Category Archives: International

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Pale Green Horse & Red Horse: Greed for Oil and Cattle Rustling shuts down international health care services for people of South Sudan. U.S. involved

Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other.

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Since the United States lifted its economic embargo on South Sudan in July 2011, the young country has been spiraling out of control.

Recently South Sudan officials accused Sudan of stealing its oil.  In the latest case they say Sudan stole 650,000 barrels of oil, which was loaded onto a Sudan ship.  Sudan replied by saying South Sudan failed to pay import duties on the oil.  Currently South Sudan must ship its oil through Sudan to ports on the Red Sea.

To make matters worse, South Sudan is in a civil war.  More than seven groups claim that the pro-U.S. government of South Sudan has no intention of living up to its democratic promises (typical of pro-U.S. governments).

But the fighting has gotten so bad that it has international health care providers, and innocent people of South Sudan, running for their lives: “Thousands of people in Lekongole and Pibor fled in the last week and are now hiding in the bush, frightened for their lives. They fled in haste and have no food or water, some of them doubtless with wounds. Now they are hiding on their own, beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance.”-Parthesarathy Rajendran, Medecins Sans Frontieres (French for Doctors Without Borders)

On January 13, the UN World Health Organization announced that fighting in the northern state of Jonglei had destroyed all international health facilities in that area.  So far more than 200 international health care workers have been airlifted out.

In one report, the fighting in the state of Jonglei is being blamed on two rival tribes, who accuse each other of cattle rustling.

 

International

Pale Green Horse: Cambodia first H5N1 human case for 2012

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Health confirmed that a 2 year old boy has H5N1 (aka Bird Flu).  The boy became sick on January 3 with fever, cough, runny nose and vomiting.  He was transferred to a hospital on January 9, and is in critical condition.

Officials say the boy had been in contact with sick, or dead, birds before falling ill.  H5N1 seems to be more deadly in Cambodia.  So far 19 people have become infected since the H5N1 outbreak a few years ago.  16, of those 19 infected, died.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

White Horse & World War 3: China may be moving away from Iran. Making deals with pro-U.S. Saudi Arabia, Qatar & UAE. Cuts oil imports from Iran

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

The Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, is visiting several Arab Peninsula countries, signing major oil deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.  

Saudi Arabia is already China’s biggest supplier of oil.  The new deals include building a 400,000 barrel per day refinery just for China, and Chinese companies expanding the infrastructure of the Arabian Peninsula countries.

This comes after China announced it would cut oil imports from Iran, blaming contractual issues (not pressure from the U.S.).

However, Premier Wen said China and Saudi Arabia needed to deepen their cooperation “…in the face of changeable and complicated regional and international trends.”

International, U.S.

White Horse & World War 3: Russia to make U.S. Missile Defense system a waste of U.S. taxpayer money

“It seems strange that it is Russia who is required to show flexibility. This is not our project. If an architect is building a house, it is up to him to offer a design which would not violate property rights, area design and neighbors’ interests. So it is our U.S. colleagues who should demonstrate miraculous flexibility to ensure that their AMD system does not violate the interests of other countries if it is to be located in Europe.”-Dmitri Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia

Russians refer to the U.S. missile defense system in Europe as American Missile Defense (AMD).  It’s also known as EMD (European Missile Defense).  It is an extension of the U.S. National Missile Defense, which is why the Russians see it as an expansion of the Empire of the United States.  The U.S. has been expanding its missile defense system into Europe under the cloak of fighting “terrorism”!

“I will certainly ensure Russia will give a corresponding technical response if the AMD system endangers our national interests. This will result in the American AMD being considered a waste of money.”

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

International, U.S.

White Horse & World War 3: Russia restates warnings to the United States, concerning Syria and Iran

“Iran is our close neighbor, just south of the Caucasus. Should anything happen to Iran, should Iran get drawn into any political or military hardships, this will be a direct threat to our national security.”-Dmitri Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia

“Syria must be left alone and the sides to the conflict must be assisted in breaking the stand off and starting negotiations. No one must interfere with Syria. This is dangerous.”

“If we add the escalating tensions around Iran to the situation in Syria and the consequences of the Libyan war, then the upcoming ‘scorching’ Arab Summer, which is following the Arab Spring, will hardly be to anyone’s taste.”

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Pale Green Horse & What Economic Recovery? USDA to close 259 offices, how safe will your food be now?

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

On January 9, 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced they will have to close 259 offices across the country.  Budget concerns overrule food safety concerns.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is trying to cut $150 million from the USDA budget. The closures will affect 46 states, and includes seven foreign offices.

“They wiped out the entire Midwest.”-Andrew Lorenz, deputy district manager for the Food Safety and Inspection Service in Minneapolis

Lorenz says the office closings in his area have effectively shut down federal food inspection in Minnesota, Montana, the Dakotas and Wyoming!

Lorenz also said this could only mean USDA employees losing their jobs (on top of the 7,000 who were forced to take early retirement last year).

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed concern: “Our workload is at record highs, we have less money and fewer people and work to do and we tried to address how do you do that without interrupting service.”

However, USDA undersecretary for food safety, Elisabeth Hagen, contradicted her own boss’s statement: “There will be no reduction in inspection presence at slaughter and processing facilities and no risk for consumers. Not only do we have a statutory obligation to be in every facility, we have an unwavering commitment to food safety. We will still be on the job, in every facility, every day.”

Now how do you do that with thousands less employees?

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

World War 3: Finland allows Patriot missiles to sail to South Korea

After an investigation, Finnish officials decided to let a British registered ship sail to South Korea, with it’s cargo of 69 Patriot missiles.

On December 21, Finnish port authorities discovered improperly packed, and labeled, Patriot missiles and explosive acid on the ship M/S Thor Liberty.   The explosives were exposed to the elements, and the missiles were labeled “fireworks”.

It turns out the German government had sold some of its Patriot missiles to South Korea.  The Germans demanded the Finns let the cargo go.

The two top officers of the ship were charged with safety violations.  The cargo was repacked safely and the ship was allowed to sail with its crew (the Finns originally wanted to hold and try the crew in court, but something changed their minds).

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Media Incompetence or Complicity? Olympus not first Japanese company to lose billions, and then try to hide it. It happened before, in the 1990s, but the reporter who was about to blow the whistle was literally sent out of the country.

“If we had published the story, the result for Yamaichi shareholders and people connected with the company might have been very different.”– Shigeo Abe, investigative journalist

Right now the Olympus scandal is still making headlines in Japan.  Partly because many people find it hard to believe that a company could lose so much money on “investments” then try to cover it up with more bogus investments and company take overs.  Yet something similar happened in the mid 1990s, but then it was deliberately hushed up by the Japanese media!

In 1994 journalist Shigeo Abe, and a few other reporters, did some investigating and discovered that one of Japan’s biggest securities firms, Yamaichi, had hidden millions in losses by creating fake companies.  The deception started in 1992.

Shigeo Abe’s bosses at his newspaper didn’t jump for joy at the thought of having such a scandalous story, instead they ordered him to leave the country! (shimanagashi, the feudal practice of sending political troublemakers away)

“The Yamaichi president had called the Nikkei president and pressured him to not run it. He said: ‘If we go bankrupt it will cause chaos in the economy.’ And that was that.”– Shigeo Abe, investigative journalist

He was gone for three years.  It was at the end of that three years that Yamaichi Securities finally went bankrupt, despite the story not being published (there’s a lesson for you who believe in the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” philosophy). Japanese taxpayers got stuck with a debt bill equal to several million U.S. dollars (not to mention the huge losses for stockholders).

Shigeo Abe says what is going on with Olympus is similar. He said the Japanese media knew Olympus was in trouble at least one year before it was reported (guess who reported it first?).  He says nothing in the mainstream media is reported without official consent from the government or corporations: “There are no real scoops in Japanese newspapers. They are almost always authorized leaks.”

As a former TV news producer (six years), I can say the same applies to the mainstream U.S. media.

What happened to Shigeo Abe? He decided that the mainstream media is totally ineffective so he create an independent magazine called FACTA (not to be confused with the so called Fair and Accurate Credit Reporting Act). It was his 100% subscriber supported magazine that revealed the Olympus scandal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International

Black Horse: March 11, 2011 Japan disasters destroy more than 500 companies, car sales lowest in 3 decades, record unemployment

Private credit firm Teikoku Databank says Japan’s March 11 disasters forced 510 companies to fail by December 31, 2011.  All together the companies had more than $9 billion in debt.

The construction sector had the most bankruptcies.  But even though contracts for repairing disaster hit areas are finally increasing, the struggling economy is causing a decline in construction in other parts of Japan, basically canceling out the effect of increased construction contracts in disaster areas.

For the Japanese automotive sector, sales of Japanese cars are at the lowest point in 34 years!  It’s all because of the quakes and tsunamis, and the ongoing nuclear disaster, directly affecting parts production for Japan’s car makers (add to that the recent flooding in Thailand which is having the same effect).

The result is that many of Japan’s major companies are moving production to other countries like China.  Of course that means unemployment is skyrocketing.

In August the Japanese Labor Ministry reported a record 38 year high in unemployment percentage. In November the official number of unemployed Japanese hit 2.88 million!

…there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

International

“…the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake…”: Japan record number of earthquakes, almost 10,000 for 2011!

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said 6,757 aftershocks, directly related to the March 11 quake, hit Japan right up to December 31, 2011.

But that’s just the aftershocks. Officials also said the total number of earthquakes to hit Japan in 2011 were 9,723. That’s seven times the number of quakes in 2010!

Officials with the Meteorological Agency told people to expect more quakes for years to come.  In fact, on January 1, 2012, Japan was hit with a magnitude 7 quake off the east coast of Honshu.