Category Archives: Business/Economics

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Earthquake Alert? Continued mine collaspe could be due to increased seismic activity in Idaho. Federal government closes mine

“We’ve issued a closure order so the entire mine is shut down. We will conduct a thorough investigation and we will not allow it to reopen until we are sure it is safe.”-Amy Louviere, U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration

On December 14, another rock burst struck the unlucky Lucky Friday silver mine in northern Idaho.  This time no one was killed.  Just last month, November, a miner was killed trying to free a stuck rock bin.  In April, a rock burst killed one miner.

Officials are concerned with the sudden occurrence of rock bursts in the mine.  For the past 25 years there had been no reported fatal accidents at the Lucky Friday mine.  Also of interest, there was no mining activity taking place 24 hours prior to the December 14 rock burst, that could have caused such a collapse.

There is now speculation that what is happening is the result of increased seismic activity in the northern part of Idaho.  (anyone remember the movie Dante’s Peak?)

Regarding the death in April, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration blamed the mine’s owners, Helca Mining Company, for lax safety standards.  However, December 14’s rock burst took place while miners were trying to install a safety net designed to protect miners from such rock bursts.

Federal officials don’t know how long their investigation will take place.  At least 300 people in the small community of Mullen, Idaho, rely on the mine for high paying jobs.

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

Too Big to Fail/Jail: New bank sanctions against Iran or against You? HR 1905 passes House & Senate! Bill reveals U.S. citizens are slaves owned by Banks!!!

On December 14, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Iran Threat Reduction Act of 2011.  It passed with an overwhelming majority; 410 for, 11 against and 12 abstaining.

The U.S. Senate is now debating their version.

Basically HR 1905 continues the same old sanctions, but with some interesting exemptions and additions:

(1)   the procurement of certain defense articles or services; [this implies that the U.S. Defense Department, or U.S. military industrial complex is doing business with Iran?]

(2)   eligible products to designated countries or instrumentalities;  [“instrumentalities” must mean ‘tools’, or patsies of the United States]

(3)   products, technology, or services under contracts entered into before the date on which the President publishes in the Federal Register the name of the person on which the sanctions are to be imposed;  [in other words some individuals and organizations will be ‘grandfathered’, and not subject to sanctions]

(4)   spare or component parts, or information and technology that are essential to U.S. products or production, and related servicing and maintenance; or  [again more evidence that the U.S. is doing business with Iran]

(5)   medicines, medical supplies, or other humanitarian items.

Here’s some more interesting statements from the HR 1905:

“The bill would state that a determination to impose sanctions under this Act shall not be reviewable in any court.” [so much for the ‘rule of law’]

“The bill would also authorize the President to provide financial and political assistance to certain foreign and domestic type individuals, organizations, and entities that support democracy in Iran.” [code for creating a situation like Libya, or Syria, and of course that’s your taxpayer dollars at work]

“The bill would also impose specified sanctions on a person that knowingly assisted in the exportation of petroleum, oil, or natural gas produced by the IRGC or its affiliates.” [notice this specifically mentions Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), it does not ban all oil from Iran as the mainstream media leads us to believe. Also, the IRGC is not heavily involved with oil production in Iran, they are a military organization first and foremost, so how effective is this sanction?]

“The bill would block the U.S. property interests of foreign persons or their affiliates that have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of violence threatening the peace or economic stability of Iraq or Afghanistan.” [notice this statement is not directed against Iranians, but any “foreign persons” and concerns Iraq and Afghanistan]

“The bill would direct the President to develop a National Strategy to Counter Iran.” [code for war!!!]

“The bill would amend the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to require any person owned [!?] or controlled [!?] by a domestic financial institution to certify that such person is not engaged in corresponding relations or business activity with the IRGC.” [notice this statement admits that U.S. citizens are not free but are slaves to any U.S. bank, credit union or lending institution that they owe money to, or do business through!!!]

“The bill would require a report on the Central Bank of Iran’s activities to facilitate Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear missile capacities and promote terrorism.” [really, and how is that information going to be acquired? Is the Bank of Iran going to present their financial transactions to the President of the United States? this statement also presumes guilt without evidence or conviction]

HR 1905 ends with a huge presumption of guilt, which guarantees war with Iran.

Lastly, the bill would terminate the provisions of the Act when Iran:

(1)   has dismantled its efforts to develop or acquire nuclear, chemical and biological weapons;

(2)   no longer provides support for acts of international terrorism; and

(3)   poses no threat to U.S. national security, interests, or allies.

There is no way the Iranian government can disprove the final 3 requirements of HR 1905. It’s the same situation as when Bush Jr made his claims against Iraq, which turned out to be complete lies!!!

Update:

The U.S. Senate passed HR 1905 at the end of May 2012.

Link to PDF of Senate amendments to HR 1905.

May 2012: JAPAN & CHINA DROP THE U.S. DOLLAR, WILL USE THEIR OWN MONEY FOR INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS! BRITAIN WANTS IN ON THE DEAL!

MONEY FOR TALIBAN COMES FROM UNITED STATES? 

JAPAN SUES U.S. OVER IRAN SANCTIONS! U.S./U.K. NEWS MEDIA LIE ABOUT JAPANESE BANKS FREEZING IRANIAN ACCOUNTS!

March 2012: YET AGAIN, RECORD NUMBER OF PEOPLE RENOUNCE U.S. CITIZENSHIP. I-R-S BLAMES ELECTED OFFICIALS. 

EVIDENCE THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND IS A DRUG DEALER; U.K. BANK REGULATOR SAYS SO! 

MORE U.S. CITIZENS RENOUNCE THEIR CITIZENSHIP, IF YOU LEAVE YOU ARE NOW CONSIDERED A TERRORIST

CORPORATE FUEDALISM, YOU ARE A SLAVE, BIG MONEY INVESTMENTS NOT GOING TO CREATE JOBS BUT TO FINANCE MORE BIG MONEY INVESTMENTS! PRISON INDUSTRY FASTEST GROWING IN THE U.S.

February 2012: MORTGAGE SETTLEMENT MONEY TO BE USED TO DESTROY HOMES, NOT KEEP PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES!

IRAN SHUTS DOWN GLOBAL STEEL INDUSTRIES, BLAMES THE UNITED STATES

4,000 PEOPLE STRANDED WHEN AUSTRALIAN AIRLINE IS SUDDENLY DELEVERAGED BY TOO BIG TOO FAIL/JAIL BANKS

U.S. IMPOSES SANCTION AFTER SANCTION AGAINST IRAN, WHICH ARE ACTS OF WAR

January 2012: DE-LEVERAGING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE ECONOMY IMPROVES, AND THAT MEANS YOU!

IRAN WILL STOP BUYING PRODUCTS FROM EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES! WORKING WITH CHINA AND INDIA TO TRADE OIL FOR GOLD!

MORGAN STANLEY SAYS IF YOU’RE NOT A SHAREHOLDER, YOU ARE NOBODY!!!

September 2011: BANK OF AMERICA INCREASES HOME FORECLOSURES BY 200%

ARTIST BEING HARRASED BY Police BECAUSE OF HIS ANTI-BANK PAINTINGS

CORPORATIONS THAT USE PRISON LABOR, AND THE STATES THAT ARE INVOLVED

December 2011: U.K. PREPARES FOR COLLAPSE OF THE EURO, BELIEVES BRITAIN WILL BE FLOODED WITH ECONOMIC REFUGEES, SWIZTERLAND TAKING ACTION

AS MANY AS 28 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE U.S. REFUSE TO OPEN A BANK ACCOUNT

PROTESTORS SHUT DOWN WELLS FARGO, BECAUSE OF DIRECT LINKS TO CORPORATE PRISONS, IDAHO POLITICIANS IN THE POCKETS OF CORPORATE PRISONS

IRAN SHOOTS DOWN U.S. UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE, CHINA SAYS IT WILL SUPPORT IRAN EVEN IF IT MEANS THE THIRD WORLD WAR

THE BIG JUMPS IN STOCK MARKETS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ECONOMIC RECOVERY. IT’S ALL PART OF THE NEW WAY THE ELITE 1% MAKE MONEY.

November 2011: NEW GREEK & ITALIAN PRIME MINISTERS PART OF ROCKEFELLER’S TRILATERAL COMMISSION’S PUSH FOR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT

August 2011: AVERAGE CONSUMERS ARE BLAMED FOR NOT SPENDING, BUT IT’S THE ELITES THAT ARE HOARDING THE CASH, MINIMUM WAGE EARNERS ARE LOSING MONEY BY WORKING

GROUP OF 7 DECIDE TO ANSWER THE U.S. DEBT PROBLEM BY FLOODING MARKETS WITH LIQUIDITY, WON’T THAT CREATE HYPERINFLATION?

THE BIG THREE COUNTRIES U.S. TAXPAYERS ARE BEHOLDED TO

July 2011: IF YOU WANT A GOOD CREDIT RATING, DON’T LIVE IN IDAHO. WHERE YOU LIVE NOW AFFECTS YOUR CREDIT SCORE

May 2011: GERMAN BANK CONTINUES VIOLATING SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN

CORPORATE AMERICA IS BROKE, LYING ABOUT PROFITS

April 2011: JAPANESE BANK PRESIDENT RESIGNS, BECAUSE THEY WEREN’T PREPARED FOR 9.0 QUAKE/TSUNAMI

NEW YORK CITY DESPERATE TO SELL LAND TO CHINA

Business/Economics, U.S.

Contractor Incompetence: 14 bomb sniffing dogs suffocated in an unventilated truck at the Houston airport

A U.S. military contractor is suing two Texas companies for killing 14 bomb sniffing dogs.  The dogs were supposed to be shipped to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The two companies being sued are Indian Creek Enterprises Incorporated and Live Animal Transportation Services.

The military contractor said the dogs were supposed to have been put in the Houston airport’s kennel, because their flight was canceled.  Instead the transportation contractors left the dogs locked in a sealed, unventilated truck.  On December 21, 2010, the military contractor checked on the dogs, only to discover them in the truck, all dead.

There was blood and other evidence that the dogs tried to get out.

Texas media can not get a hold of the owners of Indian Creek Enterprises Incorporated.  The other contractor, Live Animal Transportation Services, has a new owner who basically says this is the first he’s heard of it.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Corporate Incompetence? Third mine disaster in Idaho this year

For the third time this year, Hecla Mining Company’s Lucky Friday Mine suffered a rock burst.

It happened before 19:30 hours on the evening of December 14.  This time the miners were actually ‘lucky’.  Seven miners were rescued, with one going to a local hospital.

But two other mine employees were not lucky. They were both killed by  rock bursts at the same Lucky Friday silver mine.  The first rock burst happened in April, the second happened just last month!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: The creation of South Sudan is all about the oil, and keeping China from it. Hillary Clinton tells U.S. oil companies to go for it!

The creation of the new country of South Sudan was all about U.S. access to its oil.  On December 14, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, announced that South Sudan’s oil fields were open to U.S. investment.

But she had an ominous, and hypocritical warning: “We know that it will either help your country finance its own path out of poverty, or you will fall prey to the natural resource curse, which will enrich a small elite, outside interests, corporations and countries, and leave your people hardly better off than when you started.”-Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State

It’s hypocritical because historical records show that it’s always involvement of U.S. and western European companies that destroy countries.

Even now South Sudan is fighting Sudan. Just last week the United Nations agreed to send UN Peacekeepers to patrol the border between the two countries.

Another interesting fact is that before the creation of South Sudan, China was about to invest big time in developing the oil fields there (mmmm, Libya anyone?).  China is now trying to deal with the government of the new South Sudan, and the United States is trying to beat them to the punch.

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology

What Economic Recovery? Japan desperate for cash, will sell off famous bullet train, to India

The Japanese government is in need of some cash (no wonder since they’ve been making promises of financial aid to other countries).  But they’re so desperate that they’ll even sell off a famous bullet train.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has instructed his cabinet, and Japanese business leaders, to sell Japan’s infrastructure to India, including the Shinkansen bullet train system.

It’s not quite what it sounds like.  What Prime Minister Noda means is that Japan is going to sell the technologies behind their infrastructure to other countries, especially India.  Indian officials have expressed a desire to build a bullet train system similar to what Japan has.

Noda told Japanese officials that global competition is becoming intense and that the Japanese government must do all they can to promote the sale of Japanese infrastructure technologies to other countries.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: China slaps U.S. made cars with tariffs, blames it on the anti-free trade action of the United States

“U.S. vehicles benefiting from subsidies and dumping on the China market have substantially damaged China’s auto industry.”-statement from Chinese Ministry of Commerce

General Motors and Chrysler will suffer the most from Chinese economic action against vehicles made in the United States.

Anti-dumping duties on GM vehicles are 8.9%, and 8.8% for Chrysler vehicles.

GM vehicles will also face anti-subsidy duties of 12.9%, and 6.2% for Chrysler vehicles.

The tariffs target cars with engines bigger than 2.5 liters, and made between December 201 through December 2013.

German car makers BMW and Mercedes will be hit with much much lower tariffs.

Chinese officials say the United States is violating the trade rules of the U.S. dominated World Trade Organization.

GM and Chrysler officials are not to worried.  Why? Because the majority of the cars they sell in China, are actually made in China (another reason for growing unemployment in the U.S.), and the tariffs do not apply to the cars they make in China.

 

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, International, U.S.

NAZI-land & United Police States of America: Congress passes final version of National Defense Authorization Act. Obama says he approves

“This is a giant step, this should be the biggest news going right now, literally legalizing martial law…This is big. This step where they can literally arrest American citizens and put them away without trial….is arrogant and bold and dangerous.”–Ron Paul, U.S. Representative for Texas

On the evening of December 14, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the final version of the controversial National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2012.  It passed with 283 representatives voting for, and 136 against.  It will cost U.S. taxpayers $662 billion!

Officials claim they changed some provisions regarding the use of the military as police within the United States, and the detention of U.S. citizens, but still included a loophole for the President to do so by using “national security” as an excuse!

President Obama’s advisers say they’re fine with that: “…language does not challenge or constrain the president’s ability to collect intelligence, incapacitate dangerous terrorists, and protect the American people, and the president’s senior advisors will not recommend a veto.”–Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary

The bill also continues huge spending on operations in Iraq, even though the U.S. is officially getting out of Iraq.  Many of the U.S. forces leaving Iraq are still being based in the Middle East, like in Kuwait.  Also, most military troops in Iraq will be replaced by mercenaries, I mean private security contractors.  Did you know the murderous security contractor formerly known as Blackwater, formerly known as Xe Services, and now known as Academi, is about to get a big chunk of that money to continue operations in Iraq?

The spending bill shows that the United States, under Obama, has no intention of reducing military operations that drain precious tax dollars with no return on investment for the average person in the U.S.!

“Those troops stationed overseas aggravate our enemies, motivate our enemies. I think it’s a danger to our national defense, and we could save a lot of money cutting out the military expenditures that contribute nothing to our defense.”-Ron Paul, U.S. Representative for Texas