Category Archives: U.S.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Some Economic Recovery? Washington & Colorado legalize Marijuana!

“Assuming a fully functioning marijuana market and the assumptions following in this summary, estimated total revenue generated to the state could be as high as $1,943,936,000 over five fiscal years.”-Washington OFM Fiscal Impact Statement (I-502)

On 06 November 2012, voters in the U.S. states of Washington and Colorado legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults.

Many people will claim this as a victory for civil liberties, but it could result in a huge boost to the economies of those states, as well.

According to Culture Magazine, in 2011 the state of Colorado collected $5 million USD in taxes from medical marijuana use, about $1.5 million more than the state’s electronics and appliance retail industry!

Now Colorado will be able to collect taxes on the recreational use of marijuana as well. According to supporters of the new law, it will also save law enforcement $12 million in the first year, and create $24 million every year for school construction projects.  They estimate that after five years legalized marijuana will result in $100 million per year in revenues and savings for state/local governments!

According to Washington’s own State Office of Financial Management, legalized marijuana will create almost $2 billion in tax revenue for the state, over the next five years!

State officials also expect increased revenue from fees for traffic violations, as a result of driving while under the influence of marijuana.

And by the way, this revenue comes even as the price of marijuana is expected to drop due to the fact that it’s now legal.  In Washington the marijuana tax system is a European style Value Added Tax, meaning it is taxed at production, distribution and at the final sale.  Essentially it’s taxed three times.

The problem now are the threats coming from Washington DC: “One of the nightmare scenarios for Washington is Congress gets really nasty and says, ‘Ha! No more federal highway dollars for you.’ If they do something like that then the financial loss vastly swamps any of the financial gains.”-Jonathan Caulkins, Carnegie Melon University

Idaho, U.S.

What Democracy? U.S. Main Stream Media say Idaho picks Mitt Romney, with 0% of polls reporting! More proof you wasted your time voting!

“These are party loyalists. We don’t get into the ‘faithless electors’ scenario.”-Ben Ysursa, Idaho’s Secretary of State, referring to Idaho’s Electors

The evening of 06 November 2012, with some people still voting in Idaho, and 0% of “polls” reporting, the U.S. main stream media confidently “projected” that Mitt Romney won the Gem State!

Could it be because Idaho is one of those states where the electors are made up of the dominant political party, and must vote accordingly?  Why yes!  So all you Idahoans who keep going to the polls, Presidential election after Presidential election, hoping to bring change with your vote, you’re all fools!

Do you know who Idaho’s Electors are?  Travis Hawkes, Republican who raised millions for Mitt Romney. Teresa Luna, Republican appointed to run Idaho’s Department of Administration.  Jason Risch, Republican attorney. Damond Watkins, Republican who gave Mitt Romney at least $1 million!

These Shadow Voters actually vote on 17 December 2012, weeks after the facade of the popular vote is over!

I’m not just targeting Republicans, the main stream media did the same for California and Hawaii, “projecting” that each of those states elected Democrat Obama, even though people are still voting as I write this!  (which was at approximately 21:00 hours Mountain Time, 06 November 2012)

 

U.S.

What Democracy? Rogue ballot counter caught ‘Red’ handed changing ballot results!

Just a few days before the 06 November 2012 elections, officials in Oregon revealed that a Clackamas County ballot counter was altering submitted ballots!

On 05 November, the Willamette Week published an article in which the accused Oregon City woman admitted to them that she changed at least two ballots.

However, government officials say they’re not sure how many ballots were changed, and they pointed out that the accused began working as a ballot counter back in 2000.   The woman is being investigated after an election official caught her ‘red’ handed in the process of changing ballots.

And what was she changing the mailed in ballot results to?  Why, to favor Republican candidates!  Most likely Republican party officials will disavow any knowledge of the election fraud, and claim she’s a rogue ballot counter.

 

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

Some Economic Recovery? Idaho’s $1 billion per year meat industry will get boost from Japan!

06 November 2012, the Japanese Health Ministry decided to ease restrictions on U.S. beef imports.  Seven years ago Japan banned U.S. beef from cows older than 20 months, because of the Mad Cow disease.

They will now take beef from cows as old as 30 months.  There is one condition, the brain and spinal column must be removed.

Japan is a major buyer of beef from the U.S. state of Idaho, and even with the 20 month age restriction, sales to Japan has helped Idaho's meat industry make about $1 billion USD per year ($2.5 million of that is from exports of beef)!

Japanese health officials say they’re raising the age restriction because there has been no Mad Cow reported in the U.S. for ten years.  Unfortunately that is not true, back in April it was confirmed that a cow in the U.S. state of California had the disease.

The real reason is probably economic: Japanese officials claim that more than 90% of U.S. beef exports to the rest of the world are from cows 30 months of age or younger, and their decision to increase their age restriction will help drop the outrageously high beef prices in Japan: “They say U.S. beef prices will come down about 20%, once the ban is eased and imports increase. I think our customers will be happy.”-Grocery store manager in Japan

Another reason could be that U.S. officials, backed by the U.S. beef industry, has been threatening to retaliate by restricting the sale of Japanese beef in the U.S.

 

 

 

U.S.

What Democracy? U.S. Main Stream Media always calls the winner of the Presidential elections before all the voters have voted, and at least one month before the Electors have voted! Do you know when the Shadow Voters actually vote?

“There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their States.”-U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

When I was a kid in the 1970s it always amazed me that the U.S. media would call the winner of a Presidential election before all the voters had voted (especially people in Hawaii or Guam).  And this was back in the day before electronic voting.

It is simply a logistical impossibility to count all the individual popular votes within a 24 hour period, even with electronic voting.  So how can the U.S. media declare the winner, and who died and made the U.S. media the decider of the elections?

Add to that the confusing fact that we the popular voters don’t really elect the President.  It’s called the Electoral College (Shadow Voters), and they don’t even vote until December!

Now throw in the fact that there is no Federal law dictating how electors vote!  Some states require their electors to vote according to the popular vote, other states require their electors to vote according to what ever is the dominant political party in that state.  Some states even fine electors if they vote against the dominate political party, and the U.S. Supreme Court approves!

Back to the fact the the Shadow Voters vote on a day in December, a day picked   by the U.S. Congress.  Knowing that how electors vote depends on the laws of their state, and that they don’t even vote until December, then (again) how can the main stream U.S. media declare the new President shortly after the popular vote elections?

International, U.S.

What Democracy? United States has “…worst election processes in the world”! Venezuela has “best” system in the world! Former U.S. President says so!

“We’ve learned a lot about Democracy in Latin America, and they have made a lot of progress….The elections in Venezuela, although some people have criticized the result….there’s no doubt in our mind….that he [Hugo Chavez] won fairly and squarely…As a matter a fact, of the 92 elections we’ve monitored, I would say the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world!…..Mexico had their first honest election and the Carter Center was the only monitor invited in….all the other countries in Latin America, except for one [Venezuela]….and another one in North America [United States]….has public financing of all the election process.  If you qualify to run for public office you get public financing, and outside money does not affect the outcome of the election……The United States election process is shot through now with, I’d say, financial corruption.  We have one of the worst election processes in the world.“-Former U.S. President, true Christian and international election observer Jimmy Carter, 11 September 2012 annual Carter Center “Conversation”, in response to question about election monitoring in Latin America

The former president was talking about the more than 90 countries that his organization, The Carter Center, has worked to observe elections, to make sure they are fair.

The month after Carter made his statements about U.S. democracy, the U.S. states of Texas and Iowa announced they would arrest international election observers that entered polling places.

Carter says the main problem is private financing of campaigns for public office.  He explained there was a time when candidates used only public financing to run for office: “You know how much [privately sourced] money I raised when I ran against Gerald Ford [1976 U.S. Presidential elections]? Zero!…. You know how much [privately sourced] money I raised to run against Ronald Reagan [1980 U.S. Presidential elections]? Zero! We got public financing for the elections. You know how much [privately sourced] money’s gonna be raised this year in the United States for the President, and the Senate and House elections?  Six billion dollars!…..And that money comes from people who, now under the Supreme Court ruling, don’t have to be identified….and a lot of it can come from corporations partially owned by foreigners.”

Carter said the only way the election process can begin to be fixed is if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses its “stupid decision”, and there is a return to public financing of national campaigns.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3 & What Economic Recovery? Mazda sees massive sales drop in China, two months in a row! Ends night time production with Ford and Changan!

05 November 2012, Japan’s Mazda reports massive sales drop in one of the richest countries in the world; China.   Mazda sales dropped 35% in September, and 44.9% in October, compared to the same months in 2011.

Mazda officials are blaming the drop on a boycott of Japanese goods by Chinese consumers. This is because of Japan nationalizing an island (with plans for militarization) in the East China Sea.

Mazda has now cut its 2012 sales expectations in half.   The night shift at a car factory in Nanjing will be ended.  The Nanjing factory is a joint venture with U.S. Ford and China’s Changan Automobile.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; 30 October – 01 November 2012. Cops attack each other, over a woman! Mujahideen allowed to run for President! UAE sues Afghanistan! Mujahideen rescue kidnapping victims! Cops kill Red Coats! Australia to increase troops after saying they were leaving! King Copper in Afghanistan!

01 November 2012

ISAF said: “A U.S. Forces-Afghanistan service member died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan today.”

More than 100 women applied to be the first females to attend the British style Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA).  Only 30 will be picked.

In Ghazni Province, two headless bodies were found.  Police say they have no clues as to who did it.

31 October 2012

In Uruzgan Province, cops (? not sure, source info not clear about this) manning two check points went to war with each other over a woman! Local officials report one group of cops at one check point became concerned when a woman was held up at another check point. A gun fight erupted, with one group running into the mountains.  “Foreign” troops were called in and they detained that group.

The Afghan presidential elections will be held 05 April 2014, the same year the U.S./NATO is supposed to withdraw.  It was also announced that former Taliban government/Mujahideen will be allowed to run for president: “We are even prepared to pave the ground for the armed opposition, be it the Taliban or Hezb-i-Islami, to participate in the election, either as voters or candidates. There will be no discrimination.”-Fazil Ahmad Manawi, Afghan Independent Election Commission

In Kandahar Province, six people, including children, were killed after the vehicle they were in ran over a landmine.

In Helmand Province, seven women and one man were killed by an explosion. Local police believe the bomb was meant for a U.S./NATO convoy that was using the same route.

United Arab Emirates sued Ariana Airlines of Afghanistan for $10 million USD.  UAE courts ruled on the lawsuit a month ago, only now are Afghan airlines officials hearing about it. The case involves the leasing of aircraft, which the UAE airlines says were never returned to them after the lease expired.  The Afghan airlines says the aircraft actually came from a airlines called Pamir Airways, and that the aircraft were returned to Pamir Airways.

In Ghor Province, Mujahideen rescued three kidnapping victims, through negotiation.  The deal involves the settling of a murder case where three students were killed.  However, there are still ten men being held.  The mass kidnapping took place after 13 men were sent to remove the bodies of victims of a massive suicide bombing.

Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that more Diggers were needed in Afghanistan. Her explanation is that in order to withdraw Diggers from Afghanistan they first needed to increase their numbers: “As we begin detailed planning for its final phases, which of course remain some time off, it is likely that we will identify the need for some additional personnel and resources to complete those final phases of practical extraction and repatriation.”

30 October 2012

Afghan officials are accusing the Red Coat British military of covering up the murder of Afghan civilians by Red Coat personnel.  This comes as five Royal Marines are on trial for just such a case.

In Helmand Province, and Afghan cop got revenge for such Red Coat shenanigans by shooting and killing two British personnel.

In Kunar Province, local government officials are again claiming that Pakistan has launched more than 100 artillery rounds into their province. Amazingly no one was hurt.

In Sar-e-Pul Province, it was announced that large scale mining operations for copper are about to get underway. The Balkhab copper mine is one of the largest copper reserves in the world.  Bids from international mining companies are being reviewed: “The bidding process for Balkhab copper reserve is finalized and the international proposals are being assessed by Afghan mines ministry. Afghan government will announce its decision regarding the winner in the near future.”-Wahidullah Shahrani, Ministry of Mines

The winning bidder will begin mine operations in 2013.  Besides oil, minerals/metals like copper are a driving force behind western foreign policies.

 

Business/Economics, Opinion, U.S.

People of the United States finally realizing that working hard does not improve your life, it only improves the life of the Man!

“The U.S. ranks outside of the top ten for the first time (down to 12th), pulled down primarily by a decline in the Entrepreneurship & Opportunity sub-index. This fall is driven by a decline in the number of U.S. citizens who
believe that hard work will get them ahead……”-2012 Legatum Prosperity Index

According to a recent study by the Legatum Institute, fewer and fewer U.S. citizens believe that hard work pays off.

I can attest to that, after three decades of busting my ass, doing my best, and I have almost nothing to show for it (I am still better off than those who’ve ended up on the streets).

I’ve been praised by employers for my attention to detail, organizing and people management skills. Yet when it came to getting a significant raise or promotion, forget it! I got zip, nada!

I’ve worked positions that required four year college degrees, only to be replaced with a college graduate, then ordered to train them!!!  I finally got a four year college degree, but now (that plus my 30 years work experience) I’m “overqualified” (and I still have to somehow pay for the student loans).

What I’ve learned working for unAmerican Corporate America, is that when it comes down to the bottom line (meaning the execs and shareholders are facing a loss of dividends or bonuses) it doesn’t matter how hard you worked for the company (or even if you can prove you’re making money for the company as happened to me in several cases), if they decide it’s time for you to go, you’re gone!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Government & Corporate Incompetence, World War 3 & What Economic Recovery? United States not even part the top ten most prosperous countries! War on Terror makes the U.S. insecure!

According to the Legatum Institute, the United States not only is not the most prosperous country anymore, it’s not even in the top ten!

The United States was considered the 10th most prosperous last year, but in 2012 the U.S. is now ranked 12th overall!

The Legatum Institute ranks 142 nations in eight sub-indexes: economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom and social capital.

According to their 2012 Prosperity Index, the U.S. now ranks 2nd in health, 5th in education, 10th in governance, 10th in social capital, 12th in entrepreneurship and opportunity, 14th in personal freedom, 20th in economy, and despite more than a decade of War on Terror 27th in safety and security (seems the war has actually made the U.S. more unsafe)!

The top 10 most prosperous countries are: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Switzerland and Ireland.  (notice that most of these are in Europe where the economy is supposed to be worse than the U.S., many of these countries have strong labor unions and more worker rights than the U.S.)