The beginning of June and eastern Idaho is under a frost warning. Temperatures could get down to 30 Fahrenheit.
On top of that the rivers are still flooding. We might be experiencing Climate Change, but there’s no Global Warming here.
Category Archives: U.S.
What Economic Recovery? Mazda will stop U.S. production, moving to Japan & Mexico
Mazda announced that it will stop production of its Mazda6, at a Ford plant in Michigan. Mazda will move production of the Mazda6 back to Japan.
The Michigan plant is a joint venture between Ford and Mazda, known as AutoAlliance International. The joint venture has been losing money ever since the ‘credit crisis’.
Mazda also plans to build cars in Mexico, mainly for the booming Latin American car market. Some Mexican built Mazdas will be sold in the United States. Rumors are that Mazda wants out of its joint venture with Ford.
Global Food Crisis: Deadly E-coli hits United States, FDA can’t inspect for new strain
“We usually consider that a rare complication, and to have 470 is absolutely extraordinary. This is a new public health problem.”-Robert Tauxe, CDC
Center for Disease Control believes three people in the U.S. have picked up the latest deadliest form of e-coli. They had returned from Germany.
Michael Osterholm, at the University of Minnesota, says the e-coli outbreak in Europe is the deadliest on record. 1,624 cases are being reported by hospitals, but the actual number of infected people could be ten times higher.
Chinese scientist, working with German scientist, says the new e-coli strain is not only “super toxic”, but is resistant to treatment. The strain is similar to the 0104:H4 strain, except for its resistance to antibiotics, which is why scientists think this is a new strain.
Earlier the Food and Drug Administration said it was inspecting vegetables from Europe for e-coli, but it’s been reveled that the FDA can not test for the new strain. The FDA tests for e-coli 0157 strain (which is also deadly).
Answer to Idaho Coupon Thieves: Shop at Fred Meyer or Smiths
Recently Idaho newspaper circulation directors speculated that the increase in thefts of newspaper coupons were due, in part, to people trying to save money and deal with high gas prices.
Here’s a solution, that unfortunately for me ends up being free promotion for two stores; shop at Fred Meyer or Smiths.
Both these stores give away thousands of free in store coupons. Also, if you join their points club (free to join) you get discounts on their already competitive gas prices, and a quarterly rebate based on how much you shop during that quarter.
Actually, at the Fred Meyer in Pocatello, their gas prices are usually the cheapest, even before the points discount for club members (again the club is free to join). Take advantage, save some money, and don’t be a coupon thief!
War on Drugs officially a failure
“Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won.”-Drug Policy report
The Global Commission on Drug Policy has declared the War on Drugs a failure. The 19 member commission includes former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz, and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.
Anti drug policies are to blame for the failure, especially in the United States. The report points out that while huge efforts are made to stop drug trafficking, most people who end up in prison are the users of drugs, not the sellers. The report said studies show that users “do no harm to others.” So why is so much time and money being spent to put them in jail?
The Global Commission on Drug Policy wants anti-drug policies to focus on health and human rights issues, and even consider making some illegal drugs legal.
Global Food Crisis: New Deadly Mutant E-Coli Outbreak
“This is a new strain, O157 was almost certainly one of its parents. It’s also got material from another type of E-coli. So you’ve got this germ that’s like O157 but has this extra weaponry, that makes it more nasty.”-Paul Hunter, University of East Anglia in England
E-coli O157 destroys your blood cells and kidneys, and might be the parent of the latest, deadliest form.
German press reports say World Health Organization officials have identified the e-coli, that has killed 17 Germans so far, as a new mutant strain, spawned by two deadly forms of e-coli. The new strain has been seen before, but not at the level of an outbreak.
E-coli is a bacteria, and everyone has it (in our intestines), at least the non-lethal kind, but there are some very bad versions out there that will kill: “The vast majority of strains are harmless, but there are a select few that are armed and dangerous because of the particular genes they happen to have. These genes produce those toxins. If they produce these toxins, the outcome of infection, rather than just being a tummy upset, can be far more serious.”-Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading in England
Now health officials are trying to found out where the new e-coli spawned. Originally Spanish vegetables were thought to be the carriers (vegetables from Denmark and the Netherlands are suspect as well), but the epicenter of the outbreak is around Hamburg, Germany. More than 1,000 people in Germany are sick, 470 have reached the stage where kidney failure could occur.
Spain has two cases, but officials say those people had just returned from Germany, prompting Spanish politicians to point the finger of blame to Germany.
Sweden is now reporting cases; one death of a woman who went to Spain, 43 people sick. The United Kingdom reports seven cases. Denmark has 14. Netherlands has eight. Austria, France, Norway and Switzerland are reporting cases, most of the people had just got back from trips to Germany.
Russia and the United Arab Emirates have banned vegetables from European Union. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it’s increasing inspections of vegetables coming from Europe.
Since e-coli is usually found on the surface of vegetables, the best way to protect yourself is to wash them before eating.
Idaho investor guilty of $76 million Ponzi scheme
Daren Palmer plead guilty, in a Federal court in Pocatello, Idaho, to running a ponzi scheme which cost investors $76 million.
The FBI spent two years investigating, and last month criminal charges were filed against Palmer. He will be sentenced in August.
The SEC, and CFTC filed civil cases against Palmer, which resulted in an order for Palmer to pay fines and restitution of $90 million.
U.S. Federal attorney’s say Palmer wanted to plead guilty last year. Some of his neighbors were in the Federal courtroom when he plead guilty, they say he’s a nice guy and believe he just “made a mistake”.
What Economic Recovery? People stealing newspaper coupons in Idaho
“The people who are doing it, I guess they wouldn’t consider themselves a criminal. They are just trying to save money.”-Matt Davidson, publisher
The Idaho Statesman reporting a trend making an appearance in Idaho; people stealing newspaper coupons from newspaper vending machines.
“It is becoming a real problem on Sundays because of the value of the coupons and the local interest in couponing over the last few months.”-Frank Peak, newspaper circulation director
In the Boise area, newspaper staff, who stock the vending machines, noticed that many of the Sunday papers were still in the machines but missing the coupons. They eventually caught one woman, who tried to use the excuse that no one uses them anyway.
Frank Peak says there are several reasons people are stealing coupons, one being the new ‘reality’ TV show “Extreme Couponing”. Other reasons are the price of gas and the bad economy.
What Economic Recovery? Idaho leads United States in falling Home Prices
There’s been more news about the continued falling home prices in the U.S. One company that tracks those prices says Idaho is the biggest loser.
Corelogic reports that for April 2011, Idaho home prices fell 15.2% compared to April 2010. It’s also twice the current average for the entire United States.
According to the Center of Business Research and Economic Development at Boise State University, most of Idaho’s home sales, prior to the housing market bubble burst, were actually being driven by “second home” buying and real estate speculation.
When the bubble burst those kind of sales stopped. Now Idaho is looking at a more realistic picture of property sales, which is reflecting the overall bad economy.
Idaho’s Mike Simpson says “reforming” Medicare will get GOP “beat up” in elections, but it’s worth it
U.S. Congressman Mike Simpson, from Idaho’s 2nd District, admitted that the Republican party will get beat up in future elections, for Medicare reforms: “We knew that the first person that threw something on the table was going to get the living crap beat out of them, we might be beat up in the elections in the future. But you got to be willing to take that if you want to reform the system.”
Simpson is supporting House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s reform bill, which would replace Medicare with federal subsidies to buy private health insurance. I know people who got tricked into switching to privately run Medicare programs (private insurance) and they regret it. Even the AARP is against it.
When Simpson says the GOP will be beat up in future elections, because of their Medicare reforms, who does he think will be doing the beating? The voters of course! So in a round about way Simpson is admitting that Republicans are not doing what the voters want!