Tag Archives: wall street

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

White Horse & World War 3: Pentagon wants “urgent” upgrade for MAP Bombs, for use against Iran

“…are trying to ensure that 20 of the bombs are battle ready, possibly for use against Iran, though officials have been tight lipped on potential targets.”-Fox News

The Wall Street Journal reported that the 30,000 pound bunker buster bombs, known as Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MAP), were designed especially for use against Iran.  The 20 MAP bombs have already cost U.S. taxpayers $330 million!

Now Boeing, the contractor who makes the bombs, says they aren’t good enough and need to be upgraded!  Pentagon officials say it’s “urgent”, which implies they need the MAP bombs upgraded right now, for war with Iran.

Congress agreed to spend another $82 million to upgrade the MAPs.

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

International, U.S.

White Horse & World War 3: Germany wants war with Syria

Germany’s Defense Minister, Thomas de Maiziere, basically said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine that war is the only option for Syria: “The actions of the Syrian government against the people must be condemned internationally with a resolution of the United Nations….must isolate Assad….we must help the opposition in Syria.”

Maiziere says Germany and other countries do have the right to go to war with Syria: “International law does provide for a right to intervene to protect people in other countries against the violence of the rulers.”   (you think that might happen to the U.S. if Obama starts using his Republican Congress sanctioned national military police?)

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: Germany & Turkey say Israeli war against Iran will be disastrous

Germany’s Defense Minister, Thomas de Maiziere, said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine that if Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear industry: “A success would be highly unlikely, and result in obvious political damage.”

Maiziere said the European Union sanctions should be allowed to go into effect before any military action takes place.  The EU sanctions will not be in place until July 2012.

Turkish officials also say war would be a mistake: “A military strike is a disaster. It should not be an option. Especially at a historic turning point in our region, we do not want to see another huge tension.”-Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish Foreign Minister

International, U.S.

War Were Declared (almost): Arab League wants war, demands the United Nations invade Syria! Russia demands to see proof of AL claims!

February 12, 2012, the Arab League (AL) is calling for an end to “all forms of diplomatic cooperation”, and “tighter economic sanctions”.  Instead they want war with Syria!

In a new AL resolution, they are demanding military action by the United Nations. The resolution also says all forms of communication with Syrian rebels should be opened up.  (‘communications’ is a military term that also means supplies, like weapons and ammo)

Saudi Foreign Minister, Saud al-Faisal, backs that up saying the AL should “give all forms of support” to the rebels.

Russia doubts the sincerity of the Arab League, and says the AL observers weren’t in Syria long enough to collect viable evidence: “We would like to know why they are treating such a useful instrument in this way. I would support an increased number of observers. We are surprised that after a decision was taken on prolonging the observers’ mission for another month, some countries, particularly Persian Gulf countries, recalled their observers from the mission.”-Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister

The AL’s resolution will be presented to the UN on the same day that the Human Rights Commission is to make their report, February 13.  It’s been reported that the Human Rights Commission will make charges of war crimes against the Syrian government.  (think we’d see such charges brought against the U.S. government?)

The UN General Assembly could go around the UN Security Council, on the grounds of human rights violations.  Russia and China vetoed the UNSC resolution against Syria.

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Pepsi will lay off 8,700 employees, gives axe man a $2 million bonus

PepsiCo announced that they must radically restructure if they want to stay competitive.  This comes after Pepsi fell to third place, after Diet Coke.

Pepsi will lay off 8,700 employees around the world, and then spend big bucks on advertising to get you to buy more Pepsi products. Pepsi officials declined to say exactly how many U.S. employees would lose their jobs, but did say it should not be more than 3% of their U.S. operations.

Pepsi already laid off about 3,300 people from 2008 to 2009.

But here’s the thing, the former executive who caused Pepsi’s fall, is getting a $2 million bouns!  Massimo d’Amore ran Pepsi’s Global Beverages Group until September 2011.  He ordered changes in how Pepsi was marketed.  Those changes actually hurt sales.

So, d’Amore is let go, but walks away with $3.4 million in retirement and stocks, plus $2 million in severance, while 8,700 Pepsi employees will probably get nothin’ when they get axed!  And it’s not their fault Pepsi lost sales, it’s d’Amore’s fault!  Just another argument for employees to be the owners of their own business!

Fukushima

Government/Corporate Incompetence: Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2 heats up, again, still don’t know why. Can you say Re-Criticality?

12 February 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company (now effectively state owned due to running out of money) reporting that Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2 is still heating up, despite efforts to cool it down.

Temps are now at 80 degrees Celsius (176 Fahrenheit).  TEPCo had increased cooling water injection to 14.6 tons per hour!

On 05 February, TEPCo reported temps up to 73.3 Celsius (163.9 Fahrenheit), and began injecting 10.6 tons of water per hour.  At first they thought the rise in temperature was due to recent plumbing work.

If the reactor exceeds 100 Celsius it will no longer be in “cold shut down”, and could experience re-criticality.

TEPCo is now revealing that the thermometers used on the reactors are not accurate, they have a margin of error of 20 degrees! Also, two other thermometers, on Reactor 2, are indicating temps of 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), or lower.  So which thermometer is correct?

TEPCo has taken gas samples and said xenon levels are normal for the cooler temperatures, so they are now hoping that the thermometer reading the high temps is defective.  To be safe they plan to increase water injection to 18 tons per hour.

Fukushima

Japanese government reveals just how bad General Electric designed Fukushima Nuclear accident could have been (or might still be)!

Two weeks after the nuclear disaster started, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission submitted a worst case scenario to the government.

It could have been (and might still be) worse than the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The official reason why the report was not made public, is because government officials did not consider it an official document!  The real reason is that the report was quickly dismissed by officials, and then forgotten, until it was discovered in an office of the Atomic Energy Commission, at the end of 2011.

Currently there is a 20 km (12 miles) mandatory evacuation zone around Fukushima Daiichi, some experts say it should be expanded.  Under the worst case scenario it should be 170 km (105.6 miles)!

The scenario also called for voluntary evacuations out to 250 kilometers (155 miles).  That would include all of Tokyo!

The nuclear reactors are considered in cold shut down, but they are far from stable.  Currently, Reactor 2 keeps heating up and Tokyo Electric Power Company officials don’t know why!

 

International, U.S.

Red Horse & Lebanon: U.S. supported Civil War in Syria spreads to Lebanon

Lebanon used to be part of Syria, before the French separated it after World War One.  Now those who are anti-Syria (and probably backed up by the U.S., Europe or Israel) are attacking pro-Syrian Lebanese.

On February 10, fighting got so bad in Tripoli, that Lebanese troops were called in.  The gun battle lasted until February 11, leaving two dead and 20 wounded.

Some analysts say the fighting is between Lebanese Alawi Muslims and Sunni Muslims.  In Syria, most of the Ba’ath party officials are said to be Alawi Muslims.  Most Muslims in Lebanon are Shi’a (and they make up 47% of the total population).

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, U.S.

Conservative Reganomics Economist says Republican supporters are Stupid when it comes to Taxes and the Economy

Bruce Bartlett, former Reagan and Bush Sr official, has published a new book called The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform – Why We Need It and What It Will Take.  But guess what? He says the wealthy have been getting huge tax cuts for decades, and that’s part of what put the federal government into record debt!

He also says, in an interview with Bill Moyers, that right wing Republicans are stupid when it comes to understanding how much taxes they really pay, and how taxes really work:  “Back when the Tea Party first came into existence, back in 2009 they had a big demonstration in Washington. And we went around and we surveyed…You know, questions of just straight factual knowledge, not opinion. And it turned out that these people all thought taxes were vastly higher than they really are, and that they were paying exorbitantly high tax rates that would be impossible for them to pay.”

Bartlett also says the right wingers are stupid religious nuts: “…it’s very much like religion. And I think that it’s not a surprise that so many very, you know, devout Christians are a part of the Republican Party and accept a lot of this. Because the nature of deep religious belief is faith, which means you accept things for which there is no proof. And so, I think it’s not that hard to shift that faith over to believe …That if you cut taxes, revenues will go up…That all tax cuts are good and all spending cuts are good, and all government is bad.”

He blames Right Wing radio and Fox News: “You hear the same idea over and over again. Or you can call it propaganda if you like. It’s broadly believed and people just keep saying these things all the time, that ‘Rich people create jobs.’ ‘Yes, rich people create jobs.’ ‘They’re motivated primarily by taxation.’ ‘Yes, they’re motivated by taxation.’ ‘We must cut their taxes.’ ‘Yes, we must cut their taxes.’”

“Year after year after year of people watching Fox News and listening to talk radio, had conditioned them in advance to believe that the government is responsible for all of our problems.”

Bartlett says once enough stupid Tea Party members realize it’s their own Republican officials who are doing them in, they’ll Join the Occupy Movement: “…once they start to realize that the Republicans really do want to not just cut Medicare, but essentially abolish it, you know, I just think those people are not going to be part of the Tea Party. They’re going to be over with the Occupy Wall Street.”

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

White Horse & World War 3: U.K. and Argentina heading for Second Falklands War, major oil find could change the minds of U.S. leaders

Argentine Foreign Minister, Hector Timerman, demanded that the United Kingdom “…refrain from this military escalation that they are carrying out in the South Atlantic with the introduction of the latest generation of warships and warplanes, and dispatching a nuclear submarine with the capacity to unload nuclear weapons.”

While some British officials say the sending of Royal Navy ships to the Falklands (Malvinas) Islands is in response to Argentina’s growing demand to return the islands to Argentine control, other British officials say the move to send warships was planned long ago.

In any case the United Nations is asking the two countries to settle the issue peacefully: “The secretary general expressed concern about the increasingly strong exchanges between the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom on this issue. He expressed the hope that the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom will avoid an escalation of this dispute and resolve differences peacefully and through dialogue.”

In the 1990s. Argentina’s constitution was changed to make retaking of the Malvinas, from the British, a constitutional requirement.

Disputes over who controls the Falklands goes back to the late 1700s, and involves France, Spain and the United States, as well as Argentina and Britain.  This latest dispute is being exacerbated by the fact that oil has been discovered there.

If war were declared, the U.K. would find it a little more difficult to fight, than in the 1982 war, because several major South American countries have indicated they will help Argentina fight the British.

“The recovery of Malvinas Islands on part of Argentina is a fact that joins countries like Peru…It is part of our identity; there is a piece of colonial territory in these islands that still remains in South America.”-Rafael Roncagliolo, Foreign Minister of Peru

“…back Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas and back the UN resolutions calling on the Argentine and British governments to hold talks on the issue…”-Antonio Patriota, Foreign Minister of Brazil

“I’m speaking only for Venezuela, but if it occurs to the British Empire to attack Argentina, Argentina won’t be alone this time.”-Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela

What does the United States have to say about this?  Basically the same thing they said in 1982: “Our position remains the same. This is a problem between two of our partners. We do not want to change our position…”-Roberta Jacobson, Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs

However, a recent huge oil find might change the stance of U.S. leaders.  Because a major U.S. oil company, Anadarko, wants to get involved with the British company that discovered the huge oil field.

Anadarko wants to invest $1.5 billion into the British company Rockhopper: “A deal has been tabled. Anadarko has got approval to do this from the highest levels in the U.S., and they’ve been reassured the British will stand by the islands.”-unnamed British source

Anadarko was involved with British Petroleum and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.  The British media says Anadarko has connections to the Pentagon because it’s current Board of Directors include Kevin Chilton, a former commander of U.S. Strategic Command, and Preston M “Pete” Geren III, who worked in the U.S. Department of Defense for at least ten years.

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.