Is there anything in which Goldman Sachs doesn’t have its hand?
Special report: Goldman’s new money machine: warehouses
Reuters – MELANIE BURTON – July 28, 2011
A string of warehouses in Detroit, most of them operated by Goldman, has stockpiled more than a million tonnes of the industrial metal aluminum, about a quarter of global reported inventories.
Simply storing all that metal generates tens of millions of dollars in rental revenues for Goldman every year.
There’s just one problem: only a trickle of the aluminum is leaving the depots, creating a supply pinch for manufacturers of everything from soft drink cans to aircraft.
The resulting spike in prices has sparked a clash between companies forced to pay more for their aluminum and wait months for it to be delivered, Goldman, which is keen to keep its cash machines humming and the London Metal Exchange (LME), the world’s benchmark industrial metals market, which critics accuse of lax oversight. Go to story
In Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 16, Krishna describes two types of human nature: the divine and the demoniac. Those who are divine are the godly persons who follow a regulated life and execute their duties in accordance with authoritative scripture; whereas the demoniac disregard scriptures and do everything as they like. In differentiating between the two, Srila Prabhupada says, “There is no other criterion but obedience to the principles of scriptures.”
excerpt from Renunciation Through Wisdom:
The demon is always ruminating on how to increase their bank balance: “Today the stocks have gone up, and so also have my profits. Tomorrow, if these other commodities become dearer, my bank balance will further increase. And so my future looks bright and prosperous.” The demon continues to think, but now on a slightly different subject: “One of my enemies has already been destroyed, and another one is soon to meet his end. This puts me in a more secure position. So now that I have become adept at eliminating my enemies, I am God Almighty. Why must one look in search of God? Hundreds of ‘Gods’ are floating right before your eyes.” Such thoughts and actions make the demons more and more atheistic, and thus they refuse to hear the transcendental message of God. They proudly declare, “Who is God? Why, I am God! When I can illegally manipulate funds and become so wealthy that I can enjoy everything in this world, then I am indeed Almighty God. I am strong and happy and accomplished. Those who are weaklings, without money and means, must respect me as God. What is the use of crying after any other God?”
The demons are under the impression that no one is more wealthy and popular than themselves. They think that their wealth will somehow be protected by some spirit, and in this way they are deluded. Their final destination is hell. The few religious deeds that the demons perform are merely a show; they are meant only to flatter their false ego and bring them more recognition and respect. They perform them only for their own sense enjoyment and are invariably acts of violence. The demons engage in these rituals without following the scriptural injunctions, merely to appease their vainglory.
Strutting with false pride, strength, anger, lust, and so on, the demons become totally absorbed in bodily consciousness, thinking “This is my body. I am Indian, Bengali, and so on. He is a Muslim; he is a Hindu; he is a German.” In this way they perpetrate acts of violence on others. The Supreme Lord repeatedly puts these most abominable, wretched sinners into the most distressful conditions, constantly punishing them with His stringent laws of nature, or daivi maya. Thus taking repeated births as demons, these reprobates can never appreciate the transcendental pastimes, names, beauty, and so on, of the Supreme Lord. Gradually cultivating the impersonal knowledge of the Absolute, they are destined to suffer the worst possible life.
