Category Archives: U.S.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. Postal Service problems having domino effect on Corporate America

Some people don’t think much of the USPS (United States Postal Service), many people, including main stream journalists, don’t know that the USPS does not get any taxpayer money!  How about the fact that dozens of U.S. and European corporations rely on the USPS for business?

I’m not talking about shipping their products.  Corporations actually have major contracts to provide the USPS with products or services.  Now they’re feeling the pinch of the collapsing USPS budget.

Here’s a list of major companies being directly affected by the problems at the USPS: Fed Ex, Siemens, Northrop Grumman, Pat Salmon & Sons and Campbell-Ewald, to name a few.

Fed Ex is the biggest contractor with the USPS, in 2010 they were paid $1.4 billion for their service to the USPS (that’s only 3.5% of Fed Ex’s total revenue): “FedEx values its alliance relationship with USPS, both as a supplier and a customer.”-Maury Donahue, FedEx spokeswoman

Northrop Grumman made $495 million off their USPS contract.

The German company Siemens made $135 million in 2010: “We’re affected by their budget and their spending, It causes us to react and adjust.”-Daryl Dulaney, CEO of the Siemens Industry division New York

Siemens was involved with mail processing equipment, until this recent announcement by the USPS: “…will not be buying mail processing equipment, period.”-Sue Brennan, USPS spokeswoman

Privately held Pat Salmon & Sons trucking made $143 million in 2010.

Shipping contractors, like Fed Ex and Pat Salmon, have been hit hardest by the USPS budget crisis.  According to David Hendel, with postal contracting specialist Husch Blackwell LLP, the USPS is asking truckers to essentially work for half pay: “If the contractor will not agree to this, the Postal Service is threatening to terminate their contract.”

The only company that seems to be making more money off the USPS budget crisis, is advertiser Campbell-Ewald. The USPS has poured money into an advertising campaign trying to promote their service.

Basically the U.S. Postal Service wants to end Saturday mail delivery, cut 220,000 jobs by 2015 and close at least 3,700 post offices.  As you can see the cuts will affect far more than just Postal employees and customers.

The United States Postal Service does not make money off taxpayers, they are solely funded by the postage they charge (prices are controlled by Congress, not the USPS), and other products they sell.  The cuts being made to the USPS will have no affect on U.S. government debt.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Closer to a one world government: Super Sovereign Credit Agency to be created

“We hope that the agency will gain a leading position in the global rating market within the next five years. We’re fully aware that a globally recognized organization can never be propped up by one agency, so we will bring in more countries.”-Guan Jianzhong, CEO of Dagong Global Credit Ratings

China’s Dagong Global Credit Ratings will play a key role in the new global super-sovereign credit rating agency.

It will be established by Europe, the United States and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).  Its headquarters will probably be based in Europe.  Details will be finalized in Frankfurt later this year.

Initial plans include representatives from National Information & Credit Evaluation in South Korea, the Scope Group from Germany, and RusRating from Russia.

There are currently 152 rating agencies worldwide, but recent actions by the “big three” credit raters (downgrading governments, like the United States) has led many governments to decide to create one single credit rating agency.

Ahmed Sule, a strategist for Diadem Capital in United Kingdom, said any new credit rating agency would have to prove itself: “The agency would have to be independent and autonomous; this could be a challenge but the agency would have to work toward this independence if it is to be accepted by the international capital market.”

In July, a French magazine, Capital, revealed that a single European credit rating agency was in the works.

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Kurdish rebels in Iran admit they are being armed by the United States

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Iranian channel, BBC Persian, Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi admitted they are conducting military action against Iran with the help of the United States.

Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi is the boss of the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) terrorist group.

He said the PJAK had built tunnels into Iran from Iraq.  They also received new weapons and equipment, including 120mm mortars, from the U.S. consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil.

Currently Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) is in battle with the PJAK.  This follows attempts by Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to mediate between the Iranian Kurdish rebels (PJAK) and Iranian government.  The mediation failed after PJAK forces killed two Kurds: “But the PJAK terrorist group paid no heed to the KRG’s appeals and mediation (and) martyred two local Kurdish forces… and this proved to the KRG that the terrorists had ignored its requests.”-Hamid Ahmadi, IRGC Colonel

 

International, U.S.

Proof the U.S. backed democratic rebellion in Libya is a Lie: Human Rights Watch finds document after document showing U.S. support of Gaddafi right to the end, proof that rebels are connected to Al Qaeda! Proof that the U.S. is in bed with Al Qaeda?

Human Rights Watch has come across nearly 300 pages of documents, found in the offices of Libya’s external security services, along with ten of thousand of documents found in the abandoned British Embassy in Tripoli.  The documents show how the United States and the United kingdom supported Gaddafi right up until sanctions were imposed.

Those documents also show that Gaddafi tortured terror suspects sent to him by the U.S. and U.K.  One of those tortured on the request of the U.S. and Britain is now a rebel leader!

Abdel Hakim Belhadj (also known as Abdullah al-Sadiq), the military commander who led the revolutionary forces into the Libyan capital Tripoli, is now demanding an apology from the U.S. and British governments over that torture.

In 2004, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) detained Abdel Hakim Belhadj in Malaysia, over suspicions of having links to Al-Qaeda.  He applied for asylum to the British government, but instead the British renditioned him to Libya, where he was tortured in the name of the U.S. led War on Terror.

Now Abdel Hakim Belhadj is a major rebel leader in Libya, do you really think he and his followers are going to do what the U.S. wants?  This is potentially a case of “blowback” in the making.

The documents also show that French and U.K. intelligence agents, and even Scotland Yard, worked to protect Gaddafi’s sons from assassination.  Here’s an interesting coincidence; the assassin was from Qatar. Qatar is now the biggest Arab supporter of the current rebel TNC!

One should wonder why NATO allies worked hard to protect Gaddafi’s son Saif from assassination, as recently as 2004, and now they’re trying to blow him up!  Is this action against the Gaddafi family really some kind of effort to cover up war crimes committed by Gaddafi, at the behest of the U.S., and allies, in the War on Terror?

Other documents show that Gaddafi is probably hiding by using military technology he recently got from the British!  In 2007 Britain supplied Libya with the most up-to-date command and control systems made by General Dynamics UK, which is similar to Bowman Systems used by the British Army.  One of the features is that it allows you to communicate electronically without being tracked.

Other documents show Libyan militant groups are connected to Al-Qaeda.  One group known as LIFG (Libyan Islamic Fighting Group), was directly linked to Al-Qaeda. The former LIFG leader, Abdel Hakim Belhaj, is now current leader of the rebel Tripoli Military Council!  Is this proof that the U.S. and U.K. are in bed with Al-Qeada?

With thousands more documents still to be analyzed, the true extent of the relationship between the United States, Britain, Al-Qaeda and Libya has yet to be revealed!

 

 

 

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Japan pushing for relocation of U.S. Marines, still need U.S. help in defense against China

The new Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa, and the new Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, both say they will push for the agreed to moving of USMC units from one part of Okinawa to a new location, also on Okinawa.

People living on Okinawa would like to see the USMC gone altogether, but Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba stressed the importance of the U.S. forces in Japan’s defense plans against China.

U.S. forces are part of a multilayered mechanism to avoid misunderstandings in case of ‘accidental occurrences’ between Japan and China.

Technology, U.S.

Government & Corporate Incompetence: NRC says U.S. Nuclear plants are not earthquake safe

According to the Associated press,  a preliminary Nuclear Regulatory Commission review says that most U.S. nuclear reactors are not as earthquake safe as first thought.

The NRC review was actually started before the recent east coast quake, and the March 11 quake in Japan.

Earthquake safety standards for nuclear reactors were set more than 20 years ago.  Since then much more has been learned about earthquakes.

The review showed that some reactors are actually 24 times more likely to suffer a severe accident, than originally thought.  That’s because 20 years ago most planners didn’t think there could be such big earthquakes as the one in Japan on March 11.

At least 27 reactors are being recommended for earthquake safety upgrades.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Think the people of the United States lead the world in hatred of Immigrants? Nope, try moving to tiny Belgium!

In a survey done by Ipsos Mora y Araujo, citizens of 24 countries were asked how they viewed immigrants.  The United States did not lead the way with immigrant haters, still more than half of U.S. citizens hate immigrants.

The Ipsos survey asked various questions regarding immigrants, but basically most European and American residents don’t like immigrants, which is ironic considering that most European and American countries are made up of immigrants.

The country that leads the way in hatred of immigrants is Belgium, with 72% of respondents saying immigrants are bad for their country.  Argentina, United Kingdom and United States are on the same wavelength, with about 61% of their citizens hating immigrants.

50% of Australians and 41% of Canadians say immigrants make it harder to find a job.  One Canadian respondent explained their view of immigration as ‘yes, you can move here, but just not where I live’.

So where to move, now that it’s becoming clear that the United States isn’t a place where you can achieve your dreams?

47% of Brazilians say immigrants are good for their economy, and 49% say immigrants make Brazil an interesting place to live.  Could explain Brazil’s exploding population numbers.  Brazil now has the 5th largest population in the world.  Officially 192 million people live in Brazil, that’s almost equal to all the other South American country’s populations combined!

International, U.S.

Prevent Diabetes: Eat Beans?

1,900 Costa Ricans were studied, those who ate a lot of white rice, and those who preferred beans to rice.

In Costa Rica there’s been a trend of increased white rice consumption, instead of beans, and there’s been an increase in diabetes.  Researchers wanted to know if there is a connection between white rice and diabetes.

In the study, reported by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, some of the people were asked to eat beans instead of white rice.  People who ate beans instead of rice had a 35% reduction in metabolic syndrome.

“[White] Rice is very easily converted into sugar by the body. It’s very highly processed, it’s pure starch and starch is a long chain of glucose. Beans compared with rice contain much more fiber, certainly more protein and they typically have a lower glycemic index, meaning they induce much lower insulin responses.”-Frank Hu,  Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, in a Reuters interview

The researchers are concerned with the diets of people in the United States, because the amount of white rice consumption is going up, and that could explain why rates of diabetes keep going up.

 

 

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Ecuador refuses to recognize Libyan Rebels

“Unfortunately, the (UN) resolutions have been used to justify a war of aggression aimed, ultimately at control of (Libya’s) natural resources.”-Ricardo Patino, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister

Ecuadorian officials say they can not recognize the Libyan rebel Trans National Council because they are a creation of foreign intervention.  Ecuador believes this is a trend of regime change, by the United States and Europe, that will lead  to the “disappearance” of many governments.

Ecuador says the UN approved NATO attacks on Libya is proof that the United Nations needs to be changed.

International, U.S.

World War 3: Red Cross confirms that Syrian government is protecting civilians, Rebel admits to faking crack down videos

September 4, ICRC boss Jakob Kellenberger, announced that the International Committee of the Red Cross is satisfied with the Syrian government’s attempts to protect civilians.  This comes after a Syrian military bus was ambushed by ‘democracy loving’ rebels.

There is plenty of evidence that there is an all out war against the Syrian government, not people demonstrating for pro-democracy reforms.  Several mass graves have been found with the bodies of Syrian police and military personnel.

Also, a 45-year-old Syrian national admitted to joining a foreign funded media group that fabricated videos of so called peaceful demonstrations and violent repressions by the Syrian security forces.

The fabricated videos were sold to pro-U.S. news outlets like al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya and Orient TV, for U.S.$100 each.

On September 2, Syrian officials say a captured terrorist confessed that he had been a part of a group that received instructions on how to kidnap people and blame it on the Syrian government.

What’s happening in Syria is almost a textbook reenactment of the 1953 U.S. backed coup in Iran.