Category Archives: Business/Economics

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: Revolution in Saudi Arabia escalates! Iran says fall of U.S. puppet Al Saud regime has begun!!! Even prisoners join the battle!

“This trend marks the beginning of the end for the Al Saud regime and the establishment of a popular rule in Saudi Arabia!”-Mohammad Bayatian, Iranian Industries and Mines Committee

14 July 2012, the steadily growing revolutionary movement in the U.S. puppet state Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has escalated to organized attacks on government forces and prison wars.

Saudi Arabia’s state-run news agency reported that a police station was attacked with firebombs and machine guns. One attacker reported killed, four cops wounded.

Also on Saturday, the al-Hayer political prison erupted into all out war between pro-monarchists (those whom the U.S. & U.K. support), and pro-democracy (supported by Iran) inmates.  At least two people reported killed.

There have been massive protests for at least a week now.  It started when a Shia cleric was attacked, wounded and arrested by Saudi cops.  Since then Saudi cops have killed many protestors, including an 18 year old on 14 July 2012.

The Saudi regime is also detaining anyone suspected of being politically opposed to the British Empire established Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On 15 July 2012, at least ten women were arrested on the grounds they were connected to politicians opposed to the Al Saud regime.

Since February 2011, protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the eastern provinces.  The eastern provinces border the Persian Gulf, and are where all the oil is shipped out on tanker ships.

Also, the eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia are where the overwhelming majority of Shia Muslim Arabs live. Saudi Arabia is ruled by royalists who are Salafi/Wahhabi Muslims, the same Islamic group that Osama bin Laden was part of, the same Islamic group that most of the members of the U.S. named al Qaeda belong to, the same Islamic group that most of the 9/11 attackers belonged to.

The Chock Full o’Crap western media continues to say Saudi royalist leaders are Sunni, bull crap!  The Saudi’s are behind attacks on Sunni (as well as Shia) Iraqis! Other Arab Peninsula country leaders (who’re Salafi/Wahhabi) are behind attacks against Libya, Egypt and Syria!

The First Saudi State was established in 1744, and was partly motivated by Wahhabi Islam’s call to get all westerners out of the Middle East. That order still stands today, so it is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is the enemy of the West, not Iran, not Afghanistan, not Iraq, not Libya and not Syria!

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia became a protectorate of the British Empire in 1915 (Treaty of Darin), and was consolidated under the rule of Ibn Saud in 1932.

So why does the United Kingdom and United States support Kingdom of Saudi Arabia if it is anti-west?  It’s all about the oil money!  Western leaders don’t give a crap about what really matters to their own people, it’s all about the money!

Saudi leaders support the West only because that’s the biggest market for their oil. It’s all about the money!

So Western leaders, and Saudi leaders, give only lip service to their ideals; democracy in the West & Wahhabism in the Arabian Peninsula. Western leaders will gladly send those fool enough to think they’re fighting to protect their freedom to kill innocent people in other countries, and/or, those murderous enough to desire to kill “brown skins” & “towel/rag heads” ’cause them kind’o people ain’t christians.  And the Saudi leaders gladly turn a blind eye to their own people who actively seek to kill western infidels.

Wake up people!  It ain’t the Iraqis, it ain’t the Afghans, it ain’t the Libyans, it ain’t the Syrians and it ain’t the Iranians that are the enemies of the West!  It’s our very own Western leaders in bed with an Arab kingdom that’s been biding  its time, waiting to complete the Wahhabi order to cleanse the Middle East of western infidels and establish their own version of Dar al-Islam!!!

In 1973 U.S. President Richard Nixon (a Republican Christian) made a deal with Saudi Arabia: They could have more say in the price of oil if buyers were forced to use the U.S. dollar (now you know why we’re in the pockets of the Saudis).

This is where the term petrodollars comes from.  The deal involves the New York Mercantile Exchange (aka NYMEX, aka Commodities Exchange.  Now controlled by CME Group), and London’s International Petroleum Exchange, or IPE.

Now you know why the British Empire, the mortal enemy of the U.S., and Saudi Arabia, a declared enemy of the West by Wahhabi clerics, are tied to the United States.  All these leaders, they don’t care about you!!!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

LIBOR: Geitner & Paulson knew of rate fixing! British banks confirm. More proof the Too Big to Fails destroyed the economy, and regulating officials went along with it!

“As much as $800 trillion in financial products are pegged to LIBOR, so any manipulation of this rate is of serious concern!”-U.S. Representative Randy Neugebauer, House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

14 July 2012, current United States Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Franz Geithner, knew of illegal interest and currency manipulation by LIBOR while he was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (a privately run bank).

According to recent reports, in 2008 a Barclays employee told Geitner “…we know that we’re not posting um, an honest…” rate. The unnamed employee then went on to explain that Barclays just wanted to “…fit in with the rest of the crowd.”

An interesting statement since Barclays is actually an international banking leader!

“I wish I could say I’m shocked, because it is shocking. But regulators have not been particularly effective or aggressive in the past two decades of finance.”-Frank Partnoy, University of San Diego School of Law

The latest reports say officials with the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank knew of such rate fixing back in 2007: “In the context of our market monitoring following the onset of the financial crisis in late 2007, involving thousands of calls and e-mails with market participants over a period of many months, we received occasional anecdotal reports from Barclays of problems with LIBOR.”-New York Federal Reserve Bank statement

In April 2008, a Barclays employee told the New York Federal Reserve: “…where I would be able to borrow without question it would be higher than the rate that I’m actually putting in.”

Geitner notified government officials, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury (then run by Hank Merritt “Hank” Paulson Jr under President George Bush Jr). Seemingly no one was concerned, because nothing was done to stop it.

On 13 July 2012, the Bank of England (BoE) admitted to getting a letter from Geitner, back in June 2008. The letter kindly asks the British controlled LIBOR to “…eliminate incentive to misreport.”

BoE responded simply by saying Geitner’s request “seem sensible”.

Since last year, the number of Too Big to Fail banks being investigated has grown to several dozen! The scandal involves banks in North America, Europe and Japan (the regional members of the Trilateral Commission).

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

LIBOR: Too Big to Fail interest rate fixing investigation focusing on Japan’s TIBOR. EU officials been investigating quitely since last year! Bigger than first told, ever hear of EURIBOR? More proof the bad economy is the fault of the Too Big to Fails!

 “The story is quite shocking and brings us back to the banking industry’s most irresponsible behavior of the past!”– Joaquin Almunia, Vice-President of the European Commission, and Commissioner responsible for competition

14 July 2012, a top European Union official has admitted that the recent LIBOR scandal involving top British & U.S. banks, also involves top Japaneses and European banks, and government officials knew about it.

LIBOR, or London Interbank Offered Rate, is an interest rate charged to other banks, and is done on behalf of the British Bankers’ Association in London, England, U.K.

As of 2008 there were 60 international banks, including U.S. banks, beholden to the LIBOR.

Japan has their own version called TIBOR (Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate). The European Union has their version called EURIBOR (Euro Interbank Offered Rate).

EURIBOR is based in Belgium and involves at least 43 international banks.

EU Vice President, Joaquin Almunia, says his investigation into international interest rate fixing, as well as currency value fixing, began last year. It’s starting to look like the Too Big to Fails formed illegal cartels to favor a few and screw over the rest of us: “The alleged rate rigging is a major competition concern. This is why we started investigating a number of banks last year for their possible concerted manipulation of (interest rate) benchmarks such as LIBOR, EURIBOR and TIBOR, the Tokyo rate, for several currencies. The investigations have top priority because this sort of collusion can seriously harm competition worldwide and on our continent, in particular.”

In Japan the TIBOR scandal is making waves.  On 06 July 2012, it was revealed that in June the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) pulled out of TIBOR.  RBS is one of the banks under investigation.

UBS and Citigroup also withdrew from TIBOR earlier this year. They are also suspects.  As of 06 July there were three non-Japanese banks still involved with TIBOR; JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank.

On 13 July, it was reported in the Japanese news media that the Japanese Bankers Association began investigating how interest rates and currency manipulations are arrived at by TIBOR.

It was also revealed that Japan’s Financial Services Agency fined Citigroup and UBS for such manipulations, last year!  Japanese officials are saying that there’s no proof (so far) that Japanese banks were directly involved in illegal activities.

However, a top Japanese bank has put their London, U.K., employees on notice.  Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ has essentially put its two currency traders in London under house arrest!  The reason is that they are suspected of involvement in the British based LIBOR scandal.

Since last year, the number of Too Big to Fail banks being investigated has grown to several dozen! The scandal involves banks in North America, Europe and Japan (the regional members of the Trilateral Commission).

Check my blog for other LIBOR reports.

 

 

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Mitsubishi desperate to sell off European factory, for only one Euro!!!

11 July 2012, NHK (nippon housou kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) reporting that Mitsubishi Motors is so desperate to dump its factory in Netherlands, that it’s willing to take only one euro (currently equal to $1.22 USD)!

A Dutch company, VDL, wants to buy it and build licensed BMWs. The factory employes 1,500 people, and Mitsubishi wants to make sure they all keep their jobs with the new owners, so, they’ve made a deal to sell the factory for only one euro with a guarantee from VDL that no one loses their job.

 

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

Corporate & Government Incompetence: Hoku Corp “restructuring” code for going bust! Pocatello wasted hundreds of thousands on tax breaks! Hundreds of hoped for jobs down the drain! Who’s gonna buy those new homes now Mr Mayor?

On 05 July 2012, NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) ordered an end to trading of Hoku stock, pending “additional information”.

NASDAQ requires that companies traded in their exchange can not go below one U.S. dollar per share for a set period of time, or that company will be de-listed.  But Hoku Corp was guaranteed doom when, at the beginning of June, a “do not trade” warning was issued to investors!

Rumors are now rampant that Hoku will declare bankruptcy, but get a clue, when a company announces it’s “restructuring” it’s a real good chance that bankruptcy is close behind.

I’ve been following the slow motion Hoku Materials train wreck in Pocatello, Idaho, since day one.  This was because I learned that some of the board members of Hoku have a history of starting up corporations on paper, then folding them for technical reasons after selling off stock in the paper corps.

You can search my posts, but briefly; the city of Pocatello, and Bannock County, bent over backwards to get the company to settle in the area, including I believe a $200,000 property tax break on land which only cost $200,000.  This was unprecedented for Pocatello, because they had been actually running off businesses, and good paying jobs, because they (city officials) refused to make concessions (the big job loss that started the whole decline for the Pocatello/Chubbuck was refusing to give Union Pacific more land to make Pocatello UP’s new huge Pacific Northwest depot!) .

From day one of construction Hoku has failed to pay contractors on time, or at all! The big guy, JH Kelly, is now using legal action to seize the property!

Hoku was also consistently late paying their massive electric bills to Idaho Power.  At one point Tianwei New Energy Holdings announced at the end of 2011 that polysilicon production had begun, however, Idaho Power refused to provide the electricity because Hoku had not met its contractual obligations, so no production was ever started!

Hoku turned to Chinese companies to bail them out of their financial woes.  They became a subsidiary of Tianwei New Energy Holdings, which is an affiliate of China South Industries Group Corporation (CSGC).  All of Hoku Material’s contracts are with Chinese solar product companies hoping to increase their business in the United States.

The hopes of Chinese solar companies, and indirectly Hoku, were finally dashed because the Obama Administration imposed high tariffs on any Chinese made solar power product!

At least 120 of the 150 Hoku Materials employees were laid off, but the massive 50 football fields long polysilicon factory (built at the end of a dead end residential road, those people are not happy) was to employ several hundreds of people once it got up and running.  One year, I remember, in one of the monthly city of Chubbuck newsletters the incompetent mayor excitedly reminding people of the boom in home sales when the factory was finished. It was in response to residents questioning the allowing of new home developments, when the housing market was so bad.

So who’s gonna buy those new homes now Mr Mayor?

 SOLAR COMPANY HOKU CORPORATION STOCK now WORTHLESS 

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

What Economic Recovery? U.S. GDP lags behind its puppet state Afghanistan

“The global growth outlook will be somewhat less than we anticipated just three months ago. Many indicators of economic activity, investment, employment, and manufacturing, have deteriorated. And not just in Europe or the United States.”-Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund, 03 July 2012

In June 2012, the World Bank issued GDP growth projections for the next year.

GDP growth for the United States will stagnate at 1.9%, while the war torn country of Afghanistan will actually grow at 4.9%!!!

Is this because of the billions and billions of USD pledged to the Afghan government by the international community?

The U.S. economy will continue to stagnate partly because the government is spending billions of tax dollars on occupying countries like Afghanistan?

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Government Incompetence & What Economic Recovery? Japan & U.S. want mo money for Afghanistan, another $15 billion!!!

On Sunday, 08 July 2012, Japan will host a conference that is pushing for the international community (ie; governments who’ll squeeze their tax payers) to come up with at least $15 billion USD for Afghanistan.  That’s in addition to what’s already been pledged in the past year!

Attendies to the conference will include Afghan President Hamid Karzai, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Karzai has already announced that he wants another $3.9 billion USD for more “reconstruction”!

How can there be any economic recovery in the western countries when their governments are getting deeper in debt by giving away money they don’t have?

On 28 June 2012, Norway joined dozens of countries in pledging money in a military pact with Afghanistan. The pact will be officially signed in September.

Also on 28 June 2012, India hosted an international conference on private investment into Afghanistan.   Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, Zalmai Rassoul, said investors will get a big return on their investment because: “While it is true that there are certain areas in Afghanistan where the security situation is not ideal, we should remember that these areas represent a small part of the country.”

Yeah right! Read my U.S. occupation of Afghanistan updates to know that’s a lie.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Chock Full o’Crap Western News Media: United States caves to Pakistan’s demands for mo money to open NATO occupation supply routes! $9 million for starters!

“We can seize any item, anything that be, if it is not mentioned in the agreements between Pakistan and Afghanistan and Pakistan and NATO.”-Qamar Thalho, Customs official

The full o’crap western news media has been reporting that Pakistan re-opened U.S./NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, because U.S. officials apologized for last year’s killing of Pakistani soldiers.  Wrong! It’s all about the money.

What the western media is not telling the tax payers of the U.S. and other NATO affiliated countries, is that Pakistan is now being paid about $6,000 for every U.S./NATO occupying force supply truck that crosses the Pakistani border into Afghanistan.

There are currently 1,500 trucks waiting to go through, that’s $9 million USD!!!  Pakistani news media said U.S. officials agreed to the higher fee because the alternate supply routes through other countries costs even more money!

Example: The Pentagon says its costs $100 million per month to take supplies through Central Asia, Russia and the Caucasus!!!

Question: Is this bull shit War on Terror in Afghanistan (a country where not one of the residents were involved with the 11 September 2001 attacks on the U.S.) really worth it?

To top it off, the new U.S./NATO supply agreement allows the Pakistani Customs officials to seize any truck that’s carrying “lethal” supplies!

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Average household income hits 25 year low!

06 July 2012, data from recent income surveys showed the average household income dropped to a 25 year low, and a record 62% of people say their lives are financially “difficult”.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry of Japan released the  data. Officials say average income in Japan peaked in 1994, at about $83,000 USD, but has been falling ever since then.

In 2010, the average income dropped to $67,300 USD per year.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Corporate Evil & Global Food Crisis: Monsanto found guilty of poisoning farmers! New study confirms Roundup destroys soil, reduces crop nutrition!

“I am alive today, but part of the farming population is going to be sacrificed and is going to die because of this.”-Paul Francois, victim of Monsanto’s LASSO 384

In February 2012, for the first time, a French court found Monsanto guilty of chemically poisoning a farmer who used an herbicide called LASSO 384. The active ingredient is called Alachlor.

This is the first court case that directly links Monsanto’s products with illnesses.

In 2004 the farmer suffered sever neurological problems that included memory loss, stammering and headaches, after using LASSO.  In 2007 the French government banned LASSO.  France has the largest agricultural economy of the European Union.

In 2003 Monsanto quietly paid a settlement of $700 million USD to victims of poisonings in Anniston, Alabama.

To add to the court cases, a recent study found that Kanup 480 SL (aka Roundup) actually destroys the soil it’s used on.  No shit Sherlock!!!  I’ve worked in landscaping for long enough to see the damage it causes to soil, and actually got in trouble with my bosses for refusing to use Roundup!

The study was published in Current Microbiology, and says the active ingredient, glyphosate, destroys beneficial microorganism that live in the soil, and results in crops with less nutritional value!  (I wounder if this has anything to do with mass colony collapse in bees?)

For example, the microorganism used in yogurt, Lactobacillus cremoris, has actually disappeared in areas where Roundup was used extensively.  The study also said such destruction occurres with much lower doses of Roundup, than what is recommended by Monsanto.

But it was discovered that many farmers end up using more and more Roundup, year after year, to fight the growing number of super weeds.  The results are huge tracks of farmland that are producing crops with very little nutrition!