Category Archives: U.S.

Business/Economics, Opinion, U.S.

Proof that the Rich are Insane, they think they’re poor

Fidelity Investments surveys a thousand of some of its richest clients, to find out how they feel about their wealth.  The survey involves clients with an average of  $3.5 million in investment assets.

For 2010, 42% said they do not feel rich.  In 2009 it was 46% that did not feel rich.  That’s about 4 out of 10 rich people who think they are still poor.

How much would they need to feel rich?  According to the survey, $7.5 million.

Fidelity Investments also said 55% of the wealth in the United States is held by only 5% of the people.  This backs up what the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) said in one of their recently released surveys.

Sounds like some of the rich are suffering from some kind of personality, or obsessive compulsive, disorder.  Perhaps some kind of factitious disorder.  But what about the rest of us? After all we’re letting them run our economy, and in effect our lives.

 

 

International, Opinion, U.S.

Obama & Libya, Lies, Lies & more Lies

President Barak Obama spoke at a news conference, where he explained the reasoning behind the push for a no fly zone.

He stated that NATO, and Arab countries, will take the lead in enforcing the military option, while the U.S. will supply various support for the military action, and humanitarian aid.

Obama said this came after Gaddafi refused to back off of attacking “peaceful” protesters, and that he made threats of “no mercy” against the rebels.

Point 1: The Libyan protesters are NOT peaceful.  Look at how the protesters in Egypt and Tunis behaved.  Early on Libyan protesters attacked government forces, and police, then captured military weapons which they have been using since. The Egyptians & Tunisians did not do that.

It has become clear that Libyan rebels have also been supplied from outside Libya with weapons and ammo.  A Libyan arms dealer in Egypt has admitted that this is happening.  Libyan rebels have admitted the same.  We now know that some how the rebels have developed their own air force, seemingly overnight.

In the eastern half of Libya, where the majority of oil fields are by the way,  Libyan police and government forces joined the rebels, and it seems they were paid off.

This is not a case of peaceful protest, and certainly not on the same level as the events in Egypt and Tunis.  This is a full blown civil war.

Point 2: Many of the Arab League (League of Arab States), who are supporting the no fly zone, are at this very moment suppressing the peaceful protest going on in their countries.  Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, etc.  In fact Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirate are currently helping Bahrain suppress a truly peaceful protest by the majority of the population.

Point 3: The push for a no fly zone and military action against Libya started before Gaddafi made threats of “no mercy”.  In fact, very early on Obama demanded that Gaddafi step down.  Obama did not do this with Mubarak in Egypt!  The Obama administration actually made supporting statements for Mubarak for at least a week, before asking Mubarak to implement changes, and then finally asking Mubarak to step down. Very different treatment when compared to Gaddafi.

Point 4: If a similar situation happened in the United States; violent protests, attacking government forces, capturing military weapons, defections of military and police to the rebels side, you can be sure that President Obama, or any President, would not hesitate to do exactly what Gaddafi is doing.  This policy even has an official name: National Security.

Yes Gaddafi is bad, but so are the governments of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, etc.  Hey, don’t forget that President Bush Jr took Gaddafi off the terrorist list, in 2006.  And the UN lifted sanctions in 2003.

So President Obama, why are we helping “peaceful” heavily armed rebels in Libya, while ignoring the murders of truly peaceful protesters in other countries?  All I can hear is lies, lies and more lies.

Business/Economics, International, Opinion, U.S.

Donations to Japan piddly compared to Haiti quake and Hurricane Katrina

A philanthropy newspaper reports that international non-profit donations to help Japan, one week after the 9.0 quake, total $87 million.

Compared to the number of donations, within the same time period, to Haiti and survivors of Hurricane Katrina, it is piddly.

Haiti received $275 million in donations to non-profits one week after their big quake.  Areas hit by Hurricane Katrina saw $522 million one week after that disaster.

This could be due to the bad economic situation, but I have seen plenty of comments on the web, many made by people in the United States, that show that a lot of people think Japan “deserves” this situation.  Xenophobia continues to build.

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Gaddafi right, Rebelion came from outside

A Wall Street Journal article suggests that Libyan rebels getting help from Egypt, Qatar and other Arab countries, all with U.S. approval.

Libyan rebels have praised Qatar from day one for their help.

Egypt is supposedly sending the rebels weapons (I wondered where the rebels got all those new looking heavy guns and missiles).  Hani Souflakis, a Libyan businessman in Cairo said “We know the Egyptian military council is helping us, but they can’t be so visible.”  Souflakis is a Libyan rebel liaison with the Egyptian government since the uprising began.

Libyan rebels admit they have been armed from the outside, but will not say who is arming them.  Also, the Wall Street journal reports that, all of a sudden, the rebels are using aircraft to launch air strikes against Libyan government troops (when the hell did they get aircraft?).  Some sources say the rebels are using captured Libyan aircraft, but that the rebels had to get spare parts, and trained air & ground crews from out side the country.

The Arab League actually drafted the UN Security Council’s declaration of  a no fly zone.

All this is proving that crazy sounding Gaddafi (Gadhafi, Kaddafi, Qaddafi, they all work) might be right when he claims that this whole “revolution” is a foreign act of war to get total control of Libya’s oil.

Idaho, U.S.

Open Carry Gun Law Idaho

Every now and then, a new law enforcement officer in Idaho mistakenly arrests someone for OPEN possession of a gun.  As well, sometimes a citizen freaks out and calls in the police after seeing someone in OPEN possession of a gun.

In Idaho OPEN CARRY of guns is legal.  Open carry, as opposed to concealed carry, means you can carry a gun in public as long as it is visible.

Idaho Constitution, Article I Section 11: “….No law shall impose licensure, registration or special taxation on the ownership or possession of firearms or ammunition….”

Of course they are limits to Idaho’s open carry law, like being a convicted felon, being intoxicated and being under the age of 18.

As far as Idaho’s concealed carry licensing, it seems it applies only to handguns. 

Idaho, Opinion, U.S.

Idaho and Texas force universities to allow guns on campus

The Idaho House passed a bill that would force colleges and universities to allow firearms on campus, except in student housing.

A Texas House committee moved a bill that would allow licensed handguns on public universities and college campuses.

This is considered an issue of the right to self defense, under the Second Amendment.

There have been many shootings, that could have been stopped, or lessened, if an armed citizen was able to use their gun to stop it.

Here in Eastern Idaho there is an example out of the Salmon area that proves it.  Some years ago, at a church service one of the residents of the town flipped out, entered the church and began shooting.  A member of the church was handed a gun by his wife.  She carried the gun in her hand bag.  She told him to “..take the guy out”, and he did (I think she actually used a different word than ‘guy’).  The flipped out shooter made it clear he was going to target as many people as he could.  He would have been successful if it weren’t for the gun toting woman who encouraged her husband to take the guy out.

How do I know this story?  The husband that took the guy out, and I, were both members of the same Idaho Army National Guard unit, back in the late 1990s.  When he told his story it was apparent that he was shaken by his actions to shoot the wacko, but, it was clear the wacko was going to take out as many people as he could.  Someone had to stop him.

International, Opinion, U.S.

Kuwait joins invasion of Bahrain

Kuwait is sending ships to patrol the water off Bahrain, in support of the recent invasion by Saudi Arabian troops, and by police units of United Arab Emirates.

Bahrain is ruled by a minority Sunni royal family, while the majority of the people are Shia.  They have been protesting for weeks, and the Bahraini government began cracking down.

Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

It’s interesting that we are about to attack Libya, supposedly for cracking down on revolutionaries, yet we do nothing to protect the revolutionaries in Bahrain.

Fukushima, U.S.

U.S. Nuclear Power Plants NOT required to have disaster plans

In the 1980’s the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled 5-4 that there was no reason to require nuclear plants to create earthquake disaster plans.

In 2003, an earthquake in California, prompted the Diablo Canyon plant officials to come up with a plan.  But, for some unknown reason, they have yet to publish that plan. The plant operators were not required to include earthquakes in its emergency response plan, when the plant was first licensed.

In fact according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, nuclear plants in the U.S. are required to have only a general emergency response plan.  In other words they don’t plan for specific types of disasters.

Some officials say no planning is needed because the plants were supposedly built to withstand earthquakes.  Tell that to the Japanese.  Two workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, who survived the 9.0 quake/tsunami, say the plant was falling apart.  One of those workers said he was surprised because everyone had been told the plant was earthquake proof.

U.S.

Ignored by Main Stream Media, guns taken by police after Hurricane Katrina

Not reported by the main stream U.S. media was the fact that New Orleans police took guns from law abiding residents.

Bar owner Joann Guidos, said if it wasn’t for her shotgun her business would have been looted.  “There were vans with thugs in them. They were breaking into any businesses where there was no sign of anyone around in them. They didn’t mess with us in here because I stood out front with my shotgun,” yet, when she finally decided to leave to escape the flooding, the local police took her guns.

I was in California during the Rodney King riots, and there were many similar stories of business owners, and individuals, protecting themselves in a similar way.  In fact, by the time the National Guard came in, most neighborhoods, and businesses, that did not suffer looting were those who had guns!!!

My sister, when living in San Diego, experienced an attempted break in to her apartment by a criminal that was being chased by cops.  She pulled out a gun and chased off the criminal who was caught by the police.  Until then she wasn’t secure with guns, but our dad insisted she have the gun when she moved to San Diego.

Back to the issue of cops taking guns from people in New Orleans.  So many people had their guns taken that they sued the city.  A book was published documenting the incident called “The Great New Orleans Gun Grab”.