Tag Archives: wall street

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

World War 3: Finland seizes U.S. made Patriot missiles, Germany says legitimate cargo bound for South Korea

“We have impounded the explosives and missiles and asked the Defense Ministry to transport and store them.”-Petri Lounatmaa, Finnish Customs

Finland has cleared an Isle of Man (a British Crown Dependency) registered ship, but only after taking the 69 Patriot missiles and 160 pounds of explosives.

German officials are upset. They claim the missiles came from German inventory, and were properly declared for shipment to South Korea.  Finnish officials basically say Gemany is lying: “Of course, there are legal transports of weapons or defense material (through Finland), but in this case the cargo was marked as containing fireworks. That is quite unusual.”-Paivi Rasanen, Interior Minister of Finland

Finnish port authorities say the 160 pounds of explosives, mainly picric acid (a nitrate based explosive which is also used in fireworks),  were stacked on pallets fully exposed to the elements.  Knowing what it was they began to open crates and that’s when they found the Patriot missiles.  The missiles were in crates marked “fireworks”!

The Finnish government has properly stored the explosives along with the missiles.  Finland is keeping the missiles and explosives, pending further investigation.

The ship, M/S Thor Liberty, is free to sail, but the 11 crew, including the captain, are in custody: “She can sail, but customs is still holding the cargo and the (detained) crew isn’t allowed to leave Finland.”-Markku Koskinen, Port of Kotka

 

International, U.S.

Government & Military Incompetence: 3 U.S. soldiers killed on Xmas Eve, in Afghanistan. Part of growing trend

2011 has seen a growing trend in Afghanistan; Afghan government troops turning on U.S./NATO troops.  On December 24, three U.S. soldiers were shot and killed by an Afghan soldier, after an argument at a training base in Pusht-Rod district of the western province of Farah.

Five other U.S./NATO troops were wounded, one Afghan soldier was killed another wounded.

In November an Afghan soldier wounded at least three Australian soldiers in southern Uruzgan province.  In April an Afghan air force pilot killed eight U.S./NATO soldiers at Kabul airport.

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? 200 people lose their jobs on Xmas Eve, hundreds more to follow. Hawaii Hospitals broke! Layoffs could have been avoided!

On December 23, 200 employees at the Hawaii Medical Center hospitals on Oahu, were told their last day on the job was Christmas Eve!  But that’s just the beginning, another 800 are scheduled to be laid off soon.

Here’s the real scandal; the hospital was up for sale and had a willing buyer, but the hospital’s owner said no!  The hospital is owned by Saint Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii.

 

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

What Economic Recovery? Idaho’s Micron loses big time, again. Many Idahoans still think Micron is Idaho’s major employer

Computer chip maker Micron reported another quarterly loss;  U.S.$187 million! This follows a $135 million loss the previous quarter.

It was hoped the end of a lawsuit, in Micron’s favor, would be a sign of better times to come, but not so.

A west Idaho newspaper reported that many Idahoans think of Micron as the Boise’s biggest private employer. Back in October I posted how real estate web sites, and even Wikipedia, incorrectly report Micron as the biggest employer in Boise.

With Micron’s continued loses it’s possible that they now employ less than the 5,000 people reported at the end of 2009.

 

 

Business/Economics, Technology, U.S.

OWS has their own spy UAV, based on the $300 Parrot AR drone, can be controled with your iPad

An Occupy Wall Streeter has modified a Parrot AR helicopter drone to be used to spy on the NYPD!

It has a built in camera and costs around $300.  It can be controlled using a smartphone or iPad.

There are plans to further modify it so control could be passed from one protestor to another, and they’re hoping to give it true remote piloting capabilities.

They hope to use the ‘occucopter’ to provide live video of OWS protests on the internet.

Fukushima, Idaho

Government Incompetence: 14,000 U.S. deaths directly linked to Fukushima nuclear disaster! Idaho hit with highest reported radiation. Infants suffered most.

“Based on our continuing research, the actual death count here may be as high as 18,000, with influenza and pneumonia, which were up five fold in the period in question as a cause of death. Deaths are seen across all ages, but we continue to find that infants are hardest hit because their tissues are rapidly multiplying, they have undeveloped immune systems, and the doses of radioisotopes are proportionally greater than for adults.”-Janette Sherman, MD  toxicologist

According to the December 2011 edition of the International Journal of Health Services, an estimated 14,000 deaths in the United States can be connected to the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan!

The peer reviewed report also points out that within 17 weeks following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster 16,500 people in the U.S. died.

The report says one week after the explosions at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a toxic cloud was detected over the west coast of the United States. I had posted several times how most EPA RadNet sites were not working.

The EPA did report radiation detected in water, milk and other agricultural products, but it was downplayed and the U.S. neo-conservative controlled mainstream media went along with it!  What was reported by the EPA showed that Idaho had the highest Iodine 131 readings; 390 picocuries per liter of water (2 picocuries of I-131 per liter of water is considered normal)!

Interestingly this was claimed to be in Boise, Idaho, which is on the western side of the state. The only RadNet site in Idaho is in Idaho Falls, on the eastern side of the state.

The report says there were at least 14,000 unexplained deaths in the United States within the first 14 weeks of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster (that’s 1,000 per week, and the nuclear disaster is ongoing).  They also noted a sudden 1.8% jump in infant deaths compared to the same time the previous year.  They claim there is enough evidence for scientists to suspect radiation contamination, and they’re asking for more studies to be done.

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

Corporate Incompetence: Olympus misses deadline, Government raiding corporate offices & executives’ homes

After missing the December 14 deadline to turn over accounting books to government prosecutors, Olympus’s offices, and the homes of Olympus executives have been raided by government prosecutors and police.

Weeks ago Olympus executives made promise after promise saying they would meet the December 14 deadline for making their accounting books public.  Of course they did not keep that promise, not surprising when they ‘lost’ tens of billions of dollars since the late 1990s.

The losses are connected to an investment company that was based in the United States, and run by former Olympus officials.  Apparently it was an elaborate shell game, where investment losses were hidden under the guise of buying out other companies.

The latest reports out of Japan are saying that two Olympus executives have confessed to the crime; former Olympus vice president Hisashi Mori and former auditor Hideo Yamada.

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Syria officially signs onto Arab League Observer Mission

“The Syrians spoke very clearly, they don’t have anything to hide. They let those observers witness how the weapons smuggled from Turkey, from Lebanon, and from Jordan are coming into the country and how this weapon infiltration is feeding those terrorists and how they terrorize a certain area in Syria.”-Kamel Wazne, political analyst in Lebanon

On December 19, in a public ceremony the Syrian government signed the Arab League’s demands for an Observer Mission.

The signing included Arab League deputy secretary general Ahmed bin Hilly.

The deal is good for one month, and the AL Observers will be free to go anywhere in Syria. The deal was signed in Cairo, Egypt.

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

NAZI-land: If you think SOPA is bad check out what is already happening in U.S. courts, it’s called ‘rogue website lawsuits’ and they can take all your money without you ever showing up in court! PayPal involved

“Wow!”-Venkat Balasubramani, internet tech lawyer

“…the court is ordering the full transfer not just of websites, but of any funds being sent to a website.”-Eric Goldman, associate professor of law at Santa Clara University

The proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, has a lot of web users concerned, but what about what’s already taking place in U.S. Federal and State courts?  It can be called ‘rogue website/domain lawsuits’ and does not involve any true due process for those accused.  They can seize your domain name/website and any funds they claim is associated with it!

In most cases only the attorney’s for the accuser show up in court: “Nobody has showed up in any of these cases to contest his motions in court.”-Eric Goldman, associate professor of law at Santa Clara University

Attorney Eric Goldman has been following the big three cases, involving Chanel, True Religion clothing and Philip Morris.  They all claim that thousands of websites/domains are ripping them off by offering “counterfeit” products or services.  The problem is that the courts are hearing the cases without any response from those accused.

Something else that Goldman noticed is that in cases brought by Chanel and Philip Morris, only one attorney is being used; Stephen Gaffigan from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

It appears True Religion is using a law firm called Greenberg Traurig.

In one Philip Morris case their only proof was a written statement from a private investigator saying he bought fake Philip Morris cigarettes off a such ‘n such website.

Many cases involve courts sealing documents, meaning the accused, or the public, can never see what’s in them: “For example; in the True Religion case, the entire action was sealed for a couple of weeks. Even without the seal, I don’t know how to find these ex parte rightsowner enforcement cases against foreign rogue websites other than laboriously reviewing every federal filing, having readers tip us off or serendipity.”-Eric Goldman, associate professor of law at Santa Clara University

The courts are ordering websites removed from Google and Yahoo, only to be ‘given’ to GoDaddy.  They also ordered Western Union to redirect customer payments to three individuals.  PayPal has also been forced to freeze at least 84 accounts.

These cases involve hundreds of websites/domains, and some of the cases specifically name Chinese individuals.  While they might have merit, the problem is that the courts have established the practice of rendering judgment without the accused having their day in court, or even allowing an appeal.

For more visit Eric Goldman’s Technology and Marketing Law Blog

 

 

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

What Econommic Recovery? SAAB officially bankrupt, will affect GM sales

SAAB is now officially bankrupt.  The company filed for bankruptcy after two Chinese companies changed their minds about buying the Swedish automaker.

There was talk that General Motors was concerned about the Chinese getting their hands on U.S. technologies, because GM supplied those parts to SAAB.

The demise of SAAB will now hurt GM’s parts sales.