Tag Archives: unemployment

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

What Economic Recovery? Solar company Hoku Corporation stock value less than 20 cents! Do Not Trade warning issued!

On 8 June 2012, the value of Hoku Corporation stock settled at 15 cents per share, after hitting 20 cents that morning.  Some stock trading media outlets issued a Do Not Trade warning for Hoku (NASDAQ: HOKU).

Hoku Corp owns failed Hoku Materials in Pocatello, Idaho.  Hoku Corp is a subsidiary of Tianwei New Energy Holdings, which is an affiliate of China South Industries Group Corporation (CSGC).

Ever since the end of May, Hoku stock has been struggling to get above 20 cents. Wikinvest says Hoku’s 52 week average is only 7 cents per share!  At last check, 13 June 2012, Hoku Corp was trading between 16 and 17 cents per share.

IDAHO’S HOKU MATERIALS ABOUT TO BE FINISHED OFF BY LAWSUITS, LAYS OFF 100 MORE EMPLOYEES IN BANNOCK COUNTY!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? IMF demands Japan raise taxes. It’s all about making investors happy, call it Global Vulture Capitalism!

12 June 2012, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants the Japanese federal government to raise sales taxes by a minimum of 15%.

The IMF issued a report to Japan, saying it was critical that “reforms” were made to social programs, and taxes.

Currently Japan has a 5% national sales tax, and the Diet (parliament) is considering raising it to 10%.  The IMF wants it to be 15% or more!

The IMF report reads very much like what is being imposed on people in several European countries, like Greece and Spain.

An IMF official admitted that it had nothing to do with saving governments, or helping citizens of affected countries, it was all about “investors”: “Japan must tackle its deep rooted fiscal problems. Passage of the current tax and social security reforms is thus crucial to demonstrate commitment to fiscal reform and thus to sustain investor confidence.”-David Lipton, First Deputy Managing Director IMF

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Government Hypocrisy: United States exempts 7 more countries from Iran sanctions list. What about up-coming EU sanctions? UN says Iran has no Nukes!

“….we did not say Iran had nuclear weapons. We never said such. We also did not say that Iran made a decision to obtain nuclear weapons. That we also did not say.”-Yukiya Amano, International Atomic Energy Agency

12 June 2012, apparently all the excitement over Iran’s nuclear program was hyperbole.  The Obama administration just exempted seven more countries from the oil sanctions.

In March 2012 France, Germany and Japan were exempted. Now India, South Korea, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Africa.  Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said it was because those countries have dramatically reduced their purchase of Iranian oil.

I’ve been following this and I can say that several of those countries have not reduced their purchases of Iran oil, even increasing their future orders!

U.S. officials (both in the Obama administration and in Congress) have been bold face lying to the U.S. news media, claiming that the sanctions have hurt the Iranian economy.  If that’s so then why is Iran swimming in more money than ever before?

Today it was revealed that Iran’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has doubled in the past fives years, despite decades of old sanctions, and despite the new sanctions: “Due to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s economic capacities we have been able to move through the sanctions and will do the same in future as well.”-Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini, Iranian Ministry of Economic Affairs & Finance

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Iran now has the 17th strongest economy in the World, thanks to their GDP rising to $482 billion USD last year.  The IMF expects Iran’s GDP, for 2012, to be more than 3%, and remember, that’s under sanctions!

Iran’s own stock exchange (Tehran Stock Exchange or TSE) has seen a 280% growth rate in the past five years!  The TSE is doing almost too well, so much so that Iranian officials issued a statement to try and calm investors: “Concerns about bubble growth are unfounded. The reason for the rise in the index is the flow of cash into the stock market.”-Ali Sahraie, TSE operations manager

Stock market analysts believe Iran’s TSE has a lot more room for growth: “Even though (the market) is rallying I still think of it as under performing.”-Ahmad Alanani, works for London based Exotix

The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) boss just came out (in an interview with the Wall Street Journal) and said Iran has no nukes, and that the IAEA could find no evidence suggesting that Iran is trying to build nukes.

However, the IAEA did allude to possible nuke weapons programs that were active prior to 2003: “We don’t have the impression that they are re-concentrating their activities. Before 2003 the work was quite systematic. And after that it is more dispersed. And this situation continues.”-Yukiya Amano

Sanctions against Iran, by the European Union, are set to go into effect on 1 July.

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Japan creates new tax collection police force! Squeezing blood from turnips! Elite Panic Syndrome

11 June 2012, the federal government of Japan announced the creation of a new type of cop, a tax collecting cop!

Being referred to as a new “revenue service agency”, the strong arm tax collectors will be put together by the Welfare Ministry and the Japan Pension Service.

It’s hoped that by 2015 the new tax busters will be under the direct control of the National Tax Agency, and full blown bōryokudan tax collecting operations will be underway by 2018.

The federal government of Japan says such a new tax collecting cop is necessary because tax revenues are way down and they want to make sure everyone is paying their fair share.

No shit Sherlock!  Tax revenues are down because unemployment is up and business are shutting down!  Maybe instead of trying to squeeze blood from a turnip, you exalted elitists leaders should be finding ways to infuse your dieing economy with new blood!   (but historically, this is typical of government systems facing crashing tax revenues due to crashing economy. You’d think the elites, with their superior breeding and education would understand that!  It’s part of Elite Panic Syndrome, when they realize they F—ed up)

 

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

What Economic Recovery? Japan to force re-start of nuclear power plants, for the sake of the economic “survival of society.” New studies suggest that power use in Japan can not be reduced much further, even if utility rates are raised!

“To protect the [economic] livelihoods of the Japanese people, it is my judgment that Reactors 3 and 4 at Ohi nuclear power station should be restarted.”-Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan

Despite that fact that local governments in Japan have the final say on the start up of a nuclear power plant, and they’ve said no, the federal government has decided to do it anyway!

Noda gave this dire warning: “Cheap and stable electricity is vital. If all the reactors that previously provided 30% of Japan’s electricity supply are halted, or kept idle, Japanese society can not survive!”

This comes as some studies on utility usage, and increased prices for power, show that most Japanese families/individuals can not reduce power usage any further, no matter how expensive the electric rates get.   Electricity rates in Japan are already among the most expensive rates in the world!

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Idaho suicide rate 4th highest in United States! Christian/Protestant Work Ethic to Blame! Government cutbacks to blame!!! Idaho National Guard demands suicide hotline!!!

“Idaho consistently ranks in the top 10 states for our suicide rate, but the ranking of four is higher than we’ve experienced.”-Kathie Garrett, Idaho Council on Suicide Prevention

The Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN), says the U.S. state of Idaho has the 4th highest rate of suicide in the whole country, according to the most recent stats available (2009).

In a report published in March 2012, SPAN said there was a 15% increase in Idahoans killing themselves, between 2008 and 2010!

Suicide is the number two reason for death of Idahoans, aged 15 to 34!

Between 2006 and 2010, 81% of suicides in Idaho were by men!

In 2011, 15.4% of Idaho teenagers considered killing themselves!

SPAN did not list any reasoning for the increase in Idaho suicides.

According to the American Association of Suicidology, there are 19.7 suicides per 100,000 Idahoans.  The average for the whole U.S. is 12 per 100,000.

The top ten U.S. states for suicide are Montana, Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Arizona and Utah.

Regional mental health workers say that the Pacific northwest, of the United States, has a strong stigma against people getting help, and people are looked down on if they are unemployed.  This is part of the Christian/Protestant Work Ethic described by Max Weber.

Also, this Christian/Protestant Work Ethic probably influenced Idaho law makers when they shut down the last suicide prevention hotline at the end of 2006.  By the way, note that suicides jumped when that happened!  In 2008 Idaho was ranked 6th in the country for suicide, then jumped to 4th just one year later!

A study by Idaho State University, here in Bannock County, said that if a suicide hotline was re-established it would get an average of 5,000 calls per year!

Even the Idaho National Guard has been demanding the return of a suicide hotline, after all citizen soldiers & airmen returning from the never ending War on Terror have a high rate of suicide.

Incompetent state law makers realized their mistake and agreed to bring back such a phone help line.  The problem is that the state doesn’t have the money to fully fund such a program, so it must be co-funded with donations!

The re-opening of a suicide call center came a step closer when it was revealed, in April/March, that enough funding had been raised to run a suicide prevention help line for 18 months.  Also, the hotline center will be based on the Idaho National Guard’s Gowen Field.

All that’s needed now is official national certification of the program, and the training of volunteers to take the calls.  Until then all calls will go to an Oregon center, the phone number is 1-800-273-TALK.

The Oregon call center says it’s getting at least 10 calls per day from Idaho.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Sign the West is going down: Huge jump in suicides, even the U.S. military sees 154 suicides in 155 days! Blame the War, blame the economy!

8 June 2012, numerous reports proving that things are not well in the Western world.  The biggest sign is the increase in suicides.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suicides by U.S. teenagers hit 7.8% in 2011. An increase from 2009’s 6.3%.

The info is found in the CDC’s 2011 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey.  That survey also found the percentage of teenagers who seriously considered suicide up as well; 15.8% in 2011. 

In Japan (considered part of the Western world, it is part of the Trilateral Commission), the National Police Agency reported on 8 June 2012, that 622 people aged 19 or younger committed suicide, up 70 from 2011. The number of suicides of people in their 20s rose by 64 to 3,304.

The Japanese government says suicide by people younger than 30 years has increased every year since 2009, they blame the bad economy and the increasing lack of jobs!

Reuters reporting that suicides in the economic crisis stricken country of Greece are up; a 40% increase between 2010 & 2011!

In the United Kingdom, the latest data shows a 10% increase in suicides between 2007 & 2009.

At the end of May 2012, France saw a wave of suicide by railway: “We’ve never seen so many suicides in such a short period of time.”-Michel Pronost, Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français/National Corporation of French Railways

  In four days 12 people killed themselves by jumping in front of a train, including one man who took his 19 month old baby with him.  The causes were blamed on everything from bad relationships to the bad economy.

In India (a Western country due to it being a former British colony, and still under some influence by the British & U.S. Empire, and operating a Western style economy), a too big to fail bank (Central Bank of India) is downplaying suicides, saying “Farmers’ suicide numbers is just media hype.”  The statement was made after hundreds of farmers killed themselves when their credit was cut off by the bank (they were de-leveraged, a policy that has been pushed by the U.S. controlled World Bank and IMF)!

The amazing thing is that India’s economy is booming (they are part of the BRICS)!

South Africa (a Western country as it was established by the British Empire, and uses Western style economy) reports a “shocking” increase in suicide, especially among people who were about to lose their jobs.

Another surprise was that the sudden increase in suicides is among white males: “A lot of them have wives who have been raising kids. She has no skills, he has no job and is freaking out. People feel retrenchment [job loss] is a black mark against them, and they worry that they will be perceived as having done something wrong.”-Janine Shamos, South African Depression and Anxiety Group

About one in ten deaths in South Africa are due to suicide. The amazing thing is that South Africa’s economy is supposed to be good (they are part of the BRICS)!

For every person who killed themselves, there were 20 people who tried to do the same thing. A British sociologist says government cuts to social programs only makes things worse: “Austerity can turn a crisis into an epidemic. Job loss can lead to an accumulation of risks that can tip people into depression and severe mental illness which can be difficult to reverse, especially if people are not getting appropriate care.”-David Stuckler, Cambridge University

A psychologist says such bad economic conditions actually speeds up the process of depression that leads to suicide: “Instead of seeing a slow increase in the epidemiology of mental illness, what we’re seeing is what we predicted, that these economic impacts have rapid significance for our way of thinking about the world.”-Peter Kinderman, University of Liverpool

Back in the United States, Time.com and the Associated Press are reporting that suicides among active duty military personnel have hit almost one per day!

Pentagon data shows 154 suicides during the first 155 days of 2012, 50% more than those U.S. personnel killed in Afghanistan!

In 2008 suicide among U.S. military personnel exceeded the civilian cases: “…historically, the suicide rate has been significantly lower in the military than among the U.S. civilian population.”-U.S. Army statement, 2010

Military mental health officials blame the repeated deployments in the never ending War on Terror!

 

 

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Japanese government incompetence; still no official nuclear disaster emergency regulations!

8 June 2012, NHK (nippon housou kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) reporting that more than one year after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi began, the federal government of Japan still has no new official policy regarding nuclear disasters!

Last year most local governments, and individuals, learned of government evacuation instructions through media, not federal government channels.  Also, it’s now known that some people actually evacuated the wrong way, into radiation plumes, and many of the emergency centers did not perform as expected.

The federal government scrapped their old policies, as they proved totally useless, and were supposed to come up with new ones by now!

About the only thing the federal government of Japan has agreed on is to expand danger zones around nuclear plants from 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) to 30 km (18.6 miles).

More than 130 municipal governments are supposed to create their own nuke disaster regulations, but, they’re supposed to be based on the, so far, non-existent federal regulations.

A new federal nuclear regulatory body was supposed to be up and running in April 2012, but it never happened.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Government Incompetence: Hurting for revenue U.S. Postal Service considers giving junk mail companies a cheaper rate? Don’t blame USPS, blame Congress!

8 June 2012, The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is supposedly in financial trouble, no thanks to the U.S. Congress, but now there are reports that the USPS could give one of the countries largest junk mail distributor a cut rate deal!

Valassis Direct Mail has been negotiating with the USPS for a lower rate.  But wait, don’t blame the USPS!  The USPS can not set postal rates!  It is the U.S. Congress that makes those deals! It’s actually the Postal Regulatory Commission that Valassis Direct Mail has been negotiating with.

For some reason the mainstream newspaper media is bashing the USPS directly.  The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) says it’s not fair to give junk mail distributors a cut rate on postage, especially when the USPS is in need of cash.

It is the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) that will make the decision on the deal. The PRC is a Congressional commission!!!

In September 2011, the USPS Postmaster General, and the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, explained in a heated PBS interview that it was the rules imposed by the U.S. Congress (like over paying into federal funds) that is destroying the USPS.

One of those rules is that it is Congress that makes the postage rate deals!

At the end of May 2012, the USPS announced they will layoff 45,000 employees.  It’s part of the plans to layoff 150,000 employees by 2015.  Also in May, USPS announced they would try and cut back on working hours, hoping to prevent closing down anymore post offices and distribution centers.

The United States Postal Service does not make money off taxpayers, they are solely funded by the postage they charge (prices are controlled by Congress, not USPS), and other products they sell.  The cuts being made to the USPS will have no affect on U.S. government (taxpayer) debt.