Category Archives: U.S.

Idaho, Opinion, U.S.

What Global Warming? U.S. ABC, NBC & CBS News ignores cooling trend in Pacific Northwest

Climate change? Yes!  Global Warming? Doubtful, if your from the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

For the past few days we’ve been getting tired of hearing American Broadcast Company (not to be confused with Australian Broadcasting Corporation) news talk about the heat wave affecting “America”: “One week into June, America is in the grip of pulverizing summer heat…”-Diane Sawyer, ABC.

The National Broadcasting Company used The Weather Channel forecaster Kelly Cass, standing in front of a weather map which showed, deceptively, the Pacific Northwest in warm yellow temperatures.

At least CBS (formerly known as Columbia Broadcasting System) specified the heat wave was “…across about two thirds of the nation…”, instead of trying to make it look like it was the whole country.

I’m also getting tired of hearing experts on international news sources say this “heat” is proof of global warming. Well it ain’t hot in the Pacific Northwest!  It’s not even close to normal!

The average high temperature for Idaho, in June, is 77 Fahrenheit.  Today, June 8, in the cities of Pocatello and Chubbuck the official high was 56 (according to the Pocatello International Airport)!  Tomorrow’s forecasted high is 53 to 62 (depending on the National Weather Service, The Weather Channel, or Idaho Falls TV station KIFI)!  Add to that the rain we’re getting.  The average number of rainy days in June, for Idaho, is seven.  We are about to break that average.

The point is, the U.S. Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana) have been cooler than normal, by at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

The term Global Warming means a unified warming of the entire planet.  There are many places on Earth that are NOT warming.  What is going on is Climate Change.  Why does mainstream media keep harping on this Global Warming thing, and it’s all human’s fault because of their green house gasses, when there are places that are actually cooling down?  In fact there are reports that contradict the claims that the Earth is warming up.

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Diesel Fuel usage new Canary in the Coal Mine, Recovery is Dead

“I was optimistic we’d have a better month, but it looks now like the recovery ended last summer, which means we’re just idling.”-Ed Leamer, University California Los Angeles economist

If you use diesel fuel you might have noticed that the price has been slowly going down.  That’s good for those of use who pay at the pump, but for the economy as a whole it’s a Canary in the Coal Mine of worse to come for our economy.

Diesel fuel prices are dropping because of a huge drop in demand.  That drop has been ongoing since last year, and in the past four months has been picking up speed.

Most users of diesel are transportation industries.  They ship products all over the country, but shipments of new products have dropped so much in eight of the past 12 months, that trucks, ships and aircraft are sitting idle.

According to the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index, the drop in diesel fuel demand is proof any economic recovery that might have been, is over.

Ed Leamer says the two main reasons demand is down: Low wages/lack of jobs and high debt.  Notice they’re the two things our elected officials, across the board from local leaders to the White House, can’t seem to deal with.

Leamer also says such a drop in demand, in the U.S., is a first in world history: “U.S. demand has been such a key for the rest of the world for so long. This is sort of uncharted territory.”

 

 

International, U.S.

U.S. to stay in Afghanistan until 2017

“We won’t complete doing what we need to do until about 2016, 2017.”-USA Lieutenant General William Caldwell

General Caldwell made his statement at the Brookings Institute on June 6.  His reasons are that only one in six Afghans, who join the Afghan government forces, can read and write.  Caldwell says that means it will take longer than expected for the U.S. military to train up Afghan troops to a level U.S. officials will feel secure with.

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. unemployment much higher than officially reported, Corporate America needs to create 500,000 jobs EVERY month

The official U.S. unemployment rate is currently 9.1%, but that does not count those unemployed who dropped off the official lists, or those who are discouraged job seekers.

Fadhel Kaboub, an economics professor at Denison University in Ohio, says when you take into account people who are no longer counted by official sources, the actual unemployment rate is 17%.

The U.S. Department of Labor said 14 million people are officially unemployed, but Kaboub believes it’s actually 20-23 million.

He said the reason the stock markets reacted badly to the May job creation numbers, is because the only way there can be a recovery is if Corporate America creates 500,000 new jobs every month.  That has yet to happen, and as demonstrated by the May numbers, jobs creation is actually going down.

 

Business/Economics, International, 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.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

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).

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

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!

 

International, U.S.

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.