Tag Archives: tea party

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic war & World War 3: Iran orders the United States to back off! Will stop all oil sales to the World!

“If you continue to add to the sanctions we will cut our oil exports to the world…..The dearth of Iranian oil on the market will increase the price drastically.”-Rostam Qasemi, Iran’s Minister of Petroleum

On 23 October 2012, Iranian officials quietly announced that Iran is prepared to stop all its oil sales to the world, if the United States and Europe continue economic sanctions.

On 15 October, the European Union voted for more sanctions against Iran.

Iranian officials say they are ready for “Plan B”, which means halting all petroleum sales and running their country without oil revenues.  This is possible because Iran’s non-oil exports are now high enough to offset the huge loss of oil money.

Even Iran’s domestic industries are becoming more self sufficient.  Example: According to the World Steel Association, Iran’s steel industry is now the 16th largest in the world: “Despite the intensified sanctions during the last two years, the capacity of Iran’s steel production has increased 5 million tons and we will be completely self-sufficient in the steel industry in the next three years.”-Hamidreza Taherizadeh, Vice-President of Iran’s Steel Association

The announcement was made at a OPEC meeting in Dubai.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Foreign investment into the United States drops 39%! China now number one, thanks in part to U.S. investors!

24 October 2012, so much for the increased U.S. investment U.S. President Barack Obama was calling for.  According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), foreign direct investing (FDI) into the U.S. has fallen 39.2% in the first six months of 2012!

The huge drop in FDI for the U.S. represents a shift, to developing countries and to China.

China also saw a drop in FDI, but by only 3%.  China is now the number one destination for the money from international investors!

Ironically (since according to Obama, U.S. investors need to spend their money at home in order to save the U.S. economy) $59.1 billion USD of the FDI into communist China came from U. S. capitalists!

According to Global Investment Trends Monitor, U.S. investors spent $57.4 billion at home, nearly two billion less than what they spent on investing into China.  (Mitt Romney anyone?)

The UNCTAD also shows that, for the first time, half of all global FDI went to developing countries.  However, some UNCTAD officials think the U.S. will see a slight increase in FDI for the second half of the Gregorian calendar year.

International, U.S.

World War 3: Syria clears prisons of thousands of non-violent offenders. Making room due to the on-going U.S./Israeli backed civil war?

24 October 2012, Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, has pardoned 290 non-violent prisoners, like those who committed crimes such as theft, forgery and military desertion.

This is not the first time prisoners have been pardoned.  Since the start of the Syrian Civil War, about one thousand non-violent prisoners have been set free.

Those prisoners not being let go are those who have killed, or have smuggled weapons and drugs.

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

What Economic Recovery? Dow Chemical to close 20 factories, despite making profits! Warns economy is getting worse!

“Economic growth in 2012 has slowed to a trickle, and that has spooked a lot of people.”-Jake Dollarhide, Longbow Asset Management

“Our low cost feedstock [natural gas] advantage enabled us to deliver volume growth, despite weakening demand. These difficult conditions [bad economy] may have extended staying power, as the new reality is that we are operating in a slow growth and volatile world.”-Andrew Liveris, Dow Chemical CEO

On 24 October 2012, Liveris explained the 2,400 job cuts (inadvertently announced the day before) as being necessary because Dow officials see the world economy getting worse.

Some analysts were surprised by the elimination of jobs and 20 factories: “Dow had very strong volumes in an uncertain macroeconomic environment. When I heard the announcement they were cutting jobs, I thought they had a really bad quarter, but it seems that business is A-OK.”-Hassan Ahmed, Alembic Global Advisors

Stock market investors are overjoyed at the announcement of the elimination of jobs (as they always are), and Dow Chemical stock values shot up 5 to 6% the morning after the job cuts were announced.

Dow reported net revenue for this past quarter at $582 million USD.  But that’s down from the same quarter last year, when they reported $900 million. (note: various U.S. media sources are reporting slightly different revenue numbers) Dow officials say their sales are down across the board.  The only area they see possible increase in sales is in their plastics made from cheap natural gas.

Their natural gas supplies come from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico operations, and Saudi Arabia.  Dow has no plans for cutting workers from those operations. About 1,500 of the job losses will come from Dow’s paint and solar cell factories.

20 factories in Japan, Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain and the United States will be closed.  Bloomberg reports that Dow did not want to make the layoffs public, but mistakenly emailed the announcement to some media outlets!

Despite stock investors buying up Dow stock, the chemical company said it will also cut $500 million from their own investing and capital spending.   That’s the exact opposite of what U.S. President Barack Obama has been saying is needed to revive the economy.  Obama has been stressing that unAmerican Corporate America needs to increase spending on investments and capital.

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Israel launches surprise airstrike….against Sudan! Fox News & NPR lies!

24 October 2012, oil rich Sudan says four Israeli warplanes bombed a factory in their capitol city of Khartoum.

So far no comment from Israel.

The attack took place late Tuesday night setting the factory on fire, the fire is just now under control.  The Yarmouk Military Industrial Complex makes ammo and weapons for the Sudanese military.

Fox News, National Public Radio (NPR) and The Associated Press all reported: “They did not say what caused the blast.”

However, the Israeli media itself reports that the Sudanese government says the factory explosions and fire were caused by four Israeli aircraft: “Four military planes attacked the Yarmouk plant.”-Ahmed Bilal Osman, Culture and Information Minister for Sudan

Australian media reports that Sudan will retaliate: “We think Israel did the bombing. We reserve the right to react at a place and time we choose.”-Ahmed Bilal Osman, Culture and Information Minister for Sudan

Why are the U.S. and British controlled media trying to downplay this?   (elections)

 

U.S.

U.S. West Nile Virus update, 23 October 2012: Despite colder weather, more cases & more deaths! Media making confusing reports regarding numbers of West Nile cases! Blood donors spreading virus? Deaths in Canada for first time! Proof that insecticide is not safe for humans!

“We’ve never seen deaths in Ontario before.”-Neha Gandhi, Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit, Canada

23 October 2012, while Canada is not a state of the U.S., and this posting is about U.S. West Nile cases, it must be noted that much colder Ontario, Canada, has just had four people die from the virus.  It’s the first deaths since West Nile first appeared in Ontario back in 2002!

The state of New Jersey just reported five more human deaths from West Nile virus.  The state reports at least 45 human cases.

As of 16 October the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had been notified of 4,531 cases.  This is almost 300 cases more than the week before.  On 04 October the CDC had been notified of 4,249 cases, which is more than the high number of cases in 2003.  Yet I’ve seen many news articles since then that continue to say 2012 is still not as bad as 2003!

Here’s what the CDC said: “The 4,531 cases reported thus far in 2012 is the highest number of West Nile virus disease cases reported to CDC through the third week in October since 2003.”

The CDC said basically the same thing in their 04 October report.  So why are the media reporting confusing numbers?  For one, they’re going by total yearly numbers and 2003 hit 9,862 for the entire year.  The CDC is making their claim based on the number reported for the same time period, and there’s a couple months left to go.

A second reason why it’s hard to report numbers is that many cases take weeks to months to confirm, so we could see 2012 cases being confirmed a couple of months into 2013.  It’s the same when it comes to determining cause of death.

It takes weeks or months of lab testing to determine if the cause of death was the virus, or not.  This is why some local health officials are clarifying that they don’t know for sure how many people have died from the virus.

At this point the death toll, as reported to CDC, is at least 183 (does not include those people who died since 16 October), and 51% of those who get infected get the more deadly neuroinvasive (meningitis or encephalitis) virus.

Another reason for confusing media reports is because some media sources are reporting only the cases of the more deadly neuroinvasive (meningitis or encephalitis) form of the West Nile virus.

Arizona reporting three deaths since the 16 October CDC report.

Florida reporting another human case of West Nile. There are at least 26 cases.

Mississippi State Department of Health reported eight new human cases on 22 October. So far the southern state has 233 cases, with five deaths.  Local media says the peak time of year for West Nile is normally July through September.

Michigan reports 223 human cases (one local media source is reporting 196 cases, but that might be from CDC numbers which are about a week behind), 13 deaths.  The midwestern state is parked near Canada, and is much cooler than Mississippi, yet continues to have West Nile cases. In 2011 there were a total of 34 cases reported in Michigan.

Three new cases in Georgia. Last week a man died after fighting West Nile for two and a half months. He had been paralyzed, and finally asked to be taken off life support.  Officials there say you can’t rely on cooler weather to stop the virus:  “Folks do kind of think since its cooler the mosquitoes aren’t biting but that’s not so…..”-Jackie Jenkins, Southwest Public Health District

A Pennsylvania media source investigated state and local officials’ claims that the anti-mosquito insecticide they’re using is safe for humans.   Their investigation revealed a big FAIL.  The warning label for Zenivex E20 (aka etofenprox) states: “Hazardous to humans and domestic animals”

Also in Pennsylvania, health officials are reporting high numbers of infected mosquitoes, despite colder weather: “That worked out to an infection rate of somewhere just under seven mosquitoes per thousand, which is about as high as we’ve ever had it.”-Phil Hall, Lebanon County virus surveillance officer

Louisiana reports nine new human cases, four of which are the more deadly neuroinvasive (meningitis or encephalitis) virus.  The southern state is at 321 cases, just short of their 2002 numbers.

On 18 October Texas reported 1,683 cases with 77 deaths.

On 20 October California reported another death from West Nile (at least 11 deaths this year).  There are 35 new human cases, the west coast state now has 301 cases. But it’s not just humans.  21 horse cases, more than 1,500 dead birds tested positive, as did chickens and squirrels.  State health officials also warn that at least 52 blood donors tested positive for West Nile!

In Illinois, people are upset over the death of an eight years old girls.  Just months after being diagnosed with leukemia she got West Nile.  One of her aunts said things were looking up when she suddenly died: “She had been improving. We got a call to go up to the hospital in the afternoon and stayed until she was gone. We’re just in shock. No one expected this.”-Lorie McElheny

Illinois has at last 139 human cases.

Oklahoma reports a 12th human death, and 173 cases.

In Minnesota, one man’s struggle with West Nile shows that it doesn’t go away.  Jerry Livermore got infected back in 2010.  He survived, but hasn’t fully recovered.  He now uses a walker, and he’s lost all memory of the 43 days he spent in the intensive care unit at the local hospital.   He has to use a walker because the virus affected his ability to balance.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Technology, U.S.

Some Economic Recovery? GM & HP make deal to end outsourcing! GM software deal and new tablet could save HP?

22 October 2012, General Motors (GM) and Hewlett Packard (HP) announced a deal that will see 3,000 HP employees go to work for GM.

GM officials claim it’s part of a plan to reduce outsourcing and increase in-house operations, at least when it comes to information technology.

Randy Mott, GM Chief Information Officer, stated that when it comes to IT work, it’s more efficient and cost effective if done in-house: “These agreements with HP will enable us to accelerate the progress of our IT transformation by delivering increased innovation and speed of delivery to our GM business partners, and reduce the cost of ongoing IT operations…”

With IT workers they’re able to change projects rapidly, no need to re-tool  factories.

But don’t think this is actually 3,000 new jobs, as, according to Automotive News, most of the HP employees already do outsourced work for GM. According to InformationWeek, those HP workers are actually being hired away from HP, meaning they will become full fledged in-house GM employees (so this allows HP to layoff those employees, right into GM jobs).  Reports vary on how long this new deal will last, one report said it was multi-year.

A couple of weeks ago GM said they were going to hire 2,000 IT people in Michigan and Texas, but no clarification if this is part of the HP deal.  GM also said it would open new software centers.

Another part of the deal is that GM will buy software from HP for its IT operations.  HP officials called it “…the largest deployment of our full software portfolio in the world!”-George Kadifa, executive VP of HP Software

Add that to HP’s new Envy X2 hybrid tablet (which some reviewers are raving about) and maybe HP will be on its way back up, and even challenge Apple.

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; 19 – 21 October 2012. More children killed by U.S./NATO forces! Russian copter fired upon! Bagram airbase on fire! More proof that oil, for China, is too blame!

21 October 2012

In Uruzgan Province, an Australian Digger was killed: “The soldier was clearing the compound when an IED detonated, killing him instantly.”-David Hurley, Australian Defence Force

In in the northern provinces of Faryab and Sar-e-Pul, China’s National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) began pumping out oil in the Amu Darya basin.  China has a 25 years contract for oil mining in Afghanistan, thanks in part to the U.S. led occupation of the Central Asian country.  CNPC expects to pump out 1,950 barrels per day.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry announced that no peace deal can be made with Mujahideen unless they are given immunity.  One problem is that many Mujahideen leaders are currently not allowed to take part in peace talks, under United Nations rules.

In Logar Province, local government officials say a U.S./NATO rocket attack killed four children, and wounded two as they walked to school.  Mujahideen report that it was mortar rounds from a U.S./NATO base, called Kizr, that landed on a house, killing all six children.

20 October 2012

French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, revealed that French troops could be out of Afghanistan by the end of December 2012!

In Helmand Province, six local cops were killed by two of their co-workers!  Also, a bicycle bomb went off near the governor’s office, no details on casualties.

In Paktia Province, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter working for U.S./NATO/ISAF, was shot at.  No one was hurt, four bullet holes were found in the fuselage.

19 October 2012

In Khost Province, Afghan government forces turned on each other, killing three and wounding one.  Reports say Afghan border police, National Army and National Police shot at each other.  Government officials say it was caused by a “personal issue”.

In Parwan Province, reports that Bagram airbase was attacked by Mujahideen.  This time a food warehouse operated by a military contractor was hit with machine gun fire, and rocket propelled grenades.  The contractor says the warehouse caught fire and burned into Saturday.

In Balkh Province, 15 people were killed, 18 wounded, after the mini-bus they were in ran over a landmine.

In Herat Province, Mujahideen report that a U.S./NATO helicopter crashed at Shindand airbase.  They say the copter went down due to mechanical problems.

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Don’t forget to add the Sears stores bought by GGP to the closing list. All part of REIT plan to change the way you shop, and they blame you the shopper!

“….those with high occupancies, solvent anchor tenants, good population density and access to affluent shoppers, as stable, low-risk, income-producing assets and will pay up for them today. Poor quality malls, on the other hand, are either not trading or selling at a steep discount, and perhaps are scheduled for demolition or conversion.”-Ryan McCullough, Property and Portfolio Research

21 October 2012

Back in February 2012, it was announced that General Growth Properties (the largest mall owner in the U.S., and also struggling) bought eleven Sears owned and leased anchor stores at various GGP malls throughout the United States.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, the overwhelming majority of the $270 million USD paid for those 11 Sears stores, is going towards just one store at the GGP mall in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Even though the Hawaii Sears store was the jewel of the deal, GGP wants to shut it down: “General Growth intends to eventually raze the store and build in its place several smaller shops, which deliver more rent in aggregate than department stores.”-Wall Street Journal, 23 February 2012

Other reports say all 11 Sears stores bought by GGP will be closed by the end of 2013: “The stores will continue to operate as Sears locations into 2013 with final closing dates to be determined and announced later this year.”-RetailTraffic, 23 February 2012

So the purchase of Sears owned and leased anchor stores, by GGP, was not an effort to save those stores, but part of bigger plan to shut down big department stores (except for WalMart of course).

According to a 03 October 2012 article by CoStar Group (a commercial real estate information company), what’s happening with Sears and Kmart is part of a much bigger plan to drastically change up shopping malls and plazas in the United States: “I don’t think we’re overbuilt, I think we’re under-demolished……there are projects that are not going to lease. Retail has a finite lifespan and once you reach that lifespan, you can put up all the signs you want, and charge as low rent as you want, but that doesn’t make tenants want to take the space.”-Daniel Hurwitz, DDR Corp (formerly Developers Diversified Realty Corporation)

Big corporate retail property owners are also known as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT), for tax reasons.  GGP, as are other mall/plaza owners, is a REIT.

According to the CoStar article, REITs claim that traditional malls/plazas/stores only do well in areas with high population and a relatively high level of income for the people who live there.  Does that leaves most of Idaho out?

Foothills Plaza, Pocatello, Idaho. What'll happen when the WinCo moves from here to their new location in the Alameda Plaza?

GGP owns malls in Idaho Falls, Chubbuck, Boise and Coeur D Alene, plus Alameda Plaza (aka Old Fred Meyer store) in Pocatello (some hope there is that it’s now the site of the new bigger WinCo store).  Boise might be the only area of Idaho that meets REIT description of a successful commercial area; Boise is a “lifestyle & power center”.

pine ridge mall

Fading Pine Ridge Mall, Chubbuck, Idaho. Some hope, this anchor store is the new home to upscale Herbergers (never heard of them).

According to CoStar Group data, regional malls, power centers and community center properties averaged a vacancy rate of 50.6%!  But the bigger malls did not enjoy less vacancy; super-regional malls averaged 54.5% vacancy!

The problem, according to most vulture REIT crony capitalists is location, location, location.  Most retail operations are now located in parts of the country where personal incomes are down, hence shopping is down (in a round-a-bout way the vulture capitalists are blaming you the shopper, never mind the fact that vulture crony capitalism is what’s causing most people to lose jobs or see their incomes go down).

“When you have tenants looking for space and nothing new being built, and we’re sitting at mid-90% occupancy levels, it’s hard to argue we’re overbuilt when they’re scrambling to find 10,000 square feet.”-Daniel Hurwitz, DDR Corp

What Hurwitz is saying is that there’s plenty of empty stores for rent, but retail tenants don’t like what is available.  Those potential tenants are basing their preferences on what they perceive to be what shoppers want.

To make matters worse, the closing down of Sears, Kmart, The Gap and Office Max stores will add another 15 million square feet of available store space to the flooded commercial real estate market!

Moody’s Investors Service pointed out that malls located in lifestyle & power centers continue to make profits, while malls outside those areas are losing money and will continue to lose money. Also, it’s probably not worth trying to rebuild those malls located outside of lifestyle & power centers: “Renovating or reconfiguring an underperforming mall may cost many millions……What’s more, should the location lose its viability for retail altogether, the value to revert to land less demolition cost will produce an even greater loss.”-Tad Philipp, Moody’s

In other words, these vulture REIT crony capitalists don’t think things are going to improve for areas outside the lifestyle & power centers anytime soon.

As I quoted Ryan McCullough at the beginning of this article,  new retail businesses need to be located where there’s a lot of people, and those people have high levels of income.    So what we’re seeing, with the closing down of many iconic U.S. retail businesses, is part of the bigger plan of those Mitt Romney style vulture crony capitalists who are simply, in their minds, following the big revenue money from the big income consumer (rich people living in those lifestyle & power centers).

Here’s the list of 11 Sears stores now owned by GGP:

Iowa: Coral Ridge Mall, and Mall of the Bluffs

Texas: The Woodlands Mall

Florida: West Oaks Mall

Utah: Fashion Place, and Provo Towne Centre (note the evil British empire way of spelling town & center)

Oklahoma: Quail Springs Mall

Hawaii: Ala Moana Center

Washington: Bellis Fair Mall

Minnesota: Apache Mall

Illinois: Market Place Shopping Center

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; 16 – 18 October 2012. Hundreds of Afghan government troops dying for the United States every month! NATO officials make surprise visit. Women behind violence against women? Attacks launched against Pakistan! U.S. admits to targeting children!

18 October 2012

In Parwan Province, another U.S./NATO supply convoy was attacked.  Local police say Mujahideen managed to put a bomb on one of the fuelers, which exploded.  However, Mujahideen say they blew up the fueler with a remote controlled landmine. The driver was killed.

In Zabul Province, Mujahideen claim to have destroyed four vehicles in a U.S./NATO convoy, killing or wounding eight people.

International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) admitted that hundreds of Afghan government troops are sacrificing themselves for the United States!  The ISAF report stated that, so far for 2012,  Afghan National Army (ANA) troops are dying or being wounded at the rate of 243 per month!  ISAF reported that Afghan National Police (ANP) troops are dying or being wounded at the rate of 292 per month!  That’s more than 500 Afghan government personnel killed or wounded per month, fighting for empire of the United States!

ISAF also said: “An International Security Assistance Force service member died as a result of a non-battle related injury in eastern Afghanistan.”

Officials with the U.S. created North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) made a surprise visit to Kabul: “My clear message is that the whole international community will stay committed to helping Afghanistan in the future…”-Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General

Amnesty International claims a 20 years old woman was beheaded by her mother-in-law, for refusing to be a prostitute.  Most reports of violence against women focus on men, but in this case it was the woman’s mother-in-law that was forcing her to engage in prostitution, and when she refused the mother-in-law paid a man to kill her.

People in the region of North Waziristan, Pakistan, reported that four mortar rounds impacted in their area.  The mortar fire came from Afghanistan.

Yet another U.S. based private security company (Jorge Scientific) is in trouble after a video showed their employees behaving like total retards!  American Broadcasting Company revealed the video, which came from two former employees who quit because of rampant drug and alcohol abuse by co-workers.

In Nanagarhar Province, several cops joined the Mujahideen.  Mujahideen made their names public.

17 October 2012

Major battles in Paktia Province.  Mujahideen claim to have shot down two U.S./NATO helicopters.  Reports say this happened as the copters were about to land to pick up wounded ANA troops.  At least 53 people were wounded, including 45 Afghan government personnel, after a mini bus packed with explosive went off.  A 14 years old girl was killed.  The mini bus driver was trying to target a U.S./NATO base.

In Badghis Province, Mujahideen claim to have destroyed a U.S./NATO minesweeping tank. They say the two crewman were killed.

In Helmand Province, four U.S./NATO supply trucks were destroyed, and two drivers killed by Mujahideen.

In Uruzgan Province, a local cop joined the Mujahideen.

In Nangarhar Province, seven ANA personnel joined the Mujahideen.

16 October 2012

U.S./NATO officials admitted that a recent airstrike killed children, and not Mujahideen!  ISAF said: “During an operation in Helmand province Sunday against suspected insurgents laying IEDs, ISAF forces may have accidentally killed three innocent Afghan civilians.”

This comes as U.S./NATO forces called in an airstrike in Gahzni Province.  At least 17 people were killed.   Afghan government officials claim most of those killed were from Pakistan.

In Parwan Province, Mujahideen claim to have fired more artillery rockets at Bagram airbase.

In Nanagarhar Province, Mujahideen claim to have fired more artillery rockets at Jalalabad airbase.

In Zabul and Kandahar provinces, Mujahideen claim to have destroyed several U.S./NATO convoy vehicles, and captured an Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and a “hatchback” along with other military equipment.