Category Archives: U.S.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Global Warming? Cooler wetter weather damaging Idaho cherry crop, expect prices to go up

 

“We still have quite a few cherries (in this year’s crop), but it’s down from what I normally see. Maybe two-thirds of what we had last year.”-Paul Pinard, cherry farmer Emmett, Idaho

Because of a lack of global warming in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, there are going to be a lot fewer cherries, and a lot later.  The cooler than normal weather is affecting the $573 million cherry market.

cherry chubbuck

Chubbuck, Idaho, July 2, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year, in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Utah, as many as 7 million boxes of cherries were packed.  This year the commercial cherry farmers will be lucky to get 2 million.

On top of that, cherry picking season ends in June, but not this year, many cherries aren’t even ready.

I can vouch for that.  I have a cherry tree, and I’ve been wondering what the heck is going on.  Not only have the cherries not fully developed, but they’re shriveling and dying.  Normally, by the end of May I’m swamped with too many cherries for me and my kids to eat, but this year…it looks like nothing.

shriveled cherry

Chubbuck, Idaho, July 2, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another factor in driving up prices for cherries, is that demand is up.

But it’s not just Cherries that are being negatively affected.  The asparagus picking started late, and northwest growers associations are reporting delays in melons, peaches and corn.

cherry pityful

 

 

 

 

 

So even if you try to grow your own, to keep from paying higher prices at he store, Mother Earth just won’t let it happen.

Idaho, Opinion, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho drug & prostitution crimes up

The Idaho State Police released the 2010 crime stats, and surprisingly the number of most types of crimes, statewide, went down, including violent crime.

But there was an increase in “crimes against society”, of which drug and prostitution crimes made up the most.  Crimes Against Society include drug crimes, prostitution, pornography crimes, weapons crimes and gambling crimes.

There was a 7.3% increase in overall Crimes Against Society in 2010, with drug crimes seeing a 8% increase, and prostitution seeing a 54.5% increase.

The top three drug crimes in Idaho are: Possessing/Concealing, Using/Consuming and Distributing/Selling, in that order.

Idaho saw not only an increase in adults being arrested for drug crimes, but juveniles as well.  There doesn’t seem to be a favorite drug, based on confiscation numbers.  Some numbers went down while others went up.

The ISP report doesn’t give much more information on prostitution crimes, other than demographic information (more men arrested than women).

I’m wondering if the increase in drug crimes, and prostitution, are a reflection of the bad economic situation in Idaho?  Crime reports don’t normally deal with the “why” of a crime, the Law doesn’t usually care about that.

For a detailed PDF of the report go to the Idaho State Police web site.

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

I knew former IMF boss Strauss-Kahn was innocent, police now say hotel maid is a liar

In May, International Monetary Fund boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested just after he got on a plane for France.  He was charged with raping a hotel maid, and humiliated by the U.S. mainstream media who basically convicted him without waiting for a trial to be held.

Strauss-Kahn ended up resigning as IMF boss, and even had his hopes of running for President of France destroyed.  Now New York police and prosecutors say they were wrong!

When this first went down I speculated that this whole thing had something to do with his running for President of France.

Prosecutors are now working with Strauss-Kahn over the possibility of dropping all charges.  It turns out that the hotel worker is involved in drug running and money laundering.  Police investigators admit she constantly changed her story about what happened.  They also have a tape recording of the woman talking to a man in prison about how to fabricate a rape claim against Strauss-Kahn.

Isn’t it convenient that all this comes out after Strauss-Kahn’s career and political ambitions have been destroyed?  He must’ve been a threat to someone powerful.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Chinese manufacturing stalls, not enough orders to fill, blames bad economy in United States

“Manufacturers are struggling with multiple difficulties including increased lending costs and fewer international orders.”-Zhang Shiqing, Nankai University

Chinese economics professors are warning that the Chinese economy will stall.  China has become a major exporter of products to the world, but most of the world is in financial trouble.  That is resulting in less orders to be filled.

Also, the recent revelation that local governments, in China, are in debt to the tune of $1.65 trillion, is making it difficult for Chinese companies to get loans to continue operating.  It’s now obvious that the Chinese have been running their economy just like the United States.

Surprisingly from January to May 2011, U.S. exports to China actually went up, by 31%.   “China’s industrial production has notably declined in the previous month, which is a good opportunity for U.S. enterprises to boost production to fill the gap.”-Fan Jishe, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Many Chinese industry analyst are now doing what analysts in the U.S. are doing; hoping the economy will pick up by the end of the year.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Coca Cola raises prices, blames inflation, bad weather, Pepsi and others to follow suit

Coca Cola will raise prices at least 3 to 5% in July.  They raised prices 2% earlier this year.

They blame the rising costs of resources, due to speculators playing the commodities markets. They also blame the cost of transportation due to high fuel prices.

In China, Coca Cola bottlers will use smaller bottles.  Hangzhou bottler already changed its 600 milliliter packages to 500 milliliters in May, but charges the same price.

Industry analysts say the inflation in commodity prices has to be passed on to consumers sooner or later.  A month before Coca Cola’s price rise announcement, Smuckers raised prices on its coffee products.  Eventually consumers will see more price rises across the food market.

A big factor for commodity price increases is the bad weather most of the United States is experiencing.  Cooler, wetter than normal weather in the north west.  Massive flooding in the plain states, and mid west.  Hotter weather in the east.  All these weather extremes are resulting in less crop production.  Less crops on the markets will drive the price up.

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Eastern Idaho has increase in people needing help with housing

“People aren’t feeling as comfortable getting a mortgage because they don’t know for sure what the future of their employment is going to be.”-Debra Hemmert, Southeastern Idaho Community Action Agency

In the Pocatello area, Hemmert says the amount of people asking for help with housing has doubled this year.

Sheryl Bailey, with the Eastern Idaho Community Action Partnership, says they’re seeing the same thing in the Idaho Falls area.

There is no state taxpayer funded housing assistance program in Idaho.  There is the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, which offers Federal HUD Section 8 assistance program, but only in 34 of Idaho’s 44 counties.  Also, the IHFA has two apartment units, one in Idaho Falls, the other in Kellogg.

The city of Boise, and the county of Ada, run a joint Housing Authority, which actually serves as a way to match people with Federally funded government programs, and non-profit assistance.  Most housing assistance in Idaho comes from non-profits who rely on donations and government grants.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Global Warming? Cold, wet weather spreads fungus through Idaho wheat

The cooler, wet spring might finally be over, but it left behind a threat to Idaho’s wheat crop.

The fungus is called ‘stripe rust’, and is spreading so fast that farmers are crop dusting like crazy with fungicides.  “If you wait until you have it, it’s almost too late. It will choke off the plant and cause the wheat to shrivel in the head.”-Tom Holm, Bonneville County farmer

Holm points out that wheat prices are already high. Farmers might lose out if they lose their crop, but less wheat on the market will only drive the price up even more for consumers.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Montana Judge restricts Marijuana use law restrictions

A judge is blocking parts of Montana’s medical marijuana use law, not because of the marijuana, but because of too many restrictions.

The Montana marijuana law bans commercial for profit sales of marijuana.  Under the law marijuana is to be sold as a not for profit product, among many other restrictions.

Judge James Reynolds argued that Montana does not restrict any other business, so why marijuana?  “The court is unaware of and has not been shown where any person in any other licensed and lawful industry in Montana – be he a barber, an accountant, a lawyer, or a doctor – who, providing a legal product or service, is denied the right to charge for that service or is limited in the number of people he or she can serve.”

Reynolds also said the law made marijuana legal, and he sees no reason for all the restrictions placed on the law.  He argued that all the restrictions actually make it hard for people, who need it for medical use, to get it.

The law was passed by voters in 2004, but was overhauled by state lawmakers this year.  The new restrictions were supposed to go into effect on Friday.

The overhaul came after Federal officials conducted some raids, and came down on the state government.  Among those restrictions include a ban on advertising, limiting distributors to just three customers, and automatic investigations of doctors who prescribe marijuana to more than 25 patients.

The restrictions were immediately challenged in court.  Judge Reynolds did not block all the restrictions, just those he thought violated state and federal constitutional rights.

 

International, Opinion, U.S.

War on Terror will cost U.S. taxpayers $4 trillion, and that’s just for Iraq and Afghanistan

Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies “Costs of War” study says the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could hit $4.4 trillion and could last until 2020.

And for those that think war is good for the economy, the study said war spending makes up only a half a percent, per year of total GDP for the U.S.

The study also compared lives lost during the September 11, 2001 attacks, to the amount of lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan.  2,995 people were killed on 9/11.   According to U.S. sources as many as 258,000 people have been killed, in the War on Terror, as a direct result of combat, even more have died indirectly, 365,000 have been wounded, 7.8 million people are refugees.

Realize that Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11, and that most Afghans didn’t even know about 9/11, and you really have to question the motives of our leaders.  Now President Obama wants to refocus the War on Terror onto the United States itself!

 

 

International, Opinion, U.S.

The U.S. IS a Police State: Obama refocuses U.S. War on Terror, the targets: Iran, Syria and…the people of the United States

“This is the first counter-terrorism strategy that designates the homeland as a primary area of emphasis in our counter-terrorism efforts.”-John Brennan, White House counter terrorism adviser

The Obama administration announced its new anti-terror policy.  Some confusing statements were made by Brennan, such as saying that the new policy will principally focus on “…al Qaeda, its affiliates and its adherents…”, but then went on to say that Iran and Syria “…remain leading state sponsors of terrorism.”, and that they will be targeted by the U.S.: “We will therefore continue to use the full range of our foreign policy tools to prevent these regimes and terrorist organizations from endangering our national security.”

The problem is that Iran and Syria are not partners with al Qaeda, in fact they are being targeted by al Qaeda.  Al Qaeda declared jihad against Syria because the government is secular.  And they declared jihad against Iran because most of the Iranians are Shia Muslims.  Al Qaeda members are mostly Wahhabi (aka Salafi) Muslims.

Brennan went on to say that the main focus of the new anti-terror policy will actually be…the people of the United States: “…the first counter-terrorism strategy that focuses on the ability of al Qaeda and its network to inspire people in the United States to attack us from within.”

Brennan believes al Qaeda is weakened, and that the greatest threat to the U.S. is domestic “lone wolf” terrorists.

Several countries worry that this means the U.S. will abandon them in the global War on Terror.  India considers its main threat a group called Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (aka Jamaat ud-dawa), not al Qaeda.

Is this new policy what Obama meant when he said he was going to refocus military/police action in the War on Terror?