Category Archives: International

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Exceptional Failed State: EU to sanction U.S. companies! End sanctions against Iran! France & Germany to make joint anti-U.S. statement! EU makes historic deal with Canada!

25 October 2013 (23:01 UTC-07 Tango 24 October 2013)/20 Dhu’l-Hijja 1434/03 Aban 1391/21 Ren-Xu (9th month) 4711

“We are allies facing challenges together. But such an alliance can only be built on the basis of trust. I repeat that spying among friends is not at all acceptable against anyone and that goes for every citizen in Germany.”-Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, Merkel used to live in the Stasi police state of East Germany so she knows the U.S. NSA spying ops are evil

“It is inconceivable and unacceptable that there should be acts of espionage of this type.”-Enrico Letta, Premier of Italy

“I cannot imagine to sign an EU-U.S. free trade agreement given that basic privacy rights have been breached.”-Sigmar Gabriel, German Social-Democratic Party

For those who don’t think the U.S. spying on its allies is a big deal, guess what? The U.S. has lost Europe as it’s only major ally!

At least 28 European Union leaders are being spied on by the NSA.   The NSA spied on at least 35 leaders around the World.

At least 70 million French phone calls have been monitored by the NSA.

Germany summons U.S. ambassador, John B Emerson, over NSA spying.

The former head of the DGSE (French intelligence), Alain Juillet, is surprised at the scale of “pillage” conducted by the U.S. NSA.  The rogue actions of the U.S. against its own allies now jeopardizes the U.S. led War on Terror.

French President Francois Hollande, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are working together writing up a joint anti-U.S. statement. It’s reported they will make demands on the U.S. government concerning what it can and cannot do in Europe!

The European Union (EU) has sanctioned the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) agreement with the United  States.  That’s because the U.S. NSA used it to spy on Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).   SWIFT supplies secure messaging services to legitimate financial companies.

The EU now says the World’s biggest free trade deal is now in jeopardy because of the United States!  It’s known as TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership).  At the current EU summit members of parliament will debate imposing sanctions against the U.S. IT companies involved with helping the NSA.  The TTIP deal could have benefited the U.S. economy by $150-billion USD.

On top of that, the EU delegate to Iran, Hannes Swoboda, stated that EU sanctions against Iran should be ended “…in a step by step manner…”

Canada and the EU have agreed, in principle, to the historic CETA (Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement).  Under the deal the EU will end 100% of its tariffs on Canadian industrial products within seven years!  The EU would also accept certification of Canadian products by Canadian inspectors.  For the Canadian auto industry it could result in a 12 times increase in exports to Europe (the Canadian auto industry is not happy with the U.S. imposed NAFTA).  Canada is supposed to apply the same trade policy to European products.  CETA also affects trade of food and intellectual property.

 

Business/Economics, International

Postal service cuts delivery days by half!

24 October 2013 (11:53 UTC-07 Tango)/19 Dhu’l-Hijja 1434/02 Aban 1391/20 Ren-Xu (9th month) 4711

While package volume is up, letter volume has crashed so low (30% drop), government officials have decided to drastically cut delivery service.

In the British empire country of New Zealand the government announced they are cutting New Zealand Post delivery from six days per week down to as few as three!  At least 1-thousand people will lose their jobs!

Postal Worker’s Union blames the 1997 law that allowed private companies to collect and delivery letters.  The government Post service is limited to standardized service and rates, but private companies are not. The PWU says in a way the 1997 law is actually subsidizing the private postal companies, but even with that the private companies are handling only 10% of the mail.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing union has pointed out that cost cutting within the New Zealand Post have already been made, and moving to three day a week delivery is unnecessary.

It’s also been pointed out that moving to three day a week delivery will result in massive backlog in postal centers as packages and letters will pile up.  The three day a week delivery schedule begins in 2015.

 

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3, Afghan Front: U.S. led NATO falling apart! Calls emergency meeting!

24 October 2013 (11:29 UTC-07 Tango)/19 Dhu’l-Hijja 1434/02 Aban 1391/20 Ren-Xu (9th month) 4711

“….they are telling us ‘no panic yet’.”-unnamed NATO official to Rueters

As I’ve written in a previous Afghanistan update, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is being destroyed by continued deployment to Afghanistan.  Now it’s not just financially, it’s for legal reasons.

NATO leaders have just called for a “strategic planning assessment”, all because Afghan President Hamid Karzai is refusing to sign a new military pact with the United States: “….we can’t finalize our preparations until we have finalized negotiations on the legal framework.”-Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary-General during NATO press conference

NATO member Germany kind-o-blamed the United States: “Our decision depends on these decisions. We have made an offer, but we need clarity on the rights and duties of our soldiers and we need clarity on the U.S. decision.”-Thomas de Maiziere, Defense Minister of Germany, interview with BBC

NATO officials told Reuters that despite the official 2014 pullout, they expect to have 12-thousand NATO troops remain in Afghanistan!

International, U.S.

Martial Law Gun Control BS! International Police boss says give everyone guns like in Texas!

24 October 2013 (20:56 UTC-07 Tango 23 October 2013)/19 Dhu’l-Hijja 1434/02 Aban 1391/20 Ren-Xu (9th month) 4711

“Ask yourself: If that was Denver, Colorado, if that was Texas, would those guys have been able to spend hours, days, shooting people randomly? What I’m saying is it makes police around the world question their views on gun control. It makes citizens question their views on gun control. You have to ask yourself, ‘Is an armed citizenry more necessary now than it was in the past with an evolving threat of terrorism?’ This is something that has to be discussed.  For me it’s a profound question.  People are quick to say ‘gun control, people shouldn’t be armed,’ etc., etc.  I think they have to ask themselves: ‘Where would you have wanted to be? In a city where there was gun control and no citizens armed if you’re in a Westgate mall, or in a place like Denver or Texas?'”-Ronald Noble, Secretary General of Interpol, interviewed by ABC News 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Mystery dog deaths in the U.S., China strikes again! Your local butcher can sell you healthy soup bones & meat scraps for less money!

23 October 2013 (20:16 UTC-07 Tango 22 October 2013)/18 Dhu’l-Hijja 1434/01 Aban 1391/19 Ren-Xu (9th month) 4711

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now blaming jerky dog and cat treats made in China for years of mystery deaths.

Since 2007 more than 3600 dogs and 10 cats have gotten sick, 580 pets have died.  The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has narrowed down the cause to duck or chicken jerky treats made in China.  They want pet owners to report to them if their pet has gotten sick or died after eating the treats.

I have an answer: I’ve been buying soup bones and meat scraps from local butchers.  I’ve been able to get them for less than not only what dog and cat treats cost, but sometimes less than canned and dry pet food (sometimes I can get fresh cut soup bones, with lots-o-meat on ’em, from WinCo, for about one dollar per pound)!   The majority of dog and cat food is not meat, but grains and other fillers, even the expensive brands.  Dogs and cats are carnivores (in fact we humans share a similar digestive system, which should tell you we are carnivores), meat scraps from your local butcher are better for them than processes and expensive pet food or treats!

International

What’s in a Prophecy? Pope Francis says ideological Christians are sick in the head! Wants to unite all western Christians!

23 October 2013 (20:01 UTC-07 Tango 22 October 2013)/18 Dhu’l-Hijja 1434/01 Aban 1391/19 Ren-Xu (9th month) 4711

“The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology, and ideology does not beckon. In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. Ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid.  When a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought…..For this reason Jesus said to them: ‘You have taken away the key of knowledge.’……it is a serious illness, this of ideological Christians. It is an illness…..”-Pope Francis, on Radio Vatican 17 October

Francis also blamed arrogant Christian right wingism on false praying.

Today, Pope Francis ordered Catholics to pray for other Christian denominations, specifically for reunification with Lutherans: “But we Catholics must pray with each other and other Christians. Pray that the Lord gift us unity!.………..Catholics and Lutherans can ask forgiveness for the harm they have caused one another and for their offenses committed in the sight of God. Together we can rejoice in the longing for unity which the Lord has awakened in our hearts, and which makes us look with hope to the future.”

“I already hear concerns that the reformist church of 76-year-old Pope Francis might not survive his pontificate. I hear talk that the anti-reformists who took back the Second Vatican Council will likely do it again once Francis is gone….will Francis fade like the council, a meteorite in the night sky? Francis is the first pontiff educated during the council. He is a product of the council. In this sense, he is the first post-conciliar pontiff.”-Thomas C. Fox, Catholic National Reporter

“Seven months after ascending the throne of Saint Peter, Pope Francis is in the midst of a crusade against the sins of Vatican City……Francis personally moved to oust top officials of the secretive Vatican bank…..backed a push for greater financial transparency, while moving faster than many expected to replace Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone……who once wielded the power of a vice pope……the pope is preparing to consolidate the Curia’s myriad operations, with the aim of reducing the size of the bureaucracy. Francis has recently suggested that clerics should focus on their home dioceses rather than angle for prestigious postings in the Holy See. His new advisory board of eight cardinals from around the globe is seen as a counterweight to the power of Vatican-based authorities.”-The Independent, 23 October

Esquire Magazine declared Pope Francis the most interesting man in the world.

“Speaking of Pope Francis, obviously as an observant Catholic, I believe the pope is infallible. But he’s also wrong about a lot of things.”-Stephen Colbert

International, U.S.

World War 3, Asian Front-Afghanistan, 04-06 October 2013: Taxpayers fund World’s largest solar power plant! U.S. kills people hunting for food!

“Thousands of our men have been martyred and as for your soldiers, we did not go after them to other countries. They came to our country and they have been torturing us and have sabotaged our government!….We are approaching total success as most of the country is now under our control…..when NATO leaves it will be as it was before, the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan.”-Qari Nasrullah

Bamyan Province: Taxpayers in New Zealand can be proud that they’ve paid for the World’s largest “off grid” solar power project!  It cost $18 million USD.

Farah Province: Bala Baluk District, U.S. led NATO forces launched an attack, destroying one Mosque and several homes.  Four Mujahideen killed, one Mujahid killed.

Farayb Province: Qaisar District, two Afghan border police were killed, nine wounded when a bicycle bomb exploded.

Kandahar Province: Zhari District, four U.S. Army personnel were killed by explosion. They were from California, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Oregon.  U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command said one of those killed was a CID agent assisting Special Forces in investigating a possible crime by U.S. personnel.  Mujahideen say they were defending their area from a heliborne op by U.S. forces.  They say dozens of U.S.-NATO personnel were wounded from multiple explosions.  Mujahideen say they captured M4 assault rifles, a rocket launcher, three night vision goggles and other equipment.

Kunduz Province: During a surprise visit the German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere, and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerewelle, turned over one of the German army bases to the Afghan government. The unnamed base is in the northern part of the province.

Helmand Province: A U.S. Marine Lance Corporal from Wisconsin was killed in a non-combat incident.  That’s the officials U.S. story, however, Mujahideen claim they killed one, and wounded another, U.S. personnel in a firefight in Nad Ali District.

Maidan Wardak Province: Chak District, Israeli style U.S. led Afghan government home invasions left eight people dead, and five people were kidnapped.

Nangarhar Province: U.S.-NATO airstrike kills five civilians hunting for food!  Local police confirm a group of as many as 20 men were out hunting wild birds for food!  Police say the men were using air powered rifles, not military weapons.  U.S.-NATO officials are refusing to comment.  In Khogiyani District, a man was kidnapped by U.S. led government forces during an Israeli style home invasion.

Nuristan Province: Wama District, a police chief was killed while on his way to inspect police personnel.  His vehicle ran over a landmine.

Zabul Province: A U.S. Army Specialist from Ohio was killed in a Green on Blue attack.  The Afghan government personnel was killed.

The Afghan Interior Ministry claims that 107 Mujahideen were killed, and 52 captured in military ops around the country.

Mujahideen claim another dozen or more Afghan police and army personnel have switched sides.

“…..67% of the 72,000 equipment items have already been removed from our Marine Corps portion of the joint and coalition Afghanistan battle space. We have reduced 5.35 million square feet of aviation matting to 150 thousand square feet today. Additionally, of the over 42,000 total items retrograded to date, 60% of those are being inducted for reset actions at our depot maintenance plants.”-USMC Lieutenant General William Faulkner

“One cost driver is multi-modal transportation. While over the past several months multi-modal has been the primary means to move retrograde and redeployment cargo out of Afghanistan, projected volumes of cargo along the Pakistan Ground Lines of Communication are increasing and are currently trending at or near 50%. Surface lines of communication, the Northern Distribution Network and PAKGLOC are critical to achieving the retrograde velocity necessary to meet timelines and they are less expensive than multi-modal and direct air transportation.”-U.S. Army Lieutenant General Raymon Mason

 

International, U.S.

World War 3, South East Asian Front: Japan & Vietnam practice war on China, under the guise of rescue ops!

21 October 2013 (05:06 UTC-07 Tango)/16 Dhu’l-Hijja 1434/29 Mehr 1391/17 Ren-Xu (9th month) 4711

Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force is taking part in “rescue” games with the navy of Vietnam.

It’s interesting that some of the crews of the rescue training operations took part in familiarization with anti-ship missiles!  The three Japanese ships taking part are totally combat oriented, and are not true rescue ships.  Japanese naval officers also gave their Vietnamese counterparts a computer presentation about the combat capabilities of the Japanese ships.

Japan and Vietnam have increased military relations, in July the Japanese Coast Guard made a port call in Da Nang.

Several Japanese and Vietnamese news sources admitted that Vietnam and Japan are joining forces against China in ongoing territorial disputes.  Japan occupied Vietnam during World War 2, claiming they were liberating the country from French control.

During the Second World War, the U.S. government promised the Vietnamese independence if they rescued U.S. aircrew who were shot down by the Japanese.  Then after the war the U.S. government stabbed them in the back by letting France retake control of Indochina.

Japan is now a major lender of official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam.

Vietnam has also contracted with Japanese companies to build nuclear power plants.  Why isn’t the U.S. government upset over that?

International, U.S.

World War 3, Asian Front-Afghanistan, 01-03 October 2013: Russia building up troops on border, preps for invasion? Obama regime allows Al Qaeda leader to run for president! More hypocrisy with taxpayer money! More illegal imprisonment by U.S. forces!

Helmand Province: Lashkargah City, Afghanistan’s version of Homeland Security, National Directorate of Security (NDS), bragged that they stopped a suicide bombing operation.  Guess what happened?  Major explosions rang out right after their claim.  A car bomb went off.  In a related incident, the mayor and a district assistant, from Garmsir District, were ambushed and assassinated by Mujahideen while they traveled to Lashkargah City.  In Nawa District, four Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were killed when they drove over a landmine.  Two soldiers wounded.

Herat Province: One ANA soldier and two civilians wounded when an army vehicle ran over a landmine.

Kunar Province:  An attorney for NDS was assassinated by remote detonated bomb, as he drove to work. His body guards were wounded.

Parwan Province: Near Bagram airbase, the Investigating Fates of Prisoners Committee confirms that out of 519 cases investigated so far at least 433 Afghans have been unjustly imprisoned in the Parwan Detention Center (aka Afghanistan GITMO) by the U.S. military.  That’s an extremely high rate of illegal detentions!  The Parwan Detention Center was only recently turned over to the Afghan government by the United States.   There were more than 3-thousand people trapped inside at the time of the turnover.  Afghan courts have been releasing those prisoners where the U.S. has failed to provide documentation accusing them of a crime. This begs the question; why did the U.S. military imprison them?

“Afghan National Security Forces carried out several cleanup raids in Nangarhar, Faryab, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Ghazni provinces within the last 24 hours. As a result 26 armed Taliban were killed, two wounded and seven others were arrested by the ANSF”-Afghan Interior Ministry statement

Remember all the hate rhetoric about Osama bin Laden being responsible for creating al Qaeda, and providing them safe haven in Afghanistan?  Turns out that was BS!  So now that Osama bin Laden is dead the actual person responsible for bringing al Qaeda to Afghanistan is now running for President!  Abu Sayyaf is so influential that even an al Qaeda rebel group in the Philippines named themselves after him.  Abu Sayyaf is considered the mentor to Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the man accused of planning the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.  So why did the U.S. have to kill Osama, and why haven’t they gone after Abu Sayyaf?

Speaking of the NDS, investigators looked into the kidnapping of a female member of parliament (remember that one?) and now accuse the woman’s brother of orchestrating the kidnapping.  I was suspicious when the family repeatedly denied the woman had been kidnapped, even though nobody could explain where she was.

Reports that a former Afghan National Army soldier was arrested in Pakistan.  He’s wanted for killing three Australian Diggers. But get this, according to the Aussie government the guy was arrested back in February!  No explanation why they waited until now to report it.

Taxpayers from dozens of U.S. led NATO member countries are spending $200-million USD to teach Afghan soldiers how to read, this while NATO member countries slash and burn their own education funding!

The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is warning that a new program could waste another $1-billion in U.S. tax money.  The wise U.S. leaders are planning to give the Afghan National Police (ANP) unlimited U.S. tax dollars so the ANP can buy fuel, without oversight: “The ANP fuel program….remains at high risk of loss, theft, or misuse of U.S. funds and purchased fuel and, if not improved, may increasingly place large amounts of U.S. funds at risk of fraud, waste, and abuse.”-John Sopko, SIGAR

The Afghan Mines and Petroleum Ministry estimates that Afghanistan’s mineral resources, including oil, are worth about $1 trillion.  However, one analyst has a warning: “The sector, as a whole, is operating in a very uncontrolled way. There’s no oversight.”-Stephen Carter, Global Witness

In a now typical hypocritical move, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would allow Iraqis who worked for the U.S. government to extend their visas.  This after the U.S. State Department began reneging on visas issued to Afghans who work for the U.S. government.

Tajikistan has allowed Russia to station more troops on their border with Afghanistan.  Also, Russia has promised to increase military weaponry to Tajikistan.  Russian and Tajik officials admit their military buildup is in preparation for the supposed 2014 U.S.-NATO pullout.  The renewed Russian-Tajik military pact is in effect until 2042!

International, U.S.

Obama regime bold face liars: United Nations has proof U.S. regime killing civilians with drones! Violating international law! U.S. citizens “future” targets of drones!

19 October 2013 (01:26 UTC-07 Tango)/14 Dhu’l-Hijja 1434/27 Mehr 1391/15 Ren-Xu (9th month) 4711

“….if there are terrorists within an area where there are women and children, or others, we do not [stress added by speaker] take such action…In fact I can say…there hasn’t been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities that we’ve been able to develop.”-John O. Brennan, Obama regime adviser, during the question and answer session after his speech to Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, 29 June 2011. The answer to the question is not on the official White house transcript but can be viewed about 49:30 minutes into C-SPAN video

“Zero innocent civilians having lost their lives does not sound to me like reality….”-USAF Colonel David M. Sullivan, commenting on Obama regime’s claims of no civilians killed in 2011

“America’s actions are legal.”-Barack Obama, May 2013 speech to National Defense University, he was repeatedly interrupted by people wanting to know why GITMO prison was still in operation

“The position of the Government of Pakistan is quite clear. It does not consent to the use of drones by the United States on its territory and it considers this to be a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. As a matter of international law the U.S. drone campaign in Pakistan is…..a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty…….”-The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Statement of the Special Rapporteur following meetings in Pakistan, 19 October 2013

In May 2013, Barack Obama finally admitted that civilians were being killed by drones: “…it is a hard fact that U.S. strikes have resulted in civilian casualties…”

He also stated that he’s not the only one responsible: “….Not only did Congress authorize the use of force, it is briefed on every strike that America takes.  Every strike.”

In the same speech Obama also has these ominous warnings for the people of the United States: “From our use of drones to the detention of terrorist suspects, the decisions that we are making now will define the type of nation, and world, that we leave to our children.

We have to be mindful of James Madison’s warning that ‘No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.’

….we face a real threat from radicalized individuals here in the United States…….Deranged or alienated individuals, often U.S. citizens or legal residents…..

This is the future of terrorism.”

In September 2013, the artist who created Obama’s Hope election campaign art, Shepard Fairey, admitted he has regrets.  TMZ paparazzi asked if there was something he could change, his reply was that he would replace the slogan Hope, with the slogan Drones!