Jew from Bronx heads Empire State Bank

Jew from Bronx heads Empire State Bank. Blankfein’s own rise to the top of Goldman underscored for him just how fast things could change…. Blankfien was the son of working class Jewish parents. Born in the Bronx he grew up in Linden Houses, a project of East New York, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Brooklyn. In public housing you could hear neighbors conversations through the walls and smell what they were making for dinner. His father was a postal clerk, sorting mail, his mother a receptionist. As a teenager Blankfein sold soda during the Yankee games. He graduated as valedictorian of his class from Jefferson High school in 1971, with the help of scholarships and financial aid attended Harvard, the first member of his family to go to college. His perseverance revealed itself in other ways…. On Friday June 27, 2008, Lloyd Blankfien, exhausted after a nine hour flight to Russia, took a stroll around the square outside his hotel in St Petersberg. He had just arrived in the city on the firm’s Gulfstream, along with his wife and Gary D Cohn Goldman’s president and Chief Operating officer. A history buff Balnkfien had finished David Fromkin’s ‘A Peace to end all Peace- The fall of the Ottoman Empire and creation of modern Middle East’ during the flight….If all around him the financial world was in a state of chaos, Blankfien had reason to feel contented about Goldman on the eve of its board meeting. The firm was once again proving itself to the be the best on Wall Street, weathering –so far at least- the toughest market anyone could remember. What better place to gather than Russia? What China was to manufacturing, Russia was to commodities and commodities were king at that moment. Oil most critically was going for $140 barrel and Russia was pumping out millions of barrels a day. For a moment, it could make anyone forget about the problems back in the United States. Every year the board of Goldman took a four day break abroad and since being handed the reigns of the firm from Hank Paulson (Who became Financial Secretary for Bush) Blankfein had insisted that they meet in one of the new emerging economic giants- Brazil, Russia, India or China….. As Blankfein wandered back to his hotel he pondered his fears: What if oil process were to slide, say to $70 a barrel? What then? What about Goldman itself? Despite his proven success, Blankfein admitted to being paranoid as he often described himself….. As the current market troubles unfolded Goldman was mercifully spared the kids of hit that Lehman, Merrill, Citi and even Morgan Stanley were taking. His team was smart, but Blankfein knew that lack played a big role in their accomplishments. Certainly Goldman had its share of toxic assets, it was highly leveraged (Word means extent of indebtedness-Ed) and it faced the same funding shortfalls cause by a seized up market as did its rivals. To its credit it had steered clear of most noxious of those assets-the securities (That word is an oxymoron-Ed) built entirely on the creaky foundation of sub prime mortgages (the Hebrew root of this word is –death-Ed) … Blankfien couldn’t help but notice all the Mercedes clogging up the streets as he walked back to his hotel room. That was only the most visible sign of the conspicuous consumption taking place. Flushed with profits not only from oil and gas but from iron, nickel and a host of other increasingly valuable commodities, Russia’s so called oligarchs were buying up super yachts and English soccer teams. Ten years ago Russia could not pay its debts: today it was a fast growing, $1.3 Trillion economy. P170, 166-168 Too Big to Fail A.R. Sorkin 2009. Sorry I cannot help myself. Blankfein has read a book I want to read but fear that there aren’t many copies here in my nation. The Jewish New York Times journalist who wrote the ground breaking intro to the Middle East- ‘From Beirut to Jerusalem’ has a chapter called Hama Rules and in it explains without using that Arabic word- the concept of Balad. A place like Mt Zion or Mecca which has influence across the entire region. Thus the idea of nation states is absurd and the establishment of them is the current situation as natural forces are at work to make the entire Middle East into one unit again….(and my Editor has just said- we shall see!) But coming back to write this from watching the Evening News- A brave French editor shot for expressing his views about the prophet- Peace be upon him- Muhammed… but relevant to this post the price of oil is now below $50 a barrel and just as we read here Russia is in deep deep trouble. So how come that the oil price is essentially for this century anyway- collapsed? Well some suggest that Arabia over pumping is a deliberate attack upon Russia relevant to what was happening in Ukraine six months ago. You see well if you are reading this blog… We cannot limit our thinking just to financial issues. There are powerful spiritual thing going on as the military and political issues in our very unstable world become apparent as well. So what is happening and will there be come back on USA for what is happening in Russia now? God alone knows but as I write this a verse pops into my head “for what so ever ye sow ye shall reap’ If what is happening right now is some high stake game made in Empire State- New York the cost on New York could be a high one…. Please consult with the expert on NY Jewish matters- Our Eternal Jew!