7 June 2012, the Greek statistics agency just put the official unemployment rate at 22%! A new record high.
That percent is for March! More than 50% of young adults, 25 years of age and younger, are unemployed!
Tag Archives: war
What Economic Recovery? President of Argentina dumps U.S. dollars. Pesos more profitable, or just another sign of Hyper Inflation?
“I’ve just had one fixed term account in dollars for some time, and I’ve decided to put it in pesos, it’s more profitable to have it in [Argentine] pesos.”-Cristina Fernandez, President of Argentina
7 June 2012, la Presidenta also urged “…any officials who’ve got a few little dollars to do the same thing.”
Argentina is the number three economy in South America. However, having a booming economy has resulted in an inflation rate around 9 to 10%! The result is that many people, and banks, in Argentina are buying up U.S. dollars to try and hedge against hyperinflation.
Argentines have been there done that many times before. Many people bought U.S. dollars to survive Argentina’s notorious hyperinflation in the past, but this time the U.S. economy is in the toilet, so buying up those gringo dollars might be a bad move.
Government Incompetence: Vacuum cleaner causes fire that results in $400 million repair bill for U.S. taxpayers!
It turns out that a “massive” fire on a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine, on May 24, was caused by a vacuum cleaner! It burned for several hours and sent several personnel to the hospital. The sub was docked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, in the U.S. state of Maine.
Now comes the news that the fire was caused by a vacuum cleaner “…stored in an unoccupied space…”, and that the “…initial rough repair cost…” will be $400 million plus 10%!!!
And guess who pays for the U.S. Navy’s mistakes? The U.S. taxpayer!
At least the Russian’s claimed their recent submarine fire was an act of sabotage by U.S. agents.
What Economic Recovery? Best Buy founder jumps ship, hopes his leaving will help company recover!
“There is an urgent need for Best Buy to reinvigorate growth by reconnecting with today’s customers and building pathways to the next generation of consumers.”-Richard Schulze, founder of Best Buy
7 June 2012, founder and boss of Best Buy for 36 years, Richard Schulze, has resigned.
Best Buy has been struggling with falling sales, and accusations of inappropriate behavior by members of the board.
A former CEO of Best Buy is accused of “…violated company policy by engaging in an extremely close personal relationship with a female employee that negatively impacted the work environment…”-Best Buy statement
Best Buy suffered a 26% drop in net income for the 1st quarter of 2012!
World War 3: Terror Drone update. Former CIA official says blowback coming for U.S., because drones kill mainly civilians!
“We have gone a long way down the road of creating a situation where we are creating more enemies than we are removing from the battlefield. We are already there with regards to Pakistan and Afghanistan.”-Robert Grenier, former CIA official
5 June 2012, Robert Grenier, head of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) counter terrorism center from 2004 to 2006, and was a CIA station chief in Pakistan, is warning of blowback from the use of assassination drones (unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs).
This is because drone strikes kill more bystanders than actual terrorist targets!
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates as many as 830 civilians have been killed in Pakistan. 138 civilians in Yemen and 57 in Somalia. The problem, Grenier says, is that Obama’s drone policy is too vague; anyone, especially males, seen in an area suspected of having terrorists is considered a target: “It needs to be targeted much more finely. We have been seduced by them and the unintended consequences of our actions are going to outweigh the intended consequences.”
He says recent drone killings in Yemen will actually make that country the new safe haven for terrorists: “If you strike them indiscriminately you are running the risk of creating a terrific amount of popular anger. They have tribes and clans and large families. Now all of a sudden you have a big problem … I am very concerned about the creation of a larger terrorist safe haven in Yemen.”
World War 3: U.S. ally, United Kingdom, slams U.S. focus on Asia Pacific as new area of global conflict. Bad economy to blame!
On 4 June 2012, an official representative of the Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Military, criticized the plans of the United States, to send 60% of U.S. naval forces to the Asia Pacific region by 2020.
Armed Forces Minister, Nick Harvey, stated that the Royal Navy, let alone other European navies, will not be ready to pick up the slack in the Atlantic, by 2020.
The United Kingdom has been slashing and burning its military budget. The Ministry of Defence revealed that in the past three years $26.2 billion USD of military equipment has been scrapped!
Harvey said it will take time to rebuild their navy in order to fill the void when the U.S. sails most of its fleet to Asia: “When we’re back in the carrier strike game we could pull more weight, [but] if Europe is to take more responsibility, we’ve got some way to go.”
What Economic Recovery? Emergency meeting Group of 7! “Impossible” to save Spain! Major credit freeze coming, just as Toyota warned!
“It is really hard in Spain to get a job right now because there are no jobs, and if somewhere you might have a chance, they do not want to pay what is more or less normal. Plus, everything is so expensive: supermarkets, food… Everything is really difficult now.”-Ada Adon, unemployed in Madrid, Spain
It has been revealed that the seven top industrialized countries (Group of 7, aka G7) had been in an emergency phone conference since late last night Japan time, early morning U.S. time!
Finance and banking officials from Japan, United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Italy were discussing the global economic situation, a sign that things are getting worse! The focus is on the European Union (EU).
No joint statement was issued, but Japan’s Finance Minister, Jun Azumi, said all efforts at the moment will focus on preventing a total collapse of the EU.
A German analysts said many investors are on the verge of giving up: “History is repeating itself, we are again in full crisis mode. Last year: crisis; this year: crisis. The politicians have learned nothing. It would be so easy though. The ECB [European Central Bank] should massively intervene and buy time for countries like Italy and Spain so that they can pursue reforms. Nobody can bear this cacophony, this waiting, this riding out any more.”-Robert Halver, Baader Bank
This comes before the G20 meeting, and it comes on the same day Spanish officials announced a possible second credit crisis.
Spanish Treasury Minister, Cristobal Montoro, admitted on Spanish radio that it was “technically impossible” to save Spain’s economy!
It turn’s out that the recently created EU European Stability Mechanism (a bailout fund) doesn’t have enough money to bailout Spain, let alone other EU members!
Montoro blames high interests rates for crashing the Spanish economy, as well as other EU economies. He says the result will be another huge credit crunch. On 31 May 2012, Toyota of Japan signaled such an international credit crisis by announcing it was selling $2.5 billion USD in bonds, to raise cash in order to ride out a second coming credit crisis (of course the U.S./British media misreported it).
World War 3: U.S. diplomats caught smuggling weapons in Pakistan! Trying to get into areas they were not cleared to go to!
4 June 2012, Pakistan’s Dunya News reporting that police stopped a car only to discover it was being used by U.S. diplomats, and they were carrying guns and ammo!
It happened at toll plaza on Peshawar Motorway. The Pakistani driver of the car was arrested. Dunya News had said the U.S. citizens were let go because they have “diplomatic immunity”, but another Pakistani news source, Dawn TV, said three U.S. citizens were being held for questioning. The guns and ammo were seized.
The “diplomats” claim they were heading to Peshawar, however, Pakistani police said the diplomats were turned around because they did not have the proper security clearances to go to Peshawar!
World War 3: Terror Drone update, Canada. They like to crash UAVs. Arctic new battlefield for Canadian drones. Canadian military to help Canadian cops kill you from above. Teenagers being trained to operate drones!
Canadian news media reporting that there have been at least 42 drone crashes since 2000, and that they’ve been increasing every year.
It was also revealed that Canada will buy U.S. Air Force (USAF) unarmed Global Hawks for use over the Arctic. A report said the USAF needed to sell them due to budget cuts.
“You must remember that, in Canada, within the domestic construct, I do not have the right to be able to apply lethal force in Canada. That is the responsibility of the police. The question would be perhaps in the future whether we could work with the police forces to assist them by providing UAVs.”– Lieutenant General Walter Semianiw, Canadian domestic command, testimony to Canadian Senate committee
The Alberta Aviation Museum is hoping to send a team of 16-18 year old Air Cadets to United Kingdom, to attend a contest for UAV operators. The contest, called Schools Aerospace Challenge, is based on Royal Air Force standards for drone operators.
Museum officials say they would like to create a similar contest in Canada: “Imagine being 16 years old and getting an opportunity like this. It’s a great way to get kids excited and give them an education unlike they’ll ever get anywhere else.”-Thomas Hinderks, Alberta Aviation Museum Association
World War 3: Terror Drone update, 23 May – 03 June. Mass Murder in Yemen on Obama’s orders! Drone strikes best recruiting tool for al-Qaeda ever!
“If you go to the village of Al-Majalah in Yemen, where I was, and you see the unexploded cluster bombs and you have the list and photographic evidence, as I do, of the women and children that represented the vast majority of the deaths in this first strike that Obama authorized on Yemen, those people were murdered by President Obama, on his orders, because there was believed to be someone from Al Qaeda in that area. There’s only one person that’s been identified that had any connection to al Qaeda there, and 21 women and 14 children were killed in that strike and the U.S. tried to cover it up, and say it was a Yemeni strike, and we know from the Wikileaks cables that David Petraeus conspired with the president of Yemen to lie to the world about who did that bombing! It’s murder, it’s mass murder, when you say, ‘We are going to bomb this area’ because we believe a terrorist is there, and you know that women and children are in the area!!! The United States has an obligation to not bomb that area if they believe that women and children are there. I’m sorry, that’s murder!”-Jeremy Scahill, The Nation.com, interview with MSNBC
“Mistakes made by the U.S. killing innocent women and children has led to a significant recruiting boom, AQAP [al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] use the pictures of shattered women and kids to stir up anger.”-Gregory Johnsen, Princeton University
“Every time the American attacks increase, they increase the rage of the Yemeni people, especially in al-Qaeda controlled areas. The drones are killing al-Qaeda leaders, but they are also turning them into heroes.”-Mohammed al-Ahmadi, Karama human rights group
“These attacks are making people say, ‘We believe now that al-Qaeda is on the right side’. ”-Salim al-Barakani, his two brothers killed in a U.S. strike in March
“…America can’t seem to hit the people you claim to be fighting. So if you’re gonna bomb us…because there’re some al-Qaeda people in our area, well we’re gonna join up with those fighting against you. The most dangerous thing, I think, the U.S. is doing, beside murdering innocent people in many cases, is giving people in Yemen or Somalia or Pakistan a non-ideological reason to hate the United States.”-Jeremy Scahill, The Nation.com, interview with MSNBC
“In 2009, when President Obama was first known to have authorized a missile strike on Yemen, U.S. officials said there were no more than 300 core AQAP members. That number has grown in recent years to 700 or more, Yemeni officials and tribal leaders say. In addition, hundreds of tribesmen have joined AQAP in the fight against the U.S. backed Yemeni government.”-Sudarsan Raghavan, The Washington Post
28 May 2012
Five people killed by U.S. drone (UAV) strike in Yemen. The strike targeted three cars driving on a highway.