Category Archives: U.S.

Business/Economics, U.S.

World War 3, U.S. Economic Front: Job losses & store closings 06 March 2013. No more Wendys? Teachers laid off & property taxes raised!

In New Mexico, Murray Hotel bankrupt.  The company owns the Silver City Murray Hotel, which was opened in 1938.  Company officials blame debt.

In Hawaii, Marriott is selling its Waikoloa Beach resort, affecting 315 employees!

In Nebraska, the Great Platte River Road Archway now bankrupt.  The history museum blames dwindling attendance on the bad economy.   However, many people say the Archway is difficult to get to, and critics say it’s more a theme park than museum.

T-Mobile lays off more than 100 people at its Bellevue, Washington,  headquarters!  The layoffs are a result of the merger with MetroPCS.  In 2012 T-Mobile cut 4200 jobs!

It was revealed that Greensboro College, in North Carolina, will layoff six employees.  Officials said the layoffs will help them end the school year in the black.

In New York, the Ramapo Central School District laying off 33 people, and ending summer school, field trips and the family resource center.

In New Jersey, the Bloomfield Board of Education introduced a budget that would see 86 teachers laid off. Class size will be increased by 40 students per one teacher.  The budget also increases the average homeowner’s property tax by $278 per year!  Also, BAE (a United Kingdom based government contractor) lays off an undisclosed amount of people at their Wayne operation.   BAE claims it has nothing to due with government spending cuts.

Managers of the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri, are asking an undisclosed number of the 2600 employees to volunteer for layoffs.  Company officials say mandatory layoffs could also be upcoming.  They insist the layoffs are not connected to government spending cuts.

In Oregon, the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility laying off 117 employees!  It’s claimed all the chemical weapons at the facility have been destroyed.

In California, Circor Aerospace is closing its Sylmar operation, laying off 51 people.  Officials say it’s part of its consolidation plans.

IBM moving hundreds of Minnesota jobs to Mexico.

Tooele County, Utah, lays off 23 employees from the Parks and Recreation and Building Maintenance divisions.  It’s being blamed on the Deseret Peak Complex, which opened in 1999, and has been subsidized with taxpayer funds to the tune of $1.5 million USD every year.  Apparently it was hoped the entertainment/recreational Complex would become self supporting.

In Clarksville, Tennessee, Too Big to Jail Bank of America closing its 215 Legion Street office on 17 May. That’s according to local media who were notified by bank employees, however BofA officials refused to comment.

In Georgia, Comcast cable closing its Augusta call center.  68 to 78 people out-o-work.  Company officials said it was part of their plans to “….provide more specialized customer support.”  In Thomaston, Clearwater Paper shutting down its tissue converting and distribution facility. 150 people out-o-work! It’s part of their consolidation plans. In Covington, Wain & Co. Hair Design closed after 30 years in operation.

Publishing company, RR Donnelley & Sons going out of business in Ohio.  170 employees jobless!  Company officials blame the “changing market” and bad economy.

In Pennsylvania, historic Benkovitz Seafood shut down without notice or explanation.

In Arizona, the Bamboo Club Asian Bistro closed down because they could not renew their lease.

Wendys burger officials say because of the bad economy they will close 130 restaurants!  This despite the apparent success of their restaurant remodeling program. Officials claim that the restaurants that were remodeled have seen sales increase an average of 25%.  Perhaps that’s not enough?

 

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

Capitalist Commodity Markets to blame for Pocatello’s Hoku Polysilicon near abandonment!

08 May 2013 (09:49 UTC-07 Tango)/27 Jumada t-Tania 1434/18 Ordibehest 1391/29 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

The massive, and expensive (to local tax payers), Hoku Materials polysilicon factory sits idle and unfinished in Pocatello, Idaho.

Red Neck right wingers like to point the finger at President Obama, saying ‘I told you so’ concerning ‘clean energy’ projects, but the reason for the demise of many solar power companies is actually the capitalist commodity market system and government interference.

Polysilicon prices have crashed and burned since construction started on the 50 American football fields long factory.  It just isn’t worth it to produce the stuff used in solar power panels.  In 2008 polysilicon was worth $400 per kilogram, it’s now crashed to a paltry $20.50!

Hoku Materials ghost town factory, Pocatello, Idaho. 50 football fields long at a cost of at least $400 million.

Hoku Materials ghost town factory, Pocatello, Idaho. 50 football fields long at a cost of at least $400 million.

The ‘experts’ got everything wrong.  They thought the high petroleum prices would drive societies into the arms of clean energy companies, but the problem is that so many clean energy companies started production that soon there was a glut of polysilicon on the market, even before the construction of Pocatello Hoku plant was close to being finished.

Then add to that the trade wars between China, the U.S. and European Union.  Eventually, the Obama administration jacked up tariffs so high on Chinese polysilicon companies that it wasn’t worth it to do business in the U.S.  By then Hoku Corporation (the parent of Hoku Materials) had become Chinese owned, due to financial problems (including Hoku Materials not being able to pay its construction contractor, JH Kelly, or pay its Idaho utility bills, so many times that both threatened to seize the property).

By the middle of 2012 the unfinished $400 million USD Pocatello polysilicon factory was moth balled, staffing reduced to just 30 people, with rumors of liquidation in bankruptcy court.  By the end of 2012, the Chinese company that bought into Hoku (Tianwei) was getting blasted in the Chinese media for buying a pig in a poke.  According to former Hoku Corporation CEO, Scott Paul, Tianwei invested “….more than $129 million of its own capital in Hoku, and they have provided for another $244 million in debt financing from banks in China.”

Now back to the ‘experts’.  In February 2013, ‘experts’ predicted that polysilicon prices had bottomed out.  They were wrong!  Prices had hit $21 per kilogram, and polysilicon producers said there was no reason to produce anymore until the price went up over $25.

In March 2013, British media reported that prices had crashed 50% compared to the same time last year.

In April 2013, another report said that polysilicon prices could continue to crash because of the anti-free market tariffs imposed by the major players; China, South Korea, European Union and United States.  And, the ‘experts’ again said prices had bottomed out.  The average price at the end of April 2013 was $20.50.

So where does that leave Hoku Corporation’s Hoku Materials factory in Pocatello?  Optimistic officials with the Bannock Development Corporation (a County level organization that worked hard to bring Hoku to Pocatello, including huge local tax breaks) think that anytime now Hoku will start production: “It’s a wait and see thing, depending on the market……Basically, [Hoku Corp.] needs to fire up the plant when it’s ready to go.”-John Regetz, Bannock Development

Sounds like the local development folks aren’t communicating with Hoku.  The latest statement from the company indicates that bankruptcy and liquidation is the only option being considered: “….exploration of potential restructuring at Hoku Materials and Hoku Corporation is ongoing, with no formal update at this time.”-Hoku Corporation statement

“Restructuring” is code for bankruptcy/liquidation.  So no Mister Regetz, it sounds like Hoku is not planning to “fire up the plant”.

Green/clean energy just doesn’t make big enough profits for the crony capitalist system.  Another case in point is the recent announcement by BP (British Petroleum) that it will abandon it’s wind power operations near Idaho Falls, Idaho, as well as its wind and solar projects across the United States.

Also, don’t forget the artificial reduction in demand created by all those government tariffs.

The answer is that clean energy projects need to be run like a non-profit co-op, but the problem is that crony capitalists don’t like that and will do everything they can to prevent that from happening (’cause contrary to their propaganda, they do not like competition, especially if it’s from a non-profit).

More on the demise of Hoku Materials:

Hoku deregisters with SEC

Hoku downward spiral

Hoku restructuring

Hoku to be finished off

U.S. tariffs nail in the coffin for Hoku

Good & bad news for Hoku

Hoku better get its rear in gear

Hoku beggars China

Hoku going under

Hoku begs

More trouble for Hoku

Hoku starts operations(?)

Hoku ended before it starts

Investigation puts the brakes on Hoku

Hoku ongoing delays

Hoku turning to China

U.S.

World War 3, False Flag Front: Unemployment; why the U.S. government & unAmerican Corporate America loves it!

07 May 2013 (10:57 UTC-07 Tango)/26 Jumada t-Tania 1434/17 Ordibehest 1391/28 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

Long term unemployment is proving to be a benefit to the U.S. government.  It’s called reduced Social Security payments, or backdoor austerity policy.

First lets clear something up: You main streamer media deceivers need to stop calling Social Security (SS) a “benefit”!  We pay for it, gottdamn it!  A benefit is not something you pay for! SS is a government mandated retirement system that we are forced to pay for, therefore it is a true entitlement!

Here’s why the federalies love long term unemployment:  According to research by AARP/CNNMoney for every year you are unemployed, the amount you could have gotten through your SS retirement is reduced by 3%.

Now realize that for the first time in United States history there is a huge number of U.S. citizens who’ve been unemployed for more than six months (more than 4 million in April 2013).  For unemployed people 50 years of age or older, 44% are long term unemployed.

So all this unprecedented long term unemployment is allowing your elected officials to keep more of that SS money for themselves.  Is this some kind of False Flag op designed to ‘save’ the Social Security Administration by artificially reducing future retirement payments?

We already know our ‘elected’ federal officials rape Social Security funds all the time.

And it seems unAmerican corporate America is in on the False Flag game.   According to a study by Rand Ghayad of Northeastern University (and published in December 2012 by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston), employers will not consider anyone who’s been unemployed for six months or more, regardless of their experience.  Ghayad discovered that employers would rather hire a buffoon who’s been unemployed for a week, than someone with years of relevant experience!

Ghayad also broke the lies that unAmerican corporate America was spreading; that they couldn’t find “qualified” applicants.  He proved that what they meant by “qualified” was how long you’ve been unemployed:  “It isn’t that firms aren’t finding the right workers, but that employers are screening out the long ​​term unemployed.”

Then you have another gimmick employers are using; credit reports.  If you have a bad credit score, which is included in the background check most big employers conduct, you will not be hired.  And guess what?  Most long term unemployed have bad credit (gee, I wounder why?)!

According to a Demos survey, one in four unemployed people were told their credit score would be considered for employment.

The Society for Human Resource Management says at least 47% of the employers they surveyed use credit checks to determine who they hire.

The evil irony is that the longer you’re unemployed the worse your credit report becomes, because you can’t pay your debts!   Another Demos survey found a direct correlation between worsening credit scores and repeat or prolonged unemployment.

Even the majority of people who find new jobs are being paid far less than their previous job, and that too reduces the amount of SS retirement they will get, and makes it harder to pay their debts thus jeopardizing any future employment opportunities.

Some conspiracy theorists believe this is part of a False Flag op to artificially reduce the cost of labor by creating an unprecedented number of indentured servants for unAmerican corporate America.  And to me, it’s also starting to look like a back door way to government austerity, by reducing your entitlements on the grounds that you’re unemployed or underemployed.

 

 

U.S.

World War 3, U.S. Economic Front: Stupid taxpayers shell out nearly $1 million per prisoner at Gitmo!

04 May 2013 (16:06 UTC-07 Tango)/23 Jumada t-Tania 1434/14 Ordibehest 1391/25 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

There are now 166 detainees at Gitmo, and according to the U.S. Department of Defense U.S. taxpayers are shelling out $900000 per detainee per year, just to maintain the Joint Detention Group at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay!

The Department of Defense says it costs $150 million per year to operate the illegal torture camp.  If the detainees had been placed in federal stateside prisons it would have cost a fraction of what Gitmo costs.

 

U.S.

World War 3, North American Front: Flase Flag State of Emergency declared in Seattle, Washington?

02 May 2013 (21:56 UTC-07 Tango 01 May 2013)/21 Jumada t-Tania 1434/12 Ordibehest 1391/23 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

“Using the emergency powers of the mayor’s office, I’m issuing an order for the limited purpose of giving police the authority to confiscate items that can be used as weapons.”-Mike MGinn, mayor

You rarely hear about May Day labor demonstrations in the crony capitalist country of United States, but the 1st of May became a riot in Seattle, Washington!

The mayor of Seattle, Mike McGinn, issued an order that gave cops “emergency powers”.  McGinn was Seattle’s police chief during the massive 1999 WTO riots,  which were ignored by the main streamer TV media.

Apparently the May Day riot was started by a group called Black Bloc when they held an unannounced protest. They were using flares, metal bars and even a flag pole as weapons of mass destruction against businesses (including some Too Big to Jail banks), vehicles, news reporters and eventually the cops!   Some cops said the Black Bloc members even made incendiary bombs out of toilet paper rolls!

A tourist from Canada said rioters attacked his car, and told him to go back to Canada.

Of course the Black Bloc May Day riot was only a fraction of the size of the 1999 WTO riots (again a massive riot that the main streamer TV media ignored), but it was enough to scare the crap out of the former police chief turned mayor, and basically he declared a state of emergency over it.

By the way there were peaceful May Day demonstrations in Seattle, but the crony capitalist main streamer U.S media never covers such commie activities.

 

U.S.

World War 3, North American Front: Ron Paul says War were declared on the ‘Merican People!

Forced lockdown of a city. Militarized police riding tanks in the streets. Door-to-door armed searches without warrant. Families thrown out of their homes at gunpoint to be searched without probable cause. Businesses forced to close. Transport shut down.

These were not the scenes from a military coup in a far off banana republic, but rather the scenes just over a week ago in Boston as the United States got a taste of martial law. The ostensible reason for the military-style takeover of parts of Boston was that the accused perpetrator of a horrific crime was on the loose. The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for the government to turn what should have been a police investigation into a military-style occupation of an American city. This unprecedented move should frighten us as much or more than the attack itself.

What has been sadly forgotten in all the celebration of the capture of one suspect and the killing of his older brother is that the police state tactics in Boston did absolutely nothing to catch them. While the media crowed that the apprehension of the suspects was a triumph of the new surveillance state – and, predictably, many talking heads and Members of Congress called for even more government cameras pointed at the rest of us – the fact is none of this caught the suspect. Actually, it very nearly gave the suspect a chance to make a getaway.

The “shelter in place” command imposed by the governor of Massachusetts was lifted before the suspect was caught. Only after this police state move was ended did the owner of the boat go outside to check on his property, and in so doing discover the suspect.

No, the suspect was not discovered by the paramilitary troops terrorizing the public. He was discovered by a private citizen, who then placed a call to the police. And he was identified not by government surveillance cameras, but by private citizens who willingly shared their photographs with the police.

As journalist Tim Carney wrote last week:

“Law enforcement in Boston used cameras to ID the bombing suspects, but not police cameras. Instead, authorities asked the public to submit all photos and videos of the finish-line area to the FBI, just in case any of them had relevant images. The surveillance videos the FBI posted online of the suspects came from private businesses that use surveillance to punish and deter crime on their property.”

Sadly, we have been conditioned to believe that the job of the government is to keep us safe, but in reality the job of the government is to protect our liberties. Once the government decides that its role is to keep us safe, whether economically or physically, they can only do so by taking away our liberties. That is what happened in Boston.

Three people were killed in Boston and that is tragic. But what of the fact that over 40 persons are killed in the United States each day, and sometimes ten persons can be killed in one city on any given weekend? These cities are not locked-down by paramilitary police riding in tanks and pointing automatic weapons at innocent citizens.

This is unprecedented and is very dangerous. We must educate ourselves and others about our precious civil to ensure that we never accept demands that we give up our Constitution so that the government can pretend to protect us.

Ron Paul

U.S.

World War 3, Gun Control Front: Anti-guns laws fail to prevent multiple stabbings in United States!

29 April 2013 (20:43 UTC-07 Tango 28 April 2013)/18 Jumada t-Tania 1434/09 Ordibehest 1391/20 Bing-Chen (3rd month) 4711

In the Saint Jude Thaddeus Catholic church in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, a man attacked four people….with a knife.

The man in his 20s was tackled by other church goers.  Apparently none of the victims are seriously hurt.  Church members say the man is not from their church.

He is in jail, and police say they don’t know why he did it, although witnesses say he yelled “Fake preacher” before attacking.  This just adds to the growing list of mass violence in the U.S. that apparently has no motive.

Then in California, an 8 years old girl was stabbed to death.  The residents of Valley Springs have been told to lock their doors and be on the lookout for the suspect. Police are conducting a manhunt.  The victim’s brother said a stranger broke into the house, stabbed his little sister and fled.  Just like in New Mexico,  there doesn’t seem to be a motive.

International, U.S.

World War 3, East Asian Front: Japan shoots self in foot, says there was no World War 2, while prepping for invasions with U.S.!

24 April 2013 (13:04 UTC-07 Tango)/13 Jumada t-Tania 1434/04 Ordibehest 1391/15 Bing-Chen (3rd month) 4711

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe keeps pissing off China and Korea, this time saying there is “…no clear definition of an invasion internationally…” by Japan at the beginning of what is called the Second World War.

In the mid 1930s to early 1940s Japan invaded mainland east Asia from Russia, Manchuria, China all the way down to Vietnam (Indochina).  Now Japanese leaders are denying it ever happened!

On top of that the Japanese government is considering issuing new school books which will claim many islands lying between Japan, Korea, China and Russia, to belong to Japan, as well as change the history of the Second World War to claim Japan was fighting a defensive war from the start. (most Japanese don’t even know about their attack on Pearl Harbor).

This move will destroy efforts to create a military pact between Japan and South Korea against North Korea.

Prime Minister Abe, just yesterday, threatened China with military action if any Chinese set foot on any of the islands Japan considers theirs: “….we have made sure that if there is an instance where there is an intrusion into our territory or it seems that there could be landing on the islands then we will deal with it strongly.”

Today, Japan’s Kyodo news agency revealed that Japan has conducted war games with U.S. forces on an island off the California coast.  The scenario involved Japan invading and capturing an island!

Here’s what U.S. officials said about the whole thing: “Our position is that we don’t take a position on territorial issues. In the case of Japan……we do have certain treaty obligations with Japan that we would honor.”-U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey

International, U.S.

World War 3, East Asian Front: South Korea and China establish hotline over North Korea!

24 April 2013 (12:28 UTC-07 Tango)/13 Jumada t-Tania 1434/04 Ordibehest 1391/15 Bing-Chen (3rd month) 4711

“The U.S. misjudgment will lead it to its biggest historical defeat.   The present U.S. administration should be serious about the lesson drawn by its predecessors who said the Korean war in the 1950s was a war of mistake that was fought in a wrong place at a wrong time against wrong opponent.”-Korean Central News Agency

South Korea and China have set up a 24 hour communication hotline, to facilitate unified policy against North Korea.

U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey: “….the Chinese leadership is as concerned as we are with North Korea’s march toward nuclearization and ballistic missile technology, and they have given us an assurance that they are working on it….” 

 

International, U.S.

H7N9 update: First case outside China! Japan preps to quarantine airports!

24 April 2013 (11:12 UTC-07 Tango)/13 Jumada t-Tania 1434/04 Ordibehest 1391/15 Bing-Chen (3rd month) 4711

Taiwan has confirmed their first human case of H7N9 ‘bird’ flu.  A 53 years old man became sick three days after returning from a trip to Jiangsu Province on mainland China.

The man says he had no contact with birds!

California governor Jerry Brown was recently in China, as well as Wisconsin governor Scott Walker.  Last week the U.S. CDC warned health officials to be on the lookout for people coming from China who might be infected.

In Japan, researchers have been warning how bad the H7N9 virus is, and now the government is preparing for a pandemic.  Plans are to establish quarantine areas in airports, where compulsory examinations of airline passengers will be conducted.