Category Archives: International

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Spain officially in double dip recession, Britain on the verge

April 23, 2012, Spain’s Central Bank has declared the country officially in recession.

Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.4% in the first quarter of 2012, following a 0.3% decline in the last quarter of 2011.   Decline for two quarters in a row makes an official recession.

The Spanish government says it will cut spending by $11 billion USD, and will increase taxes!

The United Kingdom is on the verge of double dip recession. Britain’s Office for National Statistics is expected to say on Wednesday that the economy grew(?) by a meager 0.1%.  

By the way, in order to be considered true growth your GDP needs to be at 3% or higher.  So Britain’s GDP is only 0.1%?  Close enough to call it double dip!

To make matters worse, the two “strong” European economies, Germany and France, are actually contracting!

Belgium and Italy have already crossed into double dip recession.

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. admits its personnel are drug addicts. More U.S. led NATO deaths. Fuel depot burning.

April 23, 2012, a fuel depot near Kabul is burning.  The only info available, currently, is that there are casualties and that it’s not clear how the fire started.

April 23, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced that two U.S./NATO/ISAF personnel were killed by an explosion the day before.

As is ISAF SOP, no details were given.  The number of confirmed (ie; officially admitted) dead for occupying forces is now 120 for the year. That’s 79 U.S. troops, 15 British troops and 26 soldiers from the other NATO member/ally countries.

More claims of “leaders” being captured.  Afghan government forces claim they’ve captured a “Taliban leader”, and a “Haqqani leader”.  The operations took place in Helmand and Khost provinces.

In Logar Province, Afghan officials claim they’ve captured several Mujahideen.  They say one of those captured belongs to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

Legal action by an activist group has forced the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command to admit that many U.S. personnel are drug addicts.

Documents released show at least 56 personnel were investigated in 2010 and 2011.  At least eight military personnel died from opiate use in Afghanistan during the same time.  That included prescription drugs, as well as illegal drugs.

The information was specifically about U.S. Army personnel in Afghanistan.  Earlier this year the Army admitted that between 2006 and 2011, 36,000 soldiers were involved in drug offenses.

But wait, there’s more!  The Army also saw a huge spike in drug use in 2011.  Drug use jumped by 1,800 from 2010 to 2011.

 

 

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

Corporate Evil: Mystery disease kills children, people can’t build immunity to it, military involved, entire district quarantined, mutant dogs killing pets. Kanup 480 SL. Quang Ngai Province is Cursed!

“The development of the disease at Ba Dien commune is really complicated and critical; the numbers of new cases and recurrence cases are increasing dramatically.”-Han Phong, People’s Committee in Ba To District

April 22, 2012, health officials in Vietnam are asking for help from the United Nations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in trying to identify and treat a skin disease that’s already killed 27 people including 19 children.

More than 100 people are hospitalized.  At least 171 people are infected.  Many people are getting sick a second time (29 so far), which indicates that you can not build an immunity to it!

Last year the province recorded more than 150 people with similar symptoms.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health says the virus spreads through direct contact with an infected person’s oral discharges or saliva, the fluid from burst blisters or the feces.

You end up with a high fever, loss of appetite and a rash that covers the hands and feet.  If treated right away people seem to get better, but those who wait too long end up with liver problems and eventually multi-organ failure.

Vietnam’s Military Chemical Institute is now investigating the Ba To District of Quang Ngai Province.  There are reports the district is now under quarantine: “We have to block the entrances here to stop patients from getting out and spreading the disease. Since we don’t know what caused the disease, we will have to rely on our rituals and prayers.”-Pham Van Tray, Reu village

Quang Ngai Province is that area where the infamous My Lai Massacre took place at the hands of U.S. Army soldiers.  The same province saw forced relocation of Vietnamese villagers, by the U.S. and its puppet government of South Vietnam, in the name of protecting them from the “commies”.

In May, 2011, another district in the same Province was harassed and terrorized by an unknown beast.  Roaring sounds and strange footprints were found at the base of the Dinh Mountain in Son Tra Commune.  At least 20 dogs were killed, most were found with their heads and internal organs missing.

In Lao Cai Province people claimed to have seen the beast that’s killing pet dogs, and other domesticated animals.  They said it is a mutant dog, tall with a fur coat varying in description from white spots to yellow stripes.

This year fires torn through two huge markets, in the provinces of Quang Ngai and Quang Binh, causing about $300,000 USD in damage.

Also this year, farmers on central Quang Ngai Province‘s Ly Son Island, known as the garlic kingdom, have suffered their biggest crop failure ever.  Farmers lost 80% of their garlic to unusually heavy rain!

(now you see why I say they’re cursed)

Back to the killer “virus”.  I say “virus” because there are reports that the reason the Military Chemical Institute is involved is because some officials think the “virus” is really an herbicide called Kanup 480 SL.

Another report said that most farmers in the area started using herbicides only two years ago, that’s when the symptoms began (and sightings of mutant feral dogs).

Many reports say the herbicide is made by the United States, however my research revealed that it is made by a Vietnamese company called Thang Bac Giang (Vithaco), not the other company that’s being named in most reports (there are several companies using the misreported name, one of which turns out to be a major textile manufacturer).

The primary ingredient in Kanup 480 SL is Glyphosate IPA Salt 480gr / l.   It was patented by U.S. corporation Monsanto in the 1970s.  It is widely used in the United States.  Lab tests on animals revealed mutations, which could explain the mutant dogs killing people’s pets in Vietnam.  U.S. lab studies were supposedly inconclusive as to what happens to humans who’re contaminated with it.

According to some poor translations of local Vietnamese news media, most people who are sick, or who died, had just finished spraying their fields with Kanup 480 SL.   From what I read, it seems like many did not mix the chemical properly and used it in concentrated form.

This might be another case of a corporation that tricked farmers who had never used chemicals in their life, into buying a new fangled contraption (Kanup 480 SL).  The local reports I read say the farmers in Quang Ngai Province only started using the herbicide in the past two years, and it really looks like they do not understand how to use it, or how harmful it could be.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Oil & Gas Prices: South Sudan gives up Sudan oil fields, Sudan invades. Cuban oil exploration not paying off, Mexico wants piece of the action. Argentina nationalizes Spanish oil company. U.S. oil glut will actually increase prices.

April 22, 2012, South Sudanese military officials say they’ve withdrawn forces from Sudan’s Heglig oil fields.

U.S. puppet South Sudan took the Heglig oil fields on April 10, claiming Sudan was using the fields as a military base (gee, if they were it wouldn’t have been so easy to capture them).

On Friday, April 20, Sudan claimed they liberated the oil fields.  But now, April 22, Sudan has invaded South Sudan.  There are reports that Sudanese forces launched at least three attacks, as far as nine kilometers (six miles) into South Sudan’s territory.

The Spanish company Repsol is exploring for oil and natural gas off Cuba’s north coast. However they say progress has been slow.

It’s estimated that just off the Cuban coast line there is at least 5 billion barrels of oil and 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  So far attempts to get at it haven’t paid out.

Mexico has made it clear that its PEMEX oil company wants to be part of any Cuban oil production.

The irony is that Cuba is supporting Argentina’s nationalization of Respol’s operations in the South American country.

April 20, Cuba announced its support for Argentina’s nationalization of Respol YPF.  YPF was originally a state owned company anyway.  Venezuela, Nicaragua and several other Latin American countries support the move.

While Mexico wants in on Cuban oil, it opposes the Argentine nationalization of Respol YPF.

The reason Argentina nationalized its YPF oil production is that the privatized oil industry spent most of its profit on paying off stockholders, the result was an oil industry that fell behind in production, to the point that Argentina now has to import oil!

During the 1990s, Argentina privatized their oil industry.  The obsession with profits at any cost resulted in Argentina being left without enough of its own oil for its own use, which cause fuel prices to skyrocket: “That led to a lack of reinvestment in utilities, little exploration and dwindling reserves, as oil fields dried up and productivity fell.”-Eduardo Fernandez, oil industry consultant

That’s Corporate America and Corporate Europe for you!

In the United States, oil traders are hoping a reverse flow from the Seaway pipeline will increase the price per barrel of oil!

On May 17, a glut of oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, will begin flowing through the pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico.  U.S. oil traders say the bottle neck of oil in Oklahoma is one reason U.S. oil prices are low (if you call $100 per barrel low).  They hope that by getting the oil to the Gulf of Mexico, and therefore to the world oil market, that the price of U.S. oil will go higher!

A week ago India had become the number one buyer of Iranian oil.  Now, Indian officials say they’ve had to cut back because of the high price of oil: “Of course, the high price of oil has caused immense problems for the Indian economy…But actually we have to pay the average price of $100-115 per barrel…”-Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister of India

India is currently buying 14 million metric tons of oil from Iran (the report didn’t specify if that was per day, week or month). Indian officials said they had hoped oil would be at $90-95 USD per barrel by now.

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: More U.S./NATO troops die, Karzai to join with Taliban, U.S. blames Spring Offensive on Pakistan

April 20, 2012, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed that four U.S. led personnel were killed when a U.S. Black Hawk crashed in Helmand Province the day before.

Afghan officials say the helicopter was medivacing wounded Afghan police officers, who had been attacked by a suicide bomber, in the Garmsir district.  Local officials think the medivac went down because of bad weather.

There are reports that four Afghan policeman were killed after the suicide bomber exploded himself at a checkpoint.

Also in Garmsir district yesterday, a lone man attacked an Afghan military patrol.  He was detained.

The failed medivac operation was not part of a larger battle that took place in Helmand on the same day.  Afghan officials say that battle took place in Washir district.

Afghan officials claim to have killed 10 Mujahideen in that battle, along with the destruction of a mine production company.

Helmand saw other military/police operations such as an operation which tore up 1250 hectares (3088.817 acres) of farm land used for opium poppies.  The operation took place in Nad-e-Ali, Marjah and Sangin districts.

On April 19, 2012, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, numb nuts Ryan Crocker, blamed the current Mujahideen Spring Offensive on the so called “Haqqani network” of Pakistan.

U.S. Defense Secretary, numb nuts Leon Panetta, also blamed the “Haqqani network”.

April 20, 2012, an Afghan politician says his opponent, President Hamid Karzai, is planning on creating a coalition government with the “Taliban”.

Ahmadzia Massoud says Karzai is just waiting for the U.S. led occupation forces to leave.

Ahmadzia Massoud is part of a group of Afghans that helped the U.S. commit war crimes at the beginning of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, such as the murder of truckloads of POWs, who were machine gunned and suffocated while trapped inside cargo containers (known as Dasht-i-Leili massacre).

The group is called National Front of Afghanistan, or Afghanistan National Front (ANF), and includes Mohammad Mohaqiq and Abdul Rashid Dostum.

 

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

Government Evil: Former USMC Vietnam veteran says Republicans behind Ritual Animal Sacrifice by military contractor Tier 1 Group. It’s bigger than anyone would guess

“There is a lot of money, a lot of big Republican politics behind this, a lot of power…”–Gordon Duff, USMC Vietnam veteran, responding to the whistle blower video showing gruesome animal sacrifice at the hands of U.S. military contractors!

Tier 1 Group founded in 2005 by Cerberus Capital Group (run by Steve Feinberg, aka Stephen A. Feinberg), who also owns Remington Arms, Bushmaster Firearms and DPMS Panther Arms.

Cerberus gets its name from the ancient Greek multi-headed dog who guards the world of the dead.  It’s job is make sure those who die never escape to be re-born.

Republican Dan Quayle is a promoter of Cerberus Capital group.   John W. Snow (former Bush Jr administration) is chairman of Cerberus. Donald Rumsfeld has also worked for Cerberus.

Cerberus and Bernard L. Madoff worked together to take over and rip off other corporations.  Cerberus also runs the infamous DynaCorp.

Prominent U.S. Marine Corps veteran Gordon Duff says this animal sacrifice is all part of secret evil Republican agenda: “…hundreds and hundreds of defense groups, or military contracting groups set up by the people in the Republican Party.”

The question is: Why?  (The rational minded USMC veteran, Gordon Duff, couldn’t hazard any speculation on why such a thing is being done)

 

 

 

International, U.S.

Government & Media Hypocrisy: South Korea reveals new Cruise Missiles aimed at North Korea; where’s the outrage, where’s the sanctions, where’s the UNSC resolutions?

April 13, 2012, North Korea launched a satellite (not a ballistic missile as western media continued to report!), which ended in failure, yet didn’t fail to bring world wide condemnation.

April 19, 2012, the U.S. puppet South Korea revealed they have developed new weaponized cruise missiles specifically for use against North Korea!  They have also inadvertently revealed they have ballistic missiles as well!!!

Under a deal with the United States, South Korea is forbidden to have ballistic missiles with a range of more than 299 kilometers (186 miles).

The revelation comes in the form of a video, released on April 18, 2012, showing the launch of two missiles (watch the video here). The beginning of the video shows the launch of a short range ballistic missile, the next missile launch is a GLCM (Ground Launched Cruise missile).

South Korea based their new cruise missile on the U.S. nuclear armed Tomahawk missile.  South Korea revealed the truth after media reports forced the government to acknowledge the missiles.

This comes after proposed U.S. food aid to North Korea was canceled because of a non-weaponized satellite launch by North Korea!

 

International, U.S.

Government & Media Hypocrisy: India launches purpose built Ballistic Nuclear Missile; where’s the outrage, where’s the sanctions, where’s the UNSC resolutions?

April 13, 2012, North Korea launched a satellite (not a ballistic missile as western media continued to report!), which ended in failure, yet didn’t fail to bring world wide condemnation.

April  19, 2012, India launches its first purpose built Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), yet no one cares?   India has nuclear weapons, yet no one cares that they’ve successfully tested a true missile designed to carry nukes?

Here’s what the western members of the UN Security Council had to say about North Korea’s 4th non-weaponized rocket launch: “…[it’s a] provocation, threat to international stability, and another violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.”

On April 17, 2012, the UNSC increased sanctions against North Korea for launching a non-weaponized rocket!

Here’s what the UNSC said about India’s first ICBM launch:

Yeah I thought so you hypocritical SOBs!!!

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: More proof of U.S. Command breakdown; U.S. troops release more pics of themselves posing. Battles rage on, U.S. led NATO needs $4 billion! Rumors of NATO breakdown

April 18, 2012, Australia’s announced early withdrawal from Afghanistan has created rumors of U.S. led NATO breakdown.

For one thing, Australia is not a member of NATO, it is a “contact country” (as is Japan) which will sometimes support NATO action.

NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and Australia is not in the Atlantic.  However, it’s the growing number of NATO “supporting” countries who are not geographically in, or near the north Atlantic, that has Russia accusing the United States of using NATO to expand its empire.  Also the fact that NATO was originally created to “counter the threat of the Soviet Union”, yet 20 years after the demise of the Soviet Union NATO is still around and more active.

However, even if Australia is not a full member of NATO, on April 17 NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Australia’s early withdrawal was “fully within the framework” of the U.S. led NATO plans.

Here’s another ‘however’: Germany’s Defense Minister, Thomas de Maiziere, said “Australia’s message surprised me.”  Germany is one of the oldest members of NATO.

Yet more ‘however’:  NATO Secretary General Rasmussen added to the confusion by saying “All 50 allies and partners within the ISAF coalition have committed themselves to the basic principle of ‘in together, out together’.  And I know that the Australians are committed to that principle as well.”

So is Rasmussen saying all the occupying forces are going to leave a year early, or is he saying Australia is bluffing?

Here’s what recently resigned, former commander of Australian forces in Afghanistan, said:  “There is an unpleasant whiff of politics and self-interest in the strategy to withdraw American, Australian and other foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014 or earlier. The electoral cycles of nations contributing troops to the fight in Afghanistan mean that politicians everywhere are looking for the exits.”-Major General John P Cantwell

By the way, New Zealand officials are now saying they will pull out troops a year early as well.

To make things even more confusing, on April 18 NATO officials accused each other of not paying their way: “I would expect NATO allies and ISAF partners to commit themselves to pay a fair share of the total bill.”-Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General

Rasmussen hinted at probably the real reason why many NATO members, and their supporting countries, are trying to get out of Afghanistan early: There ain’t no mo’ money!

Rasmussen said in order to continue the U.S. led military occupation of Afghanistan it will take an estimated $4billion USD per year!  His answer is to turn things over to the Afghan government ASAP: “It is less expensive to finance Afghanistan security forces than to deploy foreign troops in Afghanistan.”

Here’s what I say: No shit Sherlock, and obviously our highly edumacated and wealthy elite leaders did not learn a goddamn thing from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan back in the 1980s!!!  Anybody remember what destroyed the Soviet Union?  Economic collapse due to military involvement in a war they could not win in Afghanistan (which was part of U.S. plans to destroy the USSR).

The political ho downs of NATO prove that this so called War on Terror is a war totally of the machinations of political elites, which is a violation of a thousands year old rule of warfare: “…He will win who has military capacity and
is not interfered with by the sovereign [political rulers].”  also “No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique….”-Sun Tzu

And here’s what the warrior master Sun Tzu says about the technological superiority of the United States: “Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.”

And about long wars:  “There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.”

Now to the latest evidence of U.S. military command failings.  A U.S. Army soldier has given the Los Angeles Times 18 pics showing troops in Afghanistan posing with the Afghans they killed.

Gee, we’ve been there done that before.  Of course our military leadership is blaming it on rogue troops, and will “investigate”.  No, this is the fault of our leadership; shit rolls downhill, you idiots!!!

Another proof of failed leadership is the many pics of U.S. troops with prominent tattoos which is a violation of the UCMJ.

Here’s what Sun Tzu has to say about that: “If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame. But, if orders are clear and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers.”

In other words it is always the fault of the command structure!!!

And yes, the battles rage on.  April 17, in Nangarhar Province local officials say anti-drug operations turned into a big battle.  The provincial governor said Mujahideen, and even farmers and villagers, attacked Afghan and U.S./NATO/ISAF forces.

The battle was big enough that airstrikes were called in.  Government officials claim at least 10 Mujahideen killed.  The governor said the battle actually started three days ago when the anti-drug operations began.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

U.S. Media Confuses: Home Construction actually dropped, blame the Too Big to Fail Banks

One U.S. media headline stated “…Housing Starts Remain Unchanged…”, yet when you read the article it actually admits that construction starts, for March 2012, have declined by 5.8%.

The overall decline was led by a 16.9% drop in construction of multifamily homes.

Construction reps blame the bad economy caused by the too big to fail banks not wanting to lend money to the working class: “…builders remain very cautious about starting new projects until they see more actual sales materializing. At the same time, in places where buyers are ready to go forward with a purchase, access to credit for both builders and buyers and difficulties in obtaining accurate appraisals are persistent challenges that continue to slow that process considerably.”-Barry Rutenberg, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)

Another article pointed out that March is the second straight month with such a big drop in housing construction projects.  It was also not expected by the economic “experts”!

So what’s the real info?  According to the April 17, 2012, Joint Release U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development PDF, March 2012 housing starts are 5.8% down from February, yet up 10.3% from March 2011.  So; a drop from month prior, an increase from year prior.