Tag Archives: taxes

International, U.S.

World War 3: Afghans storm U.S. Consulate, destroy 20 NATO supply trucks. Lebanon’s Hezbolla blames Israel for U.S. policies

Day four of Afghan riots over the U.S. burnings of dozens of Qur’ans, and USMC General John Allen is pleading for calm: “I call on everyone…to exercise patience and restraint as we continue to gather the facts surrounding Sunday night’s incident.”

In western Afghanistan people stormed the U.S. consultative, at least seven were killed and 50 wounded.

In the province of Khost 20 NATO fuel tankers were attacked and burned.

At least 36 Afghans have been confirmed killed in the past four days of rioting.

“We should search for the Israeli mentality that stands behind various practices in the world. Take for example the burning of Qur’ans.”-Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, Lebanon’s Hezbollah

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: France announces the European Union will steal the money from Syria’s Central Bank

“Starting from Monday, we will take new strong measures, notably a freezing of the assets of the Syrian Central Bank.”-Alan Juppe, Foreign Minister of France

Another “unbiased” announcement made as the Friends of Syria conference commenced: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is calling on all countries to steal Syrian assets and boycott oil from the country.

International, U.S.

World War 3: United Kingdom recognizes Syrian rebels as legitimate rulers of Syria, implies threat of war against Russia & China

Right before the Friends of Syria conference began, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said they will recognize the U.S. created Syrian National Council as a “….legitimate representative of the Syrian people.”

This supports yesterday’s claim by Russia, that the Friends of Syria conference is biased and therefore not legitimate.

Hague went on to imply a threat of war against Russia and China, if they did not comply with the wishes of the west: “It is very important in Moscow and Beijing for there to be a re-evaluation of the position….We have in the European Union an arms embargo on Syria, so of course we will observe that arms embargo in all directions.“

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: Japan demands exemption from U.S. oil embargo against Iran, prepares for short U.S. war with Iran

“…officials are working hard in order to win a waiver from the sanctions by the end of this month.”-Osamu Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary for Japan’s Prime Minister

Since January, 2012, Japan has been trying to get an exemption from the U.S. oil sanctions against Iran.  Japan’s economy depends on it.

“We have not yet reached an agreement in principle, although we have deepened mutual understanding.”-Koichiro Gemba, Foreign Minister of Japan

Since there is no progress in getting the exemption, Japan is now preping for a possible war in the Persian Gulf, which would cut off 10% of their oil supplies.

Foreign Minister Gemba claims Japan is making preparations that would make any cut off of oil, due to the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, have little affect on Japan’s industries. But that’s because Gemba believes any war with Iran would be short.  Does he know something we don’t?

Gemba explained that Japan has 200 days of oil reserves and 70 days worth of liquid natural gas.  Apparently Japan was told (during their negotiations to get exempted from the U.S. oil sanctions?) by U.S. officials not to worry about a long war.

Gemba added that the Japanese government is going over various scenarios to reduce the impact the war will have on people’s daily lives.

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Yet another airline ends service in Idaho

Frontier Airlines has ended its Boise to Denver route.  In the past two years the airline temporarily stopped service due to a seasonal drop in passengers, but they officially announced they will not restart service, for 2012.

For the past two years, the seasonal drop in business happens in winter, and Frontier restarts flights in April.  Passenger numbers have been steadily dropping since 2007, and Frontier decided it wasn’t worth it to restart the Boise-Denver route for 2012.

Back in December, 2011, SeaPort Airlines announced they were ending their Idaho Falls-Boise route.  Not enough sales were the official reason.  That claim was news to Idaho Falls airport airlines director Len Nelson, who said: “We were really, really disappointed to see them leave. We were just starting to fill the airplanes up. Out of nine seats, we were filling it a lot of times, and averaging five, six passengers a flight.” Nelson’s reasoning is out of touch.  Filling five to six seats, out of nine, is not enough for an airline to justify the route.

Idaho, U.S.

Government Incompetence: Republican state Senator in Idaho resigns, sex scandal, grand theft auto, intoxicated

On February 22, 2012, John McGee resigned his job as Idaho Senator, from Caldwell.  He is facing an investigation for sexual harassment.

This is not the first time Republican McGee has made news in Idaho.  Recently the Associated Press revealed McGee was sleeping in his parents Boise home, while collecting tax payer funded per diem for staying in a hotel.

In 2011 McGee was arrested and charged with grand theft auto and intoxicated driving.

Regarding the current sex scandal investigation; it was the Idaho Senate President Pro Tem (who is also a Republican) that OKed the investigation, after a strong recommendation by the State Attorney General.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: Gaddafi is gone, yet Obama continues sanctions against Libya. It’s a personal vendetta

Nobel prize winner, U.S. President Barack Obama, is extending sanctions against Libya, even though the person supposedly responsible for the sanctions is dead!

In February 2011, Obama placed “emergency” sanctions against Gaddafi.  But Gaddafi was beaten and finally shot to death towards the end of last year.

On February 23, 2012, Obama claimed: “The situation in Libya continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

Those “extraordinary” threats are the surviving members of Gaddafi’s family.  So this sounds personal, as if the leadership of the United States wants all the male members of the Gaddafi family dead, just like what happened to the Hussein family in Iraq.

International, U.S.

White Horse & World War 3: “Friends of Syria” meeting to determine U.S. military action, it’s all about Iran. China & Russia refuse to attend

On February 24, 2012, between 50 and 80 countries will meet in Tunis for the Friends of Syria conference.  The results of the conference could bypass the United Nations regarding overt foreign intervention in Syria.

China has refused to attend the conference, saying they are true friends of Syria.  Chinese officials also say they were given little notice of the conference, so they are not sure of the true purpose of the meeting.

Russia has refused to attend because: “The opposition is invited, the legal authorities are not. This means we have here what we had in Libya: a contact group was created. There is a feeling that it all aims at supporting ONE part in the country’s internal conflict.”-Aleksandr Lukashevich, Russian Foreign Ministry

According to the Israeli private intelligence agency DEBKA, sources inside the Pentagon say plans have been drawn up for military action.  Which plan is chosen will depend on the news Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, will bring back from the Friends of Syria conference.

DEBKA says the U.K., France, Italy and even Turkey are preparing for military action as well.

A whistleblower inside the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says the United States has been covertly training the Syrian rebels since May 2011.  Also, as many as 10,000 pro-U.S. Libyans are in Jordan waiting for the invasion.

A political scientist, in Syria, said this was about future war with Iran and Lebanon: “They want a political uprising here in Syria to make the country weak and then go to Iran and Hezbollah.”-Balsam Abu Bulla, political scientist

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham admitted this is all about Iran: “If the Syrian regime is replaced with another form of government, that doesn’t tie its future to the Iranians, the world is a better place.”

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: United States imposes sanctions on Japan, U.S. been doing business with Yakuza

February 23, 2012, the United States imposes sanctions against the Yamaguchi-gumi.

The U.S. Treasury Department froze the assets held in the United States by the organized crime family. The U.S. has also banned the Yamaguchi-gumi from doing anymore business in the United States.

While this sounds good, it should raise the question: “How long has the U.S. knowingly done business with the Japanese Yakuza?” And I wounder if freezing their assets is just a tricky way to raise cash for a broke U.S. government?  The Obama administration estimates they have billions in their U.S. accounts!

Idaho, International, U.S.

Lessons for the Occupy Movement from the Egyptian January 2011 Revolution: #2 Cyberspace does not win Revolutions! Occupy the land! Keep Lines of Communication open!

I watched the January 2011 Egyptian Revolution from day one.  It did not start with cyberspace, and it did not end with cyberspace.  Rather cyberspace was only a briefly used tool of the Revolutionaries.

“I don’t think the Revolution ever happened in cyberspace…They need physical space, they need public space. Tahrir Square provided that.”-Nezar AlSayyad, Center of Middle East Studies, University of California at Berkeley

The fact that Revolutions need public space is the true reason why local and state governments, in the United Police States of America, are now passing laws that’re making it illegal to gather in public spaces!

On December 9, 2011, the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, created a law that is not only aimed at preventing public gatherings, but is being called “a particularly egregious attack on the homeless”.

On January 24, 2012, Charlotte, North Carolina, passed a “no camping” on city property law.  Even if you’re not camping the law includes things that allow police to have you removed, or arrested, anyway.

On February 21, 2012, the state of Idaho created a law that specifically targets the Occupy movement.  It has extended anti-gathering laws (no demonstrations can last longer than four hours, which only proves what I said in part one) to the state property the Occupy Boise movement is currently using.

The small, and ignorant, Occupy Boise movement has until 17:00 February 27 to clear out.

I say the Occupy Idaho movement is ignorant, because of what they said in a PBS Newshour interview: “I will take it elsewhere. There are a lot of us who recognize that this movement is more important than the place we’re staying.”-Daniel Grad, Occupy Boise, December 8, 2011

In fact, the Occupy Boise movement told local Idaho PBS reporters that they specifically chose the land (land that until now was exempt from the four hour limit law) so as to not cause legal problems!

FAIL!  There’s a saying in the world of business, “location, location, location”!   If there is no need to Occupy land, then what was the point of Egyptian Revolutionaries fighting so hard to control Tahrir Square?

Back to cyberspace.  In Egypt twitter and facebook and other social media tools were not the instigators of the Revolution.  Those tools only became important as Egyptians in one city realized, through their communications, that they were not alone, that Egyptians in other cities were also rebelling.  So cyberspace became a way of communication after the fact.

Even so, as I was watching the live broadcasts, the Egyptian government shut down many cell phone towers, and internet providers (with the help of a U.S. telecommunications company).   Did that stop the Revolution?  Hell no!

Revolutionaries turned to old fashioned land line phones, short wave radios, even the ancient task of running messages by foot.  Some reports said they had taken over radio stations, even broke into police stations to steal the police radios.

But while this proves that cyberspace is not critical, it does prove that communications are critical.

In the military, communications does not refer to just being able to talk or relay messages.  It refers to the ability to keep your forces fed and armed.  (specifically its called: Lines of Communication, called such because supplies tended to follow the same route that hand carried messages, and telegraph lines, did)

The Egyptian Revolutionaries not only took and held land (sometimes losing it, but retaking it later), they kept their Occupiers fed, and they rotated fresh Occupiers in, while the tired Occupiers went out to get rest.  They, without really thinking about it, kept “lines of communication” open to the land they were Occupying.

This is important, because one of the riot control maneuvers used nowadays is called “Kettling”.  This is a way of hemming in protestors, to cut them off from their lines of communication (even though most protestors don’t even know about such things as lines of communication).

The lesson is that you must not rely on high technology, you must Occupy the land, and you must keep your “lines of communication” open!

By the Way, Occupy Boise is appealing to the Federal Court, on the grounds the new Idaho law violates the rights to freedom of speech and assembly guaranteed under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

LESSONS FOR THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT FROM THE EGYPTIAN JANUARY 2011 REVOLUTION: #1; PEACEFUL PROTEST DOES NOT WORK!!!