Category Archives: U.S.

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!

International, U.S.

World War 3: United Nations proves that Israel is at war with Palestine

Just because the main stream media isn’t reporting it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening.  For months now U.S. supported Israel has been launching ground raids into West Bank and Gaza Strip, while also launching air strikes on Gaza Strip.

Now the United Nations is finally saying something about it!  The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the amount of violence brought against Palestinians, by the Israeli military, has increased in the past year.

The number of Palestinian civilians killed or injured is a third higher than last year.  Add to that the fact that illegal Israeli settlers have been on the warpath.  Violent acts by settlers are up 38% compared to last year!

Just in the past few weeks Israeli settlers have forced Palestinians off their property, burned their homes, uprooted their olive trees and burned them, and just a few days ago attacked and tried to burn down a mosque.  They also burned several Qur’ans.

Clearly Israel is at war with Palestine.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Class War: Occupy Los Angeles occupies City Hall, indefinitely. Protestors are leaderless, collectivley organized and highly educated

“I spent seven years at the University of Michigan getting a PHD in Medieval European History, and I realized that I wasn’t making a difference there, and I thought I can make more of a difference on the street organizing people, getting the 99% out to have a voice.”-Occupy LA protestor

October 3, protestors in Los Angeles, California, have occupied city hall and say they will stay there for as long as possible.

Volunteers from the National Lawyers Guild are educating protesters about their legal rights in case they are confronted by police.  But some protestors believe that eventually the police will join the protests: “…their pensions are under attack, their overtime is under attack, their benefits are under attack. So once they realize they’re actually part of this movement, I foresee no problems.”-Occupy LA protestor

The continued expansion of the “occupy” movement across the United States has even protestors amazed: “The leadershiplessness of this movement is incredible! The number of the people, the commitment of the people, the collective education of the people.  The moment is ripe!”-Occupy LA protestor

U.S.

United Police States of America: Supreme Court says you lose all Privacy Rights if you’re arrested

The Supreme Court refused to hear a case concerning Constitutional Privacy Rights for people who’ve been arrested.  Specifically the ability of police to search your cell phone for info.

By refusing to hear the case, the Supreme Court essentially upheld a lower court’s ruling that no search warrant is needed to search your personal belongings once you’ve been arrested.

 

International, Technology, U.S.

Pacific Ring of Fire Seismic Events part 5 Largest Deadliest update

Since I posted part 4 of Pacific Ring of Fire Seismic Events, the United States Geological Survey added one more quake to it’s “Largest and Deadliest Earthquake” list; the March 11 earthquake near Japan.

But have there been more large quakes this year, not qualifying for the USGS title of “Deadliest”, but still large, and more than normal?

According to the USGS “Significant Earthquakes of the World” list, so far this year there have been 49 magnitude 6.5, or greater quakes around the Pacific Ring.  The majority of those being near Japan.  There’s still three months left to go for 2011.

In 2010 the USGS recorded about 57 M6.5+ quakes around the Pacific Ring.  About 50 M6.5+ quakes took place in 2009.  So in the past three years it looks like about 50 M6.5+ Pacific Ring quakes per year are the norm.

I went back to “Significant Earthquakes of the World 1999”, and counted about 53 M6.5+ Pacific Ring quakes.  So, without doing more detailed research, it looks like the number of “significant” quakes around the Pacific Ring is about 50 per year, and seems to be normal.  Unless we get a sudden boost in quake activity within the next three months, it looks like 2011 will be another normal year.

What about the number of “deadliest” earthquakes, is there an upward trend?  It doesn’t seem so.  Looking at the USGS “Largest and Deadliest Earthquakes by Year 1990-2011” list, we average about one or two per year, and that’s all over the world not just the Pacific Ring.  The USGS determines the “largest and deadliest” by a combination of magnitude intensity and the number of people killed.

However, I noticed an interesting trend regarding when those “largest” deadly quakes happen; most of the dates are from Autumn to Spring, with the minority happening during Summer.  We are closer to the Sun from Fall to Spring, mmmm.

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Unemployed young men in Idaho more than national average

According to Federal numbers, the percentage of unemployed young men in Idaho is more than the national average.

In 2009 the national average was 17%, in Idaho it hit 20%!  Idaho’s 2010 rate was around 18%.

Unemployment claims are down, but according to Idaho Labor Department officials that’s because people just don’t qualify for unemployment assistance anymore.  One official said about 100 people per week are falling off the state unemployment assistance simply because they’ve exceeded the time limit.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho dental insurer to cut payments

Delta Dental of Idaho is going to cut insurance payments to dentists by as much as 13%.

Delta officials say they have to do it to keep costs down to employers who offer their employees the Delta Dental plan.

Idaho dentists say they will have to jack up prices to make up the difference.  One dentist says the cuts took him by surprise: “In the past, Delta Dental has been a great partner with dentists. This is a little out of the blue. I’ve never seen this before.”-Don Wyatt

Delta Dental of Washington state cut payments back in April, by as much as 15%!

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

Incompetence or Conspiracy? Idaho Real Estate web sites, and even Wikipedia, list Micron as the biggest employer in Boise

The computer chip maker Micron Technology is in big trouble, and since 2009 isn’t even the second biggest employer in Boise, Idaho.  Yet, Idaho real estate agent web sites, which encourage out’a staters to move to Idaho, continue to list Micron as the top employer.  Other web sites, and blogs, list the number of Boise Micron employees at 15,000!  Even a check of Wikipedia’s section on Boise still claims that Micron is the top employer.

Micron hasn’t been the top employer ever since 2009, after lay offs cut their Boise work force down to about 5,000.  And that’s according to a September 2011 Idaho Statesman report.  Also, the Idaho Statesman says Micron’s peak Boise employment of about 15,000 happened a decade ago!

To make matters worse, Micron is losing money.  They lost $135 million in the third quarter of this year.  On top of that they’re about to get hit with a court judgment for price fixing.  That judgement could be as high as $11.9 billion.

Micron recently told investors that such a fine would further degrade future operations, and, they admitted they don’t even have any money to pay such a fine!

So why are Idaho real estate companies, web media sites, bloggers, and even Wikipedia still promoting Micron as the top employer in Boise?  Conspiracy, or incompetence?

Business/Economics, U.S.

Class War: Occupy Wall Street protests escalate, more than 700 arrested after Brooklyn Bridge blocked, hundreds arrested in Boston, Occupy Chicago continues, Occupy Los Angeles grows

“Over 700 summonses and desk appearance tickets have been issued in connection with a demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge late this afternoon after multiple warnings by police were given to protesters to stay on the pedestrian walkway, and that if they took roadway they would be arrested.”-official police statement

October 1, what had to be several thousands of protestors took over the Brooklyn Bridge.  It had to be several thousand because New York city police say they arrested more than 700 of them.  The bridge is now open to vehicular traffic.

“This is our Tahrir Square. We’ll stay here for months if we have to.”-Emilio Baez, Chicago protestor

The protests in Chicago, Illinois, are now a week old.  At lest 30 people are protesting in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.  The protestors are calling for the end of the Federal Reserve.

“We had to set a stand to let Bank of America know they cannot foreclose on families and put them out on the street.”-Carolyn Grant, Boston protester

In Boston, Massachusetts, about one hundred people were arrested during protests in front of Bank of America’s headquarters. Reports vary on the number of protestors, from several hundred to more than 3,000!

Boston cops made statements that revealed their true attitude: “They wanted to be arrested, and we obliged.”-Edward F. Davis, Boston police Commissioner

In Los Angeles, California, several hundred people continued the on again off again, Occupy LA protests, by marching to city hall.  No arrests were made, people driving by joined in by honking their horns.