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Thu 4/12/01 Poland must continue to examine its responsibility
Fifty-six years after World War II, Poles of Montreal and Poland have demanded full disclosure regarding the massacre of Jews in Jedwabne, Poland. Jan Tomasz Gross, a Polish Jew, has written a book claiming this massacre was perpetrated by Poles. This was not the sole act of destruction of Polish Jews by Poles. Many other atrocities have been documented, some of which took place after the war, as Witold Liliental and Irene Tomaszewski (Letters, April 2) are well aware.
Many Poles believe that secular Polish Jews collaborated with the invading Soviets in 1939. None needed to collaborate. These secular Jewish Communists greeted the Soviets with open arms, wrongly assuming that, with their arrival, endemic anti-Semitism would be eradicated and the suffering that went on for generations would end.
The write up on #855 Policy Night is a must see some scary things are happening.
AN EVENING AT THE NICHOLSONS'
Wednesday Night # 841
The Air Canada Night should be read before this Wednesday Night
WEDNESDAY, 5, August, #857
the invite
Also, to our great joy, Frank and Yolanda Kinnelly are back in the North Country and will join us for Wednesday Night. Frank, a former Science Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, writes:
"I'm still organizing courses on science and environmental policy for the Foreign Service, still working on Nazi Gold (I'm now collaborating with a historian in Lisbon, looking at the Portuguese role).
Monday, August 3, 1998 Facelift can't hide Berlin's ugly past Nazi buildings still evoke painful memories as Germany returns to historic capital
Tuesday, August 04, 1998 Gold US$285.40 - Gold bullion continues to come under significant selling pressure. The price has broken down technically and could test the US$277-US278 level. A decline to this level suggests a further 8.5% decline in the gold index. We are in the summer doldrums which is a very vulnerable time of the year for golds. We would continue to avoid this sector.
Friday, August 14, 1998 SWISS BANKS agreed to pay $1.25 billion to Jewish organisations in
compensation for assets taken during the Holocaust.
The moral debt of Swiss banks ...What the Swiss bank controversy has shown is how
effective the claimants can be when they harness the
support of the U.S. government and its agencies to their
cause. Canada and other nations should now join in the
effort to obtain a full measure of justice for Holocaust
victims.
Wednesday Night #857 - Nazi Gold
The evening began with a viewing of the magnificent recently completed (and as yet un-named) marble sculpture by our multi-talented Herbert Bercovitz. A number of the admiring guests wondered why Herb has not had a public showing of his work and encouraged him to do so. David and Diana expressed their appreciation of the honour Herb has done Wednesday Night by allowing them to host the official unveiling of this superb piece.
The mix of guests was such as to favour the discussion of more serious topics than is normally the case on a warm summer evening. In the presence of economists and market analysts, Canadian politicians, world court specialists, foreign diplomats,
Swiss bankers and holocaust survivors, discussion covered the behaviour of the Swiss government and banks during and since the end of World War II, the spinoff of the downward slide of the Canadian dollar and Canadian diplomacy, internal as well as external.
Frank Kinnelly, the heralded guest of the evening has been closely involved with the research and drafting of the U.S. State Department reports on Nazi Gold. According to Frank, "Whereas the first report centered on Switzerland, the second report, which was released about two months ago, covered the other neutrals (and their complicity in selling crucial war materiel to the Nazis) …
(Stu Eizenstat's), controversial forward to the first report, in which he claimed that Swiss actions served to prolong the war, is not supported by the report itself.
More recently, he has been trying to rein in state authorities … who are seeking to boycott Swiss banks.
The second report with its focus on the other neutrals was, I think, part of this effort. But a myth has been born. A lawyer representing a group of Jewish claimants recently charged that Swiss support for the Germans prolonged the war by two years. As a consequence of all these attacks, it looks like the proposal in Switzerland to set up a major fund for refugee relief by revaluing the official gold reserves has been shelved. "
The Swiss and Swiss Banks and the Holocaust Survivors and their
Descendants:
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Unlike most countries including Canada, which require that the contents of accounts be deposited with the central bank after a predetermined period of dormancy, the Swiss government for centuries, has permitted banks to retain deposits indefinitely, to the continuing benefit of the individual bank. This legislation thus has never motivated Swiss banks to actively seek out legal heirs.
In order to claim the account of an ancestor, a death certificate has always been required. This seemed like a reasonable requirement until the pre and post
World War II period, at which time:
- Millions of victims among them Jews and Gypsies
living in Germany and German occupied and allied
countries, were executed in concentration camp gas
chambers and cremated without any death certificate
having been issued.
- Many people disappeared without trace during
successive advances of both German and Allied forces
during the war.
Swiss banks have always accepted deposits without questioning their origin, contrary to practice in Canada and many other countries. This has
made Switzerland a haven for assets of questionable origin,
including those of some Canadians allegedly attempting to evade
taxes on capital gains derived from real estate or other transactions.
The 1939 to 1945 Period.
Like other such neutral countries as Portugal and Turkey, the government of Switzerland co-operated actively with Nazi Germany. It is unclear as to
whether this was due to avarice or fear of being invaded by the very large and powerful army that surrounded the country, but in 1942 the Swiss president in a major statement, declared that his country had to make accommodations with Germany. Interestingly, the general population preferred the option proposed by General Guisan to withdraw its troops form the frontier to the defensible mountain passes crucial to both Germany and Italy, leaving the major cities undefended. The view of the President prevailed.
The post-war period.
There has been neither precedent, legislation, nor motivation for the Swiss banks to actively seek out survivors or living descendants of victims of Naziism or of
the war. In fact, as time goes on there will inevitably be fewer potential claimants alive leading to the ultimate resolution of the problem.
A fund was proposed by the Swiss government, but opposition was so intense that it would have had to go to referendum. Compensation has been offered equivalent to approximately ten times the amount of the money originally deposited, but has been refused by Jewish groups as being insufficient. A British-American conference was held in London to study the issue.
Another will be held this autumn in Washington.
Meanwhile, one skeptic suggested that the Swiss banks might just bide their time until January of 2000 at which time they could declare that due to the Millenium Bug, all account records have been destroyed.
Martin Barnes has one of the best articles on Y2k in his August BANK Credit Analyst forecast. Please <"Barnes Y2k">e-mail us for a copy.
Despite claims and disclaimers, a lost generation is dying off, some affluent, others in desperate need of a resolution to this problem.
The Market and The Sliding Dollar:
David introduced the topic with a tightly spliced video containing numerous (and often conflicting) facts and opinions on the market's recent performance.
Discussants of the apparent poor recent performance of the Toronto Stock
Exchange underlined that unlike the Dow, The TSE index is heavily weighted by
resource companies. The value index of both is identical.
It was suggested that markets have reached panic exhaustion which frequently attracts buyers of securities of good value. The TSE will probably meander down until the end of August or mid-September and will then start on a new upward leg
which might last until 2006. By year's end, say some, the Dow should reach an all time high. Needless to say, not all analysts shared this appreciation of the current situation, but it was agreed that low commodity prices have contributed to the shrinking value of the Canadian dollar.
The dilemma remains that raising interest rates will help the dollar in the short term, but will play havoc with the equity market. [Traders are not stupid ..raise rates and they may put it at 50 cents, knowing what a mess it will cause here. DTN]
One fallout of the diminishing dollar is the takeover of Canadian companies by Americans. Having increased productivity through restructuring the easiest way of maintaining the momentum of increasing profits further is by improving market share. Buying Canadian assets during this period, is a cheap way for Americans to achieve this end.
After listening to the conflicting opinions on what to do and what the effects of such actions might be, one political savant declared that the Prime Minister of Canada is obviously following the right strategy i.e. wait it out.
Time is on our side. [and while wait CUT taxes and CUT spending and CUT government DTN]
Canadian Diplomacy
Canada is highly regarded internationally, recently with its initiative on banning land mines and the important role played by Canadians in negotiating the International Criminal Court agreement, but as usual, the Federal Government is having problems with the provinces. The recent agreement with the Nisga'a was praised, but the current bidding of the provinces for ways in which to spend the federal surplus is worrying. How to maintain national standards in areas of provincial spending, i.e. healthcare and education?
The rather serious evening ended on a lighter note with a more frivolous discussion of the personal problems currently plaguing the President of the United States of America. Opinions varied on what the President should say, but most agreed with the findings that the American people generally feel that a) Clinton did have the affair with "that woman", b) he lied about it and c) let's get on with what is important. On a more sober note, the weakening of the Presidency is deplored; the U.S. system of government is based on the concept of checks and balances between the three branches of government. Congress - and particularly Jesse Helms and his ilk- is assuming far too much importance.
Sunday 26 July 1998
International court to be forum for political fashion
Nuclear issues remain interesting. (But that's hardly the best descriptor for
India/Pakistan, for that's more dangerous than anything since the Cuban
missile crisis). The nexus between nuclear power development and response to
climate warming, particularly with regard to China, is also interesting."
at:- Do see their last visit and their letter at the bottom of that page.
Gold industry losing its glitter as prices plunge, mines close
Analysts fear worst may be yet to come if EU nations sell off
By Mark Mackinnon
Gary Autet promised himself he'd never work in a uranium mine. A career gold miner, he felt the money wasn't worth the health risks posed by the unavoidable exposure to radiation. For more than 20 years he kept that promise to himself -- until this year. In January, the weakest gold prices in 18 years closed Echo Bay Mines Ltd.'s Lupin gold mine in the Northwest Territories, putting Mr. Autet and 500 others out of work.
Three new pages
On another issue, Conrad Black's recent op-ed piece in the Gazette argues forcefully for Britain to join a revised NAFTA -- North Atlantic Free Trade Association -- along the lines suggested by Newt Gingrich. Will this idea gain favor in the months to come?
(Editor's Note on Intervention and the Brain Drain: Our attention has been called to a recent piece in the Toronto Sun on the imposition of a Departure Tax [a MUST READ]
Me Alan Mass
"More bad news. In October 1996, Ottawa stealthily slapped a whopping new departure tax on any resident who leaves foundering Canada. Heedless of democratic procedure or legal decency, Big Brother in Ottawa made the tax retroactive to 1994. Most Canadians have never heard of this outrageous tax.
Any resident of Canada who leaves must pay or post bond worth 40% of his
capital gains on world-wide assets.)
From: "Simon V. Potter"
This is essentially correct and really means that Canadians have a reason not to
accumulate capital in Canada. someone who can talk about this is Glen Pounder
atRBC DominionSecurities. He manages Canadian assets for Canadians who have set
up residence abroad.
Simon
U.S. Senate kills border crackdown New rules would have caused long delays for Canadian travellers By Robert Russo
Washington -- A U.S. immigration clampdown that would have triggered long and costly traffic backlogs at the Canadian border was killed by the Senate yesterday. The move sets up a fight withmembers of the House of Representatives who voted merely to postpone implementation of the restrictive border law. [ full story ]
I am BACK - after a fab trip to France (12 lbs. extra weigh!!!!).
Interesting your other guest were felled by food poison - me too I wonder if
we went to the same Italian restaurant. I will try to make it this wed.
Love and kissy face (to Diana twerp) Peter Ferst
Guess what? No soccer game this Wednesday. Will the DJI be at 8000 by
then? How about 7000?? That's where the sentiment is leading it.
Will you discuss it? [you bet DTN] In the meantime, long live 10,000 in 2000. Still to come !! Ron Meisels [last call AC down to $8 on target DTN]
Please see a letter from Carroll McCormick He has a better Name for Herbert's peice of Art than Monica.
Then please fill in our Poll
U.S. Senate kills border crackdown New rules would have caused long delays for Canadian travellers By Robert Russo
Washington -- A U.S. immigration clampdown that would have triggered long and costly traffic backlogs at the Canadian border was killed by the Senate yesterday. The move sets up a fight withmembers of the House of Representatives who voted merely to postpone implementation of the restrictive border law.
John Ciaccia , wearing his hat of Dean of The Québec National
Assembly, Was most interesting
Wednesday, August 05, 1998 Sweeping selloff hits stocks
Fears about Asia and falling corporate profits
send Dow and TSE down more than 3%
By Andrew Bell
This summer's stock market rout worsened yesterday as Canadian and U.S. share prices posted
their worst declines in months amid fears that Asia's economic slide will squash corporate profits. "You can almost point to anything," said Hildegarde Zagorski, an analyst at Prudential Securities in New York. "There's the situation in Japan, the rest of Asia, corporate profits not doing that well . . . [and] the economy seems to be slowing down as well." Stocks in Toronto tumbled, driving the TSE 300 index to its worst loss in seven months, all but erasing the year's gains. In New York, the Dow plunged nearly 300 points.A1 The dollar closed at another record low -- 65.95 cents (U.S.).
Martin backs off seniors plan Under heavy criticism, Ottawa abandons its attempt to overhaul benefits By Shawn Mccarthy
Ottawa -- Finance Minister Paul Martin has dropped his much-criticized plan for reforming the Old Age Security system, saying better-than-expected progress on the government's budget deficit has made the change unnecessary. But in doing so, he has also walked away from a commitment to provide full inflation protection for a proposed new Seniors Benefit and cancelled planned increases for low-income seniors.
DLJ Research Alert
Broadcast.com posted the largest first-day gain of any sizable initial public offering this decade. Shares of the Internet company climbed 249% from an offering price of $18 to close at $62.75.
Thanks to Andrew L. de Courcy-Ireland CIM, FCSI SCOTIA McLEOD
There is more <"Andrew"> e-mail you request.
Some previous Wednesday Nights and other /westweb/ pages
- Wednesday on SOUTH AFRICA
- Next Wed858 mexico.
- Previous Wed856 Air Canada.
- Recent Wed-Night
- Ron Meisels new page on the market
- Friday 26 June 1998
Québec is slow to get online by JAN RAVENSBERGEN ...Only 30.3% of Quebec companies with fewer than 500 employees used E-mail and the Web. Nova Scotia 55.6 (national average 43.1%) Only 8.5% Québec firms intend to start using the Net by March 1999. N.S. 19.9% (national average 15.1%) [less than halp the Mayors in the MUC area can read or write on the NET (E-Mail) Even our, Westmount, Mayor has no use for the Web, and has software so old that he can't transmit his columns! Jean Charest or his crew never replies to e-mail! DTN]
- Legal satellite dishes gaining upper hand on grey market
Lower prices, problems with American companies
contribute to turning of the tide
By Robert Brehl
A sinking Canadian dollar, successful amnesty programs and customer
service hassles from south of the border have beaten back the grey market for U.S. satellite dishes in Canada. The grey market, once, dreaded by Ottawa as a cultural threat and feared by Canadian cable, and broadcasting industries, has shrunk from its peak of 300,000 dishes last year to around 200,000 today, according to satellite company ExpressVu Inc. , a division of BCE Inc.'s Bell Satellite Services Inc. of Montreal rdthh.html (saved) Wednesday, July 15, 1998
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