Tag Archives: nato

Business/Economics

“nobody was given the heads up on this”: U.S. industrial/logistics/mining layoffs, November 2018

Incomplete list of U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics job loss/shutdown announcements made in November 2018.

WARN=Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification

ARKANSAS: Union Pacific railroad continues adding to its layoff lists

CALIFORNIA: British empire owned maker of police-state equipment for military/law enforcement Safariland issued a mass layoff WARN for its Ontario factory, 158 jobs gone by the end of the year!  Driessen Aircraft Interiors Systems issued a shutdown WARN for its factory in Huntington, 60 jobs gone by the end of the year. E2 Consulting Engineers issued a mass layoff WARN, 162 jobs gone by the end of the year! International Paper Company issued a shutdown WARN for its San Leandro location, 36 jobs gone the week before xmas. APL Logistics Limited issued a shutdown WARN for its Fontana ops, 96 jobs gone in January 2019.  British empire Canada based North American Services issued a shutdown WARN for its ops in Simi Valley, 26 jobs gone in January 2019.  DI Overnight issued mass layoff WARNs, at least 3-hundred jobs gone across ten locations, by March 2019! CEVA Logistics issued a shutdown WARN for its ops in San Jose, 197 jobs gone!  Custom furnace maker Retech Systems issued a layoff WARN for its Ukiah factory, 30 jobs gone in January 2019.  Rockwell Collins issued a shutdown WARN for its office in Irvine.  Pacific Southwest Containers issued a shutdown WARN for its ops in Chatsworth.  Boeing laying off ten people in Huntington, in January 2019.

CONNECTICUT:  Harvey Supply Chain International issued a shutdown WARN, 97 jobs in Woodstock gone mid-January 2019.  Crabtree & Evelyn issues shutdown WARN for its body lotions/fragrances manufacturing/distribution ops in Woodstock, at least 30 jobs gone after January 2019.  (Harvey Supply Chain and Crabtree are related companies)

Champion Builders now chapter 11 bankrupt busted

Calpine shutting down North American Power office

FLORIDA: C&S Wholesale eliminating 205 jobs in Orlando, between the end of January 2019 and mid-March 2019! Service America Enterprises eliminating 161 construction related jobs in January 2019!

General Electric (GE) kills 147 Jacksonville jobs!

GEORGIA: Georgia-Pacific closing Warm Springs mill, affecting 321 jobs!

HAWAII:  Hawaii’s largest commercial printer shutting down after more than 26 years, 93 jobs lost

ILLINOIS: ADC Diecasting & Manufacturing issued a shutdown WARN, 101 jobs gone by the end of January 2019! Callen Manufacturing issued a shutdown WARN, 126 jobs gone by February 2019!  ZF Chassis Systems Chicago issued a shutdown WARN, 261 jobs gone by June 2019! Caterpillar issued a shutdown WARN for its factory in Joliet, 285 jobs gone by June 2019!

INDIANA: Without warning Textron shutdown its lawnmower factory Dixie Chopper, 107 jobs gone instantly!

IOWA:  Germany based Siemens shutting down its Burlington factory, 125 jobs lost four days before xmas

KENTUCKY: Industrial bag maker Mondi closing Louisville facility, laying off 100 workers!

LOUISIANA: Oil company PetroQuest Energy filed for bankruptcy protection from $204.5 million in debt

MICHIGAN: General Motors (GM) to lay off 14-thousand-7-hundred employees!!!

Alphi Manufacturing eliminating 106 jobs in Jonesville due to “sudden and unexpected” loss of contract!

MINNESOTA: Quam Construction suddenly laid off 40 people in Willmar.

Bankrupt Peoples Electric shutdown without warning, 130 contractors suddenly jobless!

NEW YORK: Dumas Contracting revealed it eliminated 33 jobs at the end of October.

Greek based oil company Aegean Marine Petroleum filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in NYC

Hat maker New Era Cap shutting down its factory in Derby, city officials said “nobody was given the heads up on this.”

Sunlite Plastics to cut 58 jobs after unexpected crash in orders

LED Lighting Manufacturer LSI shutting down New Windsor factory, 136 Layoffs!

NORTH CAROLINA: Germany based BASF to lay off 53 workers at two Charlotte locations

Taxpayer funded Leonardo DRS eliminating at least 90 jobs starting in December, “in the process of implementing contingency plans” 

Layoffs possible as Duke Energy expands buyout offers

After 77 years cloth maker Copland Industries shutting down by the end of the year, blaming international competition

Boise Cascade halting laminated ops in Roxboro, 56 jobs gone by the end of the year because “we have been unable to reduce manufacturing costs to an acceptable level”

PENNSYLVANIA: NFI Interactive Logistics issued a shutdown WARN for its Sunbury location, 55 jobs gone by the end of January 2019.  HVAC maker Danfoss issued a layoff WARN, 48 jobs gone by March 2019.  ‘Premium’ bicycle marketer Advanced Sports Enterprises issued a layoff WARN, 60 jobs gone in January 2019.  Bartash Printing suddenly shutdown, 163 jobs already gone according to the WARN!

Faucet maker Moen shutting down 50 years old factory, at least 50 jobs gone in 2019

Cloth maker Woolrich shutting down its mill by the end of the year (40 jobs gone according to the WARN)

TEXAS: Despite being promised an economic incentive from local officials, insulation maker CertainTeed halting production in Sherman, 35 jobs gone by December.

WISCONSIN: Beechworth Windows issued a shutdown WARN, 80 jobs gone by January 2019.

General Electric (GE) Global Operations is laying off 63 people

WYOMING: Dozens of oil industry layoffs despite increase in production, no explanation given

U.S. MINING/INDUSTRIAL/LOGISTICS LAYOFFS, OCTOBER 2018:“WE KIND OF NEED TO DO SOMETHING BESIDES DIE AT OUR DESK”

U.S.

Great Reneger: Deployments so common even beers are named after them

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“This is why we’re in business. As the poet Ice Cube put it, ‘today was a good day’ for us. To be able to work within our muse to create a beer for the unit is one of the coolest things that we’ve done so far.”-Jared Beville, co-owner Red River Brewing Company

When the Louisiana Army National Guardsmen of the 39th Military Police Company, 773rd MP Battalion, 139th Regional Support Group learned that they would be deploying overseas (location not revealed), their family readiness group and unit leadership asked if Red River Brewing Company would have a beer brewed for them.

A schwarzbier (black beer) was chosen and named Fear the Dark after the 39th’s motto, it even has the unit’s black panther logo.

GREAT RENEGER: OREGON, WASHINGTON, IDAHO AND MONTANA ARMY MILITIAS PREP TO DEPLOY

U.S. FOOD CRISIS: A LITTLE ROUNDUP WITH THAT BEER?

Technology

‘routine tests’ & ‘logistics hell’: U.S. hi-tech/communications breakdown, November 2018

Video

Incomplete list of U.S. internet/high-tech/communications job destruction and chicanery announcements in November 2018:

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Facebook documents seized by British empire

Mexico’s tequila council pumps the brakes on Elon Musk’s ‘Teslaquila’

5 Reasons Cryptocurrency Prices Are Plunging Again

CALIFORNIA:  Tobi.com issued a shutdown WARN for its ops in San Mateo County, 62 jobs gone by the end of January 2019.  SMK-LINK Electronics issued a shutdown WARN for its ops in Camarillo.  ‘Truth in Data’ company Merkle Group issued a layoff WARN for ops in Burbank, 82 jobs gone by the end of the year. Communication tech company Polycom suddenly shutdown its operations in Tracy.  Cisco Systems suddenly laid off 462 people in San Jose and Milpitas!  Universal Electronics issued a layoff WARN, 38 jobs in Santa Ana gone in February 2019. Source Broadband Services eliminating 44 jobs right after xmas.  Warner Music finally told state unemployment officials that it killed 58 jobs, back in July.  Madhouse Entertainment shutting down its Los Angeles office right after xmas.

Taxpayer funded Amtrak to close Riverside call center, eliminating 550 jobs!

New tech start-up Moogsoft lays off 30 people

Broadcom eliminating 2-thousand jobs as part of its take-over of CA Technologies!

Defy Media Shuts Down (90 jobs gone according to WARN)

Disney Digital Network Hit With a New Round of Layoffs

Facebook claims outage was the result of a ‘routine test’

Facebook admits years-old messages are randomly coming back

Elon Musk scraps plans for Los Angeles tunnel after lawsuit settlement

Tesla was near death during Model 3 ramp-up

Tesla’s ‘Delivery Logistics Hell’ 

FLORIDA: Tampa Bay Times cuts more jobs

Global security and detection firm L3 to lay off 70 workers 

Syniverse lays off 3-hundred!

Duke Field, USAF video attempts to explain Synthetic Expeditionary Communication Training (SECT):

HAWAII: Commercial printer Hagadone Hawaii blames New tariffs, rising costs for layoffs of 93 employees

IDAHO: Ivanka Trump gets a first-hand look at Boise elementary school’s tech partnership with Apple

Tech. co. with Boise office sold to bankrupt radio firm

Why this Idaho chipmaker is suddenly at the center of the US-China trade war

INDIANA: Q-Edge Corporation and Foxconn notified the state that they would be cutting approximately 155 jobs by the end of February 2019!

IOWA: Varsity Theatre closing after 80 years of business

MARYLAND: The state’s Army National Guard 110th Information Operations Battalion celebrated 10 years of operations: “This unit is on the cusp of the U.S. Army’s movement to a new information warfare strategy concept…..our adversaries attack us within the information domain every day.”-Lieutenant Colonel Kristine L. Henry, 110th Bn commander

MINNESOTA:  Thomson Reuters suddenly laid off 140 people in Eagan!

Downtown Minneapolis newspaper closing after 48 years

NEVADA: Tesla will live and die by the Gigafactory

NEW JERSEY:  CA Technologies issued a WARN, 54 people in Ewing jobless by January 2019.

NEW YORK: Mic Network shutdown its NYC ops, 120 jobs suddenly gone due to loss of digital publishing contract (according to official WARN)! Broadcom issued a mass layoff WARN for ops in Islandia and NYC, at least 280 employees affected!   Without warning low priced tablet maker Bak shutdown ops in Buffalo, 78 jobs suddenly gone according to the WARN, even the website is offline.  The founders of the company wanted to prove it was possible to make profits off of low priced tablet computers, they failed.

Glamour to Cease Publishing Regular Print Mag in Condé Nast’s Latest Digital Shift

Vice Media is cutting its staff by up to 15% amid missed revenue and a traffic slump

3-year-old Roomi lays off more than half of its workforce after start-up funding falls through

Thomson Reuters closing office in Rochester

360i Goes Through Round of Layoffs Across Multiple Departments

More than 50 positions in NBCUniversal’s advertising sales group are expected to be eliminated as the company works to allocate more resources to digital

NORTH CAROLINA:  Cisco’s large Research Triangle Park campus braces for layoffs

OHIO: Motel operator closing Clintonville call center, laying off 150!

OREGON: Ergontron issued a shutdown WARN for its office in Tualatin, 103 jobs gone by March 2019!

PENNSYLVANIA: Dash Solutions offers to rescue data customers of bankrupt CloudMine

WASHINGTON: Tacoma Tribune News issued a layoff WARN, 67 jobs gone by March 2019.

crypto-currency pioneer GigaWatt now chapter 11 bankrupt busted

Microsoft Accidentally Downgrades Windows 10 Pro

Microsoft’s Office 365 MFA security crashes for second time

The Washington Air National Guard’s 262nd Cyberspace Operations Squadron was tasked with providing cyber security for the state’s electronic voting system during the November elections.

Washington DC: Facebook’s latest scandal has Washington’s full attention

WEST VIRGINIA: State Army National Guard video explaining their new ‘cyber center’:

U.S. Tech/Communications breakdown, October 2018: “EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY”

U.S.

Great Reneger: Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana army militias prep to deploy

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Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers, who will deploy later this year, trained-up at Washington’s Yakima Training Center the second week of March, 2019.

Training included  firing .50-caliber machine guns using the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS): “It allows the Soldier to operate weapons used in the turret without actually being in the turret.”-Specialist Michael Jones

According to local Oregon news media as many as 2-thousand-4-hundred militia personnel from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, will deploy to unknown destinations in 2019: “Potential locations for the deployment include the Middle East, Africa, and/or Eastern Europe. There will be more information available once an alert order is received closer to the actual deployment.”-Oregon Military Department

“We are going to have to stop being the policemen of the world.”-Donald Trump, August 2015 interview with Hugh Hewitt

GREAT RENEGER: OREGON AIR MILITIA DEPLOYS

GREAT RENEGER: COLORADO ARMY UNIT TO CONTROL DEPLOYMENTS

Kit Bashing

B-52H Stratofortress Nose Art

Image

B-52H Stratofortress deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, lands on the flight line in support of U.S. Strategic Command’s Bomber Task Force (BTF) in Europe at RAF Fairford, British empire England, 14MAR2019.

B-52 from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, sits on the flightline at Andersen AFB, Guam, 15JAN2019.

External fuel tank art.

B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 96th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, sits on the flightline after arriving for exercise Lightning Focus at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Darwin, British empire Australia, 29NOV2018.

Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, 02JUN2016.

 

Video: USAF B-52 TAKES PART IN AUSTRALIA’S CELEBRATION OF THE VIETNAM OCCUPATION!

 

U.S.

Great Reneger: Colorado Army unit to control deployments

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The U.S. Army’s 152nd Movement Control Team (MCT), 4th Special Troops Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, is prepping to take over deployments ops in NATO Europe:  “We have to do a lot of training on international laws to make sure the equipment is up transportation standards and how to get equipment internationally accepted.  We have to know about customs and the environmental laws as well.  We’re going to be split between multiple countries throughout Europe. There will be a ‘sister unit’ operating in the north and we’ll be focused on Southern Europe.”-First Lieutenant Enrique Martinez, Mobility Officer 152nd MCT

“We will be coordinating movements, tracking movements and following equipment in and out of many different counties. This means that we’ll be working very closely with people from foreign armies.”-Staff Sergeant Johnnie Duce, Movement Supervisor 152nd MCT

“We are going to have to stop being the policemen of the world.”-Donald Trump, August 2015 interview with Hugh Hewitt

International, Technology

Vehicle I-D: THAAD (updated)

Video

In the 1990s, the THAAD originally stood for Theater High Altitude Area Defense, but it has changed.  Lockheed Martin: “…Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). THAAD is a highly effective, combat-proven defense capability against short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats, and is the only U.S. system designed to intercept targets outside and inside the atmosphere.”

Possibly in exchange for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu promising not to attack nuclear operations in Iran, on 13OCT2024 U.S. President Joseph Robinette Biden Junior deployed the THAAD system to Israel.

Bravo Battery-62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Cavazos (aka Fort Hood), July 2024. U.S. Army photo by Private First Class Josefina Garcia.

Estimated cost (as of 2017): $1.25-Billion per battery (48 missiles, six truck-mounted launchers, a radar, a command-and-control platform, 95 soldiers), $12.6-Million per missile.

THAAD command & control vehicles, Dededo, Guam, 12MAR2024. U.S. Army photo by Major Trevor Wild.

Difference between a rocket and a missile: A ‘missile’ is a guided rocket, a ‘rocket’ has no guidance system.

THAAD launcher somewhere in The Middle East, November 2023. USA photo by Duy Nguyen.

In March 2019, the U.S. Army deployed (supposedly for the first time) a THAAD  battery to Israel for a U.S.-Israeli wargame.

Somewhere in the Negev Desert, U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Cory D. Payne.

THAAD radar units of the U.S. Army’s Bravo Battery-Second Air Defense Artillery Regiment-11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Israel, 04MAR2019.

Somewhere in the Negev Desert, USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Cory D. Payne, 05MAR2019.

Fort Bliss, Texas, 23FEB2019. USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Cory D. Payne.

THAAD load-up on C-17 for deployment from Fort Bliss, Texas, 23FEB2019.

Official U.S. Department of Defense music video of 2019 deployment to Israel:

Anderson Air Force Base, Guam. USA photo by Captain Adan Cazarez.

THAAD deployed to Guam, 05FEB2019.

AN/TPY-2 radar on Kwajalein Atoll, 11AUG2012. Photo via U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

The THAAD also uses the Army/Navy TPY-2 radar.

GREAT RENEGER: TRUMP DEPLOYS THAAD TO ISRAEL

VEHICLE I-D: USAF C-21 LEARJET, YEAR OF THE LEAR

U.S.

Great Reneger: Puerto Rico militia preps to deploy

Video

More than 170 Puerto Rico Air National Guard Airmen set to deploy for multiple worldwide operations.  During the first week of March 2019, Airman began their Personnel Deployment Function (PDF): “The PDF is great and it makes me feel like I have all my documents up to date and my affairs in order. I’m headed to Afghanistan for six months.”-Senior Airman Daniel Morales, 156th Ariel Port Squadron

Puerto Rican Airmen will be deployed to Middle East and Europe.

Video interview in English & Español:

Video entrevista en español:

“We are going to have to stop being the policemen of the world.”-Donald Trump, August 2015 interview with Hugh Hewitt

MARIA: ARMY RESERVE RESPONDE AL LLAMADO DE AYUDA EN PUERTO RICO!

MARIA: MILITARIZATION OF PUERTO RICO & VIRGIN ISLANDS

International, Technology, U.S.

Great Reneger: Trump deploys THAAD to Israel

Video

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Bethany P. Williams, 06MAR2019.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes a group selfie with U.S. Army THAAD system personnel, 06MAR2019.

I edited down videos recorded by Ziv Sokolov and released by the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv:

At the begging of March 2019 U.S. THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missiles were deployed to Israel, under the Dynamic Force Employment (DFE) ‘concept’.

The U.S. Army’s Bravo Company-First Battalion-503rd Infantry Regiment-173rd Airborne Brigade (in NATO Italy), also deployed to Israel for the wargame. USA photo by Henry Villarama, 23FEB2019.

Supposedly this deployment has nothing to do with increased fighting in the area, but is meant to prove DFE is capable of rapidly deploying air defense weapons globally (just like the APS system), in anticipation of World War Three.

U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Cory D. Payne, 06MAR2019.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, get a tour of a U.S. THAAD site in Israel, 06MAR2019.

Official propaganda video promoting U.S.-Israeli military alliance:

Official social media propaganda video:

“We are going to have to stop being the policemen of the world.”-Donald Trump, August 2015 interview with Hugh Hewitt

GREAT RENEGER: LOUISIANA BOMBERS DEPLOY TO ENGLAND

AMERICA SPREAD THIN: More than 2-thousand U.S. military personnel are now in Israel!

Technology

Cold War & Beyond Vehicle I-D: USAF C-21 LearJet, Year the Lear gets upgraded

Video

Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).

13MAR1984, photo via Gates-Learjet.

13MAR1984, photo via Gates-Learjet.

The aircraft is the military version of the Learjet 35A business jet, it replaced the older T-39 Sabreliner.  The C-21A was ‘drafted’ by the U.S. Air Force in 1984. 

Photo dated 02AUG1984, photographer and location unknown.

13MAR1984, photo via Gates-Learjet.

The C-21A is a twin turbofan-engine aircraft used for cargo, medical or VIP (Very Important Person) passenger airlift.

VIP interior of a C-21A. USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Fernando Serna, 07SEP1984.

Cargo interior. Photo via Gates-Learjet, 13MAR1984.

A C-21A Learjet arrives on Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, 20SEP1984. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Michael J. Donahue.

What many U.S. taxpayers don’t known is that in November 1984, Gates-Learjet supplied communist China (People’s Republic of China) with a C-21A equipped for geological surveys.

Notice the commie Chinese flag on the tail of this C-21A! Photo via Gates-Learjet, 14NOV1984.

This ‘rollout’ photo is dated 01MAR1985, by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.

Operation Desert Storm: 17JAN1991–28FEB1991

Refueling by a Saudi fuel truck during Operation Desert Storm, 23JAN1991. Photographer unknown.

A UN ‘peacekeeping’ officer arrives in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after Desert Storm, 17APR1991. Photo by Sergeant Jeff Wright.

War on Terror: 11SEP2001 (aka 9-11) to present

A C-21A on Scott AFB, Illinois, is adorned with the 9-11 battle cry “Let’s Roll”, 22MAR2002. USAF photo by Airman Justin F. Myers.

C-21A hanger on Scott AFB, Illinois, 17DEC2018. USAF photo by Senior Airman Daniel Garcia.

After 35 years the U.S. Air Force is celebrating it’s use of the executive LearJet (C-21), calling 2019 The Year of the Lear.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Fernando Serna, 07SEP1984.

As part of The Year of the Lear, the USAF has forced taxpayers to upgrade the plane with $38-million of new electronics (partly due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s 2020 mandate)!

USAF photo by Senior Airman Tara Stetler, 25FEB2019.

Video report of continuing C-21 aircrew training:

July 2012:

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins, July 2012.

AIR MOBILITY COMMAND LEARJET on POCATELLO AIRPORT (photos by me)

VEHICLE I-D: NEW KC-46A PEGASUS