Tag Archives: economy

Business/Economics, U.S.

Black Horse & Political Incompetence: “Conservative Christian” Rick Perry spends $1.4 million in taxpayer money running for President, while Texas burns and people starve in Texas Prisons

I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

Texas Governor Rick Perry has spent at least $1.4 million of Texas taxpayer’s money on his campaign for President of the United States.  What’s the money being spent on? Security, travel, lodging and food!

“…what are they eating? How many people are there? $4,400 in one meal? Jesus, lord, mercy, how much food can you eat?”– Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks

Between just September and December of 2011, $400,000 of taxpayer funds went towards security.

Other expenses include $32,000 worth of lodging while in San Francisco, $4,400 dinner tab in Simi Valley and $6,400 for a flight out of San Diego!

To add insult to taxpayer injury, ‘christian’ Rick Perry and his cohorts cut funding for Texas firefighters, right at a time when almost the whole state of Texas was burning (then he tried to blame Obama for not helping Texas fight the fires!).  Also, he cut funding for Texas prisons so drastically that they now get the equivalent of only two meals per day (welcome to the United Police States of America)!

Perry tried to justify the charging of his campaign expenses to the Texas taxpayers: “I’m going to be promoting Texas. I’m going to be traveling to places where the Texas story needs to be told, and we will tell it.”-Rick Perry

 

U.S.

NAZI-land & United Police States of America: New York cops caught on camera planting evidence on “suspects”

It happened back in February, 2011, and is just now making the news; two Utica, New York cops were caught on camera planting evidence, drugs, inside people’s cars.  The cops were recorded by their own security camera in their car.

It took a local newspaper to bring the story to the public. Utica police say they were simply putting drugs they took off the suspects, into the suspects’ car. That’s not normal police procedure, but the District Attorney claims it is: You can put the evidence on your person to maintain custody of it until you have a chance to store it. Where else are you going to put it, on the ground? In the course of searching someone, sometimes the only thing you’ve got is your pockets until a short time later you can put it all together.”-Scott McNamara, Williams and Oneida County District Attorney

You can see the video here.  About one minute in you can see the cop searching the SUV pull a baggie out of his own pocket and put in side the vehicle.  He then walks a way with the baggie looking like it had been opened.

Wouldn’t putting evidence in your pocket compromise it?  Other people feel the same way, and say it’s not part of police training:  “We do feel there is concern that some wrongdoing has been done because police officers don’t place evidence in their back pocket and then take it out and climb into a suspect’s car, and then exit with the drugs unrolled.”-Venice Ervin, local NAACP

The Utica Police Department say they’re investigating, and when they are done the FBI will investigate.

 

U.S.

Red Horse: 62 year old man suffered hellish death at the hands of Florida NAZI-land cops, all for being drunk! Ghost of Abu Ghraib

Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other.

“This photo is a picture of a man who is strapped to a chair naked inside a jail for hours with a hood over his face. That evokes thoughts of being tortured.”-Nick DiCello, attorney

About two and a half years ago a distraught Ohio man decided to take a break and visit his brother in Florida.  Like many tourists in Florida, he liked to drink alcohol.  He got arrested for being drunk, and 48 hours later he was dead.

Florida’s District 21 Medical Examiner ruled his death was a “Homicide (restrained and sprayed with pepper spray by law enforcement officers)”.

But under Florida law a homicide does not necessarily mean it was a criminal act, and every NAZI cop involved was cleared by Florida courts.

This event came into public view, not just because of the medical examiner’s report, but because some good cops found the whole thing disgusting and told, and they have photographic evidence.

Monshay Gibbs, a deputy trainee at the jail at the time, testified against the cops: “Did Christie have a spit mask [cop talk for gag] on?”-court

“Yeah.”-Monshay Gibbs

“Could you see that he was, was he naked?”-court

“Yes he was”-Monshay Gibbs
“Completely naked?”-court
“Completely naked.”-Monshay Gibbs

A local Florida Fox TV news affiliate broke the story.  They revealed that the 62 year old man was gagged, strapped to a chair naked and repeatedly sprayed with pepper spray (at least ten times) over a 48 hour period.

The man also had medical conditions.  His wife says she called and begged police to consider his conditions and take him to the hospital.  They refused, until it was too late.  In the homicide investigation, the NAZI cops said they were unaware of any medical conditions until after they killed the guy.

A retired Florida cop says that pepper spray is not supposed to be used after you restrain someone: “The purpose is to incapacitate the person temporarily, that’s the key word, long enough so that you can restrain them.”-Tom Depolis, retired cop

“So you don’t pepper spray them when they are restrained?”-reporter

“No, that would be ridiculous while they are restrained.”-Tom Depolis, retired cop

You can watch the Fox news report, with the abu Ghraib like pics,  here.

If you think things are bad now, just imagine how things are gonna get since President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, allowing the indefinite detention and torture of U.S. citizens!

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Afghan & Pakistan Taliban joining forces, will jointly attack U.S./NATO forces

Despite reports from Reuters, stating that the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban are “at each other’s throats”, Japanese media are reporting that various ‘taliban’ groups have agreed to put aside differences to jointly target U.S. led forces.

Over the weekend representatives from Afghanistan’s and Pakistan’s Pashtun dominated Taliban (Mujahideen) groups met.  Japan’s NHK claims they talked with Mujahideen officials and were told they have decided to put aside their differences, and focus on fighting the U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistani Mujahideen agreed to back off of attacking Pakistani government forces, and, beginning in March, will help their Afghan cousins focus their fight against the U.S.

They’ve established a 5 member council to help co-ordinate their efforts.  This news comes after reports that the Afghan Taliban have accepted an offer from U.S. President Obama, and the government of pro-U.S. Qatar, to open a diplomatic office in Qatar.

Business/Economics, Technology, U.S.

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Ohio suffering mass earthquakes, officials blame Fracking. Not the first time; Arkansas blamed Fracking on increased quakes back in July

“The earthquakes will trickle on as a kind of a cascading process once you’ve caused them to occur. This one year of pumping is a pulse that has been pushed into the ground, and it’s going to be spreading out for at least a year.”-John Armbruster, Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

On New Year’s Eve, Ohio had a 4.0 quake.  It’s part of many quakes the state has suffered since March 2011.  Now state lawmakers are banning the energy industry’s practice of Fracking.

Energy companies inject chemically heavy water, under extreme pressures, deep into the ground.  It releases natural gas from shale. The gas is used mainly for the oil industry’s hydrogen cracking process, which makes fuels cleaner burning.

For a long time it’s been claimed that fracking pollutes underground water sources, but the industry has successfully fought off such claims.  Another claim is that it could cause earthquakes.

Now, seismologists with the U.S. Geological Survey have testified to Ohio officials that the state’s unusual quake activity is directly related to fracking wastewater injection.

In July, the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission banned  fracking wastewater injection, because of increased earthquake activity.

Energy companies doing the fracking are taking their wastewater and injecting it deep into underground sand deposits, to get rid of it.  Scientists say the problem is that the companies have overshot the underground sand beds, and are basically pressurizing fault lines.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: China’s strong economy can not exist without outside supplies, like oil from Iran

Chinese officials reporting that their country is the biggest consumer of natural resources in the world, and most of those resources come from outside China.

Zhang Ping, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said China uses double the world average in energy (based on GDP).  Also, more than 50% of China’s petroleum and iron ore comes from other countries (like Libya and Iran in the case of oil).

Still, the amount of energy usage is far behind China’s incredible economic growth: Domestic economic growth averaging an annual rate of 11.2%, while energy consumption remains at 6.6%.

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Iran warns it will take military action if U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Persian Gulf, U.S. Navy trying to instigate War

“…we are not in the habit of repeating a warning and we warn only once.”-Ataollah Salehi, Major General Iranian Army

January 3, a top Iranian General has made threats of military action against the USS John C. Stennis, saying the U.S. nuclear powered aircraft carrier can not return to the Persian Gulf.  As usual Western media is not explaining Iran’s side of the story.

Iran’s warning against the U.S. aircraft carrier came after it supposedly got too close to Iranian naval war games.  On top of that, the Iranians say the USS John C. Stennis made other threatening maneuvers by sailing right through a group of Forouzan oil platforms, and near Iran’s Farsi Island.

The USS John C. Stennis has reportedly left the Persian Gulf, and the Sea of Oman.  So far the USN has refused to comment.

 

U.S.

NAZI-land & the United Police States of America: Obama signs National Defense Act, now U.S. military can be used as police forces within the U.S., you could go to prison for life just for being suspected of being a terrorist, all in the name of National Security

“If you’re an American citizen and you want to help…destroy your own country, here is what’s coming your way.”- Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator from South Carolina

January 1, 2012, welcome to the new NAZI-land: The United Police States of America!  On December 31, President Barack Obama (the BS Peace Prize winner) quietly signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.

“This is a giant step, this should be the biggest news going right now, literally legalizing martial law…This is big. This step where they can literally arrest American citizens and put them away without trial….is arrogant and bold and dangerous.”–Ron Paul, U.S. Representative for Texas

The 2012 Defense Act gives the President of the U.S. (regardless of who is President) the authority to use active duty military forces to police the United States, in the name of fulfilling the September 18, 2001, Authorization for Use of Military Force law.  That law, signed by former President Bush Jr, was essentially a Congressional order given to the office of the President to conduct a War on Terror, after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

So, this new Defense Act not only provides the Defense Department with more than $600 billion in taxpayer dollars, but it expands the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force law to inside the United States.

It would “…permit the federal government to indefinitely detain American citizens on American soil, without  charge or trial, at the discretion of the President.”-Justin Amash, U.S. Representative from Michigan, one of five House Republicans who voted against the bill

It allows the government to imprison anyone that is suspected of being a terrorist, indefinitely, without being charged or tried in a court of law!  The clause in the new law is the old fail safe for control freak elitists who run this country: “National Security”.

President Obama (a graduate of Harvard Law School) claims he will not use the new law in an arbitrary way: “…I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation. My Administration will interpret section 1021 in a manner that ensures that any detention it authorizes complies with the Constitution, the laws of war, and all other applicable law.”

Happy New Year!

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Some Hope for 2012: East Idaho finally gets its first two Carl’s Jr! Part of 51 store expansion!!!

December 31, 2011, and I just ate at the first Carl’s Jr burger joint in eastern Idaho! Love those Western Bacon Cheeseburgers (been eating them since the early 1980s!), and those luscious teriyaki burgers!

No more finding excuses to travel more than an hour to get Carl’s Jr.  Although I still have to drive 45 minutes to Idaho Falls, but pretty soon, I hope, there’s gonna be Carl’s Jr in the Pocatello area.  That’s according to a 2008 press release.

carl's jr

New Carl's Jr Resturant, Grand Teton Mall, Idaho Falls

One of the new east Idaho Carl’s Jr is located in the Grand Teton Mall parking lot, across from the Barnes & Noble.

There is a second Carl’s Jr in Idaho Falls, located at the intersection of Holmes and Northgate mile. I think they were a little overwhelmed; they were out of large size cups, and they just ran out of five dollar bills on the day I tried them out.

According to a 2008 press release eastern and southeastern Idaho will get five more Carl’s Jr by 2014.  The new restaurants will be spread from Pocatello to Idaho Falls.

carl's jr

Carl's Jr, Idaho Falls, Idaho

The new restaurants are part of a huge expansion by California based Carl’s Jr.  In December, 2008, Carl Karcher Enterprises announced they signed franchise deals for 51 new stores!  Those new stores will be concentrated in Nevada and Idaho.

East and southeast Idaho will get a total of six restaurants, southern Idaho (Twin Falls area) will get three, and the Boise area (southwest Idaho) will get three more on top of the stores already there.

I noticed east Idaho’s local media paid no head to the new Carl’s Jr, but was all over the new Chick-fil-A (I’ve eaten at a Chick-fil-A in Georgia, never again).

Mmmm, how many Chick-fil-A stores will open in east Idaho, oh just the one in Ammon? (I checked Chick-fil-A’s list of future store openings) Lets see, Carl’s Jr opening a total of six stores in east and southeast Idaho (as well as new stores in south and southwest Idaho), I can see who’s gonna be helping the local economy more.

(By the way you can print off coupons from the Carl’s Jr website)

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Foreign banks dumping U.S. Treasury Bonds

Late on December 30, the U.S. Treasury announced that the dumping of U.S. bonds, by foreign banks, continues and is accelerating.

Back in September the Treasury revealed a $56 billion drop in U.S. Treasury holdings by foreign banks, resulting in a 10 year yield of only 1.67%, the lowest yield since 1945!

Now, for December, an even bigger drop, by $69 billion!!! The result is that the 10 year yield on U.S. Treasuries ended 2011 below 1.9%.

Treasury Department officials also admitted that if it wasn’t for Japan buying up U.S. dollars and other Treasury securities (in August and October), the drop in 2011 foreign holdings would be even bigger!

And this despite the Treasury’s attempt to increase sales through their Operation Twist.  Operation Twist basically exchanges long term bonds for shorter term bonds.