Tag Archives: 99%

Technology

WW3, Vehicle I-D: China’s Type 99A and Type 99

Video

Type 99A:

People’s Liberation Army photo by He Rui, late January 2023.

Track shoes/pads are removable, on the Type 99A. PLA photo by He Rui, late January 2023.

It has been confused with the export only tanks VT1 and VT4, and the lightweight high altitude tank VT5.  Sometimes it is called ZTZ-99A. The Type 99A is an radical evolution of the Type 99.  The Type 99 is based on the Soviet/Russian T-72, it began service in 2001.

T-72 style roadwheels and small exhaust ports on both sides of the Type 99A.

The Type 99A has the driver’s position slightly offset from center of the front of the hull, and has two periscopes, the Type 99 has only one T-72 style periscope for the driver and the position is centered.  Other Chinese tanks with similar looking turrets (like the Type 96B) have driver’s positions that are offset from center, on the driver’s left side, revealing they were originally based on the T-54/55.

An 81st Group Army Type 99A with armored blocks, and without fender skirts. Notice the ‘Eiffel Tower’ in the background. PLA photo, 10JAN2023.

CGTN video explaining the Type 96A, from August 2020:

 In 2011, China began slowly replacing the Type 99 with the Type 99A, however, it wasn’t publicly revealed until 2015.

CGTN video, Type 99A during parade in July 2017:

CGTN video, Type 96A during parade in October 2019:

Type 99:

The older Type 99. PLA 76th Group Army photo by Cao Xuguang, 14JUL2020.

The exhaust ports on the Type 99A are set further back than the Type 99, due to a new powerpack (motor/transmission).  The powerpack for the older Type 99 was reportedly developed by NATO-Germany.  The headlights on the Type 99 sit higher up on the front slope than the Type 99A.  The front tow hooks on the Type 99 sit on the upper front slope, below the headlights, while the tow hooks of the Type 99A are mounted on the lower front slope, inline with the headlights.

The older Type 99. PLA 76th Group Army photo by Cao Xuguang, 14JUL2020.

PLA 76th Group Army photo 08JUL2020.

PLA 76th Group Army photo by Cao Xuguang, 18JUN2020.

PLA 76th Group Army photo by Cao Xuguang, 18JUN2020.

World War 3, Vehicle I-D:

Photo via NORINCO.

NORINCO’S DRONE CARRYING VT4A1 EXPORT BATTLE TANK

CHINA’S NEW HIGH ALTITUDE LIGHT TANK VT5

 CHINA STILL USES THE 105mm NATO GUNNED TYPE 88 WARSAW PACT (T-54/55) BASED TANK

Business/Economics, Idaho

Texan 1-percenters screw over Idaho 99-percenters with massive land grab! National Parks kills nearly 2,000 California jobs! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 11 January 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

California: In San Jose, integrated circuit maker  Maxim Integrated Product intends to shutdown by March, 150 jobs lost!  In Chowchilla, Affinia Brake Parts issued a layoff WARN saying 43 people will become jobless in February.  AT&T issued a layoff WARN saying 102 people in San Ramon will be let go in February!   Germany based medical plastics maker Balda C. Brewer issued a shutdown WARN for its relatively new Irvine factory, 193 jobs lost by the end of February!   At Yosemite National Park, DNC Parks & Resorts issued a massive shutdown WARN, 1-thousand 718 jobs lost by the end of February!   In Santa Barbara, chemical giant DuPont issued a shutdown WARN, 41 jobs lost next month.   Motion control company Parker Hannifin shutting down their Anaheim ops by March, 197 jobs lost!   The Walnut Creek Pyramid Alehouse shutting down next week, 49 jobs lost.   Los Angeles based clothier Kitson finally issued shutdown WARNs for its California stores, 188 jobs already lost!  (they’re shutting down their Oregon and Nevada stores as well)   Switzerland based human resource company Adecco Group shutting down their Palo Alto ops by March, 108 jobs lost!   Macy’s revealed how many jobs will be lost when they shutdown their Irvine and Sacramento stores, 223 by the middle of March!

Colorado:  The Center City Police Department shutting down.  The city is broke and will rely on the county sheriff’s department.

Georgia: In Atlanta, after ten years K-La boutique in The Forum plaza shutting down by the end of the month.  News reports revealed it’s the third K-La boutique to shutdown since New Year’s Day!  After January there will be only two K-Las, both in North Carolina.

Idaho: In Idaho County, according to local news reports two Texas billionaires bought-up 38-thousand acres of land and then shut it all down to local residents who traditionally use it for recreation and hunting!  Residents are outraged as previous land owners allowed public access for recreation and hunting.

According to a new report called The Financial Condition of Idaho Agriculture: 2015, Idaho farmers saw an overall 9% drop in cash receipts (even with a 2% drop in operating costs) from 2014 to 2015, due to crashing food prices: “The low prices in 2014 bled over into last year. The shortages, the supply and demand factors bleed into the following year.”-Garth Taylor, University of Idaho agricultural economist

The good news is that prices for livestock went up, but the low crop prices were low enough to adversely affect state tax collections. To break it down with a few examples; milk prices resulted in revenues dropping by one third.  Wheat down 17%.  Hay down 12% and potatoes down just under 3%.  Sugar beets and barley made revenue gains, with sugar beets bringing in a whopping 20% increase.

Indiana: In Anderson, God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Family Christian Stores.  Company administrators said the only thing that would keep them from shutting down was a better lease deal or “100-thousand new customers”!

Maine: It’s been revealed that the shutdown of two biomass alternative energy plants will also affect 2-thousand 5-hundred logging industry jobs!  The plants used logging industry wood waste.

Missouri: Saint Louis based coal miner Arch Coal now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.

New Hampshire:  In Dover, the Uno Pizzeria & Grill joint shutdown, even though days prior local news media were told by managers the shutdown was just a “rumor”.   Corporate administrators in Boston Weak, Massachusetts, refused to talk to local news media.

New Mexico:  Kroger is shutting down their Smith’s Food and Drug Store in Socorro, 66 job lost next week.    

New York:  NYC based drugs pusher Pfizer just jacked up the cost of your drugs.  A Fortune article says Pfizer jacked up prices (again?) on 105 drugs by as much as 20%!   After it was revealed by local news media, JCPenney finally issued a WARN regarding their Shoppingtown Mall store shutdown, at least 99 jobs lost by the end of April.  The shutdown of four Empire State Macy’s stores will cost at least 306 jobs!   Cumberland Packing shutting down its artificial sweetener (Sweet-n-Low) factory in Brooklyn, 3-hundred jobs lost by the end of the year!

North Carolina:  In Raleigh, The Oxford pub shutting down by the end of the month.

Ohio: It’s been confirmed the Lakewood Hospital will shutdown inpatient service in February, eventually the hospital will be replaced with a smaller clinic operation.  Warren Steel Holdings shutting down their Warren factory during the 1st quarter 2016, about 150 jobs lost! 

Texas: Gregory based, and evil Glencore controlled, Sherwin Alumina now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to crashing aluminum prices.

Washington: The shutdown of the Seattle Macy’s will kill-off at least 94 jobs.  

West Virginia:  Kentucky based coal miner Blackhawk Mining announced it will layoff 146 people due to the crashing coal market!  The latest news reports said more than 2-hundred employees have received layoff notices!

Wisconsin:  News reports say mass layoffs-shutdowns skyrocketed 60% in 2015 under Right to Work (you over) govna Scott Walker’s rule!  Believe it or not, layoffs still aren’t as numerous as they were during the 2008-09 debacle.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”

Business/Economics

Economic Martial Law U.S.A.: Federal Reserve admits their efforts to save the economy makes the rich richer, and everyone else poor!

06 September 2014 (15:55 UTC-07 Tango)/11 Dhu l-Qa’da 1435/15 Shahrivar 1393/13 Gui-You 4712

“Families at the bottom of the income distribution saw continued substantial declines in average real incomes between 2010 and 2013, continuing the trend observed between the 2007 and 2010 surveys.”-2013 Survey of Consumer Finances

Every three years the privately Jewish run U.S. central bank known as Federal Reserve releases data called Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF).  Their latest survey has them admitting that all their efforts to save the U.S. economy, since 2007, has only resulted in making the rich richer and everybody else poor.

The SCF says overall ‘mean (average) income’ went up 4%, but when you look at income using the ‘median’ method it actually dropped 5%.

The Federal Reserve calls making the rich richer “income concentration”.  This means the majority of money being made is going to a small elite, specifically to the top 10% of “families”:   “…all but the highest quintile saw declines in median income between 2010 and 2013, with second and third quintiles seeing the largest declines (7 percent and 6 percent, respectively).  Median income increased 2 percent for the top income decile.  Mean income declined strongly for the bottom two quintiles and barely budged for those between the 40th and 90th percentiles, whereas the mean income of the top decile increased 10 percent between 2010 and 2013.”

“Families in the middle to uppermiddle parts (between the 40th and 90th percentiles) of the income distribution saw little change in average real incomes between 2010 and 2013 and thus have failed to recover the losses experienced between 2007 and 2010.    Only families at the very top of the income distribution saw widespread income gains between 2010 and 2013, although mean and median incomes were still below 2007 levels.”

“Overall, between 2010 and 2013 there was little movement in median and mean net worth, as the median fell a modest 2 percent and the mean increased slightly…..families at the bottom of the income distribution saw continued substantial declines in real net worth between 2010 and 2013, while those in the top half saw, on average, modest gains.  Ownership rates of housing and businesses fell substantially between 2010 and 2013.   Retirement plan participation in 2013 continued on the downward trajectory observed between the 2007 and 2010 surveys for families in the bottom half of the income distribution.  Participation rebounded slightly for upper-middle income families, but it did not move back to the levels observed in 2007……decrease in stock ownership rates was most pronounced for the bottom half of the income distribution.  The decrease in ownership rates for housing and corporate equity holdings was concentrated in the bottom and upper-middle parts of the income distribution, though the decrease in business ownership was concentrated among higher-income families.”

The Federal Reserve has noted a new trend involving education; instead of seeing a high school diploma as increasing your income, it is now seen as reducing the amount of pay you might lose, compared to somebody with no high school diploma.  Apparently having a college degree is still the best way to attain income security: “The median income of households with a high school diploma or less fell between 6 and 9 percent, whereas the mean income of those without a high school diploma fell much more than that of those who graduated from high school (a 17 percent decline versus a 2 percent decline).  The median income of those with some college decreased 11 percent, whereas the median income of those with a college degree increased 1 percent.  Mean income for those with a college degree increased 5 percent.”

Overall, the net worth of the average U.S. citizen is down: “…the median net worth of all families fell a modest 2 percent…..mean net worth was effectively unchanged….the 2010 SCF showed dramatic decreases in median and mean net worth in the 2007–10 period….driven by the boom and bust in house and other asset prices. The bust, in particular, had a disproportionate effect on families in the middle of the net worth distribution, whose wealth portfolio is dominated by housing.

….Families with higher levels of usual income reported greater levels of net worth…..Median net worth decreased between 2010 and 2013 for most usual income groups, falling between 10 and 17 percent….Those in the lowest usual income quintile saw small decreases in median net worth (12 percent,….), but they also saw the largest proportional decrease in mean net worth (21 percent,….).  Households in the second and third quintile of usual income saw large declines in median net worth (10 percent and 17 percent, respectively),….The fourth income quintile was the only group that experienced increases in both median and mean net worth: 16 percent for median net worth and 14 percent for mean net worth.

Those without a high school diploma saw no change in median net worth between 2010 and 2013, but their mean net worth fell 9 percent. Those with high school diplomas or some college both saw 14 percent declines in median net worth; the former saw a 15 percent decline in mean net worth, while those with some college had 9 percent higher mean net worth in 2013.  Median net worth increased 5 percent for those with college degrees, while their mean net worth declined 2 percent.”

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

More proof the Occupy movement is right: When cost of living is included almost 50% of Americans are poor, yet the top 10% got big pay raises in 2010 and their employers lied about it

According to corporate research firm Global Market Insight (GMI), Corporate America’s CEOs got big raises in 2010, even though many companies did not perform well!

The CEOs of the top 500 companies got as much as a 36.5% increase in pay. The next 3,000 U.S. corporations gave their CEOs a pay raise averaging 27%!  Researchers with GMI said they were surprised, and considered the pay increases way out of line with the poor performance of many of the companies.

This news comes at the same time the U.S. Census Bureau is unofficially calling almost half of the population of the United States poor!

“SPM rates were higher than official poverty rates in 2010, overall and for most groups”-Brookings/Census Bureau Meeting on Improved Poverty Measurment, November 7, 2011

The new poverty statistics take into account “nondiscretionary” cost of living expenses such as income taxes, child care, health care, commuting to work, etc.  When cost of living is factored in it raises the official number of poor people in the U.S.

The “official” poverty surveys consider before tax income only!  This means the “official” poverty numbers have been way off for decades.  However, the Census Bureau says the new SPM poverty numbers “Will not replace the official poverty measure” and “Will not be used for resource allocation or program eligibility”!

The new SPM numbers also include some types of welfare benefits a family might be getting, plus child support, and yet even with that data the number of poor people still went higher than the “official” poverty numbers.  This is more evidence of how inaccurate the “official” count is, and how rampant poverty is in the U.S.!

The new data was released on November 7, 2011, yet I don’t recall any mainstream U.S. media reporting it. The data covers the year 2010 only, it’s called Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2010 (SPM).

When using the SPM (aka Improved Poverty Measure) a big jump in the number of poor people were found in the age group of 18 to 64 year olds.  But the biggest jump in poverty was found in the age group of people 65 years or older.

If I read the Census Bureau graphs correctly (and if I understood the Bureaus’ explanations of how they figured it), when you add the “official” poverty numbers to the new SPM numbers you get 146.4 million people who are poor  (49.1 million “officially” poor + 97.3 million SPM poor).  Even if you go by just the new SPM data that’s nearly 100 million poor people in the U.S.

Officially there are 312 million people in the United States.

Back to Corporate America’s big pay raises for their CEOs.

The top earning CEO in 2010 was John Hammergen of McKesson Corporation, getting $145 million, not counting his stock options or retirement benefits!  According to GMI, McKesson has essentially lied about how much they paid Hammergen.  They reported they paid Hammergen only (hmph, ‘only’) $46.1 million.

GMI researchers said McKesson refused to explain the difference.  GMI says Hammergen not only got $145 million in pay, he got $112 million in stock options, a retirement plan worth $13.5 million, and, if he ever got fired his severance package is worth $469 million! For getting fired!!! And the right wing neo-conservative ass holes complain about the average unemployed worker being on unemployment pittance (it certainly is not a “benefit”)!!!

Just like it says in HR 1905, we are slaves!

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? The United States ranks as World’s 4th worst for income disparity. Another official study that proves that the Occupy movement is right! Proof the American Dream was a lie!

“The income inequality level of the United States ranks only after Chile, Mexico and Turkey in the 29 OECD countries. Inequality among working age people has risen steadily since 1980, in total by 25%.”–John Martin, OECD

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its latest report on income disparity, and the United States came in as fourth worst, after Mexico, Chile and Turkey.

The report is called: Growing Unequal? Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries.

The report says the trend for the wealth not being spread evenly within the U.S. actually began in the 1970s.

Here’s some interesting facts from the report: “The average income of the richest 10% is US$93,000 US$ in purchasing power parities, the highest level in the OECD. However, the poorest 10% of the US citizens have an income of US$5,800 US$ per year – about 20% lower than the average for OECD countries.”

“Redistribution of income by government plays a relatively minor role in the United States…effectiveness of taxes and transfers in reducing
inequality has fallen still further in the past 10 years.”

“Wealth is distributed much more unequally than income: the top 1% control some 25-33% of total net worth and the top 10% hold 71%.” 

Richard L. Trumka, chairman of the Trade Union Advisory Committee, said the growing disparity in income in the United States is not because the average person isn’t willing to work harder, but because wages and benefits for the average worker have actually been going down (when adjusted for inflation), while salaries, benefits and other forms of revenue for the top 10% have been going up!

A video presentation by the OECD says this latest study is the most detailed ever.

The study also discovered that low income families stuck in countries with high income disparities, can not expect to ever prosper in those countries: “…but what we find is that in very unequal societies they get stuck. Their incomes don’t reflect their true talents and they stay much poorer on average…”-Mark Pearson, OECD

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Occupy America! New study shows U.S. Middle Class shrinking fast, the 99 percenters are right!

A Stanford University study has researchers shocked at how fast the middle class is disappearing in the United States: “We already kind of knew that segregation by income had been going up from 1970 to 2000, though I was struck by the magnitude of that increase. One of the striking findings in the report is that in 90% of metropolitan areas, income segregation went up in the 2000s.”- Sean Reardon, Professor

The number of families living in middle income neighborhoods dropped to 44% in 2007, down from 65% in 1970.  The study looked at 2007 U.S. Census Bureau data covering 117 metropolitan areas.

The Stanford study also found what many economists, the IRS, and the Occupy Wall Streeters have been saying; fewer people are getting most of the money: “Given that in 2008 the top 10% of earners controlled approximately 48% of all income in the United States, the increasing isolation of the affluent from the low and moderate income families means that a significant portion of society’s resources are concentrated in a smaller and smaller portion of neighborhoods.”

Analysts say that it’s a good bet that Census Bureau data from 2008 to present would should an even bigger decline in the middle class.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Occupy America: Know your enemy; the top 1% are money sucking vampires. 1.4 million vampires are sucking the money out of more than 300 million people!!! Are you under their spell?

“The top 1 percent of households took a bigger share of overall income in 2007 than they did at any time since 1928.”-Annie Lowrey, New York Times

Here’s a shocker; in New York City the top 1% average U.S.$3.7 million in income, according to Christopher Ketcham.

The IRS and the CBO have already proven with their data that the top 1% have been acting like money vampires, sucking money out of our economic system.

What kind of jobs do the 1% have?  According to a CNNMoney report, 8.4% are attorneys, 14% are financial professionals, 15.7% are medical professionals, and 31% run Corporate America (executives, managers and supervisors).

Mother Jones has a more detailed breakdown.  MJ also shows that most of the wealth of the top 1% is invested in paper (stocks, securities, trusts, equities),  not traditional real estate.

AlterNet gives top five astounding facts about the 1%: “1. The Top 1 Percent of Americans Owns 40 Percent of the Nation’s Wealth, 2. The Top 1 Percent of Americans Take Home 24 Percent of National Income, 3. The Top 1 Percent Of Americans Own Half of the Country’s Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds, 4. The Top 1 Percent Of Americans Have Only 5 Percent of the Nation’s Personal Debt, 5. The Top 1 Percent are Taking In More of the Nation’s Income Than at Any Other Time Since the 1920s.”  AlterNet breaks down each of their claims with facts.

So how many of these money suckers are there, how many vampires make up the 1%?  Approximately 1,400,00 (according to the IRS).  Compare that to the total U.S. population of  308,745,538 (according to 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data).  1.4 million vampires are sucking the money out of more than 300 million people!!!

And what about raising taxes on the top elites?  According to IRS data, reported by Bloomberg Businessweek, the top 400, out of the 1.4 million money suckers, actually paid less taxes in 2007.  These super elite vampires (the Count Draculas of the money suckers) saw their effective tax rates fall from nearly 30% in 1995 to under 17% in 2007!!!

I still don’t understand why there isn’t more of the 99% joining the Occupy America (OWS, Occupy Wall Street) movement, unless they’re under the spell of the money sucking vampire elites known as the 1%.

 

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Class War: U.S. government office proves that the Elites have been waging economic war on the rest of us

“The share of income going to higher-income households rose, while the share going to lower-income households fell.”-CBO Trends in the Distribution of Household Income Between 1979 and 2007

The U.S. Congressional Budget Office released data that showed the top 1% of the population saw their incomes jump 275% over 28 years: “For the 1 percent of the population with the highest income, average real after-tax household income grew by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007.”

The next highest income earners, the top 19% of the population (not counting the top 1%), saw their incomes go up 65%, “…much faster than
it did for the remaining 80 percent of the population…”.

As you go down the income ladder, the majority of workers (which are at the bottom of the scale) actually saw their income drop 2% to 3%: “All other groups saw their shares decline by 2 to 3 percentage points.”

This latest data backs up earlier reports from the Internal Revenue Service.  In a 2007 report, the IRS said that incomes for the majority of the U.S. population had actually been dropping since 1986!  They used tax filings to compile their data.

What’s been happening is that the elites have been waging a class war to suck up most of the money in our our economic system.  The top 1% are not trickle downers, they are money hoarders!