For the past several weeks, Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Chicago has been conducting a national tour promoting immigration reform, primarily speaking at Latino evangelical churches around the country. On Saturday, the tour came home to a prayer forum at a local Chicago Catholic church attended by more than 2,000 people. One of the key speakers was Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Cardinal George used the occasion to call on the Obama administration to stop immigration raids and urged passage of comprehensive immigration reform. In his remarks, the cardinal
"... sought to cast the issue in moral terms, calling it "a matter of conscience" and an important step to creating a more peaceful society. 'We cannot strengthen families when people live in fear from day to day,' he said."
Jim Wallis is the author of The Great Awakening
""Here's the breakdown, according to the International Bank of Settlements, which acts as banker for the world's central banks:
1) Listed credit derivatives stood at USD 548 trillion;
2. The Over-The-Counter (OTC) derivatives stood in notional or face value at USD 596 trillion"
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Follow-The-Numbers-by-Stephen-Pizzo-090302-530.html
World derivative debt is $1.14 Quadrillion USD. For the US banks share of that see Table 1, page 22 of 33 at
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/release/2008-152a.pdf
The jig is up folks. The US banks are essentially bankrupt, with $10.5 trillion in assets vs. $176 trillion in derivative debts.
At the April 2nd G20 meeting world leaders should WRITE OFF this toxic speculative derivative 'debt'.
Put in further perspective, the entire world's GDP, according to the CIA's world book, is $71 trillion USD annually. Compare that with that $1.14 quadillion and you now understand that a huge transfer of wealth is taking place, crowding out legitimate recovery efforts.