Tag Archives: tea party

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Oil & Gas Prices: Canadian economy getting punched hard because they’ve pumped out too much oil

“If you don’t think this is a big issue, think again!”-Andrew Potter, CIBC World Markets

Canada has pumped out so much oil, that it’s losing money.  Plus it has to compete with the flood of oil coming out of North Dakota. The result is that Canadian heavy and light oil is now selling for about $10 to $30 under what U.S. West Texas Crude is selling for.

“…we actually have a contraction because there’s just too much of the stuff.”– Peter Tertzakian, ARC Financial Corporation

What it means is that energy industry companies are going to lose Canadian$18 billion every year until at least 2013!  Canadian provinces will lose tax revenues of  Canadian$5 million per day!

“That hurts…doesn’t include corporate taxes, which will get affected, too.”-Jack Mintz, University of Calgary School of Public Policy

Canadian oil analysts are hoping their situation stabilizes by 2013/2014. But it will be painful, one analysts said cash flow for the energy industry will drop at least 20% in 2012.

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

Oil & Gas Prices: IEF backs up claims by Exxon Mobil; there is plenty of oil

“Even now the market is well supplied. New fields are being discovered. There are new areas where sources are being developed. The sources of supply are spreading and this will change the politics of oil.”-Aldo Flores- Quiroga, IEF Secretary General

One more authoritarian voice joins in to say there is not a lack of oil, oil prices are only going up because of those damn speculators!

Well not just because of the speculators.  Officials with the International Energy Forum, also said that the oil industry needs new investments, and big profits, in order to exploit the new sources of oil, to the tune of $700 billion every year!

Last week the CEO of Exxon Mobil said the same thing, that there was plenty of oil in the pipeline, but he did directly blame the speculators on the high prices.

 

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Government Incompetence: Speaker of the House reveals why U.S. Congress can’t get anything done

The following statements are from John Boehner’s interview with the Wall Street Journal:

“My problem is not with our 89 freshmen, my problem is with a few senior members who—they always want more. They always want more than what you can produce….[Nancy Pelosi] went through the same problem with her side.”

“We got 435 members. It’s just a slice of America, it really is. We got some of the smartest people in the country who serve here, and some of the dumbest. We got some of the best people you’d ever meet, and some of the raunchiest. We’ve got ’em all.“

“I told them they have ocular rectitis. That’s when your eyes get confused with your butt, and it develops into (an unnecessarily fecal) outlook on life.”

When asked what was behind political scandals, money or sex, Boehner replied: “Rarely is money an issue.”

 

International, U.S.

Government Evil: It’s official, United Nations says the United States tortured whistleblower Bradley Manning

“What is torture for? It’s really a way of getting false confessions. That’s what it does. That’s what it’s for.”-Daniel Ellsberg, former RAND Corporation employee turned anti-government activist

The UN special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, has formally accused the U.S. government of torturing one of their own citizens!!!

After 14 months of investigation, Mendez concluded that the arrest and detention of whistleblower, U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning, involved cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment!

Manning has been in military prison since 2010.  It included nearly 11 months of solitary confinement: “I conclude that the 11 months under conditions of solitary confinement (regardless of the name given to his regime by the prison authorities) constitutes at a minimum cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of article 16 of the convention against torture. If the effects in regards to pain and suffering inflicted on Manning were more severe, they could constitute torture.”

Manning was also forced to spend nights standing naked.  Yeah, real good example of being a beacon of hope to the World, United Police States of America!

Mendez says the U.S. Department of Defense fought his 14 month investigation every step of the way, never co-operating, and never allowing him to interview Manning (which is also a violation of international law).  Mendez believes one reason the U.S. tortured Manning was to get information they could use to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Business/Economics, International

One Year Later: Abandoned Japanese fishing boat makes it way back home

A ghostly reminder of the March 11, 2011, Mega Quake and tsunami that hit north eastern Honshu, Japan, made its way back home.

The boat belonged to a fisherman from Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture.  Otsuchi is one of the coastal towns devastated by the tsunami.  The fisherman did not survive the monster tidal surge, but his boat amazingly did.

Nearly one year after the disaster the ravaged boat was found drifting, more than 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) away, on the other side of Japan, in the Sea of Japan (aka East Sea).  It was returned to the fisherman’s son, who lives in Kamaishi City.

The son said he intends to repair the boat and go fishing.

Business/Economics, International

What Global Warming? Record low Beer sales hit Japan

Sales of Japanese beer, and beer based drinks, hit all time lows in February, 2012.

Japanese brewers shipped less than 360,000 kiloliters (95,101,938 U.S. liquid gallons), that’s the lowest amount in February since such record keeping was started in 1992.

Nippon beer makers blame the cold weather!  They say demand dropped in the areas of Japan that were hit hard by unusual cold temps and heavy snowfall.  They also blame being forced to make more non-alcoholic drinks.

International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3: U.K. directing U.S. Terror Drone attacks? Britain being sued

The London based charity Reprieve, and the law firm Leigh Day & Company, are suing the British Foreign Secretary William Hague.  They say they have evidence that the United Kingdom, specifically the Foreign Office, has been directing U.S. terror drone (UAV) attacks in Pakistan.

They claim that Britain’s signals intelligence agency (GCHQ/SIGNIT) are “secondary parties to murder” because they provided information to the U.S. CIA.  That information was used to launch drone strikes that have killed hundreds of Pakistanis.

 

Business/Economics, Technology, U.S.

Government Incompetence: Pocatello, Idaho, doctor & ISU faculty member failed at autopsies

The Idaho Board of Medicine is investigating complaints that Steve M. Skoumal screwed up at least ten autopsies. It was brought to the attention of the Board mainly because the local  police questioned the results.

In one case Skoumal, a faculty member at Idaho State University in Pocatello (in Bannock County), ruled three deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.  But, local Rexburg police (in Madison County) said that didn’t match with x-rays, or the fact a recently fired gun was found at the scene, or the fact that there were bullet holes in the victims.

Supporters of Skoumal say the police are just upset because he didn’t give them the answer they wanted to hear.

But this case brings up a good point; Idaho does not have standardized, dedicated, official local government coroner services.  In many cases families of the deceased have to pay for a pathologist to conduct an autopsy, as one Pocatello doctor/lawyer said: “…people who brought the bodies have to pay for the doctor to do more autopsy or less autopsy.”-Richard Hearns

There is a state code concerning coroners, but in some Idaho counties coroners are elected.  In other counties they are hired from local doctors.  Officials say the tax revenues are not enough to support a dedicated 24/7 coroner (although taxes are pretty high here).

Skoumal is connected to three high profile cases in eastern and southeastern Idaho: Unsolved Madison County deaths, the death of a Bingham County woman whose granddaughter was prosecuted for homicide, and the 2006 murder of Pocatello High School student Cassie Jo Stoddart (fortunate the murderers incriminated themselves with their own video).

Skoumal is accused of misreading toxicology reports, being unable to determine knife wounds and bullet wounds.  One of the complaints filed with the Board of Medicine accused him of not being a pathologist, he admitted he was not a certified pathologist.

It could be another year before the Idaho Board of Medicine holds an Administrative Hearing regarding the complaints.

 

 

 

Influenza

Pale Green Horse & H5N1: Korea hit by bird flu, wild birds die in Hong Kong, more cases in Vietnam, more human deaths in Indonesia, can be transmitted through your eye

South Korea officials reporting that bird flu has hit their country.  45 chickens died from bird flu, however, they are conducting more thorough tests to determine which strain of bird flu it was.

In Vietnam, officials thought they got things under control after more than 400 poultry died in February, but now, a new outbreak has been reported to the UN’s World Health Organization.

Bangladesh is reporting a fourth case of human H5N1 infection. The man was found to be infected, on February 26, after government mandated testing for live poultry market workers.  So far no deaths.

Indonesia has seen another human death from H5N1.  A 12 year old boy died on 21 February 2012.  He was in contact with poultry, but investigators say none of the birds are showing any sign of H5N1.

As of the beginning of March, farmers in Bhutan have killed off more than 1,300 poultry to stop the spread of H5N1 there.

Officials in Hong Kong are reporting an increase in the number of wild birds dying from H5N1.  Normally H5N1 attacks domestic birds.  It’s believed that wild birds can get it from eating contaminated chicken feed.  However, most of the dead wild birds in Hong Kong were not near any poultry farms.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says H5N1 can be spread by rubbing your eyes after handling sick birds.  The CDC said several types of flu viruses can travel through your eye and cause upper respiratory infection.

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

PALE GREEN HORSE & H1N1: MEXICO HAS 166 DEATHS SO FAR FOR 2012, COSTA RICA SAYS FLU “UNUSUAL” THIS YEAR

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? A sign the Federal Reserve thinks the too big to fail banks are full of crap!

“They’re very worried about the consumer. If we go into another recession, a lot of risk officers feel this is where the damage will be done.”-Paul Miller, former Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, currently working for FBR Capital Markets

It appears the Federal Reserve is losing patience with the Too Big To Fail Banks (TBTFB). It’s questioning the TBTFBs’ desire to pay out huge dividends, and buy back their stocks.

“If the Fed fights back and disagrees and is more aggressive in their stance on cards and mortgages, it would mean banks wouldn’t be able to pay out as much.”-Glenn Schorr, Nomura Securities

Schorr says bank investors are almost demanding 50% to 60% earnings this year!

The problem is that the latest bank stress tests are conflicting with the TBTFB’s own financial claims.  The stress tests are designed to see if a bank has enough cash on hand to handle a sudden huge drop in the economy.

So far unnamed insiders, involved with analyzing the tests, say things aren’t looking good for banks.  When the variable of consumer debt is considered in the stress tests, some banks would suffer almost double the loses than their own in-house projections!

31 TBTFBs are currently undergoing the Federal Reserve stress test.