Tag Archives: u.s.

International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3: Israel develops ballistic missile, the target; Iran

November 3, Israel’s Defense Ministry said they had test fired a ballistic missile.  Observers say the latest test-firing is a warning against Iran’s nuclear program.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a “direct and heavy threat” posed by Iran’s nuclear program.

The testing of the ballistic missile was not announced in advance.  Some Israeli media sources say this is part of the Israeli government’s plan to attack Iran.  However officials in Netanyahu’s administration say regarding the missile test and Iran “The two things are separate”.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Federal Reserve Bank revises growth forcast downward, blames Europe

No surprise, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank revised its economic growth forecast downward.

Back in June the bank predicted U.S. growth at 2.9% (which is still bad, it needs to be above 3% to be good).  Now they revised it downward by one percent, to 1.9%.  Can you say stagnation?

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the expanding crisis in Europe has made the future of the U.S. economy increasingly unclear.

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

What Economic Recovery? Sony blames $2 billion loss on the United States & Europe, no more Sony TVs for you

On November 3, Sony announced that its television division is likely to post a record loss of about U.S.$2.2 billion for 2011.  That makes eight straight years of losses!

Sony is blaming poor sales in the United States and Europe.  This is more proof that the U.S. is no longer the market place for the World’s manufacturers.

Sony Executive Deputy President Kazuo Hirai says there is no sign of any economic recovery, and the company will revise downward its mid-term sales target by half.  Sony will also cut way back on TVs sold in Europe and the U.S.

Panasonic and Sharp say they will do the same.

 

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: TEPCo retracts Fukushima melt down claim!

On 02 November 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company said Reactor 2 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was in melt down, again. Now they changed their mind!

TEPCo now says the level of xenon radiation they detected is too low to be from spontaneous fission.  Can these guys get anything right?

 

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Fukushima Reactor 2 going Critical, TEPCo pouring Boric Acid into reactor!

02 November 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that melt down has re-started in Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2.

TEPCo detected radioactive xenon-133 and xenon-135, in the reactor’s containment vessel on 02 November.  They are produced during nuclear fission.  TEPCo poured a boric acid solution into Reactor 2 to suppress the nuclear fission (melt down).

Analysts are speculating that the other reactors at Fukushima Daiichi could also go critical.  Professor Okamoto Koji, of the University of Tokyo Graduate School, says the presence of xenon in the reactors leaves open the possibility that localized and temporary fission could still occur.

TEPCo claims that using the boric acid has cooled down the reactor.

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. officials say Asia is our only hope; then all is lost

“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

Next week the 21 members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will meet in Hawaii.  There U.S. officials are expected to bend over to make economic deals with Asia countries, that’s how desperate the situation is for the United States.

Ron Kirk, U.S. Trade Representative, said the main concern for the U.S. is resolving issues that affect U.S. exporters.

Last week the U.S. Congress approved a free trade deal with South Korea, however, the people of South Korea are against it and have been protesting ever since.  It’s obvious governments are not going to do what their people want.

If the United States is hoping that the countries of Asia, and the Pacific Rim, are going to pull us out of the ‘recession’ then all is lost:  Japan’s economy is a house of cards that’s already collapsed. China is focused on controlling inflation which is reducing consumer spending there. Vietnam, India, China, Japan and Philippines are facing off in what could turn into a war over oil rights in the South China Sea.  Australia’s main economic partner is China, and Australia is expanding its naval power in the hopes that the U.S. Navy will be forced out of the region due to economic hardship.  Japan and Russia are nudging closer to war over islands just north of Hokkaido.  And the U.S. has already lost it’s economic advantage in South America.


Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Honda to slash North American production, Toyota cutting work hours

Honda wants to cut north American production by 50%, and they’re blaming the latest flooding in Thailand.

Output at all six of its factories in the United States and Canada will be cut in half from November 2 through 10.  Also, they will stop all production in North America for one day on November 11.

Toyota announced they will cut overtime hours at all 13 north American factories, again because of a lack of parts caused by flooding in Thailand.

International, U.S.

World War 3: Japan to send troops to South Sudan

Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa announced that he will send about 200 troops to the new country of South Sudan in 2012. They will take part in UN peacekeeping operations.

Interestingly Ichikawa said the international community has been asking Japan to take on more UN peacekeeping roles, however I’ve not noticed any mention of that in all the international media sources I keep track of.  It’s probably more that the United States, in spreading its own military so thin, is putting pressure on Japan to take on more international military roles (also, payback for all the free U.S. aid in dealing with Japan’s on going nuclear disaster).

Japan’s current constitution does not allow their troops to carry weapons in other countries, but the new right wing government is trying to change that.

Most of the 200 Japanese troops slated to go to South Sudan are engineers.

U.S.

Ron Paul might consider leaving the Republican Party, republican Elites trying to run him out of town

“I’m running for president in the Republican party, I’m doing very well. And last time they wondered about it, but, you know the whole thing is, is boy the people are really frustrated. You go to New Hampshire there are more Independents than Republicans or Democrats.”-Ron Paul

There was a time that U.S. presidential candidate Ron Paul was a member of the Libertarian Party, now he’s a Republican, but that could change.

Last week Paul told Fox News that he would not rule out running as an Independent, just that he had “…no intention of doing that.”

However, I think that if Paul continues to win republican straw polls, which are then misreported by the main stream media, and then other republican candidates get endorsed instead, then he should really consider leaving the republican party.  It’s looking more and more like the elites of the republican party don’t want Paul to spoil their fun.

 

U.S.

Ron Paul salutes Wikileaks & whistleblowers, wins Iowa Straw Poll twice but loses Republican endorsment

On October 29, presidential candidate Ron Paul won the National Federation of Republican Assemblies’ (NFRA) Iowa Straw Poll, twice!  Yet they endorsed Rick Santorum!

What’s the point of holding an election if the winner (twice) is the loser?  I wonder how many Iowa republicans are thinking of jumping ship?

Was Paul ignored by the NFRA because of his praise of government whistleblowers?  He said whistleblowers are necessary so that we can get to the bottom of why things don’t go the way we were told they would, but more so because it could prevent war: “But the area that neither the Democrat nor the Republican leadership seems to welcome any whistle blowing is when there is an exposure on our foreign policy, the fallacies of why we go to war and what we do.”