Tag Archives: employment

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

What Economic Recovery? Hewlett Packard spending millions to save money in Idaho? Announces even more layoffs! Refuses to pay fair share in taxes! Hoping to save itself by making a deal with the devil: Israel!

“Just think of all the value that they have destroyed. It has been a case of just horrible management.”-Brian Marshall, ISI Group

23 September 2012, the past month has been a busy month of announcements from struggling computer maker, Hewlett Packard (HP).

At the end of August, HP reported a quarterly loss of $8.9 billion USD! (Dell computer maker also reported a big loss)  Then at the beginning of September, HP officials announced they will layoff 29,000 employees by 2014, that’s an increase of 2,000 from their layoff announcement in May of this year.

HP blamed the quarterly loss on down sales, and the cost of downsizing the company!

According to an Idaho Statesmen report, HP spent $50 million, over the past few years, downsizing its operations at the huge Boise HP campus.

The report also pointed out that HP is refusing to publish just how many people have lost their jobs at the Boise campus.  The Idaho Statesmen estimates it to be in the hundreds (at least 320).

HP also isn’t mentioning the fact that they’ve spent more than $40 billion on buying up worthless companies!

Just days ago a U.S. Senate investigation revealed that HP is one of thousands of unAmerican Corporations (including Microsoft) that are working hard to avoid paying taxes.

“The bottom line of our investigation is that some multinationals use our current tax system to engage in shams and gimmicks to avoid paying the taxes they owe.”-Carl Levin, Senator from Michigan

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations discovered that HP avoided paying $4.5 billion in taxes, from 2009 to 2011, by using complicated offshore loan deals  (you see it’s not just Mitt Romney, everyone in unAmerican Corporate America does it).

Of course HP officials deny it: “I can assure the committee that HP takes seriously its obligations to accurately follow accounting principle and to pay taxes that it owes.”-Lester D. Ezrati, HP

HP also has operations in Israel, and today it was announced that HP is in the running for a huge military contract worth half a billion USD!  (IBM, Dell and Lockheed Martin have also bid)

The contract will be for a new huge Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) computer server farm based in the Negev desert.  It will be the main server farm for electronic logistics, communication and military intelligence operations being run by other newly built bases in the Negev.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Hoku pulls stocks from NASDAQ, deregisters with SEC.

Hawaii based Hoku Corporation is no longer selling stocks, through NASDAQ anyway.  At the beginning of September 2012, Hoku filed a Form 15 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), asking for their existing shares to be deregistered.

This means Hoku will not have to make any reports to the SEC for the next 90 days.

Back in July Hoku delisted from NASDAQ.  Hoku Corp. is blaming their fall on the crashing price of polysilicon.  Hoku Corp. shut down their Hoku Materials polysilicon operation in Idaho, back in May.

Hoku Corp. is looking for a buyer for its Hoku Solar division.

Hoku Corp. stocks are now being traded Over The Counter (OTC). As of  17 September 2012, they were selling for only .07 cents per share.

HOKU CONTINUES DOWNWARD SPIRAL. POCATELLO PLANT MOTHBALLED! 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho’s Coldwater Creek loses $17 million! Store closings will continue!

On 29 August 2012, Coldwater Creek reported a 2nd quarter loss of $17 million USD.  It’s the third quarter in a row for the women’s apparel retailer.

The Sandpoint, Idaho, based company blames it on falling sales (again).

Direct catalog sales dropped $5 million, retail/outlet stores and spas dropped $12.3 million, compared to the same time last year.  Some of the sales loses were blamed on the closing of 24 Coldwater Creek stores across the United States, since 2011 (four closed during the 2nd quarter of 2012).

Company officials say one of their plans to improve financial performance is to move existing stores into smaller locations, as well as closing another 20+ stores by 2013.

NASDAQ is threatening to delist Coldwater Creek from its stock exchange, because the price of one share is still below $1.00.

Also at the end of August, a former Coldwater Creek official was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and more than $246,000 in restitution, after pleading guilty to embezzling the company.  The judge rejected a plea agreement which called for a sentence of only 90 days in jail.

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