Born in Deutschland 1965, hometown was Bütthart, parents were not U.S. government employees. However, when father was tricked into joining the U.S. Air Force Civil Service, in 1969, with the promise that we could remain in Germany, we were promptly shipped off to Iran. Due to one of my Iranian educators being disappeared, along with her husband, by the U.S. ally Shah of Iran's Israeli & U.S. created Savak (for the then official terrorist act of promoting the idea that women can vote), and due to my U.S. citizen mother being placed on Savak's Terrorist Arrest List (for supporting the idea that women should vote, at that time the U.S. ally Shah of Iran did not allow women to vote, now they can) we left Iran for the United States in 1973, literally in the middle of the night. At the U.S. Embassy airbase the CIA operated Gooney Bird (C-47) was so packed with other U.S. citizens fleeing our ally Iran (because the Shah gave the OK to arrest any U.S. citizen for such terrorist acts as promoting the concept of voting) that we were turned away by the Loadmaster and had to take a chance on a civilian flight out of Tehran's airport.
My father told me he and my mother had three culture shocks; first when they arrived in Germany as civilians, then after being shipped off to Iran as U.S. government employees, then again returning to the United States as unemployed civilians (because so much had changed in the U.S. while they were gone, their only news source was the U.S. Armed Forces Radio & Television Service which heavily censored information about the home front).
Since I graduated high school in 1982 I've worked for U.S. government contractors and state & local government agencies (in California), convenience store manager in California, retail/property management in Georgia, California and Idaho. Spent the 1990s in the TV news business producing number one rated local news programs in California, Arizona and Idaho. 14+ years with California and Idaho Army National Guard and the U.S. Air Force. Obtained a BA degree in International Studies from Idaho State University at the age of 42.
Unemployed since 2015, so don't tell me the economy has recovered.
The Government Accountability Office released a study that showed that some of the government contractors that got paid with taxpayer “stimulus” money, don’t pay taxes.
The GAO says 3,700 contractors who got stimulus money, owe back taxes. That’s about 5% of the contractors that got the taxpayer money. Some of the contractors that avoided paying taxes include construction companies and companies that specialize in social services.
While 5% may not seem like much, the GAO says that 5% owes $750 million in back taxes.
The U.S. media is talking about Chrysler’s announcement that it plans to pay off the U.S. and Canadian government loans. It is not a sign of a good economy, because the loans are not being paid off with profits.
Chrysler’s pay off is coming as a result of more loans. The Auto maker has decided that it does not want to keep paying the high interest rate of the government bailout loans, so it has refinanced through private banks. In other words Chrysler is still in trouble.
“When the United States and Britain stand together, our people and people around the world can become more secure and more prosperous…Ours is not just a special relationship, it is an essential relationship – for us and for the world”-joint statement by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron
Basically, what Obama and Cameron are saying is that the British Empire (the only empire to stand on four corners of the world. those who believe in the last days of the Christian book of Revelation need to pay attention to that!) is going to fight to hold on to every piece of territory the Empire controls (or fight to gain territory it wants to control).
During World War 2, the U.S. and U.K. formed a “Special Relationship” to fight the Germans and Japanese (after all the United States and the British Empire were supposed to be mortal enemies).
That relationship continued, thanks to the propaganda of Winston Churchill and Senator McCarthy, with the Cold War against Communism. With the War on Terror the U.S. and U.K. have decided their relationship is now “Essential”.
A study called “Family Pressure Gauge” says the United Kingdom is Europe’s third worst place for families to live, after Bulgaria and Romania.
Some points of the study: Almost 25% of the average British family income goes to childcare, which is double the percentage spent by French families and three times that for German families.
One in seven U.K. families spend more than 40% of their income on rent or a mortgage, compared to only 1.8% of French families.
One in 20 British families live in “severe housing deprivation”, 12 times more than the Netherlands.
The survey also revealed Britons work the longest hours in Europe, and that the U.K. ranks as the second worst country in Europe for maternity and paternity leave.
Netanyahu just told the U.S. Congress that Jerusalem has only been free for all religions since Israel’s occupation. Bullshit!!!
Ask the Palestinian Muslims, Christians and Jews (yes Christians and Jews make up the Palestinian population) that have been constantly harassed and blocked from access to religious sites by the Israelis!!!
Jews and Muslims living in Palestine BEFORE the European Zionists took it over and renamed it Israel, said they used to babysit each other’s children. They worshiped freely alongside each other BEFORE the European Zionists took Jerusalem over. Netanyahu is so full of shit that I can smell him thousands of miles away here in the Pacific Northwest!!!
Officials from the Obama administration’s U.S. Department of State, including U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), have arrived in North Korea.
They refused to answer reporter’s questions, but officially they are there to help end the food shortage in North Korea.
According to Chinese media, the United States has investigated Chinese products for “Section 337” violations, at least 56 times since 2006. That’s more times than all the previous 20 years prior to 2006.
Section 337 investigates claims of unfair trade and competition, as well as possible U.S. copyright violations.
May 24, Sony announced that their online services continue to get hacked. The latest involve countries like Greece and Thailand.
Japanese IT officials think hackers are just practicing, and that Sony’s security sucks: ‘‘Hackers are launching attacks apparently to hone their skills. Sony must review the security systems of its entire group to redress their vulnerability.’’-Information Technology Promotion Agency
Sony announced that they have lost, so far, $171 million because of the hacks. This adds to Sony’s year after year losses.
According to the Japanese government, 50.4% of deadly car accidents involve old people.
The data was compiled from 2010 accidents in Japan. More than half involved people 65 years of age, or older. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, the data needs to be broken down. Remember the key word here is “involved”, not “caused”.
The majority of deadly car accidents involving old people, were of old people being hit while walking, not driving (50.1% of the 50.4% total involving old people). The number of deadly car accidents involving old people driving is 23.9% (of the 50.4%).
So basically its more dangerous for an old person to walk anywhere in Japan, than to drive.