Tag Archives: banks

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Spain officially in double dip recession, Britain on the verge

April 23, 2012, Spain’s Central Bank has declared the country officially in recession.

Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.4% in the first quarter of 2012, following a 0.3% decline in the last quarter of 2011.   Decline for two quarters in a row makes an official recession.

The Spanish government says it will cut spending by $11 billion USD, and will increase taxes!

The United Kingdom is on the verge of double dip recession. Britain’s Office for National Statistics is expected to say on Wednesday that the economy grew(?) by a meager 0.1%.  

By the way, in order to be considered true growth your GDP needs to be at 3% or higher.  So Britain’s GDP is only 0.1%?  Close enough to call it double dip!

To make matters worse, the two “strong” European economies, Germany and France, are actually contracting!

Belgium and Italy have already crossed into double dip recession.

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

Corporate Evil: Mystery disease kills children, people can’t build immunity to it, military involved, entire district quarantined, mutant dogs killing pets. Kanup 480 SL. Quang Ngai Province is Cursed!

“The development of the disease at Ba Dien commune is really complicated and critical; the numbers of new cases and recurrence cases are increasing dramatically.”-Han Phong, People’s Committee in Ba To District

April 22, 2012, health officials in Vietnam are asking for help from the United Nations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in trying to identify and treat a skin disease that’s already killed 27 people including 19 children.

More than 100 people are hospitalized.  At least 171 people are infected.  Many people are getting sick a second time (29 so far), which indicates that you can not build an immunity to it!

Last year the province recorded more than 150 people with similar symptoms.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health says the virus spreads through direct contact with an infected person’s oral discharges or saliva, the fluid from burst blisters or the feces.

You end up with a high fever, loss of appetite and a rash that covers the hands and feet.  If treated right away people seem to get better, but those who wait too long end up with liver problems and eventually multi-organ failure.

Vietnam’s Military Chemical Institute is now investigating the Ba To District of Quang Ngai Province.  There are reports the district is now under quarantine: “We have to block the entrances here to stop patients from getting out and spreading the disease. Since we don’t know what caused the disease, we will have to rely on our rituals and prayers.”-Pham Van Tray, Reu village

Quang Ngai Province is that area where the infamous My Lai Massacre took place at the hands of U.S. Army soldiers.  The same province saw forced relocation of Vietnamese villagers, by the U.S. and its puppet government of South Vietnam, in the name of protecting them from the “commies”.

In May, 2011, another district in the same Province was harassed and terrorized by an unknown beast.  Roaring sounds and strange footprints were found at the base of the Dinh Mountain in Son Tra Commune.  At least 20 dogs were killed, most were found with their heads and internal organs missing.

In Lao Cai Province people claimed to have seen the beast that’s killing pet dogs, and other domesticated animals.  They said it is a mutant dog, tall with a fur coat varying in description from white spots to yellow stripes.

This year fires torn through two huge markets, in the provinces of Quang Ngai and Quang Binh, causing about $300,000 USD in damage.

Also this year, farmers on central Quang Ngai Province‘s Ly Son Island, known as the garlic kingdom, have suffered their biggest crop failure ever.  Farmers lost 80% of their garlic to unusually heavy rain!

(now you see why I say they’re cursed)

Back to the killer “virus”.  I say “virus” because there are reports that the reason the Military Chemical Institute is involved is because some officials think the “virus” is really an herbicide called Kanup 480 SL.

Another report said that most farmers in the area started using herbicides only two years ago, that’s when the symptoms began (and sightings of mutant feral dogs).

Many reports say the herbicide is made by the United States, however my research revealed that it is made by a Vietnamese company called Thang Bac Giang (Vithaco), not the other company that’s being named in most reports (there are several companies using the misreported name, one of which turns out to be a major textile manufacturer).

The primary ingredient in Kanup 480 SL is Glyphosate IPA Salt 480gr / l.   It was patented by U.S. corporation Monsanto in the 1970s.  It is widely used in the United States.  Lab tests on animals revealed mutations, which could explain the mutant dogs killing people’s pets in Vietnam.  U.S. lab studies were supposedly inconclusive as to what happens to humans who’re contaminated with it.

According to some poor translations of local Vietnamese news media, most people who are sick, or who died, had just finished spraying their fields with Kanup 480 SL.   From what I read, it seems like many did not mix the chemical properly and used it in concentrated form.

This might be another case of a corporation that tricked farmers who had never used chemicals in their life, into buying a new fangled contraption (Kanup 480 SL).  The local reports I read say the farmers in Quang Ngai Province only started using the herbicide in the past two years, and it really looks like they do not understand how to use it, or how harmful it could be.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Government & Corporate Evil: Ritual Animal Sacrifice under the guise of Michigan’s new Corporate created “feral” farm animal law. What do other state’s say about feral pigs?

“Does anyone know what it feels like to open fire on 20 baby piglets in one group which weigh between 5 lbs and 15 lbs? They are so adorable and cute.“-Dave Tuxbury, forced by the state to kill off his entire herd

Under the NAZI’s in Germany in the 1930s-40s, you could get thrown in a concentration camp just because of your physical features.  If you ‘looked’ Jewish, or Gypsyish, or ‘behaved’ like a homosexual, in you go.

Now the U.S. state of Michigan has created a law (with Corporate America’s help) that allows state officials to trespass on small farms and shoot to kill any pig that doesn’t ‘look’ right.

Farmers who do not comply will be charged with a felony crime!

“I’m one of two farmers in Michigan that has said we will not comply, and we have filed suit against the Michigan DNR [Department of Natural Resources] and we’ll probably go to court with them this summer.”-Mark Baker, Bakers’ Green Acres in Marion, Michigan

Corporate America farmers have convinced the Michigan government that small family hog farmers are a health threat.  That’s because many family run hog farms have bred their pigs in a way that produces better meat.

The Corporate America farmers can’t compete, because the pigs they use have been designed for their mass production style of operation, which means tasteless meat (that’s the real reason they call it “the other white meat”).

Anyone hunt wild boar?  The meat is red, not white.  The small family farms have bred hogs with red meat, they’re called Heritage Pigs.  Under Michigan’s new law they are now considered “Invasive Species”!

The irony is that these “invasive” or “feral” hogs are actually a better food source than what the Corporate America farmers can produce!  So how are they a threat?  They’re only a threat to the profits of Corporate America!

And the state of Michigan has already forced farmers to kill off their entire hog herd, under threat of prison time:  “I was served a search warrant yesterday at 7:45am.  After 8 guys, 3 four wheelers, and 4 hours, DNR decided I was correct. I have killed all my hogs. They gave me papers that say I do not have any hogs on my property. All they saw were dead hogs laying around from my mass slaughtering. It took 12 guys 4 times in there to kill all of them, sows with young, pregnant sows, dozens of piglets, and old mature boars. It has been a sad few weeks.    

Does anyone know what it feels like to open fire on 20 baby piglets in one group which weigh between 5 lbs and 15 lbs? They are so adorable and cute.

They commented to everyone that they never saw a fence built so tough and no way would a hog get out of this area. I trenched 2′ then installed chain link fencing, then a 10′ high tightlock fence on top of that. ( 200 acre area ) They never saw a fence like that.”-Dave Tuxbury, deer tracks ranch

This new law affects 2,000 farms and private hunting ranches!

Here’s an incomplete list of the types of pigs that Michigan now bans: Wild boar, wild hog, wild swine, feral pig, feral hog, feral swine, Old world swine, razorback, Eurasian wild boar, and Russian wild boar.  Basically the same list as used by the Federal USDA.

Michigan is not the only state with bans on pigs that do not meet the needs of Corporate America’s mass production facilities.  However, most of those states focus only on truly wild pigs, not the pigs that family hog farmers have bred for better meat.

The state of Washington says:  “It is unlawful to import, hold, possess, propagate, offer for sale, sell, transfer, or release feral swine.”

The state of New York says it’s hard to tell domesticated pigs from feral pigs: “Feral swine crossbreed readily with domestic pigs, which has resulted in a wide range of coat colors and body shapes.  Many look like typical wild boars, while others may be hard to distinguish from domestic pigs.”

While New York supports the eradication of feral pigs, they do allow “…anyone with a small game license may hunt and keep feral swine year round with no limit.”

In Texas wild pigs are so numerous that people are encouraged to hunt them and eat them.  But, keep in mind they’re talking about pigs running free in the wild, not some family farm operation!

Realize that Michigan is saying that they now consider certain farm raised pigs to be invasive, and therefore to be killed and not used for food!

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

U.S. Media Confuses: Home Construction actually dropped, blame the Too Big to Fail Banks

One U.S. media headline stated “…Housing Starts Remain Unchanged…”, yet when you read the article it actually admits that construction starts, for March 2012, have declined by 5.8%.

The overall decline was led by a 16.9% drop in construction of multifamily homes.

Construction reps blame the bad economy caused by the too big to fail banks not wanting to lend money to the working class: “…builders remain very cautious about starting new projects until they see more actual sales materializing. At the same time, in places where buyers are ready to go forward with a purchase, access to credit for both builders and buyers and difficulties in obtaining accurate appraisals are persistent challenges that continue to slow that process considerably.”-Barry Rutenberg, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)

Another article pointed out that March is the second straight month with such a big drop in housing construction projects.  It was also not expected by the economic “experts”!

So what’s the real info?  According to the April 17, 2012, Joint Release U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development PDF, March 2012 housing starts are 5.8% down from February, yet up 10.3% from March 2011.  So; a drop from month prior, an increase from year prior.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery: “Developed Country” status for Japan to end, could officially regress to “Less-Developed”

The Japan Business Federation’s 21st Century Public Policy Institute is warning of not only a collapse of the Japanese economy, but a regression to “less-developed” country status.

That would put Japan behind India, as India’s economy counties to boom.

Analysts blame Japan’s fall on an ongoing population exodus, and money exodus, both caused by the March 2011 natural and ongoing nuclear disasters (gee, maybe nuclear reactors are not good for the economy?).

The analysts say that even in the good scenario, Japan’s economy will shrink drastically and by 2050 will drop to 28th in world Gross Domestic Product rankings.

However, the analysts say one way the government can slow the fall, is to drastically increase taxes!  That seems counter productive, as I think it would cause even more people to leave Japan (as is happening in the United States).

By the way, Japan is a member of the Trilateral Commission (Europe, North America, Japan/Asia), whose goal is to establish a singular privatized government system that is seemingly created in response to severe economic and “natural” disasters.

Fukushima

One Year Later: Big Exodus continues; most number of people flee Japan since 1950!

April 17, 2012, Japan’s Internal Affairs Ministry reported a record drop in Japan’s population.  The exodus started as a result of the March 2011 nuclear disaster at the GE designed Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

As of October 2011, 259,000 people fled Japan.  Percentage wise it’s not much, only 0.2% of the total population of Japan, but still a record since 1950.

It’s not just people who live near the disabled nuclear power plant who’re leaving; 40 of the 47 prefectures are experiencing exodus.

Japan is also experiencing the biggest number of foreign residents leaving.  By October 2011, 51,000 more foreigners left, than those who were moving to Japan.

International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? IMF accepts Chinese Yuan policy against U.S. dollar, Japan loans IMF billions to bail out Europe, IMF says it’s not enough!

April 15, 2012, Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi, announced that Japan will lend $50 billion USD to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help bail out the European economies.

The IMF says at least $500 billion USD is now needed to bail out Europe!

On April 14, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, said she welcomes the Chinese Yuan:  “I would like to welcome this important step by the People’s Bank of China to increase the flexibility of their currency. This underlines China’s commitment to re-balance its economy toward domestic consumption and allow market forces to play a greater role in determining the level of the exchange rate.”

The Bank of China said it will allow the value of the yuan to fluctuate by at least 1%, against the U.S. dollar, when international markets open on Monday.  Up ’till now the Chinese central bank has allowed only a half percent fluctuation.

However, some analysts say allowing the value of the Chinese yuan to fluctuate more could result in even more volatility/instability for world markets.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: Israel sues Bank of America

Israel’s Bank Hapoalim has filed a $720 million USD lawsuit against BoA.

Officials with Bank Hapoalim says BoA lied about the mortgage securities it sold to Israel.  BoA is also accused of violating its contracts regarding the sale of those securities.

Bank Hapoalim suffered more than $1 billion USD in losses in the 2008/2009 mortgage/credit crunch fiasco.

 

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

Oil & Gas Prices: New oil spill in Gulf of Mexico. Oil market bubble bursting? Blame War for your high prices! U.S. backed Oil War continues in Sudan. India #1 buyer of Iranian oil

“The U.S. Coast Guard is conducting an over flight assessment for a report of a rainbow sheen approximately one mile by 10 miles spotted near the Mississippi Canyon block 807 in the Gulf of Mexico……trying to identify the responsible party.”-Petty Officer Bill Colclough, U.S. Coast Guard

April 12, 2012, the USCG is investigating a report, by Royal Dutch Shell, of an oil spill located between two Shell off shore platforms, near the U.S. state of Louisiana.

Shell says it is not coming from its Mars and Ursa rigs.  It could be natural seepage.

The International Energy Agency says international oil stockpiles are so high, and demand is so low, that it expects oil prices to continue to drop.

Isn’t it funny how not even a  year ago the oil industry “experts” kept telling us that demand was still high, and that we could expect $150 per barrel, or more?

“Easing first quarter 2012 fundamentals have seen prices recently lose most of the $5 per barrel they gained in March. The muted impact so far is partly because much of this extra supply has been stockpiled on land or at sea.”-IEA statement

But don’t expect lower gas prices, as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said, the Northern Hemisphere summer driving season is always used as an excuse to raise prices: “U.S. oil demand remains a key uncertainty to the existing demand assessment. The upcoming driving season might be affected by high retail gasoline prices and the pace of the economic recovery.”-OPEC statement

The International Energy Agency says consumers can blame the high fuel prices on wars and rumors of wars: “We cannot discount the possibility that prices will remain high so long as geopolitical uncertainties remain.”-IEA statement

Sudan launched an offensive to re-take the largest oil field from South Sudan: “Within the next 72 hours, we shall have pushed all of their troops out of our territories.”-Rabie Abdelaty, Sudanese spokesman

The Heglig field produces about 60,000 barrels per day.  Last week U.S. supported South Sudan captured the Heglig.

India has just surpassed China, as Iran’s number one oil buyer.  In the first quarter of 2012 India imported 433,000 barrels per day from Iran.  China’s import rate for Iranian oil was only 256,000 bpd.  That’s according to  Petrologistics.

It could be that China had made a huge oil deal with Russia, but now Russian courts could threaten that deal.

Russian prosecutors are investigating the 30 year deal, over a discount giving to China.  That discount results in a reduction in profits, over the 30 years, of $3 billion USD.  Many Russians are not happy about that.

China imports 300,000 bpd from Russia’s Eastern Siberian oil fields.

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Iran major exporter of Cement & Carpets

“Today our country has become a main exporter of cement. By launching the second phase of Orumieh cement factory, Iran’s cement production capacity increased by one million tonnes!”-Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran

With the end of the Iranian year (on March 19, 2012) came news of increased exports of products other than oil, and despite U.S. and European sanctions.

Cement and clinker (a kilned then quenched cement product) has increased 17.44% and reached 10,119,780 metric tons (11,154,960 tons)!

In August 2011, Iran became a world exporter of cement.

In March 2012, Iran revealed it had developed “smart cement” which could withstand the impact of a bunker busting bomb. The smart cement was originally developed to counter the shaking of earthquakes, which Iran is prone to many.

Hand made rugs are one of Iran’s biggest sellers.  In the United States they’re called Persian rugs.

An estimated 1.2 million people in Iran are employed in the hand made rug industry.  They produce five million square meters of carpets, 80% are exported!

In the past year Iran exported $560 million USD worth of Persian rugs.