“NATO are liars. They are siding with Gaddafi.”-Salem Mislat, Libyan rebel
Once again U.S. led NATO has bombed the very people they’re supposed to be supporting. Rebels say five of their troops were killed.
The latest “friendly fire” incident happened in almost the same spot as a “friendly fire” incident last week. NATO says they are investigating.
Who cares if our government shuts down?
I, and many other citizens of the United States, get absolutely nothing from the Federal government. I didn’t even get a tax refund this year, or last year, or the year before that. I didn’t even get one of those extra checks from the IRS under the Bush Jr administration. I served in the military, I worked for government contractors, but I have no retirement (forget about SS).
I have not been able to find steady work for more than two years now. Yet, because of rules changes (and the fact that all my kids are adults now) I don’t qualify for Food Stamps, or AFDC.
I wasn’t even able to get Medicaid for my son when he had a hemorrhagic stroke at the age of 18! Now we’re dealing with $150,000+ in medical bills (on top of other debts, and no I don’t have $2,000 to hire a bankruptcy attorney, we don’t have free bankruptcy programs in our state [at least where we live], the only thing we can get is a waiver of Federal court fees). What were all my Federal taxes for, damn it?!
I live in a state that gets next to squat from the Federal government. Yeah, you people on the East (like New York City [get a rope]) and West (mainly California) coasts suck up most of the Federal tax moneys we all pay. California has redundant State social services programs that mirror and supplement the Federal programs. My state doesn’t, so no tears for you California! Any Federal government shut down will be barely noticed where I live.
The world has plenty of examples of countries doing fine without a government. As of March 30, 2011, Belgium had gone 290 days without any government. In fact it’s possible Belgium will now split into two countries.
But Belgium isn’t the only country that’s gone a long time without a government. Cambodia has the record of 353 days without a government, from 2003 to 2004.
So bring on a Federal shut down, it’ll save a lot of tax payer money.
A Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper has a site that tracks the success and failure of Barack Obama’s campaign promises.
The Saint Petersburg Times PolitiFact.com has posted a detailed tracking of more than 500 promises or expectations from President Obama.
Monty Dickson, 26, teaching in Japan as part of the JET program, was swept away the March 11 tsunami.
His family in Alaska recently received an email, then a phone call, notifying them that his body has been found.
According to reports, Dickson was on the third floor of a building when the huge tsunami washed over the building. He was in Japan on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.
An Alaskan businessman gave the family a days proceeds to help them go to Japan.
Tourism numbers are looking really bad for japan, thanks to the ongoing nuclear disaster. Don’t let that stop you from taking a trip to Japan.
In fact, because of the huge drop in tourist money coming in, you’ll probably get some really good deals in the near future. Even the Japanese airlines will start making unbelievable deals. JAL just got out of bankruptcy and now they’re in trouble, again, because of the ongoing nuke crisis.
The nuke disaster is taking place in northern Honshu. The prevailing winds blow east of there, offshore to the Pacific. Think about visiting southern Honshu (south of Tokyo), and Shikoku & Kyushu. Their locations mean they will avoid most or all airborne (waterborne contamination might be an issue) radiation contamination from northern Honshu.
Also, they are least affected by power outages.
Not only could you get a good deal on a vacation to Japan, but your tourist money will really help Japan to recover.
I know an employee of the Ontario, California, Toyota North American Parts Center distribution warehouse.
He says they have been ‘requested’ to take “leave without pay”, due to the parts shortage in Japan.
While they are enjoying time with their families they are concerned about how long their time off without pay will last, they can’t go too long without getting paid. Toyota is not certain about when parts will start flowing into the U.S. again.
Add to the potential for reactor 1 core explosion the Reactor 4 fuel pool crisis.
Fukushima Daiichi’s Reactor 4 fuel pool was damaged after an explosion several weeks ago (many main stream media report only two explosions, but there were three; reactors 1, 3 & 4 buildings). The problem is that it is now apparent that Reactor 4 fuel pool is leaking water faster than they can pour in (maybe this is the source of the leaks into the ocean?).
If spent fuel rods are exposed too long they will break down and spew radiation.
Japanese media now saying that the main reason for United States interest in the nuclear crisis is because the U.S. is in the path of most radiation contamination. The U.S. is going to start using an UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) to monitor airborne radiation levels above Fukushima Daiichi, especially Reactor 4 fuel pool.
There are more than 10,000 spent fuel rods at Fukushima Daiichi, according to Hosono Goshi, a special adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto.
University of California Berkeley is reporting that their own testing on rain water revealed radiation contamination 181 times safe limits.
The Federal government’s max safe level of iodine-131 allowed in drinking water is 0.111 becquerels per liter. The UC Berkeley test showed iodine-131 at 20.1 becquerels per liter. Again, that was a test of rain water. Eventually the rain water will end up in municipal water supplies.
It might be due to the bad world economy, or the fact that the rest of the World thought Japan was the best prepared for disasters, but donations are still lagging behind the Haiti quake, and Hurricane Katrina.
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s count, U.S.$161 million has been raised, in the past three weeks. Compare that to the first two weeks after last year’s Haiti quake; $528 million, and Hurricane Katrina; $1 billion.
The Los Angeles Times is also reporting that the Japanese Red Cross is dragging its feet on getting help to people. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano blasted the Japanese Red Cross for not handing out any of the $1 billion they claim to have raised. Edano ordered the Japanese Red Cross to get busy on handing out help this past Sunday.
Is it me, or does it seem that every organization is just one big failure after another, when it comes to dealing with the Japanese disasters?
Research firm IBISWorld is revealing ten declining U.S. industries, saying their deaths are irreversible. And for some it will be a painfully slow death, lasting until 2016.
The three main reasons: new technology, foreign competition (including shipping off jobs overseas) and industry stagnation (why build new factories when your shipping the jobs off overseas?).
As an example; the number three ranked dying industry is manufactured homes. According to the report, in the last ten years more than 50% of manufactured homes dealers have gone out of business. And those that are still open have seen revenue (not to be confused with profit) fall by 77%.
Here’s the list; 1: Apparel Manufacturing 2: Record Stores 3: Mobile Home dealers 4: Photo finishing (remember the old film cameras) 5: Wired Telecommunications (Landlines) 6: Mills 7: Newspapers 8: DVD, Game & Video rentals 9: Formal Wear/Costume rentals 10: Video Post Production