Tag Archives: australia

International, U.S.

World War 3: NATO copter shot down, U.S. drone crashes, U.S. led troops killed, more assassinations, Australian General backs up U.S. General’s claim that this is a “critical year”

An ISAF report says: “An International Security Assistance Force rotary wing [helicopter] unmanned aerial vehicle crashed in northern Afghanistan today.”  ISAF does not believe it was shot down.  No further details.

Some speculate that since the drone was a helicopter that it might be what witnesses are calling a NATO helicopter crash, in Baghlan Province.  The province is under the control of Hungarian NATO forces.  No further details.

Also, ISAF confirms reports that U.S. led troops have been attacked and killed. As is SOP with ISAF they will not give out details, other than the attack took place in eastern Afghanistan on April 6.

ISAF says the current death toll for U.S./NATO/ISAF troops is at 104 since the beginning of this year.

On the morning of April 6, 2012, a peace negotiator and one of his sons were assassinated when a bomb exploded. A third person was also killed.  The explosion happened after Islamic Friday Prayers.  It happened in Kunar Province.

Major-General Stuart Smith, Commander of Australian Operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, re-stated what USMC General John R. Allen said recently: ”This is a critical year.”

Australian forces are beginning to hand over control of AOs (Areas of Operation) to Afghan government forces. Currently Australian forces operate in Oruzgan Province (aka Urōzgān, Uruzgan or Rōzgān): ”This is a year that, if the Afghan government asks us to, we will start the transition of handing over security responsibilities in Oruzgan to the Afghan Security Forces.”

However, General Smith made it clear that such hand over to Afghan government forces did not mean Western forces were leaving: “….that challenge will go on for a little while yet, beyond 2014.”

 

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Australia to allow United States to greatly increase military operations Down Under

Australian military officials gave a clue just how much the U.S. military will increase its presence in the region.

Not only will at least 2,500 U.S. forces be based in Darwin, Australia, but the U.S. Navy will be allowed to use their naval port at Perth.

Asian media pointing out that all the locations the U.S. will be allowed to operate from in Australia, face China, India and Southeast Asia.

Michael Wesley, at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, says Darwin is just outside the reach of Chinese ICBMs.

The Australian government has also revealed that the U.S. could be allowed to operate terror drones from the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

International, U.S.

World War 3: First unit of U.S. Marines arrives in Australia

Back in November, Peaceprize winner Barack Obama, announced he was sending 2,500 U.S. Marines to Australia.

April 4, 2012, the first 200 U.S. Marines arrived in Darwin, Australia.

Over the next five to six years the United States will send a total of 2,500 military personnel, including artillery and armored units.

This is part of a new U.S. defense strategy, announced earlier in the year, which also plans to make greater use of Australian naval and air force bases.

International, Technology, U.S.

Terror Drones: March 26 – April 1, U.S. killing their own

The United States continues to increase drone attacks in the Arabian Peninsula country of Yemen.

On March 30, 2012, at least five people were killed, and a natural gas pipeline was blown up after a U.S. drone strike near Shabwa.

Official U.S. statements say they targeted “suspected” al Qaeda militants, one missile hit a car, the other missile hit a building.  Witnesses say a another vehicle was struck, killing everyone inside.  It was an entire family.  U.S. officials have no comment.

There are also reports that a drone attack hit a natural gas pipeline. U.S. officials claim the “suspected” militants blew up the pipeline after the drone strike.

According to Australia’s Brisbane Times, the United States has dramatically increased the use of drones in Yemen.  In May 2011, Peaceprize winner, Barack Obama, ordered an increase of drone strikes.  The result was at least 26 drone strikes in Yemen (keep in mind that officially the U.S. wasn’t supposed to be involved in Yemen).  Now, since January 2012 there have been at least nine drone strikes, five just in the month of March 2012.

It’s not just the number of drone strikes, the number of people being killed in each drone strike is going up as well.  London’s City University, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, reports that as many as 516 people have been killed in Yemen, with as many as 105 confirmed as civilians (including five pregnant women and 22 children), not “suspected” militants.

Another issue is the fact that many parts of Yemen are without electrical power.  The main reason is that power plants are repeatedly targeted, by U.S. and anti-government Mujahideen.

The latest case involves families who lost loved ones due to U.S. drone strikes. They are now attacking power stations demanding compensation for the loss of their relatives: “Victims of U.S. drone strikes constituted that the majority of locals attacked the electricity supply because their demands for compensation after the attack were not addressed.”-Saeed Ali al-Yousifi, The Yemen Observer

On March 25, 2012, the power station in Marib Province was attacked and shut down by an angry mob.  The angry crowd included people who had been victims of past drone attacks, including the family of a young man who lost both legs in a May, 2010, U.S. drone attack.

On March 31, the United States attacked the northeastern African country of Somalia, with drones. A Somali official, Hussein Mohamed Uraag, says several missiles were fired into the western portion of the city of Mogadishu.  At least 18 people were killed.

In South Asia, despite demands from Pakistan’s parliament, to stop drone attacks, on March 30 the U.S. destroyed a house with a drone strike.  At least four people were killed.

The attack took place in North Waziristan, officials say the targeted people were from Uzbekistan.

On April 1, the Pakistani Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS), announced that they will tie the ending of U.S. drone attacks to continued support for U.S./NATO supply convoys through Pakistan.

Pakistani Army Chief General, Ashfraq Pervez Kayani, said NATO has so far not contacted the Pakistani military regarding renewed support for U.S./NATO/ISAF supply convoys.

Pakistani Senator, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, said NATO should not be allowed to transport weapons through Pakistan, and that all other supplies will be allowed only if the United States stops drone attacks.

Maulana Abdul Maalik Wazir, National Assembly of Pakistan, said all NATO supply routes should be shut down, no more negotiating!

Pakistani Senator, Mudassir Sehar Kamran, demanded the United States pay for past damages caused by U.S. drone strikes!

On March 29, it was reported that Australia will be arming it’s troops in the Central Asian country of Afghanistan, with more surveillance drones.

It’s called the Shadow 200 Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (TUAS), and was first used by the U.S. in the Middle Eastern country of Iraq.  It is used for recon purposes.  It’s still used by U.S. forces.

April 6, 2012, will be the year anniversary of the first known case of U.S. forces killing two of their own with a Predator terror drone strike: “The two-man Predator crew responsible for this particular airstrike not only destroyed a young Navy corpsman’s life but also destroyed the lives of his entire family.”-Robert Rast, father of one of the victims

On April 6, 2011, a U.S. Navy corpsman, and a USMC Staff Sergeant, were killed in Afghanistan by a USAF Captain operating a Predator drone from his base in Nevada!

A 385 page report puts the blame on the U.S. Air Force for failing to communicate with U.S. Marines on the ground in Afghanistan: “Information was available to the Predator crew that potentially could have increased the commander’s understanding of the situation, but this information was not communicated to Marines on the ground who were directing the attack….In the final analysis the chain of events that led to Staff Sgt. Smith and (Hospitalman) Rast being targeted and ultimately killed by friendly fire was initiated by the on-scene ground force commander’s lack of overall situational awareness and the inability to accurately communicate his friendly force disposition with respect to the enemy.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Influenza

H3N2: Kills family in U.S., Hong Kong reports sudden jump in cases, big hit on old folks homes in U.K., Australia gets hit early

On March 1 and March 2, 2012, in the U.S. state of Maryland, three people died from H3N2 influenza.  They were members of the same family. Two other family members are recovering.

Calvert County Health officials say those who died did not get vaccinated.  Two of those who died also had complications due to MRSA. U.S. health officials say the flu season is off to a late start.

Health officials in Hong Kong are reporting a sudden jump in H3N2 cases.

At the end of January, 2012, they reported 196 total flu cases. At the end of February they reported 465 cases.  Now, for the end of March they have 579 new cases!  At least 50 people have died.

H3N2 is the dominate influenza in Hong Kong, accounting for 48% of all flu cases!  Health officials say it is similar to influenza A/Perth/16/2009, which is a sign that current vaccines should help prevent it.

Here are some tips from Hong Kong health officials: “Build up good body immunity by having a proper diet, regular exercise and adequate rest, reducing stress and avoiding smoking. Maintain good personal and environmental hygiene. Wash hands after sneezing, coughing or cleaning the nose. Maintain good indoor ventilation.  Avoid visiting crowded places with poor ventilation.”
Also: “Members of the public, particularly young children, elderly people and those with chronic diseases, should wear face masks [hopefully you won’t violate any Homeland Security rules] and consult their doctors promptly if they develop influenza-like symptoms.”

In the United Kingdom, old folks homes are getting hit hard.  In just one care center six people died within days of each other.  Officials are seeing a jump in H3N2 cases: “We have been getting outbreaks involving 20 to 30 people at a time. When this happens local health protection unit staff go into the homes and take swabs.”-Nick Phin, U.K.’s Health Protection Agency

The same official said flu deaths that occur in nursing homes are not required to be reported to the public: “…a mandatory scheme whereby anyone admitted to a hospital intensive care unit who dies from flu is reported to the Department of Health. But we don’t formally record flu deaths of people dying in care homes.”

In other words it could be worse than what has been reported!  The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is admitting that nursing homes have the highest cases of influenza A (which includes H3N2). Schools are the next hardest hit, with hospitals coming in third.

British health officials confirm what U.S. health officials are saying: “Flu has circulated late this season….The most common flu strain we are currently seeing circulate this season is H3N2, which can cause more severe illness particularly in older people….”

While some of us in the Northern Hemisphere are getting a late start to the flu season, Australia is reporting an early start.

Officials in New South Wales, Australia, are reporting that Australians returning from vacations in Europe and the United States are bringing H3N2 with them: “…people shouldn’t be complacent! We’ve had two confirmed cases in the Hunter from people who have been overseas.”-David Durrheim, Hunter New England Local Health District

Normally the flu season starts in April in the land Down Under.  Officials there are actually telling people with symptoms to stay away from hospitals, as well as nursing homes, schools and other crowded areas, in order to prevent spreading the virus.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Corporate Evil & What Economic Recovery? U.S. Alcoa to close factories worlwide, thousands of people to lose jobs. It’s all because Alcoa wants higher Aluminum prices

March 27, 2012, Sardinian workers are protesting the planned closing of Alcoa’s Portovesme aluminum smelter on the island of Sardinia.  The move could cost Italy the loss of at least 1,500 jobs.

U.S. media last reported that U.S. based Alcoa was making a deal with union workers to keep the factory open, however, European media says that ain’t so.

In fact three potential investors are now suing Alcoa.  The Italian government has been demanding Alcoa keep their factory open.  The Spanish government is also upset because Aloca has plans to reduce smelter operations there.

This is evidence that Corporate America is partly to blame for the continuing economic disaster in Europe!  But it’s not just Europeans losing their jobs, Alcoa is hitting Australians as well.

In Geelong, Australia, Alcoa says it’s closing down operations there, because it doesn’t want to pay its electricity bill!  Alcoa wants a deal from the Australian government, and utility suppliers, in order to keep its Point Henry smelter open.

Alcoa also blames the pending closing of their Australian smelter on the need for $100 million AUD (Australian Dollars) to upgrade the smelter to meet environmental regulations.  600 people could lose their jobs.

But the real reason for the closings of all these Aloca operations worldwide, is that the price of aluminum is not high enough for Alcoa executives.

Recently Alcoa officials said the recent drop in aluminum prices “…will result in a global aluminum industry deficit of 600,000 metric tons in 2012.” Why would that be?  Because the aluminum industry will cut back production until aluminum prices go back up. That means closing down factories, creating thousands more unemployed people.

Interestingly, despite aluminum prices being low, on March 1, 2012, Alcoa announced they were actually raising prices (by 5%) on some of their aluminum products!

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

Whistleblower & Wikileaks founder Julian Assange running for Australian Senate, hosts Russian TV show

Despite being under house arrest in United Kingdom, Assange is getting a new TV show, and running for political office in Australia.

Assange is scheduled to host The World of Tomorrow for RT (Russia Today): “Assange to record TV series for RT while under house arrest – I am sure it will be an amazing show!” -Margarita Simonyan, RT editor in chief

Assange is also running for a seat in Australia’s Upper House.  Wikileaks is also sponsoring a candidate to challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

 

 

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

Toyota & Subaru begin production of new sports car. For sale in the United States?

A few weeks ago Subaru announced they were ending decades of minicar production in Japan. They said they just weren’t profitable.

Now that minicar factory is being used to produce a sports car jointly designed by Toyota and Fuji Heavy Industries (owner of Subaru).

It’s called the Toyota 86, or Subaru BRZ.  It’s reported to have an engine designed for lots of power and fuel economy.

The car is supposed to go on sale in Australia in June. There the car is being marketed to potential buyers with incomes of at least Australian$150,000 per year.

The car will be powered by a water cooled 2.0-litre Boxer (horizontally opposed 4 cylinder, like the old air cooled VWs)  D-4S gas (petrol) engine.   147kW (199.8 hp) and 205Nm (151 foot pounds) of torque.  Base model comes with automatic transmission, but buyers could get a six-speed manual transmission. Limited slip differential will be available, except on the base model with automatic transmission.

The cars are also planned for sale in Europe.

Will the car be sold in the United States?  Reports say Toyota will sell the car under their Scion brand, as the Scion FR-S.  Subaru will sell it as a Subaru BRZ, at a rumored starting price of U.S.$25,000.  They hope to sell at least 7,000 per year.

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

Oil & Gas Prices: Big fire Down Under, Brazil oil rig “tilting”, Chevron hoping to get back to work in Brazil

“We don’t know what’s in the smoke, we don’t know what’s burning, we don’t know the toxicity of it.”-Kim Zander, Police Chief Inspector

For the second day a huge oil fire is raging in Wingfield, South Australia, Australia.  It’s a waste oil depot, and the city of Adelaide is being covered with toxic smoke.

More than 100 firefighters worked to control the fire. The fire is still raging but is contained.  Word is that it was an accident that started the fire.  Homes and businesses were evacuated.

The waste oil depot is owned by Mulhern Waste Oil, who recycles the waste petroleum oils for re-use.

In Brazil, Petroleo Brasileiro SA had shut down operation on their huge Alaska Star oil platform, after it tilted three degrees.

The platform is located over Brazil’s 7th largest underwater oil & gas field (the Albacora field).  Petroleo Brasileiro SA is the world’s largest deep water petroleum producer.

The Alaska Star platform is being operated by a contractor.  The platform was stabilized after a leak of “drilling fluid” was stopped.

Speaking of Brazil, Chevron is hopeful they will be allowed to resume operations, after the government shut them down because of a huge oil spill last year.

However, Chevron has to convince Brazilian inspectors first: “We are not convinced that Chevron has identified the causes of the accident and that the risks have been mitigated to the satisfaction of Brazilian society.”-Magda Chambriard, ANP

In 2011, 2,400 to 3,000 barrels spilled in the Frade field northeast of Rio de Janeiro. Brazil fined Chevron $28 million.  Brazilian officials accused Chevron of trying to hide up the spill: “We believe the accident could’ve been avoided. There was an environmental crime. They hid information and their emergency team took almost 10 days to start acting.”-Carlos Minc, Rio de Janeiro state’s environment secretary

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

No True Economic Recovery: Renowned Economist says this is totally the Banks’ fault, nothing can be done by governments, working class been paying for it, it’s called Deleveraging and it’s a sign we’re in a “Terminal Downturn”!

Steve Keen is Professor of Economics & Finance at the University of Western Sydney, Australia.  He was named by Forbes as the most accurate economic forecaster in this economic disaster.  He received the Revere Award from the Real World Economics Review, also for his accurate predictions. He wrote the book Debunking Economics.

Now in a recent interview with former Wall Street broker, Timothy Maxwell “Max” Keiser, Keen says there is nothing governments can do to save the economy, because it is actually an inherent part of the banking system’s sinister operations!

No amount of tax increases, or government spending cuts (austerity), or government spending increases (Keynesian spending), or even corporate bailouts will help save the economy.  It’s called deleveraging: “The reason it hasn’t worked….this is massive deleveraging. The private sector has borrowed its way into enormous levels of debt over about 40, 50 year period….from owing about half a year’s GDP as the debt level in the 1950s to [owing] three years GDP now!”

I’ve already written about the IMF’s order to continue deleveraging of households (that’s you and me), Keen is saying this is part and parcel of the too big to fail banks policies.

Deleveraging (retracting credit) means the banks try to get rid of their debts.  Those debts include the mortgages and credit cards they’ve issued to the general public.

They deleverage households by calling in your chips, saying pay up now.  It doesn’t matter if you’re credit rating is good or not.  Many of the foreclosures involved people who had never missed payments, even people who had paid off their homes!  And deleveraging attacks corporations as well.

A recent case of deleveraging, involving a major corporation, was the shut down of Air Australia. The airline was shut down when it’s creditors (too big to fail banks) refused to leverage (issue credit) for Air Australia’s fuel purchases.

Steve Keen says the too big to fail banks are now deleveraging everyone because the too big to fail banks became addicted to debt themselves!  This goes back to the 1980s, and includes personalities like Alan Greenspan and Mitt Romney.

Keen says it’s the vulture capitalist mentality that is destroying the country: “…capitalists in euphoric states, and certainly finance capitalists…they borrow money, they gamble on asset prices, they’ll cause a bubble…of course the borrowing is badly thought out, projects don’t work, they’re ponzi schemes in many ways to begin with…you go through periods of ratcheting up levels of debt, until you get to the point that there’s so much debt the system simply can’t cope with it and you go into a terminal downturn, and that’s where we are right now.”

The 1980s saw the beginning of the trend of vulture capitalists, like Mitt Romney, using leverage (loans) to take over companies, carve them up and sell them off.  Not only did it make big money for people like Mitt Romney (while causing millions of U.S. workers to lose their jobs between the 1980s and now) it made big money for the too big to fail banks.

In steps Alan Greenspan.  The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the U.S.  It actually makes money off issuing loans to the too big to fail banks.  So, it is in the interest of the Federal Reserve to keep this game going.  It’s not about jobs at all, it’s about making money purely through loans.

Presidential candidate Ron Paul is correct about the Federal Reserve being part of the problem, because Keen says Greenspan is responsible for what is about to become the biggest depression ever: “…Alan Greenspan turned what would have been a garden variety small depression, back in 1987, into the biggest depression in human history by rescuing the financial industry from each of its mistakes.  Which simply meant that it [finance industry] would go looking for another social class to lend money to, expanding the level of debt…If the central banks hadn’t been trying to rescue us from each of the individual financial crisis we would’ve had a minor depression…we’re now in for the biggest of all time…now we’re dealing with the biggest financial crisis ever, and we can certainly blame the central banks for the scale of it.”

Keen also discovered, while working through his mathematical models, that when the shit hits the fan it’s not the banks and vulture capitalists who pay for the debt they themselves created, it’s the working class: “…So, as the level of debt rose, it wasn’t the capitalists who paid for it, even though they were the ones doing the borrowing, it was the workers in terms of their income share…the ones who are now paying for it through austerity actually are the ones who’ve been paying for it through a lower share of income, not the capitalists….” 

Here’s what Keen had to say about the too big to fail banks: “Having a large financial sector is a sign of a sick economy.”  Because banks represent finance capital and “…finance capital doesn’t make money!”  Keen explained that banks are there to help true industries operate, and make money the old fashioned way, by earning it through providing products or services.  In other words you should not have too big to fail banks making up the majority of your country’s GDP, which is in fact what’s happening in the U.S.

Towards the end of Keen’s interview with Max Keiser, he predicted that Australia’s economy will begin to crash within six to 12 months, and he thinks the Australian government will attempt the same pro-bank, anti-worker, rescue policies as that of the United States.  Keen calls the U.S. policy “…rescuing the parasite [banks, Romney style capitalists, etc] rather than rescuing the host [true industries, working class].”

In the early 1990s Keen came up with an economic model that takes into account vulture capitalist debt financing.  He used mathematical chaos theory to prove what film maker Oliver Stone tried to warn about in his movie Wall Street: Mitt Romney style capitalism doesn’t work, and doesn’t create more jobs in the long run.  Back in 1993 Keen warned that any apparent tranquility caused by the out of control crony capitalist debt financing was actually “…the lull before the storm.” 

Check out debtdeflation.com