Category Archives: International

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Japanese fleeing to United States, China and Australia, in the millions

The number of Japanese leaving their country, in one year, has hit a record 1.1 million.  That’s according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, which counted the number of Japanese who’ve officially become permanent residents of foreign countries.

The country of choice for most Japanese expatriates is the United States, with more than 388,000 becoming residents as of the end of 2010.

China is next with about 131,000, and Australia with about 70,800. The top three countries have remained unchanged since 2008.

Within the U.S., Los Angeles is the number one destination followed by New York City.

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Nearly 400 Japanese companies out of business since March

Blaming the March 11 disasters, credit research firm Teikoku Databank says at least 373 companies have collapsed since then.

Construction firms topped the list with 63 bankruptcies (despite reconstruction opportunities), followed by hotels and inns with 32 (despite people who’ve lost their homes and need a place to stay) and clothing companies with 23 (despite people who’ve lost all their clothes in the tsunami).

Even companies far away from the disaster areas have failed.  More business failures are expected, because there are 2,500 companies who say they are still unable to resume operations!

International, U.S.

Occupy America! Some facts about Revolutions the leaderless Wall Street occupiers, and Tea Partiers, need to know

The following is a brief on research I did on how Revolutions actually work, because they don’t follow the predictions of Karl Marx; that revolutions are led by the lower classes.  Three authors were read: Crane Brinton, James C. Davies and Ted Gurr.

James C. Davies (creator of the J-curve theory of revolutions) compared the theories of Karl Marx and A. de Tocqueville, with the Dorr Rebellion,  1917 Russian Revolution and 1952 Egyptian Revolution.

Davies found that economically motivated revolutions come after a relatively long time of decline for the middle and upper classes (the poor are too destitute to do anything about their situation).  In other words, it’s like a frog in a boiling pot of water; it takes awhile before the middle and upper classes realize they’re being screwed over.

Davies also discovered that if economic times are bad enough no revolution will take place, because everyone is too busy fending for themselves.  In other words if the middle and upper classes wait too long, they won’t have the strength to fight the elites.

Ted Gurr (Why Men Rebel) found that civil strife is affected by many factors, including economic deprivation and how the society views its leaders/government.

Gurr found that societies with a history of recurring civil strife are most likely to continue with such problems in the future.  Here in the United States the main problem is that too many citizens put too much faith in their ‘authorities’; from organized religion, to Corporate America and their government (at all levels/local/state/federal).  The irony is that the United States was founded on rebellion against authority (something that has been forgotten by many U.S. citizens).

Gurr also found that the success, or failure, of a revolution depends on how much support (from the general population and from outside the country) it gets.

One way the government/Corporate America can snuff out domestic support is to control the media coverage of such revolutions.  In fact our government (along with the British) has also used the media to create false revolutions (false flag ops) in other countries: The 1953 coup in Iran is a prime example.

Another proof of support for revolutions comes from the 1776 U.S. Revolution. If it wasn’t for the occasional raids into the southern Colonies by the Spanish, and the blockade of the British navy by the French navy, there would be no United States.

Crane Brinton (The Anatomy of Revolution) applied the scientific method in studying the 1641 English Revolution, 1776 U.S. Revolution (American War of Independence), the 1789 French Revolution and the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Brinton found that those revolutions were actually started by middle and upper class leaders.  The poor had little to do with it. The motivation of the middle and upper classes were economic: They were living in circumstances that were threatening to take away the economic gains they, and their predecessors had made, for the benefit of the elites.

Some beginning signs of Revolution: Austerity acts; tax increases/cuts to social programs.  Tax revolts.  Mobilization of Revolutionaries.  Ineffectual government reforms/accommodations.  Government repression.

Revolutionaries tend to be better leaders, organizers and motivators, than the establishment, but Brinton has warnings for Revolutionaries: Usually what happens is moderates take control of government but end up running things the same as before.  Then extremists take over, and things can get nasty, like a “reign of terror”.  Extremists can take advantage of “mob mentality” resulting in social terror that is presented as being democratic. Eventually extremists turn on each other, leading to dictatorships.  (Also, read Orwell’s Animal Farm. There’s also a cartoon version, but it’s not really for the kids ’cause it follows the book closely.)

So, these three researchers discovered that it’s not the poor who lead revolutions, it is the middle and upper classes.  The middle and upper classes revolt because their economically unstable governments (and now unstable Corporate America as well) put pressure on the more stable public, which causes the public to feel threatened and creates, at the very least, the perception that their economic prosperity (or even the chance of ever achieving prosperity) is finished.

Occupy America: Steve Jobs’ secret to success; Live Life your way

Occupy America: Federal Reserve boss blames Wall Street

Business/Economics, International

Global Economic War: Iran to increase sales of oil based on barter, not cash

Iran intends to boost the volume of its oil swaps to 200,000 barrels per day by March 20, 2012.

Iranian officials say that by using newly devised mechanisms, the demand for trading oil through barter deals, rather than using cash, is climbing.

The barters involve swapping oil related products, such as crude oil for refined fuel.

Iran is the second largest oil exporter within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

 

International

United Police Kingdom: Britain loves to violate human rights, that’s according to court records

Britain is not the place to live if you value your human rights.  According to European Court of Human Rights, Britain has 107 guilty verdicts against it.

The findings range from violations of the rights of mental health patients to the failure to protect children from unlawful corporal punishment in the home.

The United Kingdom signed onto the European Convention on Human Rights, but recently Prime Minister David Cameron stated that he wants to tear up their current Human Rights bill, and write a new “British” version.  Maybe it’s ’cause they keep losing court cases based on the current Human Rights bill.

International, U.S.

World War 3: United Nations closer to recognizing Palestine as full member, Arab hater Hillary Clinton warns UNESCO of decision

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has voted to recommend Palestine for full membership.  According to Israeli media, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a warning: “I…would urge the governing body of UNESCO to think again before proceeding with that vote because the decision about status must be made in the United Nations and not in auxiliary groups that are subsidiary to the United Nations.”

The United States has threatened to stop paying its portion of UNESCO funding if it recognizes Palestine as a full member.

UNESCO has the authority to give a country full membership, even if the state is not recognized by the United Nations Security Council.

UNESCO has 58 members.  40 voted in favor of putting the Palestinian matter to a vote.  14 abstained.  The United States, Germany, Romania and Latvia voted no.

The U.S. has also threatened to end financial aid going to Palestinians, if they become a UN recognized state.  Many Israelis are worried that the U.S. will use that to justify ending financial aid to Israel as well.  Aid to Palestinians is a drop in the bucket compared to what the U.S. gives Israel.

 

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

Thank you Steve Jobs! Occupy America, follow his example, live life your way!

Steve Jobs was a revolutionary.  We wouldn’t have half the personal computer related products without him.  I love my Mac, after decades of using crappy IBM based PCs I finally splurged and got me a Mac a few years ago.  I’ve never had one problem that I’ve had with the IBM type PCs.  I’ve had my Mac longer than any PC I’ve had in the past, which justifies what I paid for it.

Jobs was also proof you don’t need a college degree to succeed!  “You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Jobs’ secret to success? Do what you want, not what society tells you to do: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.  Don’t settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.  And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.”

And that’s exactly what the U.S. Declaration of Independence says you should do: “…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

You read that? It says the people of the United States are supposed to base their lives on the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, not following the orders of a society brainwashed by Corporate America, or the military industrial complex, or organized religion, or the Israeli lobby!  It’s one of the reasons why the creation of the United States was so revolutionary (like Steve Jobs)!

I hope Apple doesn’t go astray.  Steve Jobs died October 5, 2011.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

United Police States of America: New York Police force New York Bus Drivers to take Occupy Wall Street demonstrators to jail

“The government may only compel a citizen to assist in law enforcement when there is imminent danger. There was no imminent danger here, and therefore the Operator’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated.”-John Samuelsen, Transport Workers Union Local 100

On the day that thousands of protestors took the Brooklyn Bridge, the NYPD forced New York city bus drivers to off load their passengers, just so the buses could be used as Paddy Wagons.  Police said they needed the buses to haul away the 700+ people they had arrested.

Now the New York city bus drivers are taking the cops to court!  The bus drivers’ union says police can only take over vehicles in an emergency, and peaceful protesting is not an emergency: “…this was not such an emergency, and our members’ rights were violated. They are there to transport passengers, not be an arm of City Hall to squelch free speech!”-John Samuelsen

The union is asking the New York State Supreme Court for an injunction to keep the NYPD from forcing city buses to be used as Paddy Wagons.

Union members say they are now joining the Occupy movement: “They’ve really thrown a spotlight on issues that are bothering people, especially bothering workers like our members. Right now, we’re discussing how we’re going to give them material support, what we should do for them.”-Jim Gannon, Transport Workers Union

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: New U.S. commander in Afghanistan says the U.S. is not leaving, more proof that Obama is not a man of peace, more ignorance of cultural realities

“The plan is to win. The plan is to be successful. So while some folks may hear that we are departing in 2014 as a result of the Lisbon conference and the transition, we’re actually going to be here for a long time.”-John Allen, General USMC

The original publicly, and loudly stated goal of invading Afghanistan was to get Osama bin Laden, and al Qaeda.  A secondary goal was to topple the Taliban government.  All those goals have been achieved, but General Allen says we’re not leaving.

The United States could be in Afghanistan for decades.  Maybe we’ll even invade Pakistan, especially since the U.S. main stream media is now touting the Pentagon’s claims that the Taliban are using Pakistan as a base of operations.

There are Pakistanis that might call themselves Taliban, but the word means Student!  So how many people are simply calling themselves a student, and U.S. intelligent agents are taking it as Terrorist?

Then there’s the Haqqani “network” which is nothing more than a family run freedom fighter operation (notice that any freedom fighter in Afghanistan is automatically labeled Taliban by the media), after all we invaded them, not the other way ’round!  Once again, not one Afghan was involved with 9/11!  Just as well, not one Pakistani was involved with 9/11!

Another thing, the majority of Afghans (42%) are Pashtun, they just happen to make up most of the members of the political organization called Taliban.  Many of the people in northwestern Pakistan are Pashtun (second largest ethnic group in Pakistan). They are direct relatives of those in Afghanistan.  That’s because northwestern Pakistan used to be part of the Kingdom of Afghanistan (before the British took control, in fact there was no Pakistan until after World War 2).

So, from the view point of the Pashtuns (who’re considered the dominant ethnic Afghans) they are not “using” Pakistan as a base, because they see that area of Pakistan as their ancestral Afghan territory to begin with.  This is one of the reasons the Pakistani government is so hesitant to take direct military control over that region.  Ever since the creation of Pakistan the northwestern territory has actually been under direct control of the Pashtuns.

Basically the United States has decided to wage war with the majority of the people in that region, in order to impose upon them a government run by a pro-U.S. minority.  Sounds like Vietnam.

Towards the end of the war between the U.S. and Vietnam many people warned that the U.S. had to stay in Vietnam to prevent possible attacks against U.S. territories by Vietnamese commie terrorists.  Gee, I guess we’re still waiting for those dreaded Vietnamese attacks, 36 years later!