The U.S. general in charge of the United States Africa Command, Gen Carter Ham, says Libyan rebels probably will not win, even with NATO help.
General Ham also says we should not be arming the rebels until there is “a better understanding of exactly who the opposition force is”. There is evidence that some of the rebels are al Qaeda, the group we’re supposed to be at war with.
Toyota thinks they might have enough parts built up to open more of its Japanese factories.
Toyota hopes to open more plants, in Japan, by late April. However, they point out that they will not be able to run at full production, and, if parts supplies continue to be a problem then all bets are off.
Despite trying to be optimistic, Toyota has now admitted that the parts supply problem is so bad that it will have to close ALL its North American plants.
Toyota spokesman Mike Goss, said the shut downs will take place later in April. At least 25,000 employees will be affected. How long the shut downs last depends on parts supply issues.
Goss said that the North American plants, in Mexico, U.S. and Canada, get only 15% of their parts from Japan, but they are crucial for assembly of the vehicles.
There is about one week’s worth of parts for North America. Toyota, as well as other car makers, are scrambling to find factories outside Japan to make the parts.
You wouldn’t believe how much we use petroleum products (oil & natural gas) in our everyday lives. The people of Japan are finding out the hard way.
The 11 March 2011 quake/tsunami has resulted in several petroleum plants closing down, due to damage and power cuts. Those plants turn oil and natural gas into everyday products.
How would you like disposable diapers with no tape to seal it shut? Unicharm Corporation discontinued production of special tape used to wrap diapers because of a lack of the chemical needed to make the tape.
Are you one of those people who just have to have your whites their whitest when doing the laundry? No bleach. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co has stopped production at its Kashima factory, because of lack of electricity.
Love your Manga? The publisher of mangas including Shonen Jump, is delaying publication because there’s no ink. Maruzen Petrochemical Co stopped production of Diisobutylene, a chemical product used to make ink. Amazingly Maruzen is the only producer of Diisobutylene in Japan, so bye, bye Manga.
“Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico, we achieved an exemplary statistical safety record as measured by our total recordable incident rate and total potential severity rate.”-Transocean, LTD
Transocean, one of the companies involved with the BP (British Petroleum) oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, gave it’s executives pay raises and bonuses, for having their “best year” ever for safety!
Can you say “What the F**k!” Let me remind you that 11 people were killed on 20 April 2010, after an explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon platform. Nine of those killed were Transocean employees. And they say they had their best year ever? If that was their best year ever then they need to be investigated big time. How many other people have died while working for Transocean?
Also, the disaster isn’t over with. There are still plumes of stuff coming up from the bottom of the Gulf. The well that the Deepwater Horizon was drilling at the time of the explosion may have been capped, but there are reports that plumes are coming up from other areas, that might have been caused by previous drilling by the Deepwater Horizon platform.
More proof that corporations don’t give a crap about you.
Al Jazeera says rebels told them they are being trained at a secret base in eastern Libya (by the way that’s where most of the oil fields are).
The al Jazeera reporter stated that the rebels where being trained how to use weapons: “He said these were state-of-the-art, heat-seeking rockets and that they needed to be trained on how to use them, which was one of the things the American and Egyptian special forces were there to do.”-correspondent Laurence Lee
The reporter went on to question calls for arming and training the rebels by coalition forces, “…when in fact they [rebels] are already being armed covertly.”
According to the report, the Libyan rebels say they are getting training and equipment from Egypt and the United States. This is not the first time the rebels have made such claims.
UN Security Council Resolution 1973, supposedly is about protecting Libyan civilians, yet there are many claims that civilians have been attacked by the UN mandated NATO led coalition forces. Even the Christian Vatican says civilians are being bombed.
Now the Libyan rebels say coalition aircraft have bombed them!
Rebels are reporting several different attacks on their forces, by NATO. In one attack a convoy of vehicles were bombed, in another rebel positions in an oil town was bombed. At least 13 rebels were killed.
NATO says they’re investigating, and implied that the rebels shot at their aircraft first.
This is so messed up. President Barack Obama insists this is about protecting civilians, which has proven false, or impossible to do. Obama has stated, even before the UN resolution, that he wanted Gaddafi out, so far that’s a failure. Obama said the U.S. would be out in a mater of “…days, not weeks!”, it took at least a week and a half to “officially” turn Operation Odyssey Dawn over to NATO (by the way the U.S. still controls NATO, so did we really give up control?).
I have presented many examples, in other postings, that this is all about oil for Europe, not promoting democracy. It’s so clear that the UN mandated coalition forces have no clear goal. How could the Commander in Chief of U.S. forces (that’s Obama for those who don’t know) rush into such a tar pit? Obama is either a fool, or a bold faced lier. (Given his INEXPERIENCE, I think he just a fool)
Sweden announced they will be sending aircraft to enforce a no fly zone over Libya. The Swedish parliament voted 240-18 in favor of the plan.
They will send up to eight warplanes, including their JAS 39 Gripen, and a transport plane to join the NATO-led coalition.
This is almost getting to be like World War One, where countries jump in on the fight one after another, until the whole world is at war.
Ali Tarhouni, who claims to be in charge of the Libyan rebels’ finances, announced that Qatar will give rebels money for weapons and other items in exchange for Libya’s oil.
No wonder Qatar got involved with the military action against the Libyan government.
In a report issued by the Chinese Navy, it is clear they expect some kind of military confrontation in the future, with the United States.
The report was released March 31. It calls for increasing China’s ability to present a strategic deterrent and launch counterattacks at sea. The report is also clear about who they think they might have to launch counterattacks against: The United States.
Their reasoning is that the United States is reinforcing its regional military alliances, and increasing its involvement in Asian security affairs.
Chinese military officials are hoping their government will increase spending on more high tech weaponry. Welcome to the New Cold War.