Category Archives: Opinion

Obama lied about leaving Afgahnistan, U.S. will stay beyond 2014

In an interview with a Pakistani news station, GEO TV,  U.S. Admiral Michael Mullen said the U.S. will maintain bases beyond the 2014 troop pull out.

He also contradicted himself saying the U.S. will not maintain bases in Afghanistan.  Mullen said that Bagram and Shindand air bases will be used by the U.S. to continue training Afghan government forces.   It could be that officially the bases will be maintained by Afghan forces, yet there will be a U.S. “presence” on those bases.  Talking out of both sides of your mouth is becoming a common thing with our leaders.

Obama giving Libyan Rebels $25 million, after giving speech saying the U.S. needs to cut domestic spending

To the people of the United States it’s one slap in the face after another.  Recently President Obama gave a speech saying cuts need to be made to U.S. government spending.  Then he gives $3 million so some students can study in China, and now he’s giving Libyan rebels $25 million in equipment!

On April 20, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the announcement.  Obama is joining with United Kingdom, France and Italy in openly taking sides with Libyan militants, some of who might actually be al-Qaeda, according to military officials, including NATO boss U.S. Admiral James Stavridis.

France & Italy join the U.K. in sending troops to Libya

Following the British announcement that they will send troops to train Libyan rebels, France and Italy say they will do the same.

The UN coalition members say, officially, they are within UNSCR 1973 because training rebel militants will protect civilians.

It’s interesting that Libyan government troops are being portrayed as non-Libyan, while rebels are being portrayed as the only Libyans.  Don’t forget that even U.S. officials admitted that some rebels could be al-Qaeda.

This is not a rebellion, it is a Civil War.

Coalition/NATO openly violates UNSCR 1973, sending troops to help Libyan Rebels

The United Kingdom (Britain), a member of NATO, and a United Nations coalition member supposedly enforcing UNSCR 1973,  announced they are sending 20 commandos to train Libyan rebels.

UNSCR 1973 states that efforts should be made only to protect civilians.

Recently NATO members (including the United States) announced that their main objective is to get rid of Moammar Gadhafi (Gaddafi), which is also a violation of UNSCR 1973.

The United Kingdom has admitted to sending 1,000 suits of body armor, and satellite phones, to the rebels.  NATO members are also considering sending the rebels electronic counter measure equipment.

The total disregard for UNSCR 1973, by coalition forces, and the lack of condemnation by the United Nations, is proof that any resolution passed by the UN is worthless.

Obama increasing College funding…in China!!!

So you voted for Barack Obama because you’re hoping to go to college, but can’t afford the skyrocketing costs.  You thought Obama was going to help you pay for college?  You’re right, if your going to college in China!

Last week Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, announced that the U.S. State Department will spend U.S.$3 million on scholarships for study in China.  On top of that First Lady Michelle Obama announced that they have convinced U.S. corporations to help fund U.S.$3.25 million for the “100,000 Strong Initiative”.   Those corporations include Caterpillar, Citigroup and Coca-Cola.

The program is in addition to the usual Fulbright scholarship program.

So now even college students are being shipped off to China!   I guess it makes sense, you know, follow the jobs.

Former U.S. official says don’t blame China for U.S. economic problems, yet

“If we didn’t import from China, we’d import from somewhere else.”-Henry Paulson, former U.S. Treasury Secretary

Henry Paulson is saying that if U.S. corporations didn’t have China to ship jobs to, they’d ship off U.S. jobs somewhere else.  He, and others, believe that by shipping off U.S. jobs to other countries, it helps to keep inflation down.

Of course it does, because that means less people working which brings down consumer spending which helps keep inflation down.  Inflation traditionally goes up when the economy is good and people spend more money, which is what is happening in China right now.

There is worry that the fast growing inflation in China could spread to the rest of the world.  For those countries whose economies are in trouble it’s not a good thing: “If China has problems, our problems would be more difficult.”-Henry Paulson

 

Wind Power not welcome in Idaho? Turn around for Pocatello?

For those of us, in Idaho, that like the idea of renewable, clean, energy sources, like wind and solar, it seems efforts to bring wind power to our state is blowing against the wind.

Just a few years ago the Idaho media was full of positive stories about wind energy bringing needed jobs, and power, to the state.

Now efforts to stop wind power expansion in the state, in the past couple of years, have made it all the way to the state capitol.  In April the legislature refused, by a slim margin, to extend tax credits for wind farms.

A lobbyist for one company said they would not be able to build any new wind projects without it.  It’s also true that many big (and evil) companies have gotten their hands in the Idaho wind power cookie jar, like General Electric (Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster) and British Petroleum (Gulf of Mexico oil disaster), so  those particular corporations certainly don’t need tax breaks.

The point is that for the past couple of years there has been an all out effort to stop wind power development in the state of Idaho.

Here on the eastern side of the state, one city who originally welcomed the wind, is now saying they made a mistake.

Idaho Falls, in Bonneville County, is energy independent, providing their own power from hydroelectric dams on the Snake River.  But as their city grew, their electric power couldn’t keep up.  Idaho Falls looked to wind power to maintain their energy independence.  Now you can see wind turbines east of the city.  To independent minded tech junkies it looks cool, but, apparently to home buyers it’s a blight.

Idaho Falls real-estate agents claim they lost sales because of the wind farms: “There is nothing more tempting to the buyer than the smell of freshly baked cookies,” but when they saw the “…monstrous turbines, they marched right out of the house.”-Connie Clawson, Idaho Falls real-estate agent

Property near the turbines have seen their values go down.  Cities and counties don’t like that ’cause that’s where they get most of their tax revenues from.  As a result Idaho Falls halted any more wind turbine development.

In Bingham County, Idaho, officials denied the second phase of a proposed wind farm, after approving the first phase.  Officially it was blamed on a vague 1984 county code.  But one county commissioner admitted that property values was a factor:  “My biggest concern was probably property values that would be affected.”-Ladd Carter, Bingham County Commissioner

Here’s a point I’d like to make about property values.  Think of who really benefits from high property values:  Real estate agents, counties and cities and school districts that rely on the property tax, and property speculators (remember, those people who created the housing market bubble).  High property values don’t really benefit the people who plan on living in their homes for a long, long time.

Several years ago, people in Pocatello wondered what was to become of the abandoned FMC/Astaris phosphorus refining plant.  The city announced a plan to turn it into a coal fired power plant.  Residents were shocked, mainly because the FMC site was the cause of a Federal Superfund cleanup, and the nearby Native American reservation had successfully sued over pollution issues.

FMC site

People thought; we have plenty of wind here, why not a wind farm?  The elected officials (supposedly representing the “people”) of Pocatello, and the county of Bannock, played a delaying game with the public.  They held several public hearings, in which it became clear they did not want to hear from people arguing for the wind farm.  Finally the officials declared that there would be no more public hearings on the issue, and nothing has been heard since about using the old FMC/Astaris site for a wind farm.  (Apparently the company involved in the coal fired plant plan, decided to abandon the FMC/Astaris site, and look into a site nearer to American Falls)

Pocatello did have a wind turbine manufacturer in operation, but right before December 25, 2010, they announced they were leaving town.  Nordic Windpower moved to Kanasas City, Missouri, after less than two years of operations in Pocatello.

There is some hope for wind power.  Pocatello voters elected new officials, and recently the city revised building codes for small wind mills.  “If we really want to promote wind power in the city, which I believe we do, we need to make it easier for wind turbines to go in and delineate where they would be welcome and where they maybe would be inappropriate.”-Marjanna Hulet, Pocatello Planning and Zoning Commission

The Pocatello Community Charter School became the first site for small wind mill (so small you have to look for it).  It wasn’t cheap, even though it was part of the ‘Wind for Schools’ program, they still had to raise funds from sponsors.

 

Charter school windmill in Pocatello.

There is a new project in Downey (same county that Pocatello is in; Bannock), Idaho, that will use “accelerated wind turbines”.  The company, Pavilion (PVRE), claims the turbines will maximize wind, so even areas with low wind speeds can use wind power.  That company is also looking at using the former Nordic Windpower facilities (in the old Pocatello naval gun plant) as a factory for its accelerated wind turbines.

Then there is the Federal BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land in south east Idaho, that’s scheduled for use as a wind farm.  Unfortunately most of the power is destined for Nevada. And despite the company’s name, RES America, it’s run by a foreign company.   RES is based in the United Kingdom (Britain).

Also, Ridgeline Energy (another foreign owned company, Veolia of France), is building a 79.2 megawatt wind farm in Rockland, near American Falls (also in eastern Idaho).

Photos by: Alex Hutchins (click on the pics to make them bigger)

 

NATO and Coalition members will openly fund Libyan Rebels

Despite the fact that UNSCR 1973 doesn’t say anything about taking sides, and supporting a militant group (it’s supposed to be about protecting civilians), NATO, and other UN coalition members say they are now going to give money to the Libyan rebels (where’s the money coming from? taxpayers?).

They’re calling the funds a “temporary financial mechanism”.

The coalition has already recognized the non-elected rebel council as the new government of Libya.

Rebels say they want more weapons as well, but coalition members still say, officially, they are not supplying weapons.  Here’s what one rebel leader said publicly: “We’re discussing weapons deals with countries that officially recognised the council; we’ve been getting positive replies.” They also said: “…participants in the contact group agreed to continue to provide support to the opposition, including material support.”

Sounds to me like the rebels are trying to tell the truth and the coalition members (including the U.S.) are flat out lying.  It makes you question the motive of the coalition for supporting the rebels.   It wouldn’t be the first time western powers supported one group, only to put another group into power once the dirty work was done. 

Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister,  was most honest when he demanded: “…either we make it possible for these people to defend themselves, or we withdraw from our obligation to support defending the population of Libya.” Many analysts say the UNSCR 1973 includes an arms embargo, but Frattini doesn’t interpret the resolution that way.  This is an example of the continued division within the UN coalition, which is proof of the lack of coalition building by Sarkozy and Obama.  Which, again, is another reason to question this whole adventure into North Africa.  Where’s Erwin Rommel?


Cold War between China & U.S. began 2005

“If the United States would not allow CNOOC to purchase Unocal, will not itself guarantee China a steady energy supply and opposes Chinese purchases of Iranian oil and gas, how can China survive?”-Zhang Guobao, former vice chairman National Development and Reform Commission

In 2005 China tried to buy California based Unocal.  The attempt was blocked by the U.S. government.

Before anybody in the U.S. says “good, we don’t want foreigners taking over our oil”, guess what?  Too late, ever hear of BP?  British Petroleum has been slowly taking over U.S. oil companies since 1998 (ever wondered what happened to AMOCO, or ARCO, or Castrol? They all owned by BP now).  At least the Chinese have a track record of spending money big time, for other projects, in the countries they move into, BP does not come close.

On top of that, China has been allowed to take over smaller U.S. companies, why not the oil companies?  Is it because BP can’t handle the competition?  Officially our government says it’s about National Security.  You mean letting a limey, red coat, mortal enemy of the founders of the United States, British company take over U.S. oil companies is not a National Security threat?

In 2007 Zhang Guobao issued a warning to the United States, saying the blocking of their purchase of Unocal “will have many after effects.” Can you say ‘get your game on!’  Remember China is our largest creditor, we owe them big time for financing our financially inept, elected officials deficit spending.

China has already retaliated by not allowing Coca-Cola to take over a Chinese beverage company in 2009.  Then again, Atlanta, Georgia based, Coca-Cola was so arrogant that they didn’t think it necessary to lobby Chinese politicians (something they do all the time here in the U.S.).

Several attempts by U.S. companies, to take over Chinese companies, have been squashed.  But remember when China tried to buy GM’s Hummer brand?  That fell through, because of the Chinese government.  It seems that the Chinese government has decided that not only are they going to block U.S. companies from moving into China, but they are going to block any Chinese company from investing in the U.S.  Sounds like an economic war. All they need to do now is start dumping U.S. bonds, and we’re toast.

Many U.S. media still claim that the United States is the biggest customer for China, wrong.  In the last decade, the Chinese have been moving their consumer market eggs into different baskets (wise move).  They’re invested big time in Latin America, blowing the United States away, another reason why Obama’s trip to Latin America was a total waste.  Australia has become such a big supplier of crops to China, that their economy is going gang busters as well.  In fact, when you look at most of the countries that are not being affected by the global recession, they all have one common factor; China is invested big time with their economies!

By the way, remember that big announcement Obama made when he went to China in 2009?  Even Chinese officials claimed it would end the U.S. recession.  What happened?

In January 2011, it was announced that the U.S. and China agreed to a $45 billion trade deal.  Obama lauded the deal saying it would support (not create) 235,000 jobs.  But there’s a catch.  Obama, and members of Congress said the deal was contingent upon China addressing certain ‘human rights’ issues.

“We also know this: history shows that societies are more harmonious, nations are more successful and the world is more just when the rights and responsibilities of all nations and all peoples are upheld — including the universal rights of every human being.”-President Barack Obama

“…raised our strong, ongoing concerns with reports of human rights violations in China, including the denial of religious freedom and the use of coercive abortion…”-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio

“While we appreciate those words, the United States will watch the actions of the Chinese government to make sure that they meet the words that were spoken in the White House yesterday.”-Robert Gibbs, White House Spokesman

I believe the reason why the U.S. economy is still struggling is because the U.S. don’t wanna play with China anymore, and China don’t wanna play with the U.S., it’s all just Nuevo Cold War rhetoric now.

 

 

 

Will Obama attack Ecuador? He kicked out their ambassador, oil is involved

Thanks to a WikiLeaks release, tensions between the United States and Ecuador are heating up.

The WikiLeaks document showed that the U.S. ambassador to Ecuador, Heather M. Hodges, made some not so nice comments about their President. Apparently President Rafael Correa gave her a chance to retract, or explain, her statements, and she allegedly refused. She was then declared persona non grata (unwelcome) in Ecuador, but not officially kicked out.

Now the United States has actually kicked out the ambassador from Ecuador. The U.S. State Department says it’s in retaliation for Ecuador ordering Hodges out of the country, which President Correa disputes. Correa says they simply said she was no longer welcome, but they were not “kicking her out”.

This continues a long list of problems between Ecuador and the U.S. In the past few years the United States was pushing Ecuador to allow U.S. military bases to be set up on their soil. The official reason was to fight drugs in Columbia, but many people believe it was to encircle Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. President Correa responded, in 2009, by saying that the only way the U.S. could build bases in Ecuador, was if Ecuador was allowed to build bases in the United States.

Now we have the WikiLeaks/ambassador fiasco. What’s next, oil? Maybe!

Ecuador has oil! They have been fighting international legal battles to prevent oil companies from coming in and drilling. That’s right, they do NOT want anymore oil pumped out of their ground. Ecuador does have active oil fields, but they don’t want anymore. The oil corporations, backed by governments (Chevron/United States), are saying to bad so sad, you just a piddly country, what you gonna do about it?

So far Ecuador has been petitioning United Nations members, but not getting much support.  There’s estimated to be hundreds of millions of barrels of oil still to be drilled and pumped out in Ecuador.  And with the price of oil making it more tempting, could President Obama (or any other future U.S. president) be planning some kinda humanitarian military intervention in Ecuador?