The region is returning to closer relationships between governments.

13 January 2015
 
The cases of 70 Saudis (click here) being held in Iraqi prisons would be taken up once the Saudi government opens up an embassy and consulate in the country, a senior diplomat said recently.
Sami Al-Saleh, the Kingdom’s ambassador in Jordan, said that the opening of the diplomatic offices, first announced last year, would strengthen ties between the two countries.
Saudi Arabia closed its embassy in Iraq in 1990 after the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. There have been closer relations this year between the two countries since a new government replaced the regime of Nuri Al-Maliki.
Meanwhile, Al-Saleh warned that Saudi students studying in Jordan should not return home without the permission of the embassy, which risks them losing their scholarships....

The attacks in Paris are strongly condemned by a Grand Mosque imam.

Sheikh Adel Al-Kalbani, a former imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, has denounced the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.
The denouncement came in the form of tweets from his Twitter account. “The Paris incidents show that what Islam has done in years through Muslim preachers has been destroyed in moments,” he said. “It’s the handiwork of a few ignorant people and what they have done amounts to treason.”
Al-Kalbani has always been critical of erring Muslims, whether in the Kingdom or abroad. He was the imam of King Khaled Mosque in the capital for around 25 years.
Toward the end of 2008, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah appointed him as a Grand Mosque imam to lead Taraweeh prayers during Ramadan. He is now the imam of Al-Muhaisen Mosque in northeast of the capital.
Paris terrorist attacks have deeply shocked the Saudis and a look of sadness was easily seen on their faces, not only because these brutal acts are denounced by Islam but also because very often the price for such inhuman acts is paid by innocent Muslims living in the West....

12 January 2015
 
DUBAI: Both brothers (click here) who carried out the attack against satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo traveled to Yemen via Oman in 2011 and had weapons training in the deserts of Marib, an Al-Qaeda stronghold, two senior Yemeni sources said on Sunday.

This is the first confirmation by Yemeni officials that both Cherif and Said Kouachi, who carried out the bloodiest attack on the West in decades, had visited Yemen where Al-Qaeda’s deadliest franchise, AQAP, is based. One Yemeni source had previously confirmed a visit by Said Kouachi.
The Paris attack puts a fresh spotlight on the AQAP branch that has recently focused on fighting enemies at home such as government forces and Shiite rebels but still aims to carry out attacks abroad....

...A senior Yemeni intelligence source confirmed the brothers had entered Yemen via Oman in 2011, citing the ease with which they entered while the security forces were focused on the Arab Spring protests that were convulsing the country at the time.
The source also confirmed the brothers had met Awlaki “and trained in Wadi Abida,” — which is between Marib and Shabwa provinces where Awlaki was known to move freely.
The Kouachi brothers were shot dead by French security forces after they took refuge in a print works outside Paris.
Awlaki, an influential militant recruiter, was killed by a suspected US drone strike in Sept. 2011.
Cherif Kouachi told a television station he had received financing from Awlaki and that he had been “sent” by Al-Qaeda in Yemen.
Meanwhile, a man resembling Amedy Coulibaly, who shot a policewoman and took hostages at a Jewish supermarket in the Paris attacks, claimed to be a member of the Islamic State group in a posthumous video released online on Sunday....

The Middle East is having a persistent winter.

Frolicking: Children make the most of the annual snow fall in the Northern Border Province while their father keeps a watch on them. (SPA)

January 13, 2015
By Jeddah: Galal Fakkar

The Ministry of Labor (click here) has ordered private sector employers to provide protection for their workers against the cold weather sweeping the country including warm clothing and instructions on how to keep safe.
The ministry wants to prevent work-related accidents in line with labor regulations, sources were quoted as saying, in response to a statement posted by the ministry on its website.
The sources said the ministry has provided extensive information on safety awareness on its online websites, including the protection of property and goods. It wants to develop a culture of safety in the country.
The ministry plans to conduct inspections to check whether employers comply with the directive and the regulations. Penalties for non-compliance are set out under Article 236 of the labor regulations, the sources said.
The ministry’s regulations for public and private companies are in line with international labor standards, the sources said....

13 January 2015
By Qatlf, Arab News
Farmers in the Eastern Province (click here) say they have lost 40 percent of their crops because of the sandstorms last week, with fears that the cold snap over the past few days would cause further losses.
Abbas Dahi, an investor, said most of the farms in the Eastern Province were affected because the dust destroyed the produce-bearing flowers on plants and trees.
He said it is expensive to counteract the sandstorms because large amounts of water is needed to wash off the plants and trees. Most farmers prefer to leave them covered with dust until they wither and die, or grow again.
Dahi said open fields have been affected, not greenhouses. Removing damaged trees takes time and increases production costs, especially now because of the cold weather. The best option for farmers is to leave their crops as they are, he said....

Refugees in other countries, such as Pakistan, successfully made it through in the past.

January 6, 2015
By Jumana Al Tammi 

Dubai: Syrian refugee camps (click here) in many Middle Eastern countries are preparing this year for what is anticipated to be a freezing winter with the beginning of a harsh snowstorm yesterday evening.

The UAE is sending aid to assist Syrian refugees in both Lebanon and Jordan, and boost the efforts of aid organisation and NGOs are on the ground struggling to meet the needs of people living in tents, which usually become surrounded by rain puddles in winter.

Already, three Syrian toddlers died from the cold a few months ago in the Lebanese town of Arsal in the Beqaa near the Syrian border, said Malek Abu Kheir, a Syrian journalist working in Lebanon and frequent visitor to the camps.

“The most difficult thing is the lack of heating facilities,” Abu Kheir told Gulf News. “People have become used to the mud and clay.”...

This may sound bizarre and probably is a strange idea, but, so long as refugees don't dismantle the patio heater for cooking, they should be safe from burning tents. These heaters are for outdoor use to warm the air where people are gathering. They sell in the USA market for about $100.00. I would venture a guess they would sell for less if purchased in larger numbers. Buy out the warehouses, the refugees need them more IF they actually are a solution.

...In Lebanon there are nearly 1.1 million registered Syrian refugees, according to UN figures.

The number of registered Syrian refugees in Jordan is 620,000, 1.65 million in Turkey, and 228,000 in Iraq.

There are nearly 137,000 Syrian refugees in Egypt....

Walking the double edged reality following the heinous attacks in France.

January 13, 2015

More than 50 anti-Muslim incidents (click here) have happened across France – including shootings – in less than a week since the deadly attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, according to the nation's Muslim community, which is calling for heightened security.
Among the 54 anti-Muslim incidents, there have been 21 reports of shootings and grenade throwing at Islamic buildings, as well as 33 cases of threats and insults, said Abdallah Zekri, president of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF). CCIF is a monitoring body within the Central Council of Muslims...

Those that threaten can sincerely mean it and have to be taken seriously. I admire France's resolve to protect all French citizens.

Hate will not infect France regardless of those seeking to make it so. 

Believe in our moral strength. It is the true morality we believe in and not a faux belief.

He should be alive now. He didn't do anything wrong. He simply had no place 'to be.' I have tears in my eyes as I write this. We don't kill people because they are poor and homeless or mentally confused about reality. Those that stood for justice are the most moral. Do you understand why? Because without the voice of outrage our human frailties no longer exists. James was dehumanized by those that killed him. My heart brakes knowing what happened to him. 

January 25, 2014
By Journal Staff
 
Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg (click here) charged two Albuquerque police officers each with an open count of murder on Monday in the fatal shooting of a homeless camper in Albuquerque’s foothills last March.
Brandenburg’s office filed a criminal information that charges former Albuquerque police Detective Keith Sandy and SWAT team member Dominique Perez with murder in the death of James Boyd, a 36-year-old homeless man who was shot in March 2014.
District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said her office charged Sandy and Perez with an open count of murder because “we have probable cause.”
She would not discuss the specific facts of the case and said it would be up the judge hearing the case to determine which charge — ranging from
1st degree murder to aggravated assault — would apply in the case....

The police had control from the beginning. James Boyd was only a danger to himself. How could they do it? How could they kill a man with no options and isolated by the law into breaking it because there was simply no place for him to be.

Every human being needs a place to be, to breath, to see, to hear, to be who they are. To talk, to complain, to eat and sleep. When every place in the universe is denied to you, that is a death sentence. James Boyd was killed because no one gave him a place to be and the laws that governed demanded his death for trespassing in the only place he could find to sit and sleep. He was a danger to no one. He was denied a place to be by the laws of the land and the police carried those laws out without question or the ability to discern a man living is legal, but, a man dead is illegal. The police could have walked away, taken him to a jail cell for trespassing, but, they killed him because they gave themselves the right to do so.

The USA can solve it's own problems with abuse of power, because, it's citizens know the truth and are unfraid.

...In an email, (click here) Krause related that at the UNHRC hearing, Roy L. Austin, Jr, referred to the deaths of the students as “murder.” Krause says she will be following up with Austin and copying the UN on all correspondence.

She is also planning to request a UN special rapporteur in extrajudicial killings.
The United States government is required, in the next year, to answer to the charges made by the Kent State Truth Tribunal. Perhaps by the next anniversary of this sorry date in American history, the families will have received justice.

For the four Kent State students, however, they found the cost of freedom, and the price was their lives.

One year and the deaths of Ohio will begin it's justice. No killing, no self-righteousness; only armed with "The Truth" and a global community that believes in it.

When freedom is the enemy at home, it becomes the enemy everywhere.

January 11, 2015
By Yasmin Alibhai Brown

...Pakistan, Afghanistan, (click here) most central Asian states, Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Libya, even “liberated” Iraq, people know they must not say what they think about their rulers or their imams, not even to neighbours or friends. The only choice is to conform and live, keep your boiling thoughts locked in your own head. Imagine the psychological consequences.

When, in 2010, the Arab Spring unexpectedly arrived, Muslims rejoiced, and thought they could at last speak freely and get proper democracies. I was in the Middle East in the most optimistic months. Spring turned to winter and even harsher restrictions were imposed everywhere. Now thousands of Muslims try to flee every day, to get to places where they can earn a living, be safe, most of all be liberated from oppression. Those people on boats who turn up on Europe’s shores want what the brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly had before they blasted it all away....

...After my book Refusing the Veil came out last year, some female Muslim acquaintances organised a soiree for me to read from it and discuss its contents. These were reasonable, educated women. Here are some of the comments made:
“Why did you have to write this; who gave you permission?”
“Even to think these thoughts is wrong, and you go and publish them? If you were in a Muslim country you would be in jail.”
“If your mother was alive she would have slapped you for writing this.”
When I replied that my mother refused the veil when she was 22, the woman came back: “Then I feel sorry for you. She was the sinner and she made you one too.”
“OK I have not read the book because it will dirty my pure thoughts, but if you are a Muslim, you follow Islamic rules without question. Are you even a Muslim?”
Only two out of 14 women defended my right to write the book. But then said they could never challenge Islamic practices so openly....

Western democracy has a long history of enemies regardless of governing methods. This is nothing new, except, the only capacity available to Violent Islam is attempts at terrorism of the individual.

War with Islam within the boundaries where they exist only creates the recruitment of a greater enemy. Why expose our nations to such opportunity? The coalition is working and it is deeply felt by those of the Islamic State. The Islamic State no longer seeks to bring supporters to Syria, but, to outsource their hatred and fear to citizens within other countries recruited from their own citizens.

The future is in peril, not from the disintegration of societies that value life and freedom, but, those right wing political figures that actually do believe invading other countries and killing more innocent people is the path of victory. 

I know there was another bizarre event in Great Britain. It is the security of the Homeland that has to be secured while Violent Islam destroys itself. Our countries have never demanded so much from us to maintain it's sovereignty. We can overcome this without a global war.

Killing will only beget the same. The French have set the path forward we can all understand and seek.

What may appear to be the disenfranchised Muslim is nothing more than a criminal looking for a way out by redefining the world through violence, no matter where they may appear. If free people turn their own countries into war zones the international criminals who have named themselves jihadists will have won their goal of a war without end.

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

"Good Night, Moon"

The Waning Gibbous

21 Day Old Moon

62.2 percent lit

There are some who believe a moon project for Africa will raise it's image and prove a new venue for learning.


January 11, 2015
China's bold plan (click here) to land an unmanned spaceship on the moon before returning to Earth has moved another step forward with a test craft shifting into lunar orbit to conduct further tests, state media reported Sunday.

The service module of a lunar orbiter that flew back to Earth in November had been sitting in a position that brought in into sync with Earth's orbit, known as the second Lagrange point. It had separated from the orbiter in November.

The craft, loaded with support systems for operating a spaceship, will collect further data to aid planning of the 2017 Chang'e 5 mission, state broadcaster China Central Television said....

The next two years the USA will be plagued by Republican manipulation of the legislature. It has already started. It never takes long to show up.

The reason Carly Fiorina has changed her evil ways is because she has a bigger picture in mind. That picture is completely illegitimate.

I think it was in 2011, there were derivatives sold in amounts of something like $600 TRILLION while the 'underlying' was actually $60 trillion. The derivatives sold were more than ten times the amount of the 'underlying' and no one gave a damn. Those empty derivatives were sold. They were sold to real people with real money. That doesn't even begin to add the Swaps that may have went with them.

This was an article that appeared in April 2010 when the USA was about to pass their financial regulation laws. It appeared in the New York Daily News.

April 25, 2010

...For example, (click here) let's say you have a home that uses heating oil, and your oil company offers you a fixed price for the season. It needs to know the price of oil will be stable, so it buys an insurance policy - a derivative - guaranteeing it can buy oil at a set price during the heating season. The company can plan its business and homeowners can avoid the stress of worrying about fluctuating energy prices.
Another example: A farmer grows corn, but if the price slumps at the time of the harvest, he could go bankrupt. So he buys an insurance policy - a derivative - that guarantees him a fixed price. The farmer plants his crop knowing he won't lose money.
Business people use derivatives all the time to plan better and limit risk. All in all, it's reasonably conservative....

It is a lie. Oil distributors, unless they 'play the market' don't purchase derivatives to hedge their contracts with customers. If an oil supplier has made a contract with consumers for a year, it is because his supplier has given him a contract price, not because he purchased derivatives.

American farmers don't purchase derivatives. They work very hard and when drought hits or there is a very bad growing season they ask government agencies created to help farmers for loans to see them through to the next season in anticipation of a better growing season.

This article is a lie and 'exotic artificial instruments' are fraud. Just that simple. Now, we know it is fraud backed by the USA Republican Party to the extent of government bailouts. Incredibly, the Republicans consent to this fraud and at the same time deprive the people medical care, food stamps and unemployment benefits when it all collapses. 

Why is any of this important?

There is a field of Republican contenders for US President watching the global money and are vying for political money to purchase the White House. One of their first obligations is to deregulate the financial sector again.

January 11, 2015

By Eric Bradner

 

Washington (CNN) Four weeks ago, (click here) Jeb Bush tried to seize the GOP's establishment mantle from an unsettled crop of contenders by making crystal clear that he's moving toward a run for president.

Mitt Romney spoiled those plans on Friday.

All of a sudden, the Republican primary field features a growing group of businesslike state executives in Romney, Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, all competing for the same party establishment donors, operatives and supporters.

Chris Christie tests limits of authenticity

The battle between Bush and Romney, once thought to be a long-shot, looks much more plausible after Romney told a group of about 30 top donors in the New York office of Jets owner Woody Johnson that he is considering a third bid for the White House -- and that they were free to go tell their friends....

I really don't think Chinese and American regulators talk enough in ways backed by their governments.

Wall Street has hacked into China's mainframe and isn't being detected by the government. They have found a new toy in a backdoor to Chinese markets.
 

Hong Kong's off-exchange derivatives market is thriving as foreign funds prevented from using a landmark Hong Kong-Shanghai trading link by technical and regulatory hurdles look for a back door to gain exposure to China's record-breaking stocks rally.

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

 December 29, 2014
 
Hong Kong's off-exchange derivatives market (click here) is thriving as foreign funds prevented from using a landmark Hong Kong-Shanghai trading link by technical and regulatory hurdles look for a back door to gain exposure to China's record-breaking stocks rally.
The development is a blow for Beijing, which has long-feared an influx of anonymous, footloose foreign money could increase volatility in China's already wild stock markets, and comes as regulators globally look to clamp down on opaque off-exchange trading.
Some of the biggest global banks were already able to offer so-called "synthetic" equity products that provide clients with exposure to mainland China stocks, known as "A-shares", using shares purchased through restricted investment quotas.
Because such over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives are traded off-exchange, the identity of the underlying investor, and the size of the market, is often unclear to regulators....
...Several brokers and fund managers told Reuters that the vast majority of trading on Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect is happening away from Beijing's gaze in Hong Kong's OTC market. "Synthetic equity products are the main vehicle for accessing the A-share market at the moment," said Stephane Loiseau, head of cash equities for Asia-Pacific at Societe Generale in Hong Kong....

The Chinese Middle Class is important.

China has began a push to improve the quality of life of it's people. It is a magnificent thing. The Chinese Middle Class is growing. The growth of the Middle Class across the globe is important for economic growth, but, more so to stabilize the domestic economies of these countries. The very last thing the Chinese people and their burgeoning economy needs is an implosion of their economy and monetary structure.

January 7, 2015
By Jeremy Grant

Derivatives volumes (click here) on the three biggest exchanges in Southeast Asia hit record highs in 2014 in a sign that the region's capital markets are diversifying beyond equity capital raising and trading into offering risk management and hedging.
The development also shows that the bourses are managing to tap a growing middle class of domestic investors who are becoming familiar with futures trading, which is riskier than equities but can offer higher returns.
FirstFT is our new essential daily email briefing of the best stories from across the web
About 55 per cent of trading on the Thailand Futures Exchange (TFE) last year was done by retail investors. On western bourses, most futures trading is done by institutional investors.
“Given today’s volatile market, investors are turning to stock futures as a tool to manage risk and seek better returns,” said Rinjai Chakornpipat, TFE’s managing director....

Middle Class investors need a great deal of guidance and not exploitation of their new found happiness in their ability to build a better life. I am very worried the USA Republicans are destroying Todd-Frank and it will have a backlash in the global economy. These investors don't care about anything, except, money. The Chinese Middle Class should be equally as cautious about these financial instruments as the American people have become.

The Middle Class in any country is not a toy. It is real human beings with hope and dreams for their lives and that of their children. While Wall Street is welcome to buy and trade stocks that look interesting, they aren't allowed to destroy lives in doing so. 

The Chinese have a very different culture than the USA. When such hardship revisits the new Chinese Middle Class, I hope the boys on Wall Street are met with prison or worse. The justice in the USA was never sufficiently rendered following the global economic collapse. I am confident and hopeful the Chinese will appreciate the lack of expertise exhibited by these financial firms in these economic collapse. It is fraud. Wall Street banks and brokers talk a good game, but, in the end doesn't have the expertise to even understand and control outcomes from their complicated instruments called Derivatives and Swaps. If the global collapse beginning in 2007 is proof then I don't know what else does.

I would be very suspicious of any global banker who states, "We have learned so much from then." Huh? A global economic collapse was an experiment? It is called fraud. They didn't and don't know what they are doing. They simply want to do it again.

Just a little review.

Derivatives (click here)

Background: In 2000, Congress passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA) to provide legal certainty for swap agreements. The CFMA explicitly prohibited the SEC and CFTC from regulating the over-the-counter (OTC) swaps markets, but provided the SEC with antifraud authority over “security-based swap agreements,” such as credit default swaps. However, the SEC was specifically prohibited from, among other things, imposing reporting, recordkeeping, or disclosure requirements or other prophylactic measures designed to prevent fraud with respect to such agreements. This limited the SEC’s ability to detect and deter fraud in the swaps markets.

Title VII of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act addresses the gap in U.S. financial regulation of OTC swaps by providing a comprehensive framework for the regulation of the OTC swaps markets.

The Dodd-Frank Act divides regulatory authority over swap agreements between the CFTC and SEC (though the prudential regulators, such as the Federal Reserve Board, also have an important role in setting capital and margin for swap entities that are banks). The SEC has regulatory authority over “security-based swaps,” which are defined as swaps based on a single security or loan or a narrow-based group or index of securities (including any interest therein or the value thereof), or events relating to a single issuer or issuers of securities in a narrow-based security index. Security-based swaps are included within the definition of “security” under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933....

While on the subject, just a mention regarding NARAB II.

“The Big ‘I’ is proud that all our hard work on TRIA and NARAB II has come to fruition and will benefit thousands of small businesses and insurance consumers across the country,” said Bob Rusbuldt, Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (Big “I”) president and CEO. “Today’s bipartisan action by the Senate on both TRIA and NARAB II, in one of the first acts of the new Congress, represents a culmination of years of hard work of the Big ‘I’ and our small business members, and I offer our members a sincere and heartfelt congratulations. Long awaited reform on non-resident licensing for agents is finally coming.”

National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (NARAB). They were able to have a bill passed in 2013 (click here).

There are insurance agents that have reciprocity and practice in more than one state. Each state has an insurance commissioner who has been issuing rules and regs regarding all forms of insurance. In order to have reciprocity (the practice of insurance sales in one state permits a person to seek that same capacity in another state) currently an agent has to prove they have an understanding of the state's regulations before selling a product. Basically, NARAB believes there are strong similarities in requirements for most states so there should not have to be repeated proofs for agents to practice in any state.

Example: Florida
 
Multi-State Exposures. (click here)
A person who is not a resident of Florida who sells, solicits, or negotiates a contract of insurance for commercial or residential property and casualty risks to an insured with risks located in more than one state insured under that contract, provided that the person is otherwise licensed as an insurance producer to sell, solicit or negotiate that insurance in the state where the insured maintains its principal place of business or residency and the contract of insurance insures risks located in that state, is not required to be licensed as a producer in Florida. Example: Mary Smith, a licensed property and casualty producer in Ohio, sells an insurance policy to a business in Ohio that also has branch locations in Florida. If the branch locations in Florida are on the master insurance contract in Ohio, then Mary Smith is not required to be licensed in Florida.

NARAB II (click here)
While much progress has been made to improve uniformity and streamline non-resident producer licensing, there has been concern the envisioned uniformity and reciprocity was never fully achieved as there remain several large states that have not yet become reciprocal. The absence of these major markets has inhibited the implementation of national licensing reciprocity and the ability of agents to obtain licenses in all of the states. 

The problem with any action that allows homogenous requirements for those that have fiduciary (sorry for the big words - relationships requiring trust between strangers when one is the trustee and one is the beneficiary) responsibilities is that it allows for corporate take overs of large areas of population. I pretty much see it as an anti-trust problem.

Right now in the USA there are corporate insurance companies such as State Farm, Progressive, Allstate, etc. A person in California could have the same insurance company as their parent in let's say Kansas, but, they have different policies because each insurance commissioner sets the rules. They would also have different insurance agents.

In the last decade or so, there have become large insurers such as "esurance" that attract customers through media and within minutes have issued a policy. It is that movement creating the desire by insurance agents that want the right to sell insurance in all states without really qualifying for special permission. 

The question in my mind is the "Independent Agent" going to disappear? If that occurs consumers will have poorer service. More and more business is done over the internet, so what happens to real persons in real life challenges to make a living and provide excellent service to their customers. Today, I can shop around for an insurance agent, will that always continue?

The upside of all these agent reciprocity requests is an increase in pricing competition. It will open up markets and it will benefit the consumer. The worry is will the competition destroy 'the agent economy' within a state and/or local economy?

The score is 2 - 0.

Counting the Omnibus Bill that funds 2015 through September:

Wall Street - 2

US Citizens - 0

The definition of corruption at it's core. The nation is left hostage to the powers of the plutocrats. They find a political hot spot and attach all their corrupt intentions.

Senators that voted against the bill; (click here)  Senator Marko Rubio, Senator Elizabeth Warren,  Senator Maria Cantwell and Senator Bernie Sanders.

Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Harry Reid and Shelley Capito abstained from voting.

Every other US Senator voted for the measure including Miss Piggy. Monkey See, Monkey Do.

Voting No (click here) in the US House is Tom McClintock (R-CA), Thomas Massey (R-KY), Walter Jones (R-NC), Justin Amish (R-MI) and James Sensenbrenner (R-WI).

Louise Slaughter (D-NY) voted Present.

Abstained in the US House are Representatives Rubin Gallego (D-FL), John Larson (D-CT), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Debbie Dingle (D-MI).

Hm. Sad but true, the all saintly majority of the House and Senate along with an anticipated signature of Obama have undercut the American voter again.

Remember the Omnibus bill passed to prevent the government from shutting down in 2014? Remember and the last minute amendment that removed protections from consumers giving Wall Street the right to carry out the risk taking of derivatives? The annual bailout of banks? Remember that?

I figured out how and why the banks came up with that idea. They basically pouted that ordinary citizens can declare gambling losses above any winnings. Banks are citizens, too, aren't they.

Ah, but, what has this to do with TRIA? I should be reading the definitions by now, right?

By Danny Vinik
...On Thursday afternoon, (click here) the Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation to renew the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), which expired at the end of 2014 and allows the federal government to backstop commercial insurance companies up to $200 million in the case of a terrorist attack. But the bill, which the House passed on Wednesday, also eliminates another provision in the financial regulatory bill. Wall Street’s strategy to dismantle Dodd-Frank is only picking up speed.

The regulation that TRIA rolls back is not pivotal to Dodd-Frank. It gives the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight over collateral and margin requirements for certain financial trades—known as derivatives—with commercial end users. It’s not as important to Dodd-Frank as Section 716, which prevented banks from using taxpayer-backed money to trade in certain high risk financial products and was eliminated in the year-end funding bill known as the CROmnibus. But it still weakens the law. “The oversight of margin and collateral for derivatives transactions is a basic regulatory safeguard,” Americans for Financial Reform wrote in an open letter opposing the provision. “Even though regulators have not proposed to require any margin of commercial end users at this time, it is inappropriate to completely eliminate the ability of central derivatives market regulators to take action in this important area.”...

We have a lot of vocabulary to learn with this Congres..

TRIP - Terrorism Risk Insurance Program
TRIA - Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002
TRIEA - Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act of 2005
TRIPRA - Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act - 2007

Terrorism Risk Insurance Program (TRIP) (click here)

On November 26, 2002, the President signed into law the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107–297, 116 Stat. 2322) [TRIA]. The law created a temporary federal program that provides for a transparent system of shared public and private compensation for certain insured losses resulting from a certified act of terror. The Treasury Department administers the program.

On December 22, 2005, the President signed into law The Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-144, 119 Stat. 2660) [TRIEA]. The law extended the life of TRIP through December 31, 2007.

On December 26, 2007, the President signed into law the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-160, 121 Stat. 1839) [TRIPRA]. The law extended the life of TRIP through December 31, 2014.

TRIA, related rules found in 31 C.F.R. Part 50 contain certain definitions, requirements, and procedures for insurers filing claims with Treasury for payment of the Federal share of compensation for insured losses under the TRIP. The Claims Procedures Rule, in particular, specifically addresses requirements for Federal payment, the submission of an initial notice of insured loss, loss certifications, the timing and process for payment, associated recordkeeping requirements, as well as Treasury’s audit and investigation authority. These procedures will apply to all insurers that wish to receive their payment of the Federal share of compensation for insured losses under TRIA. Insurers are advised to review the legislation and TRIP regulations before submitting information.

Additional materials addressing the TRIA, TRIEA, TRIPRA and TRIP, including Treasury issued interpretive letters, are contained on this website. Also, a “browsable” version of all of Treasury’s TRIP related regulations can be accessed through the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations.

I haven't read any of the law, but, it would be interesting to read the definitions. I just find it interesting that in 2005 and 2007 and with the new reauthorization in 2015 there is still the need for insurance from terrorism. I guess AIG doesn't cover acts of god.

Indeed.