Category Archives: International

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

Global Economic War: China could cut Rare Earth mineral exports, expect prices for high tech devices to go up

China is THE biggest supplier of rare earth minerals, which are absolutely necessary for today’s high tech computer devices, like your cell phone that’s almost permanently attached to your ear while you’re driving (stop that, damn it!).

How big? China supplies 90% of the world’s rare earth metals!

Chinese officials say they will try to meet their 2012 quota, but because of new environmental regulations going into effect they expect delays from the mining industry.

China’s Commerce Ministry has granted export quotas of nearly 24,900 tons to 31 companies. That’s only 80% of what they said they would export for all of 2012.  At least 20 other mining companies are having problems meeting the new environmental standards.  If those companies can not meet the new standards, then China will fail to meet their stated 2012 goal of exporting more than 30,000 tons of rare earth metals.

 

 

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

World War 3: Iran will block Strait of Hormuz, if the U.S. is successful in getting oil sanctions imposed, U.S. says that’s all the excuse they need for going to War, oil could hit $500 per barrel

“If sanctions are adopted against Iranian oil, not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz. We take no interest in animosity and hostility, our belief is friendship and brotherhood, but the West will not end its scheming….The enemies will only drop their plots when we put them back in their place!”-Reza Rahimi, Vice President of Iran

More than a third of the world’s oil (carried by tanker ships) passes through the 34 mile (54 kilometer) wide Strait of Hormuz.  In the past few weeks Iranian media have been pushing for selective blocking of the Strait, saying the West is already at War with Iran.  A well known British commentator backs that up saying: “War on Iran has already begun….For months the evidence has been growing that a U.S./Israeli stealth war against Iran has already begun, backed by Britain and France.”-Seumas Milne, The Guardian

Some of that evidence includes:

• Two nuclear physicists were killed, and the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran was wounded, after bombs were attached to their cars or detonated near them in 2010.

• The Stuxnet computer worm infected Iranian nuclear facilities in 2010; numerous reports suggest this was a U.S./Israeli attack to cripple Iranian nuclear centrifuges.

• On November 12, 2011, an explosion destroyed the Revolutionary Guard base at Bid Kaneh, killing 17, including a founder of Iran’s missile program.

• On November 28, 2011, an explosion in the western Iranian city of Isfahan badly damaged a uranium enrichment facility.

• On December 4, 2011, it was proven that the U.S. has been sending military aircraft into Iranian airspace after the IRGC used electronic warfare to bring down an expensive stealth UAV.

Read what “christian” U.S. Senator Rick Santorum said: “There have been scientists turning up dead in Russia and in Iran. There have been computer viruses. There have been problems at their facility. I hope that the United States has been involved with that.”  (doesn’t sound very ‘christian’ like to me)

By the way, recent bills for new sanctions against Iran will make it legal, under U.S. law, to designate civilian scientists as military targets!

In a recent interview with CBS Evening News, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the Obama administration now thinks Iran will have nuclear weapons in 2012.  When asked about Israel’s publicly stated plans to attack Iran, Panetta responded: “The United States does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us and that’s a red line, obviously, for the Israelis. If we have to do it we will deal with it.”

But U.S. officials also consider the closing of the Strait of Hormuz a reason to bomb Iran. Texas based think tank Stratfor (Strategic Forecasting) said: “The importance of this waterway to both American military and economic interests is difficult to overstate. Considering Washington’s more general, and fundamental, interest in securing freedom of the seas [for U.S. interests only, of course], the U.S. Navy would almost be forced to respond aggressively to any attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz.”

By the way, oil analysts have said that if the Strait of Hormuz was closed for 30 days, or even if one bomb fell on Iran, the price of oil could go as high as $500 per barrel.  Try commuting to work on that!  (maybe this is some kind-a insane conspiracy by the elitist oil industry to drive up oil prices)

 

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: U.K. prepares for collapse of the Euro, believes Britain will be flooded with economic refugees, Swizterland taking action

Several days ago there were reports that banks around the world were preparing for the demise of the Euro.  Banks are getting ready to go back to older European currencies.

On December 28 the British government discussed contingency plans for such a Euro collapse. Her Majesty’s Treasury (that’s the official title, and proof the Queen of England is no figure head) has announced plans to prevent a flood of currency refugees from overwhelming British banks.

The United Kingdom is part of the European Union, but does not use the Euro.  The British pound has been gaining in value as the Euro, and the U.S. dollar, looses value. The collapse of the Euro could see the value of the British pound skyrocket, which is bad for British exports (making them too expensive to buy, thus breaking Britain’s fragile economy).

It’s not just “The Treasury” that’s making plans, the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (aka The Foreign Office) announced plans to stop people fleeing the expected chaos of mainland Europe, from flooding into Britain.

The Foreign Office said it would even attempt to rescue British tourists on holiday, and even British expatriates who need help returning to the U.K. 

The British media is also reporting that the rich 10% of Greece, and other EU countries that are in economic trouble, are already transferring large amounts of  wealth to British banks.

This happened to Switzerland a few months ago.  The result was that the value of the Swiss France skyrocketed.  But the Swiss dealt with it in an unusual way; they “attached” the value of their Swiss Franc to the value of the Euro (even though they are not a member of the European Union).

A few days ago there were reports that EU members were going to ground all flights out of their countries, and block all border crossings, to prevent mass exodus of people and cash.  British officials at Whitehall (the part of the British government directly controlled by the Queen of England, and which controls their military, named after a royal palace that once stood there) said they would do the same, but only to prevent foreign people, and their foreign cash, from coming into the United Kingdom.  Whitehall officials said they believe the collapse of the Euro would result in widespread civil unrest in Europe.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: Brazil beats out United Kingdom, now 6th largest world economy, soon to become 5th largest

According to the British Centre for Economics and Business Research, Brazil’s GDP will end 2011 at U.S.$2.4 trillion!  That makes Brazil the sixth largest economy in the world.

The United States is still number one (of course most of that money goes to the top 10% in the U.S., no trickle down here), followed by China, Japan, Germany, France, and now Brazil.

On December 27 the Brazilian Finance Minister commented on a new IMF report, saying his country will soon be the fifth largest economy in the world: “The International Monetary Fund expects Brazil to be the fifth economy in 2015, but I think that will happen earlier…it’s inexorable that we surpass France and, in future, who knows, Germany…”-Guido Mantega

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

Global Food Crisis & What Economic Recovery? Beef production crashing in Idaho

No thanks to the closing of a beef processing plant in Nampa, Idaho’s beef production is down 80% from the year prior!  That’s according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

According to the State stats, and contrary to the stereotype, potatoes are not the number one agriculture product of Idaho!  Dairy products are number one, followed by cattle/beef production, so you can see why it’s so important to Idaho’s economy.

Not only is Idaho’s beef production down from last year, it’s been dropping like a rock, 52%, from January 2011 to November 2011.

The USDA pointed out that overall beef production in the entire United States was down 2% from last year.

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

Global Economic War & Corporate Incompetence: Idaho polysilcon producer, Hoku, quietly starts operations, loses CFO, loses millions of dollars again

Pocatello, Idaho’s, polysilcon factory, run by Hoku Materials (which is a subsidary of Chinese owned Hoku Corporation), officially and quietly started operations on December 1st.  That’s according to Chinese media citing Tianwei New Energy Holdings Company Limited, the Chinese company that controls 60% of Hoku Corporation.

Interestingly no mention of the start of operations has come directly from Hoku.  Hoku Corporation did announce the resignation of their CFO, treasurer, and secretary, Darryl Nakamoto.  His resignation will be effective March, 2012.

Another loss, this one missed by local Idaho media, is the fact that Hoku Corporation continues to bleed out money.  Its latest report, ending September 30, 2011, showed Hoku with a net loss of $7.9 million (computed in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles)!

I’ve posted before about the conundrum Hoku is now in, since it is 60% owned by the Chinese: “…Hoku is set up in a bad position; action by the U.S. government could hurt their new plans to sell Chinese PV products, and retaliation by the Chinese government could hurt their pending polysilicon orders.”

I wonder why Hoku is keeping so quiet about their operations start up in Idaho, while it’s making front page news in China?

GLOBAL ECONOMIC WAR: IDAHO’S HOKU SILICON FACTORY MAY BE ENDED BEFORE IT STARTS. CITY OF POCATELLO GUILTY

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Western Xmas holiday, the new scourge of China. Chinese know the true meaning of Christmas, what happened to the United States?

“I was supposed to relax on holidays, but this feels more stressful than working at the office.”-Zhao Xiaojuan, works for investment company

Since U.S. companies have been moving into China, they’ve brought U.S. style holidays with them, and the Chinese are regretting it.

Many company managers spend their holidays, and their money, entertaining foreign (U.S.?) business guests, out of fear of insulting them if they didn’t do so, and competition!

“I have to give gifts to show respect and gratitude to my clients, because all my colleagues do so.”-Gao Ping, newly graduated from college

For many young adults the Western gift giving tradition is hitting them where it hurts; in their wallets!

“I’ll have to eat instant noodles for the whole month to save money….I could have saved 10,000 yuan (U.S.$1,580) if we didn’t have to celebrate foreign holidays!”-Zhou, employee of foreign owned company

More than 40,000 Chinese bloggers have voiced their opposition to the U.S. imposed holidays, and one of the most numerous complaints is that the U.S. holidays confuse affection for family and friends with money: “I know they want to show their affection for me, but words speak louder than money.”-Gao Ping, newly graduated from college

How dare he say “words speak louder than money”! Thurston Howell III, the Wolf of Wall Street, is rolling in his grave!

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Chinese families told to prepare to tighten their belts, blame hyper inflation & Global Food Crisis

“Inflation may be a long term problem in the country because food prices may surge again and the price of manufacturing resources is likely to grow fast in the coming year.”-Zhang Shuguang, Unirule Institute of Economics

In one of the few countries where the economy is good, people are being told to prepare for the worst.

What should a family do? Those making enough money to save should start investing in physical assets, including precious metals, real estate and antiques.  (That advise is probably too late for those of us 99%ers in the United States.)

To give you an idea of how good the Chinese economy has been doing, read this: “Among urban families with average annual personal income between 50,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan, 63.7% have family wealth management plans this year, compared with 27.5% last year.“-Zhang Jinbao, Tsinghua University and Citi Foundation

Current savings trends for Chinese workers include health care, education for their children and retirement (so much for China being a communist/socialist country).  But now even bank officials are prompting families to put as much as 70% of their earnings into property, to try an avoid the coming hyper inflation!

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

Corporate Incompetence: Dairy company continues to produce products with toxins, despite repeated fines

“A stained history means the company has problems in its professional ethics, so we shouldn’t trust it anymore.”-Fang Zhouzi, blogger

Milk products containing aflatoxin continue to be found on store shelves, despite the company’s claim that they destroyed all their tainted dairy products.

Aflatoxin builds up in your body and causes liver cancer, it can not be eliminated by pasteurizing!  It can be the result of cattle feed that’s been stored for too long.

The company involved is Mengniu Group, in China. It has a history of producing contaminated dairy products. In 2009 the company was involved with the melamine contamination incident (melamine is used mainly in construction, but it turns out that dairy companies have been using it to artificially increase their products’ protein levels. It was discovered that in the U.S. the FDA had no standards for melamine used in food).

“If the company carried out checks and didn’t find a problem, then their case is suspect.”-Wang Dingmian, Guangzhou Dairy Association

Over the past weekend, several Chinese customers were suspicious of the milk they bought and had it tested. It all turned out to be contaminated with aflatoxin.  This happened after the Mengniu Group said they destroyed all tainted dairy products.

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

World War 3: Finland seizes U.S. made Patriot missiles, Germany says legitimate cargo bound for South Korea

“We have impounded the explosives and missiles and asked the Defense Ministry to transport and store them.”-Petri Lounatmaa, Finnish Customs

Finland has cleared an Isle of Man (a British Crown Dependency) registered ship, but only after taking the 69 Patriot missiles and 160 pounds of explosives.

German officials are upset. They claim the missiles came from German inventory, and were properly declared for shipment to South Korea.  Finnish officials basically say Gemany is lying: “Of course, there are legal transports of weapons or defense material (through Finland), but in this case the cargo was marked as containing fireworks. That is quite unusual.”-Paivi Rasanen, Interior Minister of Finland

Finnish port authorities say the 160 pounds of explosives, mainly picric acid (a nitrate based explosive which is also used in fireworks),  were stacked on pallets fully exposed to the elements.  Knowing what it was they began to open crates and that’s when they found the Patriot missiles.  The missiles were in crates marked “fireworks”!

The Finnish government has properly stored the explosives along with the missiles.  Finland is keeping the missiles and explosives, pending further investigation.

The ship, M/S Thor Liberty, is free to sail, but the 11 crew, including the captain, are in custody: “She can sail, but customs is still holding the cargo and the (detained) crew isn’t allowed to leave Finland.”-Markku Koskinen, Port of Kotka