Tag Archives: labor

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

United Police States of America: More proof that Uncle Sam is THE terrorist Mastermind; FBI behind most “terrorist” plots, it’s another way to round up poor black men for slave labor prisons

“The target, the motive, the ideology and the plot were all led by the FBI.”-Karen Greenberg, FBI tactics specialist, Fordham University

More and more evidence is coming forth, showing that for the past 10 years most “foiled terrorist plots” actually were masterminded by the FBI!  It’s a case of taking entrapment to a whole new level.

“Most of these suspect terrorists had no access to weapons unless the government provided them. I would say that showed they were not the biggest threat to the U.S.”-Mike German, American Civil Liberties Union and former FBI counter terrorism agent

Most of those arrested and convicted of recent terrorist plots were illegal drug users and/or sellers, or illegal immigrants.  Most of them say what happened was they were in dire straights financially and the undercover FBI agents (who’re posing as big time drug dealers) would offer them huge amounts of money to blow something up.  Sometimes they were promised that their debts would be cleared.  Illegal immigrants would be promised legal status.

“Most terrorists have links to foreign terrorist groups and have trained in terrorism training camps. Perhaps FBI resources should be spent finding those guys.”-Mike German, American Civil Liberties Union and former FBI counter terrorism agent

Most recently the FBI tried their drug dealer turned terrorist sting on some Iranians living in Mexico.  The Iranians smelled a rat and tried to get out.  One made it back to Iran, the other was arrested.  The U.S. government tried to present the failed ‘sting’ operation as a sinister plot to assassinate a Saudi Arabian official.  Never mind that it was the FBI who masterminded the sinister assassination plot.

But that’s not the only case the FBI bungled.  For some reason the FBI likes to use former convicted felons as their undercover agents.  In one case the potential ‘terrorists’ became so afraid of the FBI undercover agent that they succeed in getting a court to issue a restraining order against him.  They did not know the guy was an FBI undercover agent, or a former felon.

Bottom line, most of these cases involve poor men, mainly black and mainly Muslim.  There have been cases where they appeal their convictions, yet, even when the judge admits the FBI screwed up, their convictions are upheld.

It sounds to me like this is just another way our Corporate America controlled government is filling up slave labor prisons, especially the for profit Corporate America controlled prisons.  It has nothing to do with terrorists out to get us!

 

 

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Occupy Detroit! Officials say City workers need to make more sacrifices, City workers say it’s the Officials who are sucking up all the money!

“Simply put, our city is in a financial crisis, and city government is broken. That’s not new. That’s not an opinion. That is a fact.”-Dave Bing, Mayor of Detroit

Detroit is going bust, and the city leaders are taking it out on the city employees.

City leaders want employees to take a 10% cut in pay, and pay 10% more for their health benefits.  City workers responded by pointing to the fact that there’s too many high level salaried vampire officials sucking up all the money: “The problem isn’t us, it’s the layers and layers of management that should go!”-Catherine Phillips, government employees’ union

Business/Economics, International

Class War: Studies reveal Money does make you happier, but it only drives you to want more

A Chinese newspaper gathered data from studies done around the world, about wealth, and the people who have it, and found that many common myths about having lots of money are false.

I always heard that “money doesn’t buy happiness”, turns out that’s a lie. One study, by Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson, concluded:

1) Rich people are happier than poor people.

2) Richer countries are happier than poorer countries.

3) As countries get richer, they tend to get happier.

However, Psychologist David Myers says the degree of happiness depends on the relative disparity between the rich and the poor.  Apparently the more impoverished a country is, the more happier the rich bastards become (is that why Wall Street is trying to take down main street U.S.A.?).

Also, University of Michigan researcher Ronald Inglehart discovered that once a person becomes wealthy, it takes even more and more money to keep them happy, like a drug addict (again, is that why Wall Street is trying to take down main street U.S.A.?).

What about the myth of suicides and rich people losing their money?  Many people think of the Crash of ’29, when supposedly dozens of people jumped to their deaths, from their high rise offices, after losing all their money in the stock markets.

While some rich people do kill themselves, people living in poverty are still more likely to end it all.  Several studies have been done, including by the UN World Health Organization, and they conclude that the majority of suicides involve people living in rural (poor) areas!

U.S. deaths are caused by poverty…. about the same as deaths from heart attacks and stroke, study finds

The Global Social Crisis: Report on the World Social Situation 2011

Every Thirty Minutes: Farmer Suicides, Human Rights, and the Agrarian Crisis in India

Poverty, Mental Illness and Suicide Linked

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? United Police States of Corporate America, Corporations that use prison labor, and the States that are involved

Labor Day to be replaced by Prison Labor Day???

“Honda has paid inmates $2 an hour for doing the same work an auto worker would get paid $20 to $30 an hour to do. Konica has used prisoners to repair copiers for less than 50 cents an hour. Toys R Us used prisoners to restock shelves, and Microsoft to pack and ship software. Clothing made in California and Oregon prisons competes so successfully with apparel made in Latin America and Asia that it is exported to other countries.

Inmates are also employed in a wide variety of service jobs as well. TWA has used prisoners to handle reservations, while AT&T has used prison labor for telemarketing. In Oregon, prisoners do all the data entry and record keeping in the Secretary of State’s corporation division. Other jobs include desktop publishing, digital mapping and computer-aided design work.”-Prison Labor on the rise in the US, wsws.org

The following are lists of known corporations/organizations that use prison labor, and the states that are involved:

BANKS: American General Financial Group, American Express Company, Bank of America, Community Financial Services Corporation, Credit Card Coalition, Credit Union National Association, Fidelity Inestments, Harris Trust & Savings Bank, Household International, LaSalle National Bank, J.P. Morgan & Company, Non-Bank Funds Transmitters Group

ENERGY PRODUCERS/OIL: American Petroleum Institute, Amoco Corporation, ARCO, BP America, Caltex Petroleum, Chevron Corporation, ExxonMobil Corporation, Mobil Oil Corporation, Phillips Petroleum Company.

ENERGY PRODUCERS/UTILITIES: American Electric Power Association, American Gas Association, Center for Energy and Economic Development, Commonwealth Edison Company, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Edison Electric Institute, Independent Power Producers of New York, Koch Industries, Mid-American Energy Company, Natural Gas Supply Association, PG&E Corporation/PG&E National Energy Group, U.S. Generating Company.

INSURANCE: Alliance of American Insurers, Allstate Insurance Company, American Council of Life Insurance, American Insurance Association, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Corporation, Coalition for Asbestos Justice (members include ACE-USA, Chubb & Son, CNA service mark companies, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, Hartford Financial Services Group, Kemper Insurance Companies, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company. Counsel to the coalition is Victor E. Schwartz of the law firm of Crowell & Moring in Washington DC, a longtime ALEC ally.)
Fortis Health, GEICO, Golden Rule Insurance Company, Guarantee Trust Life Insurance, MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company, National Association of Independent Insurers, Nationwide Insurance/National Financial, State Farm Insurance Companies, Wausau Insurance Companies, Zurich Insurance.

PHARMACEUTICALS: Abbott Laboratories, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Bayer Corporation, Eli Lilly & Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Glaxo Wellcome, Hoffman-LaRoche, Merck & Company, Pfizer, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), Pharmacia Corporation, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Schering-Plough Corporation, Smith, Kline & French, WYETH a division of American Home Products Corporation.

MANUFACTURING:American Plastics Council, Archer Daniels Midland Corporation, AutoZone (aftermarket automotive parts), Cargill, Caterpillar, Chlorine Chemistry Council, Deere & Company, Fruit of the Loom, Grocery Manufacturers of America, Inland Steel Industries, International Game Technology, International Paper, Johnson & Johnson, Keystone Automotive Industries, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee Corporation.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS: AT&T, Ameritech, BellSouth Telecommunications, GTE Corporation, MCI, National Cable and Telecommunications Association, SBC Communications, Sprint, UST Public Affairs, Verizon Communications.

TRANSPORTATION: Air Transport Association of America, American Trucking Association, TWA, The Boeing Company, United Airlines, United Parcel Service (UPS).

OTHER U.S. COMPANIES: Amway Corporation, Cabot Sedgewick, Cendant Corporation, Corrections Corporation of America, Dresser Industries, Federated Department Stores, International Gold Corporation, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Microsoft Corporation, Newmont Mining Corporation, Quaker Oats, Sears, Roebuck & Company, Service Corporation International, Taxpayers Network, Turner Construction, WalMart.

ORGANIZATIONS/ASSOCIATIONS: Adolph Coors Foundation, Ameritech Foundation, Bell & Howell Foundation, Carthage Foundation, Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, ELW Foundation, Grocery Manufacturers of America, Heartland Institute of Chicago, The Heritage Foundation, Iowans for Tax Relief, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee, National Pork Producers Association, National Rifle Association, Olin Foundation, Roe Foundation, Scaiffe Foundation, Shell Oil Company Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, Steel Recycling Institute, Tax Education Support Organization, Texas Educational Foundation, UPS Foundation.

STATES (from 2011 NICA 1st quarter report, does not include states reporting “0” income from prison labor): Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

 

Fukushima

Typhoon Talas hitting Japan with heavy rain, warnings issued, school hit by landslide

Typhoon Talas is coming ashore between Shikoku and Hiroshima.  Heavy rain, flooding and landslides being reported from Tokyo area, and several hundreds of miles north east to the island of Hokkaido.

Rain warnings for the hardest hit areas: Tokai (Nagoya) and Kinki (Osaka, Kobe, & Kyoto), may get drenched with 800mm (31 inches) of rain in the next 24 hours!!!

Landislide warnings for the following prefectures:  Tokushima, Wakayama, Nara, Mie, Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Saitama, Gunma, Tochigi, Iwate and Hokkaido.

There are reports that a school in Nabari, Mie, has been hit by a landslide.

Wind damage to buildings in Kobe, Osaka and Wakayama.

Air travel canceled, some roads closed.

Fukushima

Radiation decontamination in Japan will be complicated

The Japanese government is about to vote on a standardized decontamination plan.

Here’s a list of suggested decontamination procedures for cities and towns:

High pressure washing of homes and buildings, including rain gutters.

Trimming of outer leaves and branches on bushes and trees.

Pulling up smaller plants and removal of top soil.

Washing roads, including flushing joints on asphalt and concrete roads, removing mud and dirt along roadsides.

All removed soil and plant material must be treated as nuclear waste.

The Japanese government will vote on a standardized plan on 26 August 2011.  The amazing thing is that it’s been more than five months since the start of the ongoing nuclear disaster, and they’re just now coming up with a standardized national government decontamination plan.

Fukushima, U.S.

Nuclear plant shut down by Viginia Earthquake, 9 other nuke plants affected

The North Anna nuclear power plant, outside Richmond, Virginia, has shut down.

The plant is on the coastline, just seven miles from the epicenter of the 5.9 quake (earlier reports said it was 5.8).

Diesel generators are supplying power to basic systems at the plant.

Nine nuke plants from New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania to Maryland have declared unusual events.  They have not shut down.

International

Obama wants troops to stay in Afghanistan until 2024, Russia says it doesn’t make sense

Afghan officials have told British media that the U.S. and Afghanistan have agreed to keep thousands of U.S. troops in country until 2024!

The deal would allow U.S. forces to use Afghan military bases, provide facilities to store massive numbers of U.S. military equipment, and allow thousands of military personnel to stay, including special forces.

Russian officials pointed out that the deal doesn’t make sense: “If the job is done, if terrorism is defeated and peace and stability is brought back, then why would you need bases?  If the job is not done, then several thousand troops, even special forces, will not be able to do the job that 150,000 troops couldn’t do.  It is not possible.”-Andrey Avetisyan, Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan

The Russians should know, they got their butts kicked by the Afghans back when Russia was part of the Soviet Union.  They did exactly what the U.S. is doing now, trying to train up the Afghan government to take on the “terrorists”.  The Soviet Union left Afghanistan in 1989, but continued to supply weapons and trainers to the Afghan government.  The Afghan government lasted until 1992, brought down by a civil war that lasted until 1996.  The civil war ended in 1996 when the Taliban took control of the country.

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Nuclear Plant workers say Reactor 1 was already melting down even before the Tsunami hit, decreasing radiation levels due to fuel rods being washed away

Many workers who were at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant the day of the 11 March 2011 quake and tsunami, say reactor 1 was already in trouble and possibly melting down, immediately after the 9.0 quake.

“There’s certainly a great deal of evidence that appears to suggest that the first reactor, reactor number one, was melting down by the time the tsunami hit. So, if that’s the case that the reactor was melting down as a result of the earthquake, and not as a result of the tsunami, a nine-point earthquake is something that has the potential to happen throughout Japan, and that would put the reliability and the design safety of all of these reactors in question.”-Robert Jacobs, Hiroshima Peace Institute

Also, Tokyo Electric Power Company has been reporting decreasing radiation levels coming from Pacific Ocean water inlets and outlets.  It’s not a sign they have things under control, because they certainly don’t.  Rather, after 5 months of ongoing nuclear disaster, what’s happened is that the remains of nuclear fuel rods have been washed out into the Pacific Ocean by TEPCo’s continued water injection.

“When you have a fragile structure that’s already suffered a great deal of damage and when you have continual aftershocks at the level of six-point, or there’s been some even higher, what we have now is we have the radioactive core that has melted down into the basement, into the bottom of the containment vessel of these reactors, and if the radiation level is going down, where it’s been monitored inside the buildings, and if the water pressure is going down, and the temperature is going down, it’s not that the radiation is just suddenly going away, it means that the radioactive material, the melted core, is simply moving further away from where it’s been measured.”-Robert Jacobs

 

Fukushima

Government Incompentence: Japanese official does 1-80, stops promoting Japanese food, now says no guarantee it’s safe to eat

Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto has been working hard promoting Japanese food products to other countries, despite overwhelming evidence of radiation contamination.  Now Takeaki has ordered his own ministry to stop vouching for the safety of Japanese food products.

Takeaki Matsumoto says his 1-80 is the result of increased demands for food safety information from other countries, and the fact that it’s become impossible to guarantee food being exported from Japan is safe from radiation.

This is because many of the contaminated food products sold within Japan, were discovered after they were sold to consumers.