Tag Archives: wall street

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Pale Green Horse, Radiation & Global Food Crisis: Japan to increase radiation detectors in food industry, sets new contamination standards

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.

Japan’s food industry is being required to install more cesium detectors in their factories, and the Health Ministry says it can pay for only half of them.  Japan’s food  producer will have to find a way to pay for the rest.

Japan’s Health Ministry has also changed contamination guide lines.  They’ve actually made them stricter when it comes to cesium.  Beginning April, 2012, general food products will be allowed 100 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, which is an 80% reduction from the current “safe” level.

Also, baby food and milk will be allowed to contain 50 becquerels.  However, drinking water will be allowed only 10 becquerels.  I wonder why they think it’s OK to have 50 becquerels in milk but only 10 in water?

To question, even more, the 10 becquerel drinking water limit is the fact that the new cesium detection equipment can not detect any cesium below 25 becquerels!  So how can they test the water accurately?

Fukushima

Government Incompetence & What Global Warming? Freezing temps cause more leaks at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant

Apparently officials with Tokyo Electric Power Company (which has recently been nationalized by the Japanese government, because TEPCo is broke) never thought to protect all the exposed pipes from freezing weather.  Maybe they thought global warming would protect them?

Japan is being hit with their usual freezing winter temps, along with record snow fall in some areas, and that has caused cooling pipes to freeze and burst at the General Electric designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

TEPCo said at least 40 liters (10.5 U.S. gallons) of water leaked from pipes in Reactor 4.  However, they said 7 tons of water have leaked from Reactor 6!

Matsumoto Junichi, a TEPCo rep,  admitted they failed to protect the exposed pipes from the freezing weather!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: Iranian President says the United States, and Europe, are White Horse Bullies

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.

The following are comments made by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on January 26, 2012.

“The West must be aware that the Iranian nation….does not need them. You impose embargo on Iran’s oil but do not see that the United States has not bought oil from us for 30 years, but nothing happened, and Iran followed its path with dignity.”

“The recent brewhaha about Iran has been created because Iran is on the path of progress and development, and the enemy is seeking to hinder this progress.”

“The U.S. says the Iranian nation is not the target of sanctions and that they (sanctions) target officials while they are of the type that directly affect the masses and do not hurt officials.”

“They say, ‘we adopt sanctions because Iran does not negotiate.’ And this is while they adopted sanctions ahead of Iran’s negotiation and are seeking to find an excuse to avoid negotiations.”

“Why should we make up excuses? A person who has logic and has something to say does not avoid negotiations, but rather those who are bullies and hegemons make excuses.”

“You impose sanctions on our central bank, but did you have dealings with our central bank? The value of our annual foreign exchange transactions is $200 billion, only 24 billion of which are with Europe.”

“At a certain juncture, 90% of our foreign exchange transactions were with Europe, but you are aware that the transactions have now decreased to 10% and (sanctions) cannot affect Iran’s economy.”

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3 & Government/Economic Incompetence: Iran will stop buying products from Europe and the United States! Working with China and India to trade oil for gold!

“According to one of the main clauses, the Islamic Republic of Iran will halt all oil exports to European countries as long as they continue to ban oil imports from Iran. Another clause obliges the government to forbid imports of all goods from countries which have imposed sanctions on our country.”-Nasser Soudani, Majlis (parliament) Energy Committee

January 28, Iranian lawmakers have finalized a bill that would freeze all oil shipments to Europe.  But the bill would also place an embargo on any products being sold to Iran from countries that have joined the U.S./EU oil embargo against Iran!

This shows the Iranians have realized that the U.S. and EU are not in a good economic position to impose embargoes.  They are taking advantage of that and  will not only stop all oil shipments to oil starved Europe, but with stop buying products from countries who embargo Iranian oil.

The Iranians created a petroleum trade institution that does not use U.S. dollars. It’s very successful, and part of why Iran has become so wealthy.  Not only do they not take U.S. dollars, but they actually accept barter for oil, such as trading raw oil for refined fuel.

Iran has become a major producer of refined fuel in the Middle East.  In fact, in February, 2011, Iran stopped buying refined fuel from other countries!  On January 14, 2012, Iran announced they now make their own jet fuel.

A German political analysts told Russian media that Iran has learned how to succeed under sanctions: “All the present faithful customers to Iran oil are set to continue buying this oil, and they will find a way, rest assured. This is the signal I get from Tehran.  I was personally present when the deputy economics minister of Iran was talking to a foreign society in Berlin, and the gentleman said very openly to the shocked audience ‘OK. You don’t want to buy our goods. Well, the Chinese do.’”-Christoph R. Hörstel

Now Israeli media are reporting that Iran, India, China and several other countries are working on a oil for gold trade deal.  The deal would allow countries to avoid going through U.S. and European banks to buy Iranian petroleum products!

Also, on January 26, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated: “Today, we have attained a status that we need not sell oil to Europe, and we are following our path determinedly.”

Business/Economics, U.S.

United Police States of America: New Mexico prison keeps man in solitary for 22 months, man was never convicted of a crime! Same prison has history of Staph infections. Story updated!

Dona Ana County officials have some ‘splaining to do, after they kept a mentally ill man in solitary for 22 months, even though he was never convicted of a crime! The same prison, in New Mexico, also has a history of untreatable Staph infections, and it houses child prisoners as well as adults.

On January 24, 2012, a jury in a federal court decided the county owed the man $1 million for every month he was held in prison, for a total of $22 million.

County officials tried to defend their actions, in court, by saying the mentally ill man had a criminal history, and that he was a danger to society.  However, that violates our constitutional rights regarding a fair trial.  Just because you have a criminal history, and you might be a danger to society, doesn’t mean you can be held without trial (unless you’re considered a terrorist under the new law sign by Obama).

After 22 months, the man finally got his trial, and it was a New Mexico District Court Judge, Douglas Driggers, that determined that while he was mentally “incompetent”, he was “not dangerous”!  Judge Driggers threw out all charges and freed the illegally held man.  Apparently Dona Ana County law enforcement, and prison officials, took it upon themselves to act as judge and jury when they locked up the mentally ill man.

County officials also tried to claim, in court, that the man never asked to be released from solitary.  However, evidence presented in the federal trial showed that the prison psychologist kept the man sedated with powerful drugs!  Other evidence showed the prison psychologist is not certified to administer drugs!

County officials still have not given an official explanation as to why they locked him up without ever going to trial, but they say they will appeal the federal court’s decision.

The Dona Ana County prison, which also houses child prisoners, has a history of recurring untreatable Staph infections, called MRSA.  It’s not just that county prison, but all New Mexico prisons, as admitted by an epidemiologist for the New Mexico Department of Health.   Doctor Mack Sewell said state health officials see MRSA infections in prisons “several times a year.”

07 March 2013 update: Dona Ana County appealed the $22 million dollar judgement against them. The county now claims the man was arrested for intoxicated driving, and driving a stolen car.  They could not prove their claim, but the judgement against them was reduced to $15 million.  The victim now lives outside New Mexico and is dying of lung cancer.

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

World War 3 & Government Incompetence: Oil embargoes are double edged swords. Iran about to swipe back at Europe, could stop all oil shipments voluntarily!

Europe is dependent on foreign oil.  The European Union was pushed into joining the United States in placing an embargo on Iranian oil (in exchange for exempting British Petroleum).  Now Iran says, so what, we’ll voluntarily cut off European oil supplies!

Lawmakers in the Iranian Majlis (similar to a parliament or congress) will decide a new bill on January 29, 2012.  If approved it would cease all oil shipments to Europe by the end of next week.  That’s significant, because the EU oil embargo involves only new oil contracts, not existing ones.

So, in reality the EU oil embargo is a paper tiger, because it doesn’t involve existing oil deals (part of the deal with the U.S. and exempting BP).  The Iranians have realized that oil is, at this point, their greatest weapon.

The United Kingdom is already suffering increasing fuel costs, and their fuel stations are running dry, because of internal problems.  So how stupid are countries who rely on foreign oil suppliers, when they threaten their own oil suppliers?

Could Iran voluntarily halting oil shipments, to U.S. and EU buyers, be a greater incentive to go to war, then their alleged nuclear weapons program?   Modern societies don’t run on nuclear bombs (not counting the ticking time bomb nuclear power plants), they run on oil.

 

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

Black Horse & Fuel Prices: United Kingdom to see record Diesel prices, not because of Iran oil embargo but because one of their refineries went bust!

…there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently warned that a successful oil embargo against Iran could cause oil prices to jump by at least 30%.  But already Britons are being hit with record fuel prices, as fuel stations are running dry because a major oil refiner went bankrupt and stopped shipping out fuel!

In February, 2011, gasoline (petrol) prices in Britain hit at least $9.67 per gallon.  British media now reporting that diesel prices could pass 1.45 pounds per liter (that’s U.S.$8.60 per gallon), with the average diesel car, not truck, driver paying more than $156.00 for a fill up!

Back in 2010, diesel cars became the most popular vehicles in Britain, because diesel fuel was a little cheaper, per gallon, than gas. I say was, because in May, 2011, diesel fuel prices in the U.K. finally went higher than petrol.

Now, the giant Coryton fuel refinery in Essex, England, stopped fuel shipments on January 24, 2012.  Coryton’s Swiss parent company Petroplus filed for bankruptcy, as they fell victim to the ongoing credit crisis in Europe (you see capitalist corporations don’t operate with cash, they operate on loans, just like Mitt Romney).  13 banks, including Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas, froze Petroplus’s credit accounts (can someone please freeze the credit accounts of our capitalist leaders here in the U.S.?).

But just because they stopped shipping out fuel doesn’t mean they’re not making it.  In fact Coryton officials admit they’re now hording all the fuel they make: “Our immediate priority is to continue to operate the Coryton refinery and the Teesside oil storage business without disruption while the financial position is clarified and restructuring options are explored.”–Steven Pearson, joint administrator

Now throw in the fact that fuel tanker drivers are on strike at another British refinery.  That strike is blocking supplies from getting to 340 fuel stations in Britain.  By January 26, 2012, filling stations in Britain began reporting they were out of fuel, after customers rushed to fill their cars when news of the fuel supply stoppage was heard.

“There is no doubt the loss of supplies from a major U.K. refinery, plus the problems in Iran, is going to give the speculators a field day. When they speculate, the only way is up as far as  fuel prices are concerned. Motorists are going to have to get used to seeing prices creeping up.”–Edmund King, The Automobile Association

 

 

 

Business/Economics

Black Horse & Morgan Stanley: Cuts employee pay 30%, claims profits are down, gets hit with billion dollar lawsuits, then hires ex Merrill Lynch team. If you’re not a shareholder, you are a nobody!!!

…there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

“You’re naive, read the newspaper, number one. Number two, if you put your compensation in a one year context to define your overall level of happiness, you have a problem which is much bigger than the job. And number three, if you’re really unhappy, just leave. I mean, life’s too short.”-James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley, telling employees who’re not happy with pay cuts to go home

Bloomberg reporting that Morgan Stanely is cutting employee pay by as much as 30%, as well as capping bonuses.  Is it because profits are down? Well they are down, but they still made a profit of $4.11 billion in 2011!

Oh, and CEO James Gorman got a 25% cut in pay.  He made only $10.5 million in 2011!  Is it because they’re being sued by two major banks over the home foreclosure fiasco? A German bank, and a French/Belgian bank, are suing for $1.2 billion, because they claim Morgan Stanley sold them bad mortgage investments between 2006 and 2007.

Officials with Morgan Stanley are not commenting on the lawsuit, they claim they don’t know anything about it (at this point).

But if Morgan Stanley is hurting for cash, why did they hire an ex team of ‘advisers’ from Merrill Lynch, for who knows how much?  It’s claimed Philip Ressa and Justin Cho made Merrill Lynch $2.1 million last year.

I think CEO James Gorman revealed the real reason for cutting pay and bonuses when, at the end of a statement to Bloomberg media, he said “…we have to respect the fact that shareholders have to get paid…”

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

Black Horse & Apple computers: Apple rakes in huge profits, thanks to slave wage labor! Apple’s China factory installs anti-jumping nets to keep workers from leaping to their deaths. Idaho, Ohio, Michigan & Pennsylvania Republicans hoping China will build similar slave cities in the U.S.

…there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

January 26, 2012

Apple reported their 2011 fourth quarter profits at a record $13.06 billion!  That would be fine if it wasn’t for the fact that Chinese workers are being pushed so hard to make Apple products that they’re literally going over the edge to their deaths!

I love my Apple computer (it’s lasted longer than any other computer I’ve had, and with far less glitches), but, one of the factors in me buying an Apple was that I thought they were made in the U.S.  Apparently after (evil) Bill Gates became a major investor in Apple, production was shipped overseas.

Around the time Apple was reporting their record profits, Chinese media was reporting on a factory that made Apple products.  Turns out the workers there threatened suicide because of slave labor conditions.

It’s so bad that a Catholic Online article says Chinese factories are spending money to put up nets around their buildings, to keep workers from jumping to their deaths.

You see, working in Chinese factories is not like working in a U.S. factory (not yet anyway): “Chinese factories are self-contained cities with workers living side-by-side in dorms. Workers spend an average of 10-12 hours per day working, six days a week.” Also: “…life in a Chinese factory is unpleasant, boring, repetitive, and workers have little to no privacy, and few rights-if any. The food is nothing to write home about either. Employers can set workers to task at any hour, force them into overtime, and arbitrarily fire them if desired. It’s as near to slavery as one can get without the chains.” -Catholic Online

When I realize how much I paid for my Mac (more than double what I was paying for cheapo IBM types) it sickens me to know that it could have been made by wage slaves!  I thought one of the reasons for the higher price was that I was supporting U.S. jobs!

This month Apple’s contracted factory in China, run by a company called Foxconn, reported that workers threatened to commit mass suicide.  To give you an example of the crowded working conditions, Foxconn admits they have at least 32,000 workers living on their factory ‘campus’!  That’s not a factory, it’s a self contained slave city!!!

But guess what? The state government of Idaho has been toying with Chinese contractors to build such a slave city right here in Idaho, U.S.A.  They call it an “industrial complex”.

In 2010, the Idaho Statesman reported that state officials were working on a project that would allow the China National Machinery Industry Corporation (aka SINOMACH) to build huge a slave labor camp south of Boise.  It could cover up to 30,000 acres, and is “…based on a concept popular in China today…”.

That camp would include retail shops and homes for workers, and some reports say the ’employees’ will come from China.

SINOMACH also got involved with a fertilizer project near American Falls, but since then all has gone quite on that project.

Lobbyists working for the Chinese say Idaho Republican leaders are great to work with: “One thing these Chinese see is we have a governor here who has a great big open door policy, and I think that’s making a difference in this SINOMACH project.”-Pat Sullivan, lobbyist

The Idaho Republican’s open door policy for China is part of their Project 60 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plan.

Idaho Republican leaders love China: “Idaho’s the last state that should say we don’t want to do business with Asia. Asia’s where the money is.”-Brad Little, Idaho Lieutenant Governor

I’ve also reported on how most of Idaho’s Republican politicians are in the pockets of for profit prison labor operations.

SINOMACH is also dealing with officials in Ohio, Michigan (is there a connection to the union busting going on in that state?) and Pennsylvania.

Also this month, SINOMACH announced they will increase their efforts to set up operations in other countries: “We encourage our subsidiaries, including scientific institutions and design, construction and industrial equipment manufacturing companies, to go overseas and explore and develop new services and markets.”: Ren Hongbin, chairman of SINOMACH

SINOMACH (short for Sino Machinery) reported a revenue increase of 17% in 2011, for a total of $30 billion.  I wounder how much was from cutting costs with slave labor?

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Nissan to build new factory, make 1 million cars, but not in or for the U.S. Honda & Mazda to follow suit

Nissan announced they will spend $2 billion to build yet another factory, in Mexico.  They already have two factories in Mexico.  With three factories they hope to push out one million cars every year.  But guess what?  Those cars are not for sale in the United States.

Nissan is selling the cars in the newly created CELAC (new united South America).  The United States is no longer the worlds car selling market, South America is!

Nissan is already pushing out one million cars per year in Japan and China (again cars not for sale in the U.S.).  Honda and Mazda also announced plans to increase production for the CELAC market.