Tag Archives: unemployment

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

U.S. Media & Politicians mislead when they call unemployment help “benefits”! Congress reduces unemployment help. It’s a joke anyway ’cause each state handles unemployment their own way! Employers using tricks to get out of unemployment pay outs!

First off, having had to deal with so called unemployment “benefits” myself, I can say without a doubt that they are no “benefit”.  You get piddly squat compared to what you were making when you had a job, and, as in the state of Idaho, they impose unrealistic “qualifications” and “standards” for you to continue getting them!!!

Now the Republican dominated U.S. Congress has agreed to reduce what people lucky enough, or who can put up with the qualification game, will get.

Congress had extended unemployment help to a maximum of 99 weeks (and by the way many states did not adopt that policy), now beginning September 2012 that help will be cut back to 73 weeks.

Idaho Department of Labor office, Pocatello, Southeastern region of Idaho

By the way, in the state of Idaho employers pay into the unemployment fund, not employees and not individual taxpayers.  But, Idaho kicks back a refund to employers for having little or no unemployment claims made against them.  The employees who handle unemployment claims are actually paid by the employers who pay into the fund.  A now retired Idaho Job Service (aka Idaho Department of Labor) employee, who worked the Pocatello office handling veterans affairs, and the accounting for kicking back money to employers, once confessed to me (in 2000) that it was in their interest to deny as many claims as possible, since their true employer was not the state but big businesses operating in Idaho!!!

Here’s a trick employers in Idaho use to get out of paying unemployment (it’s happened to me and several other people I know).  Employers will tell you there is no work today, or that work is being cut back and they will call you when they need you.  Of course, after weeks of no work you start looking for new work.  When you apply for unemployment the company you were working for claims you are still employed, but that you hadn’t shown up and they assumed you quit!

In another case I heard about, an guy was working for a national chain home improvement store, and he was told that work schedules were being changed and not to come in until they called with his new schedule.  A week went by, he called and they told him the same thing.  Several weeks went by and he was told the same thing again.  Turns out there wasn’t any actual work schedule change, but if he tried to apply for unemployment the company could legitimately say that the guy “just stopped coming to work”, it would be his word against theirs.

And since the Idaho unemployment system is actually run by employers, guess who wins (unless your wealthy enough to hire a lawyer, which most people aren’t).

International, U.S.

NATO leader says Syria too complicated for military action by NATO. NATO’s stated reasons are an example of Orwellian Doublespeak

“We have no intention whatsoever to intervene in Syria.”-Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General

On February 17, 2012, NATO boss, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told reporters in Turkey that NATO would not get involved in Syria.  One reporter asked if that included a UN resolution calling for war: “No, I don’t think so because Syria is also a different society, it is much more complicated ethnically, politically, religiously. That’s why I do believe that a regional solution should be found.” -Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General

I think what he really meant was there are still too many Syrian’s who support their government.  After all, Libya is just as complicated with all its different tribal and religious divisions.  Libya’s “complicated” divisions made it easier for the U.S. and Europe to instigate civil war, only because there were enough Libyans who could be bought off.

So in reality Syria is not anymore complicated than Libya, except that most Syrians can not be bought off, and are more united with their government, against a foreign backed civil war.  And that’s what Anders Fogh Rasmussen really means when he says Syria “is much more complicated”.

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

What Economic Recovery? 4,000 people stranded when Australian airline is suddenly deleveraged by too big too fail creditors

The latest corporation to become a victim of global deleveraging, is Air Australia.

Deleveraging is when the too big too fail banks take away your line of credit, and demand full, and instant payment of all debts.  Here in Idaho Wells Fargo Bank deleveraged several businesses in the past few years, including a Pontiac dealer in Idaho Falls, and several Sportsman Warehouse stores (owners of both businesses say they were not in financial trouble).

On February 17 (Australia time), 2012, the executives of Air Australia were suddenly told their line of credit had been suspended.  The result was that Air Australia could not buy fuel for use on flights where passengers were about to board, or planes were waiting to take off.  That has left at least 4,000 people stranded!  Another 10,000, who bought tickets for future flights, will not get their money back.

Air Australia has been losing money, especially after it lost a 90 million Australian dollars contract with the Australian Department of Defense.

It looks like the Australian airline industry is run the way the U.S. airline industry is, and that has some people calling for an investigation: “It does say something about…the fact the aviation industry should be properly investigated in this country.”-Tony Sheldon, Transport Workers Union

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

Mazda builds clean burning Diesel powered CX-5 Crossover, better MPG than Hybrid SUVs. Don’t expect it for sale in NAZI environmentalist U.S.A.

Mazda has introduced a new clean burning diesel powered Crossover Utility Vehicle.  It’s powered by a 2.2 liter diesel, and gets 46 miles per gallon on the highway.  That’s better than current hybrid SUVs.

The new Mazda diesel CUV is smaller than most SUVs. It’s based on the Minagi concept crossover, and is also known as the CX-5.

Don’t look for it in the United States though, Mazda plans on selling it in Japan and Europe only (due to the unfriendly attitude towards diesel powered cars under U.S. emission laws, and the stigma many people in the U.S. still have about diesels).

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Israel demands that Japan stop buying Iranian oil, Japan tells Israel to back off!

Israel’s Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, demanded, on Japanese TV, that Japan cut back on oil imports from Iran.  He’s in Japan on a five day visit.

Japanese officials fired backed, basically telling Israel to back off.  Japan’s Foreign Minister, Koichiro Gemba, told Ehud Barak that Israel needed to handle Iran’s nuclear issue calmly.

Gemba also told Barak that military options could lead to Arab countries finally uniting against the Zionist state.

Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, made similar statements.

International, U.S.

Resolution against Syria passes UN General Assembly, France pushes for new Security Council Resolution

The United Nations General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution calling for Syria’s president to step down.  However, since it is non-binding the UN can not force the issue.

France is making a new push for a new UN Security Council resolution.  This new resolution is focusing on using UN Peacekeeping forces to enforce access to humanitarian aid.  Russia might support such a resolution.

12 countries voted against the UN General Assembly resolution. They are: Bolivia, Belarus, Cuba, China, Ecuador, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

15 countries abstained: Angola, Armenia, Fiji, Cameroon, Comoros, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Saint Vincent, Suriname, Tanzania, Tuvalu, Uganda and Vietnam.

 

International, U.S.

Red Horse & Evil United States: U.S. backed Libyan Rebels make Gaddafi look good

“A year ago Libyans risked their lives to demand justice. Today their hopes are being jeopardized by lawless armed militias who trample human rights with impunity.”-Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International

Amnesty International has documented cases of torture and murder of Libyans, by the U.S. and European backed rebel forces.

A year ago the United States, and European countries, revealed their support for rebellion in Libya.  The reason, they claimed, was to bring freedom and stop human rights violations.  A year later Amnesty International says things are even worse under the rule of the U.S. backed rebels!

“Militias in Libya are largely out of control and the blanket impunity they enjoy only encourages further abuses and perpetuates instability and insecurity.”–-Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International

In the past few weeks Amnesty International visited prisons in Libya.  They found people who had been tortured to the point of confessing to crimes they did not commit.  They also found evidence that at least 12 people had been tortured to death.  The torture included beatings and electrocutions.  So much for the promise of U.S. style freedom and an end to human rights violations!

Observers even witnessed the torture, that’s how confident the U.S. backed rebels feel.  They saw people being beaten mercilessly, one rebel doing the beating said it’s that or kill the prisoners: “…those from Tawargha will not be released or we’ll kill them.”  

Rebels are taking revenge on the people of Tawargha, for their support of Gaddafi.  The ineffectual, and U.S. backed, Trans National Council government is not doing anything to stop rebel militias from wanton tortures and killings.

Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Majority of U.S. citizens say Corporate America is to blame for bad economy. The bell tolls for Bank of America and Fox News?

In the latest survey by Harris Interactive, 78% of people blame the bad economy on Corporate America (and Corporate Britain).

The annual Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient poll is a measure of how consumers view corporations.  So far the main stream media has only mentioned the good points of the poll, like Apple surging ahead of Google regarding a positive image among consumers.

What the main stream corporate controlled media isn’t reporting is that only 22% of those surveyed have a overall good impression of Corporate America!

Also, the survey is a warning sign for major banks.  According to reports, AIG, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are on the Harris poll’s critical list, because they ranked as low as Enron, Adelphia and WorldCom, right before those later companies went out of business.

Other companies that scored poorly were BP (British Petroleum), JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and News Corp (owners of Fox News).

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

United Corrupt Police States of America: It’s official, major U.S. cities, and their police departments, are rife with corruption!

The Chicago Tribune has published a report by the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

That report says the public officials, including the police, of major cities in the United States are corrupt!  The study is based on federal court cases.

Percentage wise, Louisiana had the most corrupt officials.  Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania took the next three highest per capita positions for corruption.

When looking just at the number of cases, New York state was number one, followed by California and Illinois.

The study did not break down the types of corruption, but ‘public corruption’ includes bogus contracts, bribes, out right theft, ghost payrolling and police brutality.   Remember, the study is based on corruption cases that actually made it to federal court, so you can imagine just how corrupt your public officials really are!

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Italy becomes second European country to officially hit Double Dip Recession, blame increased budget cuts and unemployment

“The budget cuts are weighing it down…The conditions for a recovery in consumption are not there since unemployment hit a new record.”-Chiara Corsa, UniCredit bank

February 16, 2012, for the second month in a row, Italy’s economy shrank.  Two months in a row of contraction, that’s the official sign of recession.

Belgium was the first European country to officially go into a double dip recession. Interestingly this happened after they finally agreed to a new government, following more than a year without one.