Tag Archives: germany

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: Operation al-Farouq! Saudi Arabia puts military on high alert, buying 800 top-o-the line Leopard tanks

A letter dated 27 June 2012, and signed by Saudi King Abdullah, shows that Saudi Arabia’s military was ordered on high alert.

The supposed top secret order is calling the operation al-Farouq.

The king claims the move is to prevent “foreign or terrorist attacks.”  For some reason the U.S. main stream news media are ignoring the developments.

Speculation that this could be a move to defend against the growing revolutionary movement calling for the end of the U.S./U.K. puppet Al Saud Royalist regime.

Also, there are problems with the royal family in that heirs are dying off, and there is infighting over who will become the next ruler.

This news comes as a Reuters report revealed that Saudi Arabia has increased its order for German made Leopard 2A7 tanks, to 800!  The original order was for 300, and some in Germany’s parliament tried to stop the sale on grounds that it violated the German constitution.

Reuters was citing a German newspaper: “The Saudi order could secure the future of German tank-makers Krauss-Maffei Wegman and Rheinmetall, which urgently need new markets because of the restructuring of the German army.”-Bild am Sonntag

It’s interesting that last year German officials originally denied such a military sale was being made!

International, U.S.

World War 3: Article 5; an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all! Open War with Syria and U.S. led NATO! Syria shoots down Turkish F-4, Turkey admits it was in Syrian airspace!

“The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all, and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually, and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.  Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the [United Nations] Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.”-Article 5, North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO,  4 April 1949

On 22 June 2012, Syrian government officials announced they had shot down a Turkish F-4 Phantom 2, because it had violated their airspace.

On 23 June 2012, Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, admitted the F-4 had violated Syrian airspace: “It is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over borders…when you consider their speed over the sea.”

Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, admitted the same thing, but added that it was not for very long, and had no hostile intentions: “The plane did not show any sign of hostility toward Syria and was shot down about 15 minutes after having momentarily violated Syrian airspace.”

24 June 2012, NATO officials announced they will meet on 26 June to discuss the issue, because Turkey has invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty.  Turkey is a member of NATO.

The last time Article 4 was invoked was in 2003, by Turkey as well.  Guess what happened after that? The U.S. led invasion of Iraq.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Emergency meeting Group of 7! “Impossible” to save Spain! Major credit freeze coming, just as Toyota warned!

“It is really hard in Spain to get a job right now because there are no jobs, and if somewhere you might have a chance, they do not want to pay what is more or less normal. Plus, everything is so expensive: supermarkets, food… Everything is really difficult now.”-Ada Adon, unemployed in Madrid, Spain

 

It has been revealed that the seven top industrialized countries (Group of 7, aka G7) had been in an emergency phone conference since late last night Japan time, early morning U.S. time!

Finance and banking officials from Japan, United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Italy were discussing the global economic situation, a sign that things are getting worse!  The focus is on the European Union (EU).

No joint statement was issued, but Japan’s Finance Minister, Jun Azumi, said all efforts at the moment will focus on preventing a total collapse of the EU.

A German analysts said many investors are on the verge of giving up: “History is repeating itself, we are again in full crisis mode. Last year: crisis; this year: crisis.  The politicians have learned nothing. It would be so easy though. The ECB [European Central Bank] should massively intervene and buy time for countries like Italy and Spain so that they can pursue reforms. Nobody can bear this cacophony, this waiting, this riding out any more.”-Robert Halver, Baader Bank

This comes before the G20 meeting, and it comes on the same day Spanish officials announced a possible second credit crisis.

Spanish Treasury Minister, Cristobal Montoro, admitted on Spanish radio that it was “technically impossible” to save Spain’s economy!

It turn’s out that the recently created EU European Stability Mechanism (a bailout fund) doesn’t have enough money to bailout Spain, let alone other EU members!

Montoro blames high interests rates for crashing the Spanish economy, as well as other EU economies. He says the result will be another huge credit crunch.  On 31 May 2012, Toyota of Japan signaled such an international credit crisis by announcing it was selling $2.5 billion USD in bonds, to raise cash in order to ride out a second coming credit crisis (of course the U.S./British media misreported it).

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? European economies crashing and burning! Greece -6.2% GDP! IMF wants Mo Money! China in trouble!

May 15, 2012, the Group of 20 industrialized countries (not for long maybe?) will be meeting in Mexico, in June.  Already Mexico and Japan are calling for G-20 members (mainly those of the BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to give the U.S. based International Monetary Fund another $430 billion USD!!!

This is because the European economies are crashing and burning. Italy reported a minus 0.8% GDP for the January to March quarter. That’s three quarters in a row of declines! Spain reported a minus 0.3% GDP, for the second quarter in a row. But Greece reported a huge minus 6.2% GDP!!!

The only “good” news came out of Germany, which reported a stagnant 0.5% GDP. And Germany is supposed to be the economic powerhouse of Europe!  Of course main stream western media reporting it as a “bounce back” in the economy, idiots!

Overall, the entire 17 member European Union reported a stagnant 0% GDP for January to March 2012!

To make matters worse, China is reporting that European investment into China has declined for six months in a row!  Chinese officials admitted that their country’s explosive economic growth can only be driven by foreign investment (like unAmerican Corporate America shipping U.S. jobs to China).

From January to April 2012, European investment into China dropped 28%.

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? United Kingdom in Double Dip mode, “strong” Netherlands economy falling apart

Just two days after Spain went Double Dip, Britain is now officially in double dip recession.

On April 23, it was reported that the “experts” expected U.K.’s quarterly GDP report to show 0.1% “growth”, which would have kept it officially out of a Double Dip (I said “close enough”).

April 25, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Britain’s GDP actually dropped 0.2%. Aww, that means two quarters in a row of negative GDP, welcome to the Double Dip club!

Here’s the tally, so far: United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Belgium are officially Double Dippers.

To add to the European Union woes, France and Germany (considered the strongest economies in Europe) are seeing GDP contractions.

Then there’s Netherlands, which was considered to have a strong economy as well.  However, the government has fallen apart, over arguments concerning cutting government spending and raising taxes.  The Prime Minister resigned and new elections are to be held in September.  The Queen of Netherlands (yes, they are an evil elitist monarchy just like the U.K.) has ordered the Prime Minister to stay on until after the new elections.  (this is just more Trilateral Commission operations to create a singular privatized government system)

International, U.S.

World War 3: Turkey blocks Israel’s NATO desire

“There will be no Israeli presence at the NATO meeting unless they issue a formal apology and pay compensation for the Turkish citizens their commandos killed in international waters.”-Turkish statement

Turkey, a full member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has blocked Israel’s attendance at the upcoming Chicago NATO meeting.

Israel is not a member of NATO, but has been allowed to take part in meetings at the insistence of the United States.  The Chicago meeting is scheduled for May 20-21.

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, U.S.

Government Incompetence: Yet again, Record number of people renounce U.S. citizenship. IRS blames elected officials. Where to get official advise for kicking the U.S. citizenship habit

“Americans abroad are terrified. We’ve had people pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines. We’ve had people … pay huge amounts of back taxes. Up to this point, we never heard of anyone renouncing, or if they did, they didn’t talk about it, now we’re seeing a lot of people speak openly about it and come to us for information.”-Marylouise Serrato,  American Citizens Abroad

April 17, 2012, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) National Taxpayer Advocate’s Office, 1,788 people renounced their United States citizenship in 2011.

That’s another record.  The National Taxpayer Advocate’s Office has been keeping track since 1998, and it’s been going up every year.

However, the U.S. Department of State keeps their own records of who gives up U.S. citizenship, and they say it’s been a steady average loss of 1,100 people every year.  Still not good if the United States is such a great place to live; 1,100 people give it up every year, that’s 11,000 people in the past ten years.

The number one reason for leaving the land that’s no longer of the free is taxes!  If you know your U.S. history, taxes were the number one reason for the 1776 Revolution that created the U.S. of A.

In fact one of the rallying cries for the Revolution was “No taxation without representation!”   We’ll that’s exactly what’s happening to the approximately 6.3 million U.S. citizens living in other countries, they’re being taxed and fined more than if they were living in the U.S., and they have no true representation in the U.S. government.

Another problem is that foreign banks say the U.S. government is interfering in their business so much that it’s not worth it to take on U.S. customers: “They’re going to drop Americans like hot potatoes. The foreign banks are upset enough about the regulations that they’re saying they just won’t keep American customers, and it’s giving (Americans living abroad) a lot of sleepless nights.”-Francisca N. Mordi, American Bankers Association

Even the IRS’s National Taxpayer Advocate’s Office blames the U.S. government: “The complexity of international tax law, combined with the administrative burden placed on these taxpayers, creates an environment where taxpayers who are trying their best to comply simply cannot. For some, this means paying more U.S. tax than is legally required, while others may be subject to steep civil and criminal penalties. For some U.S. taxpayers abroad, the tax requirements are so confusing and the compliance burden so great that they give up their U.S. citizenship.”

A major problem with the U.S. tax law is that not only does the U.S. citizen have to report their own income and assets, but they must report the income and assets of their non-U.S. citizen spouse: “When they decide to come clean and report everything, they have to go ask their husbands for all of their bank information, retirement funds, and investment accounts, everything. Your options are to ignore the IRS and stick your head in the sand; take your name off of all the accounts and live in a completely cash economy; divorce; or renounce U.S. citizenship.”-Lucy Stensland Laederich,  Bordeaux Women’s Club

“I grew up in a military family where patriotic feeling was very strong. I’m amazed at how terrible I felt renouncing. But it was the only way to get them off my back. It’s very distressing and time consuming to keep up with all the paperwork. But if it’s this bad when I’m 64, how bad will it be when I’m 74?”-Genette Eysselinck, renounced all ties with the United States

But don’t think renouncing your U.S. citizenship will solve your tax problems, in fact they could get worse: “First of all, there is over a 2 year wait in several countries. Secondly, you are still liable for taxes for the next 10 years. Finally, on the day that you renounce your citizenship, you are considered by the IRS to have made a fictive sale of all of your assets worldwide, and you will be taxed on that sale.”–American Women’s Club Düsseldorf

For an idea of what it takes to officially/legally renounce your citizenship, you can check out the U.S. embassy website in Germany here.

International, U.S.

World War 3: Major Mujahideen offensive, embassies attacked, U.S./NATO forces attacked, Mujahideen say this is the “official” beginning of their Spring Offensive

April 15, 2012, the U.K. embassy in Kabul was hit by two rockets, probably RPGs.  The house where one embassy official lived was also attacked with Rocket Propelled Grenades.

Several large explosions and lots of gunfire heard in Kabul.  U.S. and German embassies attacked.  German officials say they have taken no casualties.  U.S. officials say their embassy is in lockdown mode, no casualties at this time.

Witnesses say Afghan Parliament building, as well as the Russian and Iranian embassies, were also attacked.

Hotels used by foreign officials have been attacked.  Firefights ongoing between Mujahideen and Afghan government forces in the Zambaq Square area of Kabul.

A U.S. led soldier was killed at an airbase near Jalalabad.

In Paktika Province a government building has been taken over by Mujahideen.  Afghan government forces are engaging.  A mine was planted at a Gardiz city school, which went off wounding several children.

In Nangahar Province several large explosions and firefights.  A suicide bomber targeted the U.S. led provincial reconstruction team building.  Two suicide bombings at the local airport.  Several people killed.  Local officials say firefights ongoing.

In Kandahar a local policeman was killed when a suicide bomber targeted his police truck, with a explosives laden tricycle.

Sunday’s attacks by Mujahideen come after the Afghan government announced they had killed three “prominent Taliban leaders” on Saturday, in Nuristan Province.

International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)  had also claimed to have killed 14 militants in the past 24 hours.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Oil & Gas Prices: Iran officially stops oil shipments to Spain & Greece. Germany and Italy next.

April 10, 2012, Iran has officially halted oil exports to Spain and Greece.

The official government announcement comes after Iran canceled oil shipments to two Greek companies on April 5.

Back on March 16 Iran had named the next countries on its oil export ban list.  Those countries are Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.  This is in retaliation for the up coming European Union oil sanctions that go into effect on July 1.

Iran had already halted oil shipments to France and United Kingdom back in February.

According to an April 10 Reuters report, Iran is now considering halting oil exports to Germany as well.