Tag Archives: ows

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Venezuela imposes gun ban, mark of true government repression! California is proof anti-gun laws don’t work: California cops caught selling illegal guns! Justification for the 2nd Amendment!

2 June 2012, the Venezuelan government imposed a total ban on gun sales: “We are going to make serious efforts as President Chavez has done for the security of our citizens. We’re going to continue to fight against criminals and more importantly against what causes violence.”-Elias Jaua, Vice President of Venezuela

Anti-gun laws don’t work!  A 1 June 2012 report out of the U.S. anti-gun state of California proves it!

The U.S. Attorney General’s office revealed that their investigation showed that California cops are selling guns to the public. Those guns are illegal for California’s civilian population under California law!

So law enforcers are behind illegal gun sales in anti-gun California!  California cops are using their legal rights to buy guns, which are legal for cops but illegal for civilians, and then turning around and selling the guns to the public at as much as a triple profit!

After a shootout in San Francisco in February 2011, investigators discovered that the fugitive had 20 guns, 12 of which were illegal under California law. To their surprise they traced two machine pistols back to a Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy!

Further investigations revealed that some California cops were regularly selling illegal weapons, including .50 caliber (12.7 mm) guns!  The .50 caliber bullet will take your head off, and punch through armored cars, no problemo.

The Sacramento District Attorney revealed that California cops are also altering the already illegal guns, making them more lethal!

Here’s the amazing thing, the California government has not arrested these cops, they’ve simply been charged with a crime.  Some have been fired from their jobs, others have been placed on paid leave.

This is proof that anti-gun laws don’t do what they’re supposedly intended to do, that is reduce gun violence.  By the way, back to Venezuela, note that the vice presidente inferred that the violence in his country was because of guns. Hello, people cause violence, not guns!  This is also justification for the U.S. Constitution’s 2nd Amendment which demands that people of the United States be able to equip themselves with the weapons of the day (“arms”) in order to protect themselves, even to protect themselves from their own cops!!!

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”-2nd Amendment, ratified December 1791

“I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”-Oath of Enlistment U.S. military

“I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of (STATE NAME) against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the Governor of (STATE NAME) and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to law and regulations. So help me God.”-Oath of Enlistment state National Guard

Note: In respect to the U.S. Constitution’s 1st Amendment, you are not required to say “So help me God.”

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? 1% Elitist Queen of England’s Crown Estate sees 9,200% increase in revenues! Why aren’t the British commoners benefiting?

2 June 2012, United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II’s rental property & business management empire, Crown Estate, reported a 9,200% increase in revenue over the past 60 years!

Keep in mind that according to an Act of Parliament, all profits from the Royal property/business management scheme are to go to the British Treasury!  According to the Financial Times: “Under an agreement struck between King George III and the government in 1760, the portfolio was managed by the Crown on behalf of the state, with surplus revenue going to the Treasury. In turn, the Treasury made a fixed annual payment to the monarch.” 

Also: “The Queen has no powers to liquidate assets belonging to the Crown Estate. She cannot buy or sell properties and is entitled to a modest slice of the company’s revenues.”

So how much money is the Crown Estate making?  Here’s what the Crown Estate’s own website claims:  “…the urban estate the value of the portfolio increased by 11.6 per cent to £5.2 billion [$7.9 billion USD].”

“…marine estate revenue increased by 1.7 per cent to £47.4 million [$72.8 million USD]. Total property value rose to £586.9 million [$902.2 million USD]…”

“…income from renewables….rose….to £3.5 million [$5.3 million USD]…”

“The coastal estate…added £14.3 million [$21.9 million USD] in revenue…”

“…capital value of the rural estate exceeded £1 billion [$1.5 billion USD] for the first time…”

“…asset management saw revenue rise….to £25.7 million [$39.5 million USD]…”

The question is, if the Crown Estate is making so much money, and it’s supposedly meant to benefit the commoners of the United Kingdom (through the state) then why is the government of the United Kingdom imposing such drastic austerity measures upon those very commoners?

Just how much is the “fixed annual payment to the monarch”?  Under a new Sovereign Grant Act, beginning in 2012 the Queen can receive only 15% of the revenues.  How much was she getting before that?

But wait, there’s more!  Members of the royal family own other property companies, not beholden to the British government.  Here’s one; the Grosvenor Estate.

“The Grosvenor Estate is a portfolio of businesses, rural estates and other assets owned by trusts on behalf of Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor who is the 6th Duke of Westminster, and his family.”-Grosvenor website

However, unlike the incompetent British government (by the way the Queen is the literal boss of the House of Lords in the British government, she is not a figure head!), Grosvenor Estate is actually spending money to try and build up the economy in the English city of Liverpool.  The Duke’s Grosvenor Estate is spending the equivalent of $1.5 billion USD on a project called Liverpool One.

Again, the question is, what happened to all the money from the Queen’s Crown Estate that was supposed to be used for the people of Britain?

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: Japan & Iran avoiding U.S. & British controls, by developing their own insurance system for oil tankers!

2 June 2012, despite Japan just joining a trilateral military pact with the U.S. and Australia, getting oil from Iran is still of utmost importance to Japanese industries.

So much so that Iran and Japan are developing their own shipping insurance companies, to avoid the U.S./U.K. dominated shipping insurance business, and therefore get around U.S./European sanctions.

The European oil sanctions against Iran go into effect on 1 July.  Iran is considering laws that will allow their domestic shipping insurance industry to insure foreign ships.

Japan is now working to create an insurance system that will cover Japanese oil tanker ships carrying Iranian oil.  The system might be similar to one created to help Japanese airlines after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the U.S.  Prior to that Japanese airlines were insured through U.S. companies, but the U.S. companies drastically cut their coverage after the 11 September attacks.

International, U.S.

World War 3: Australia, Japan, United States agree to military pact! “Re-balancing region” against China!

“Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith joined Panetta and Watanabe in another trilateral meeting. The U.S., Japanese and Australian leaders agreed ‘to work through 2020 to refine and consolidate their trilateral defense relationship and support the network of existing alliances, forums and dialogues to meet a variety of common security challenges,'”-U.S. Department of Defense press release

2 June 2012, Australia, Japan and the U.S. have agreed to pursue a military pact that is in line with what an unnamed U.S. Defense official said was “…our rebalancing to the region.”

There are a lot of coded words and phrases in the Defense Department press release, all indicating that the U.S., along with dozens of countries in the Asia Pacific region, are falling in line against China!

But don’t blame Barack Obama, these Shangri-La Dialogue anti-China re-balancing meetings began under the George W. Bush administration.

According to Japanese news media reports, the new military pact between Australia, Japan and United States will include joint military industry developments.

International, U.S.

World War 3: Proof the coming global war will be against China, U.S. sending 60% of naval fleet to Asia-Pacific region! Blame South China Sea oil fields!

“…make no mistake, in a steady, deliberate and sustainable way, the United States military is re-balancing and brings enhanced capabilities to this vital region.”-Leon Panetta, U.S. Secretary of Defense

2 June 2012, U.S. Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, announced that the United States is now sending most of its Navy to the Asia-Pacific region, with the goal of having 60% of U.S. naval forces in place by 2020!

Panetta made the announcement at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue conference, in Singapore.  He stressed that the bad economy, and U.S. government budget cuts will not affect the buildup of U.S. military forces near the South China Sea.

The coming full blown global war could be between China and the West, not between Christians and Muslims. It will be centered on controlling the immense oil fields at the bottom of the South China Sea.

The U.S. has been there before, it was called (unofficially) the Vietnam War.

Decades ago, while doing research in a community college library in California, I came a cross a little black book, published only once.  It was a chronicle of U.S. and European oil companies who were attempting to explore the South China Sea.  They concluded that there was massive oil reserves there, but the technology needed to get at it was not worth what oil was selling for. Believe it or not the average price per barrel of oil, from 1958 to 1970, was only $3.00 USD!!!

According to the book (of which I forget the title), the oil industry’s decision not to spend anymore money on South China Sea exploration was a key factor in U.S. President Richard Nixon’s decision to get out of Vietnam (the peaceful anti-war demonstrations had nothing to do with it).

Since the end of the Vietnam War, China has laid claim to the entire South China Sea.  In the past few years several other countries have as well, such as; Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines and Japan.  Why? Because the current price per barrel of oil makes drilling in the South China Sea worth it!

Already China has secretly built natural gas rigs in the Sea.  They were discovered by Japanese recon planes sent to investigate the sighting of huge fire balls shooting into the sky.

To enforce how important the South China Sea is to the Whore of Babylon oil industry of the United States, in November 2011 a U.S. Asian political analyst said: “If we are going to move out of this recession, Asia is going to be part of that equation. Asia is where we are going to grow.”-Ernest Bower, Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

This newly announced U.S. naval buildup in the Asian Pacific is on top of the U.S. military buildup in Australia.

Business/Economics, Opinion, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Fast oil money, and a big wind farm, brings Hyper Inflation to Kanasas

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.”-Dorothy, MGM’s 1939 movie version of Wizard of Oz

Just as North Dakotans are dealing with hyperinflation thanks to their exploding economy, which in turn is no thanks to their oil boom, now Kansans are experiencing the same thing: “It’s like a gold rush. No one knew this little area was worth anything, and now all of a sudden there’s all kinds of business going on, and everyone wants a piece of it.”-Kathy Smith, motel owner who turns away 25 customers per day!

The oil industry has been busy in Kanasas, and the result is that in the past three years the cost of living there has tripled, at least.  Oh and don’t forget the new wind farm that was built.  The result is a population boom, caused by the wind farm and the oil industry, and that has caused prices, like rent and even food to skyrocket.

Sure there are lots of good paying oil jobs in Kansas now, but those oil workers are paying thousands of dollars in rent, for homes that were costing only hundreds to those living in them before the oil boom.

In fact, just as in North Dakota, the Kansans living in those rental homes were actually kicked out by the property owners, so that much much higher rents could be charged to the incoming oil workers: “We’re one of the ones forced out of our home. We lived in our home 11 years and four months, we received a certified letter in the mail saying we had one month to get out.  There was no where to go.  That month was a holy hell!”-Eileen Morris, Harper County resident

Here’s what a real estate “entrepreneur”, who caters to the oil industry, said about the housing situation: “My goal was to get housing available as quickly and efficiently as possible.”-Bobbie Oliver

To give you an idea just how high rents have gone, mobile homes (aka “modular” homes) that would normally rent for several hundreds of dollars per month, are renting for as much as $2,100 USD per month!

But what about those Kansans who aren’t working for the oil industry?  Here’s what a local county official in Kansas said about that: “…people are charging higher rent prices and so these guys that have jobs that are paying $12 to $15 an hour, it’s a hardship for them.”-Mike Lanie, Economic Development Harper County

Some of the oil companies, like Shell, are actually paying holding money on homes that were forcefully vacated, in order to ensure that their oil workers have a place to live when they get there.  So far no one’s said what’s happened to those Kansans who were kicked out of the homes they were living in.

And just like North Dakota, Kansas is seeing a skyrocketing crime rate.  According to Tracy Chance, Undersheriff of Harper County, the biggest increase so far has been car accidents and public intoxication.

Isn’t the promise of fast easy money wonderful?  Welcome to the false Christian run western Whore of Babylon oil industry!  Like Peter Voser, current CEO of Shell, who will be attending this year’s Bilderberg beast conference in Virginia!  Like Edward P. Cross, current president of the Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association and a paid lobbyist for the oil industry!  Like Tom L. Ward, current CEO of Oklahoma based SandRidge Energy, which holds horizontal drilling rights in Kansas!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Chinese elites saving California companies, but a $50,000 mattress is proof the elites are totally out of touch with the rest of us!

“There are one million millionaires in China. I will have more than enough business if I sell to China’s millionaires alone!”-Earl Kluft, makes luxury mattresses

1 June 2012, Chinese media reporting that some business owners in the U.S. state of California are targeting the growing number of millionaires in the Communist country of China.

Back in September a California mattress maker decided to take a chance on selling his handmade mattresses in China. It paid off, big time.  Chinese elites are paying as much as $50,000 USD for one of Earl Kluft’s mattresses!  The result was that Kluft’s revenues for 2011 hit $50 million!

According to Boston Consulting Group, China is third for number of millionaires. Japan is number two, and, to prove the point of the Occupy and Tea Party movements, the United States is still number one for 1% elites.

However, that could soon change.  According to the Group M Knowledge-Hurun Wealth Report 2011, the number of Chinese millionaires is expanding at a rate of 10% per year.

Kluft markets his mattresses as heirloom mattresses, and they can be made from expensive materials such as cashmere, mohair, Joma wool and Talalay latex. Have any of us commoners ever thought of owning a mattress like that?  Chairman Mao is rolling in his tomb!

But forget handmade, now Kluft says high sales of his mattresses have forced him to dedicate two factories in the United States specifically to meet Chinese demand, and he says they’re still willing to pay the high handmade price: “The Chinese demand for American made luxury products is on the rise…..The Chinese consumers want them made in America. They don’t want them made in China.”

Fukushima

One Year Later: Thermometers failing at Fukushima Daiichi, again!

Late on 1 June 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company officials announced that more than half the thermometers on Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2 have failed, or are failing!

TEPCo says 23 of the 41 thermometers are not working.  The thermometers are critical to maintaining safe temps inside the disable GE designed reactor.

Back in February 2012, failing temp gauges on Reactor 2 caused temps to rise above official cold shut down standards.  TEPCo later claimed it was simply a faulty gauge.

By March 2012, TEPCo actually stopped taking readings off several gauges on Reactor 1 as well as Reactor 2.

TEPCo says they will try to install new gauges…in July!!!

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? My employer says no paychecks until US Bank pays up!

1 June 2012, after working weeks of overtime, my paycheck never arrived!

My employer, who has contracts with unAmerican Corporate America banks, says she can’t pay because US Bank (which is now her main contract on the eastern side of Idaho) failed to pay her!

This is strange because US Bank (aka US Bancorp, USB) recently reported 1st quarter earnings that were up!  Maybe my employer is lying?

Whatever the case, since my employer pays only once per month, all us employees have burned through last months pay and are in need of our well earned paychecks just to be able to buy necessities for the next month, let alone pay our debts!  Don’t tell me the economy is getting better!!!

(I’m writing this because it’s not the first time we’ve had problems with our employer paying us on time. You’d think a contractor working for the too big to fail banks would have such a problem.)

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. student loan debt hits $904 billion! Recipe for Civil War!

“Student loan debt continues to grow even as consumers reduce mortgage debt and credit card balances. It remains the only form of consumer debt to substantially increase since the peak of household debt in late 2008.”-Donghoon Lee, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

31 May 2012, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported a huge increase in student loan debt, from the 1st quarter of 2003 to the 1st quarter of 2012: “…student loan debt has substantially increased since 2003, growing $663 billion.  Outstanding student loan debt surpassed credit card debt as the second highest form of consumer debt…”

Student loans now stand at $904 billion USD! Also: “…delinquency rates for student loans steadily increased from 6.13 percent in the first quarter of 2003 to its current level of 8.69 percent.  They remain higher than that of mortgages, auto loans and home equity lines of credit…”

Of course student loans are up, more and more people who can’t find good jobs are going to college with the hopes that an expensive degree will get them at least a “good” job.

The problem is that unAmerican Corporate America is not creating enough good jobs to employ all those highly edumacated workers who’ll need really really good paying jobs in order to pay off those student loans.  The latest estimates are that 362,000 net new jobs must be created every month, for three years straight, before there’s any true economic recovery!

 

In the study of revolutions and civil wars you’ll discover that one of the primary ingredients to social collapse is a country with not only a huge number of unemployed people, but a huge number of highly educated unemployed people!