Category Archives: Technology

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Expect oil prices to shoot up. Don’t blame Iran! Pro-U.S. South Sudan has stopped all oil exports. Russians being attacked

It’s not even a year old, and already it’s affecting the global oil market.  South Sudan says it is halting all oil exports, because of disputes with Sudan.

Recently South Sudan officials accused Sudan of stealing its oil.  In the latest case they say Sudan stole 650,000 barrels of oil, which was loaded onto a Sudan ship.  Sudan replied by saying South Sudan failed to pay import duties on the oil.  Currently South Sudan must ship its oil through Sudan to ports on the Red Sea.

On January 29, 2012, South Sudan stopped all oil exports in retaliation.

Currently the United Nations has Peacekeepers in South Sudan, they include military and police units from several dozens of countries, including the United States.  Japan is also sending military units in February.

On January 24, Russia announced it was withdrawing the majority of its  helicopter forces from South Sudan, by April 1.   The UN claims the Russian  Peacekeeping forces have been specifically targeted for attacks: “It is clear that the reason why Russia has (grounded) the helicopters is based on the threat and the risk the troops have faced.”-Susana Malcorra, UN Department of Field Support

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3 & Government/Corporate Incompetence: United States and Europe will suffer from loss of Iranian oil, expect $150 per barrel oil soon, Iran now economically independent

A visit from the International Atomic Energy Agency seems to have put a vote by Iranian lawmakers, to stop oil shipments, on hold.

On Sunday, January 29, the vote was postponed.  One factor is debate over how long Iran should block sales of oil to Europe; some lawmakers want a five year block, while others want 15 years.

Iran’s Oil Minister, Rostam Qasemis, has pointed out that stopping oil shipments to Europe, or the United States, will not greatly affect Iran’s oil business. In the case of the EU, he says they get only 20% of Iran’s oil exports.  British media say it’s 25%, but that’s still not enough to adversely affect Iran’s economy.

Qasemis also said Iran is on the verge of being completely independent when it comes to oil industry supplies: “We can produce all the items needed for the (oil) industry inside the country and cut our needs to the foreign counties through relying on the ability and knowledge of local experts.” 

The International Monetary Fund is also warning the West of any stoppage of oil from Iran.  Some Western media reports say the IMF predicts world oil prices could soar 20-30% if Iran halts oil exports.  And that’s only at the beginning of the oil stoppage.

Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company, Ahmad Qalebani, said that when oil exports to the EU are ended you can expect oil prices to immediately jump to $150 per barrel.  Again, that will only hurt the U.S. and Europe, not Iran.

In fact the increase in oil prices would only benefit Iran.  At only $85 per barrel, Iranian officials say they will see $57 billion in revenue from March 2012 to March 2013. They’d love $150 per barrel.  And to think our own leaders want to embargo Iranian oil.  (gotta love the global oil industry)

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Are you a health care worker who wants to get out of the United States? Japan wants you!

Japan is facing a major shortage of health care workers.  Partly because millions of Japanese have left the country due to the ongoing nuclear disaster, but also because Japan’s national qualification test for health care workers is too tough.

Most foreign health care workers, in Japan, come from Philippines and Indonesia.  For the latest exam the Japanese government tried to make it easier by adding Hiragana alphabet and English equivalents for technical terms.

The pass rate for foreign health care workers is only 2.6%!!!  But don’t blame it on the fact that they might not understand the Japanese language, half of all Japanese who take the test, fail!

Don’t worry, if you go to Japan for a new life as a health care worker, you’ve got four years (after you’ve arrived in Japan) to practice your Japanese, along with three years of official training, before you have to take test.

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Pale Green Horse, Radiation & Global Food Crisis: Japan to increase radiation detectors in food industry, sets new contamination standards

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Japan’s food industry is being required to install more cesium detectors in their factories, and the Health Ministry says it can pay for only half of them.  Japan’s food  producer will have to find a way to pay for the rest.

Japan’s Health Ministry has also changed contamination guide lines.  They’ve actually made them stricter when it comes to cesium.  Beginning April, 2012, general food products will be allowed 100 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, which is an 80% reduction from the current “safe” level.

Also, baby food and milk will be allowed to contain 50 becquerels.  However, drinking water will be allowed only 10 becquerels.  I wonder why they think it’s OK to have 50 becquerels in milk but only 10 in water?

To question, even more, the 10 becquerel drinking water limit is the fact that the new cesium detection equipment can not detect any cesium below 25 becquerels!  So how can they test the water accurately?

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3 & Government Incompetence: Oil embargoes are double edged swords. Iran about to swipe back at Europe, could stop all oil shipments voluntarily!

Europe is dependent on foreign oil.  The European Union was pushed into joining the United States in placing an embargo on Iranian oil (in exchange for exempting British Petroleum).  Now Iran says, so what, we’ll voluntarily cut off European oil supplies!

Lawmakers in the Iranian Majlis (similar to a parliament or congress) will decide a new bill on January 29, 2012.  If approved it would cease all oil shipments to Europe by the end of next week.  That’s significant, because the EU oil embargo involves only new oil contracts, not existing ones.

So, in reality the EU oil embargo is a paper tiger, because it doesn’t involve existing oil deals (part of the deal with the U.S. and exempting BP).  The Iranians have realized that oil is, at this point, their greatest weapon.

The United Kingdom is already suffering increasing fuel costs, and their fuel stations are running dry, because of internal problems.  So how stupid are countries who rely on foreign oil suppliers, when they threaten their own oil suppliers?

Could Iran voluntarily halting oil shipments, to U.S. and EU buyers, be a greater incentive to go to war, then their alleged nuclear weapons program?   Modern societies don’t run on nuclear bombs (not counting the ticking time bomb nuclear power plants), they run on oil.

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Black Horse & Fuel Prices: United Kingdom to see record Diesel prices, not because of Iran oil embargo but because one of their refineries went bust!

…there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently warned that a successful oil embargo against Iran could cause oil prices to jump by at least 30%.  But already Britons are being hit with record fuel prices, as fuel stations are running dry because a major oil refiner went bankrupt and stopped shipping out fuel!

In February, 2011, gasoline (petrol) prices in Britain hit at least $9.67 per gallon.  British media now reporting that diesel prices could pass 1.45 pounds per liter (that’s U.S.$8.60 per gallon), with the average diesel car, not truck, driver paying more than $156.00 for a fill up!

Back in 2010, diesel cars became the most popular vehicles in Britain, because diesel fuel was a little cheaper, per gallon, than gas. I say was, because in May, 2011, diesel fuel prices in the U.K. finally went higher than petrol.

Now, the giant Coryton fuel refinery in Essex, England, stopped fuel shipments on January 24, 2012.  Coryton’s Swiss parent company Petroplus filed for bankruptcy, as they fell victim to the ongoing credit crisis in Europe (you see capitalist corporations don’t operate with cash, they operate on loans, just like Mitt Romney).  13 banks, including Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas, froze Petroplus’s credit accounts (can someone please freeze the credit accounts of our capitalist leaders here in the U.S.?).

But just because they stopped shipping out fuel doesn’t mean they’re not making it.  In fact Coryton officials admit they’re now hording all the fuel they make: “Our immediate priority is to continue to operate the Coryton refinery and the Teesside oil storage business without disruption while the financial position is clarified and restructuring options are explored.”–Steven Pearson, joint administrator

Now throw in the fact that fuel tanker drivers are on strike at another British refinery.  That strike is blocking supplies from getting to 340 fuel stations in Britain.  By January 26, 2012, filling stations in Britain began reporting they were out of fuel, after customers rushed to fill their cars when news of the fuel supply stoppage was heard.

“There is no doubt the loss of supplies from a major U.K. refinery, plus the problems in Iran, is going to give the speculators a field day. When they speculate, the only way is up as far as  fuel prices are concerned. Motorists are going to have to get used to seeing prices creeping up.”–Edmund King, The Automobile Association

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Opinion, Technology, U.S.

Black Horse & Apple computers: Apple rakes in huge profits, thanks to slave wage labor! Apple’s China factory installs anti-jumping nets to keep workers from leaping to their deaths. Idaho, Ohio, Michigan & Pennsylvania Republicans hoping China will build similar slave cities in the U.S.

…there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

January 26, 2012

Apple reported their 2011 fourth quarter profits at a record $13.06 billion!  That would be fine if it wasn’t for the fact that Chinese workers are being pushed so hard to make Apple products that they’re literally going over the edge to their deaths!

I love my Apple computer (it’s lasted longer than any other computer I’ve had, and with far less glitches), but, one of the factors in me buying an Apple was that I thought they were made in the U.S.  Apparently after (evil) Bill Gates became a major investor in Apple, production was shipped overseas.

Around the time Apple was reporting their record profits, Chinese media was reporting on a factory that made Apple products.  Turns out the workers there threatened suicide because of slave labor conditions.

It’s so bad that a Catholic Online article says Chinese factories are spending money to put up nets around their buildings, to keep workers from jumping to their deaths.

You see, working in Chinese factories is not like working in a U.S. factory (not yet anyway): “Chinese factories are self-contained cities with workers living side-by-side in dorms. Workers spend an average of 10-12 hours per day working, six days a week.” Also: “…life in a Chinese factory is unpleasant, boring, repetitive, and workers have little to no privacy, and few rights-if any. The food is nothing to write home about either. Employers can set workers to task at any hour, force them into overtime, and arbitrarily fire them if desired. It’s as near to slavery as one can get without the chains.” -Catholic Online

When I realize how much I paid for my Mac (more than double what I was paying for cheapo IBM types) it sickens me to know that it could have been made by wage slaves!  I thought one of the reasons for the higher price was that I was supporting U.S. jobs!

This month Apple’s contracted factory in China, run by a company called Foxconn, reported that workers threatened to commit mass suicide.  To give you an example of the crowded working conditions, Foxconn admits they have at least 32,000 workers living on their factory ‘campus’!  That’s not a factory, it’s a self contained slave city!!!

But guess what? The state government of Idaho has been toying with Chinese contractors to build such a slave city right here in Idaho, U.S.A.  They call it an “industrial complex”.

In 2010, the Idaho Statesman reported that state officials were working on a project that would allow the China National Machinery Industry Corporation (aka SINOMACH) to build huge a slave labor camp south of Boise.  It could cover up to 30,000 acres, and is “…based on a concept popular in China today…”.

That camp would include retail shops and homes for workers, and some reports say the ’employees’ will come from China.

SINOMACH also got involved with a fertilizer project near American Falls, but since then all has gone quite on that project.

Lobbyists working for the Chinese say Idaho Republican leaders are great to work with: “One thing these Chinese see is we have a governor here who has a great big open door policy, and I think that’s making a difference in this SINOMACH project.”-Pat Sullivan, lobbyist

The Idaho Republican’s open door policy for China is part of their Project 60 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plan.

Idaho Republican leaders love China: “Idaho’s the last state that should say we don’t want to do business with Asia. Asia’s where the money is.”-Brad Little, Idaho Lieutenant Governor

I’ve also reported on how most of Idaho’s Republican politicians are in the pockets of for profit prison labor operations.

SINOMACH is also dealing with officials in Ohio, Michigan (is there a connection to the union busting going on in that state?) and Pennsylvania.

Also this month, SINOMACH announced they will increase their efforts to set up operations in other countries: “We encourage our subsidiaries, including scientific institutions and design, construction and industrial equipment manufacturing companies, to go overseas and explore and develop new services and markets.”: Ren Hongbin, chairman of SINOMACH

SINOMACH (short for Sino Machinery) reported a revenue increase of 17% in 2011, for a total of $30 billion.  I wounder how much was from cutting costs with slave labor?

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Black Horse & What Economic Recovery? Texas Instruments shutting down decades old factories, thousands to lose jobs, despite $298 million profit at the end of 2011!

…there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

Long time electronics manufacturer, Texas Instruments, will close two factories, one in Japan, the other in Texas.

Both factories are more than 30 years old, and Ti says it will be too costly to upgrade them, so instead they’ll shut ’em down and lay off thousands of employees in Japan and the U.S.

Ti also blames a drop in sales, and a 68% drop in profits. However, even with that 68% drop in profits, Ti still reported a $298 million profit from October to December 2011!

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3 & Government Hypocricy: BP to be exempt from Iran oil embargo, proof the U.S. is controled by the British Empire

There are reports that say British Petroleum (BP) is to be exempted from the U.S. and EU oil embargoes.  It was part of the deal to get the European Union to impose sanctions against Iran.

BP was born out of the old British controlled Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Despite the decades of sanctions against Iran (since the early 1980s) BP has still managed to do business with Iran.

BP, and a Norwegian company (Statoil), are currently running a natural gas operation in the Caspian Sea in co-operation with Iran, called Shah Deniz.  But back in the United Kingdom, sanctions forced BP to shut down a North Sea gas operation, because it was 50% owned by Iran!

British officials do not want anymore halts to BP operations, so they lobbied hard with the United States to get BP exempt from any European/U.S. oil embargo.

 

Business/Economics, International, Opinion, Technology, U.S.

White Horse & World War 3: European Union approves oil embargo on Iran, Libya part of plan to go after Iran

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

EU ambassadors have agreed upon an oil embargo against Iran, it must now be approved by EU foreign ministers.  The sanctions would ban the buying of Iranian petroleum products, and would halt all imports to EU members by July 1, 2012.

This follows new U.S. sanctions imposed at the beginning of January, 2012.  Taken together, the U.S. and EU oil embargoes could halt 2.6 million barrels of oil, driving oil prices up and adding to the overall instability of the world economy.

You’d think the Europeans would not want to do anything to stop Iranian oil, after all most of Iran’s oil goes to Europe.  But maybe that’s why the EU (with help from the U.S.) took over Libya’s oil in the fake revolution supported by NATO.  Now they can go after Iran without too much worry about oil supply.