Bloomberg hub in Dubai at the Dubai International Financial Centre(DIFC), October 29, 2009

    But there's more:

    On March 10, 2010, the Khaleej Times reported Bloomberg Set for Dubai expansion in bid to double revenues by 2014. http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.a ... 1093274304

    "Bloomberg, a leading global provider for financial data and news services, plans to "significantly boost regional operations from its Dubai hub as it is bullish about growth prospects of the emirate as a global financial center, a top executive said."

    The coincidences continue: the Mayor's company is banking on "doubling revenues by 2014″ in a region that just happens to be largely populated by Muslims.

    As I said at the top, this is the kind of smoking gun the press would normally attack like a pack of hungry wolves.

    Couldn't all the international publicity Bloomberg is now getting for being America's foremost supporter of this mosque be doing wonders for his position in the Arab world? Mightn't that dramatically help his media company's push into this region?

    Why hasn't this gotten the kind of coverage News Corp's contribution to the RGA got last week?

    After all, the point made by folks on the Left was that News Corp's reporting can't possibly be taken seriously if it's making such a large donation to one political Party.

    Shouldn't the same be true for Bloomberg? If his media company has recently invested time and money in the Muslim world, and could benefit tremendously from the favorable publicity he's getting concerning his advocacy of this mosque, shouldn't his veracity be similarly questioned?

    This seems especially the case given further revelations about News Corp's connections to Saudi billionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal.

    For those that missed it, former Bush administration official Dan Senor was on Fox & Friends Monday, and he made a comment about Al-Waleed's financing of the Ground Zero mosque.

    This led liberal media members - including Comedy Central's Jon Stewart - to point out that Al-Waleed is the biggest shareholder in News Corp. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-a ... mpany-trap

    Missing in this newest Fox News gotcha was that it actually demonstrated FNC's ability to separate the interests of its largest investor from its reporting.

    Think about it: if Fox was doing Al-Waleed's bidding, its hosts and contributors wouldn't be attacking a mosque their largest investor was funding. That would quite literally be biting the hand that feeds them.

    Quite the contrary, as the news outlet that has been the most outspoken against the location of this Islamic center, Fox has taken a position that can't be at all popular with its largest shareholder.

    Maybe someone should inform Stewart and all the other Fox haters in the media of this delicious dichotomy.

    Which brings us back to New York's mayor: if the press think FNC is incapable of separating its reporting from its political contributions, shouldn't they have similar concerns that Bloomberg can't separate his business interests from his mayoral decisions?

    Or do such conflicts of interest only arise for conservatives?

    http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-shepp ... ss-reasons
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  2. #2
    Senior Member AirborneSapper7's Avatar
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    aaaaaaaaand ... this is called Racketeering

    What is Racketeering?

    Racketeering is the act of operating an illegal business or scheme in order to make a profit, perpetrated by a structured group. It is a broad category of criminal acts that includes bribery, sexual exploitation of children, and illegal gambling, among many others. Racketeering is closely associated with organized crime, since both are conducted by groups.

    Racketeering encompasses many criminal acts. It includes theft and fraud against businesses or individuals. Governments can be victimized by racketeering; examples include counterfeiting money and trading in untaxed alcohol. Racketeering can also take the form of providing illegal services, such as prostitution or drug trafficking. Racketeering also takes place among legitimate businesses or labor unions, where it is sometimes referred to as white-collar crime. Examples include extortion and money laundering.

    The criminal organizations who engage in racketeering often have legitimate businesses, for instance licensed gaming establishments or a labor-based business such as garbage collection, in order to provide cover for their rackets. In addition, racketeering is often aided by the bribing, blackmailing, or extortion of public officials or civil servants. Legitimate business owners can be similarly manipulated in order to help criminal groups and their racketeering practices to appear lawful.

    While all forms of racketeering are targeted by law enforcement agencies, of particular concern to the United States government is labor racketeering. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines labor racketeering as the manipulation of a labor force, which affects all industries and businesses related to that labor group. Beginning in the 1950s, the FBI has investigated criminal organizations, especially La Cosa Nostra or the Mafia, with labor union ties and learned that many of their operatives pose as or are in collusion with union members while engaging in labor racketeering. These racketeers extort union officials or bribe them with offers of favorable contracts or settled disputes, or otherwise coerce them to accept certain terms or demands. The ultimate goal of most labor racketeering is the control of health, welfare, and pension plans of union members, the total assets of which amount to several billion dollars.

    Labor racketeering not only denies laborers their rights, but also results in economic loss to workers, the industry, and consumers. The FBI has determined that labor racketeering leads to increased labor costs, which are passed on to consumers and cost the American public millions of dollars annually. To target entire corrupt entities instead of replaceable individuals, racketeering is federally prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. Through the use of this statute, the government hopes to eliminate the corruption caused by racketeering.

    http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-racketeering.htm
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