Tag Archives: economy

Idaho, U.S.

Idaho Wildfire Update, 17 September 2012: Idaho leads with most active fires, Purple Haze air quality!

17 September 2012, Idaho leads the U.S. with seven large fires. Montana, Washington and Wyoming have four each. California and Utah with one each.

Click pics to make bigger.

The weather is being blamed for an increase in smoke.  Two counties in Idaho have been issued Purple Air Quality alerts, the second worst condition after Maroon (Hazardous).  Purple means visibility is only one to one and a half miles (1.6 to 2.4 kilometers).

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued the alerts to Lemhi and Custer counties.

The smoke is hurting local business: “It has been smokey up here off and on for six weeks. It looks like everybody has fires in their yards because the smoke is hanging in between the trees. It burns your eyes and it smells like you are standing over a campfire. We’ve lost a tremendous amount of business.”-Sharon Osgood, Greyhouse Bed and Breakfast

Jan Flynn, Idaho Director of the American Lung Association, says she’s never seen it so bad in the Gem State: “I’ve never experienced smoke like that before.”

The problem is a low pressure system off the California coast, and a high pressure system near Washington/British Columbia. They are not moving, holding the building smoke in the Rocky Mountain area.  Weather forecasters don’t think the pressure systems will move until after this coming weekend.

IDAHO WILDFIRES, POCATELLO TANKER BASE: 13 SEPTEMBER 2012, SIKORSKY & USMC IN TOWN

IDAHO WILDFIRE UPDATE, 12 SEPTEMBER 2012: MORE AIR TANKERS ARRIVE AT POCATELLO TANKER BASE. EVACUATIONS IN EFFECT!

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

What Economic Recovery? Wars on Terror, anti-Islam movies, sanctions against Iran, all part of conspiricy to jack up oil prices beyond $150 per barrel? The real shadow war?

16 September 2012, get ready for higher oil prices!

Iranian officials in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said the real price per barrel of oil should be around $150 USD.  Their reasoning varied from the time of the year, to comparisons of prices by inflation (1970s compared to 2000).  They even said the World economy can handle much higher prices.

Not sure if they are talking about British Brent crude prices, or U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil.

On 14 September 2012, Brent crude went over $117 USD per barrel.

Reading a Canadian report, turns out that’s still not high enough!  The Canadian province of Newfoundland/Labrador have set their government budget in the hopes that Brent crude will go over $124 USD per barrel.  The province makes most its money off oil production.

In fact, because Brent hasn’t hit the magic money mark, yet, the provincial Premier, Kathy Dunderdale, had to cut their budget: “I’m not so worried about this year. I’m more worried about next year. Because if oil stays where it is, our deficit could be around $1 billion [CAD] next year.”

In other words, some governments, who’s major money making industries happen to be the oil industries, want oil prices to skyrocket!!!

However, Iranian OPEC officials say the United States is trying to bring down oil prices, by demanding OPEC members increase oil production.

A few years ago I read an article that explained that most oil producing countries (including members of OPEC) would be losing money if oil were less than $90 per barrel.

So, the reason why the U.S. wants to bring down prices, while other countries want prices to go up, could be that the U.S. domestic oil industry can handle lower oil prices (except for shale oil).  Most other countries have higher oil production costs (like Canada) because of the type of oil and labor costs.

The U.S. model is a kind’a WalMart tactic; keep prices cheap and sell as much in volume as you can until your competition quits.

So what we have are those who want oil prices even higher than they are now, and those who want them to drop.  Is this the real shadow war taking place behind the deadly facade of War on Terror, sanctions and insulting other people’s religions?

Business/Economics, International

World War 3: Germany sells Egypt attack submarines, Israel orders Germany to stop sale! Germany says F-off Israel!

“No country in the world has the right of veto to decisions taken by the German government!”-Thomas de Maiziere, Germany’s Defense Minister

16 September 2012, perhaps German officials are finally getting tired of Israel?

Israel has arrogantly claimed they can veto Germany’s sale of Type 209 attack submarines to Egypt!  Two weeks ago it was revealed that Egypt was buying two of the German made subs, the same type that Germany has been selling to Israel.

Israeli media quoted Israeli government officials as saying this was “a marked deterioration in relations between Israel and Germany”.

The German media says it’s time to stop supporting Israel: “It’s a serious matter when Germany, as the world’s third largest arms exporter, apparently pays little consideration to the consequences of its policy of exporting submarines to Israel.”– Die Tageszeitung

 

International, Opinion, U.S.

World War 3: Palestinians trapped in the Israeli/Palestinan Authority controled West Bank death camp taking to the streets!

“We staged these strikes because of prices, tax rates and the fact that the Palestinian Authority steals tax revenue……..We pay double taxes, both to the Transportation Ministry and to the Ramallah municipality. Why is that?”-West Bank taxi driver

15 September 2012, people in the United States don’t understand life in the slow motion death camp known as West Bank.  Unfortunately for many people in the United States they see nothing wrong with double or even triple taxation (local, state and federal taxes for the same things, like fuels, roads and education)!

Unlike the Gaza Strip, where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) routinely use Palestinians as target practice on a weekly, if not daily basis (never reported in U.S. main stream media), the Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to extreme economic controls (similar to what the NAZIs did to the Polish Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War 2).

Many West Bankers (which include Palestinian Christians and Jews, not just Muslims) are blaming the Palestinian Authority (PA), the political party in charge within the West Bank.  The PA has a policy of trying not to piss off its Israeli masters.  Many taxes collected by the PA end up going to the Israeli government, after PA officials skim off what they can for themselves!

It’s gotten so bad that commentators on West Bank TV recently tried to criticize the PA, live on television, their audio was cut off.

A veteran Palestinian ‘peace negotiator’ stated that the only way for West Bank Palestinians to rise up against Israel is to get rid of the PA.

One of the games Israel has been playing is to hold back on tax reparations, calling it “measured assistance”.  Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says this is the only way to control the West Bankers.  Measured assistance also creates an economy so bad that West Bankers are willing to work for peanuts inside Israel, if the Israeli government will let them.  Recently the Israeli government approved 5,000 work permits for desperate West Bankers.

According to the World Bank there are almost three million people living in West Bank (many international organizations say it’s much more), which is 5,628 square kilometers (2,173 sq mi) in size.  But the Palestinians are being squeezed out almost weekly.  For the past few years the Israeli government has authorized the building of hundreds of internationally illegal settlements in West Bank, which means illegally evicting the Palestinians.  Many Israelis are evicting Palestinians on their own and building their own settlements without government authorization.

On 12 September Israeli courts allowed the expansion of one settlement onto private Palestinian land.  The settlers had used an old military order to justify their expansion.  However, that order was modified in 1979, to state that the military can not take land for civilian use.  The courts claim that Palestinians will be compensated for the land, but, where can they go after they’re forced to sell it?

West Bank just saw the end of a week of protests against the economic conditions there (did you see mentions of it in the U.S. main stream media?), now more protests because of a anti-Islam movie, made by a pro-Israeli right wing U.S. christian con artist.  Will there finally be intifada against the Israeli puppet Palestinian Authority?

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Government Hypocrisy: United States renews Iran sanctions exemptions for 11 countries! Sign that the U.S. isn’t ready for war with Iran, yet.

14 September 2102, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, revealed that eleven countries are being exempted from U.S. sanctions against Iran.

They are: Japan, Belgium, Britain, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

As in the first round of exemptions, these latest exemptions are good for 180 days.  This smacks of a government trying to buy time; time to prepare for war, and time to allow allies to stock pile oil.

Hillary Clinton made a statement that sounded like a broken record: “We have brought significant pressure to bear on the Iranian regime, and we will continue to work with our partners to ratchet up the pressure on Iran to meet its international obligations.”

Business/Economics, U.S.

Class Warfare & What Economic Recovery? Federal Reserve says the U.S. is doomed? Implements QE3 out of desperation!

“Fewer than half of the eight million jobs lost in the recession have been restored……If the fiscal cliff isn’t addressed, as I’ve said, I don’t think our tools are strong enough to offset the effects of a major fiscal shock….”-Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve (the privately run Central Bank of the United States)

13 September 2012, while the Federal Reserve was issuing harsh warnings about the lack of economic recovery, the U.S. Department of labor reported that weekly first time unemployment applications went up by 15,000 people!

In an act of utter desperation, the Federal Reserve announced they will implement a third round of easy money for the Too Big to Fail banks, known as QE3.  Recent reports out of the United Kingdom revealed that quantitative easing does not help the overall economy, it only makes the super rich richer!

The U.S. Central Bank said it would inject cash into the markets by attempting to buy $40 billion USD worth  “…of agency mortgage backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases and employ its other policy tools as appropriate….” every month!

“Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.”-James 5:1-3, New International Version of the Bible

Business/Economics, Opinion, U.S.

Religious & Corporate Hypocrisy: Mormons, like Mitt Romney, say they hate government bailouts, but Mormon owned bank has yet to payback taxpayers for $1.4 billion TARP bailout!!!

“You cannot serve both God and Money.”– Jesus of Nazareth

“Let Detroit Go Bankrupt”-Mitt Romney opinion piece blasting the auto industry bailout by the federal government, 18 November 2008

You might have heard how, only this year, Mitt Romney took credit for the government bailout of the auto industry, seemingly forgetting about his New York Times editorial from 2008, blasting the bailout.  I wonder what he thinks about a Mormon owned bank, Zions Bank, firstly taking a $1.4 billion USD government loan, and, secondly being the only bank that got more than one billion taxpayer dollars that has failed to pay back the taxpayers?

Zions Bank branch in Pocatello, Idaho.

“…..people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.”-1 Timothy 6:5, New International Version of the Bible

Mormon (aka Latter Day Saints [LDS], but their holy book is called Book of Mormon, not Book of Latter Day Saints) Brigham Young started Zion’s Savings Bank and Trust Company in 1873.  It was owned directly by the LDS church until 1960, when a group of Mormon investors (Keystone Insurance and Investment) bought controlling interest in the bank.  The bank became a full fledged corporation and the name was changed to Zions Bancorporation.

“For the love of money is a root of all evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith….”-1 Timothy 6:10-12, Bible

Since then the Mormon run bank has been taking over other banks (gee kinda similar to what Mitt Romney did with Bain Capital).  It’s still run by family members of the original Mormon investors that took over in 1960.

Principal Subsidiaries: California Bank & Trust; The Commerce Bank of Washington; National Bank of Arizona; Nevada State Bank; Vectra Bank Colorado; Zions First National Bank.

“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.”-Ecclesiastes 5:10, New International Version of the Bible

In 2008 (in fact it was the same month that Mitt Romney wrote his New York Times editorial) Zions Bankcorp was one of the first in line to apply for, and get, a $1.4 billion TARP (aka Too Big to Fail bank bailout) loan from the federal government, in direct contradiction to what many Mormons think about ‘hand outs’ from the government.  The latest reports say Zions Bankcorp has paid back only half of the taxpayers’ money, and that it is one of only three banks which still owe taxpayers more than half a billion dollars!

But wait, there’s more!

In classic Mitt Romney/Bain Capital tactics (or is it now clear that it’s really Mormon tactics), the banks have been paying back their government loans with more government loans! (Mitt Romney at Bain Capital did not use his own money, but used money from investors and loans to buy up, cut up and sell off U.S. companies that were seen as competitors to his pet corporations, like Staples vs American Pen & Paper, Toys r Us vs KB Toys, and now Kmart vs Sears)

An October 2011 Wall Street Journal report showed that banks were using money meant for small business loans to pay back TARP.  This is one reason why banks cut back on issuing those small business loans to small businesses!

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that banks were also using money from different versions of TARP, to pay back their original Capital Purchase Program (CPP) version of TARP.

Under the CCP the U.S. Department of Treasury bought huge numbers of stocks in the Too Big to Fail banks.  Banks pay back the Treasury when they buy back their stocks, at a much higher price of course.  So far the Treasury (and technically the taxpayers) has been making huge profits off the bank buy backs.  Except for Zions.  The Treasury Department is getting antsy about those banks that have not bought their stocks back.

The GAO also suggested that the banks that have yet to pay off their loans, like Zions, are on the verge of going down the toilet.  The GAO suggested that these banks were on a ‘secret troubled banks list’ used by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the FDIC has denied they keep such a list).

Mitt Romney, and the Mormon owners of Zions Bank are perfect examples of “Do as I say, not as I do.”  Do we really want that kind of person as President of the United States?  Oh wait, it’s too late, we’ve had dozens (and they all claimed to be christians)!

“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”– Jesus of Nazareth

 

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Record number of U.S. citizens cash out of Too Big to Fail banks!

12 September 2012, in a survey conducted with the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC, an unregulated/independent government agency) discovered that by June 2011 nearly 10 million people quit using banks!  24 million have reduced their use of banks!

The survey is called the second National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households. The first survey was done in 2009.

1 in 12 households are no longer using banks.  That’s an increase of 821,00 since 2009.

1 in 5 households have reduced their use of banks. That’s a rate of 20.1%, in 2009 it was 18.2%.

29.3% canceled savings accounts.  10% do not have checking accounts.

People are using alternative financial services (AFS) such as money orders or  check cashing services.

The reasons for cashing out of banks are varied, ranging from being upset at how the banks are being managed to being denied a bank account because of a bad credit/account history.

And he causesth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell…

Idaho, Technology

Idaho Wildfire Update, 11 September 2012: More Canadian aircraft arrive at Pocatello; BAe 146. U.S. capitalist aviation companies can’t handle the competition?

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11 September 2012, a large and new firefighting aircraft has been seen flying in and out of Pocatello airport (Pocatello Tanker Base) the past few days.  It’s a British Aerospace (BAe) 146 flown by Neptune Aviation of Montana (leased from Tronos in Canada).

Click pics (by AAron B. Hutchins) to make bigger:

The use of the BAe 146 has been delayed in the United States, due to complaints filed by U.S. aviation companies that do not want the competition from the 146.  The disputes are being reviewed by the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO).

The latest update is that Neptune Aviation’s tanker 41 has been given a contract to help fight the fires, from 01 September to 09 November 2012.

IDAHO WILDFIRE UPDATE, 10 SEPTEMBER 2012:

….and tanker 40. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

CANADA JOINS THE FIGHT AT POCATELLO TANKER BASE!