Category Archives: U.S.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Occupy America! Wall Street protestors refuse to leave Zuccotti Park, clean park themselves

“Seems likely that this is their attempt to shut down OWS for good. We know where the real dirt is: on Wall Street … We won’t allow Bloomberg and the NYPD to foreclose our occupation. This is an occupation, not a permitted picnic…”-OWS statement

“The cleanup is a pretext to remove us from the camp. And we can return only if we abide by the rules of Brookfield Properties.”-Justin Wedes, protestor

As a challenge to Mayor Bloomberg’s threat to use police to clear the protestors, ostensibly to clean the park, the OWS participants have begun cleaning up the park themselves.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Economists say U.S. income to stagnate for at least 10 more years, young generations to struggle more than their parents

“People know that there is no real out. The children of the current adults are looking and realizing they are not likely to have as good a life as their parents. And their parents are distressed because they realize it’s true!”-Jeff Gates, former counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance

In an interview with Iranian media, former adviser to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Jeff Gates, said there is no short term hope for the U.S. economy.  Gates joins a growing number of experts who’re doubting that any recovery will happen soon.  They’re also justifying the anger of the Occupy protests spreading across the United States.

Gates says the Occupy Wall Street movement is justified because as much as two thirds of the money being made in the U.S. is by Wall Street (stock markets, finance markets), not by main street!

Also, in a Wall Street Journal survey of 50 economists, the majority say not only have most incomes dropped after 2000, but they will not go back up to pre-2000 levels for at least ten more years!

“Standards of living in the U.S. will continue to decline as we de-leverage and emerging markets take over as the growth engine of the global economy.”-Julia Coronado, BNP Paribas.

What Julia Coronado is saying is that the United States is no longer the world economic leader, not even a driving force. This is more proof that China does not need the U.S. for it’s economic growth.

Economists say the average U.S. income fell 7% after 2000, but will grow by only 5% by 2021.  The Wall Street Journal article also warns college graduates, and current college students: The only way you might make more money is to get at least a Masters degree, and work all the time (no free/family time)!  With the cost of college, it’s just another reason why college ain’t worth it anymore.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: Canada being urged to arrest George Bush Jr

“Canada is required by its international obligations to arrest and prosecute former president Bush given his responsibility for crimes under international law including torture.  As the U.S. authorities have, so far, failed to bring former president Bush to justice, the international community must step in.  A failure by Canada to take action during his visit would violate the UN Convention against Torture and demonstrate contempt for fundamental human rights.”-Amnesty International

Bush Jr is expected to attend an economic summit in Surrey, Canada, on October 20.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Overwhelming majority of people say the U.S. is doomed, Congress blocks Jobs Bill, Nobel Prize winning economists say we are screwed

On the night of October 11, the U.S. Senate blocked President Obama’s proposed Jobs creation bill.

In the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 74% of people says the United States is going in the wrong direction.  32% said the economy will get worse.  45% said it will stay the same.

On October 11, the CBS Early Show interviewed two Noble prize winning U.S. economists.  They asked them what could be done to give the U.S. economy “a boost”.  There was a long pause before one tried to give an answer: “Ah, that’s a very difficult question to answer. There’s a lot of uncertainty now, both in Europe and the United States, about what future government policy is going to be. Um, and probably the best thing politicians can do is, um, quickly reach compromises, um, and have coherent plans going forward…”-Thomas Sergant, Nobel winning economist

Basically he said it’s completely, totally, up to our government!  Can you say we’re screwed?

The other Nobel prize winning economist, Christopher Sims, basically blamed the whole situation on the government.  Watch the CBS interview.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Occupy America! Protests to hit college campuses, janitors and security guards join Wall Street protest

October 13, there are protests planned for at least 90 college campuses across the United States today.

Also today, hundreds of janitors and security guards have joined the Wall Street protests in New York City.

Across the world, there have been anti-government, anti-corruption and anti-corporation protests in about 1,400 cities, so far.

The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that 82% of U.S. citizens are aware of the Occupy movement, and 38% support it.  35% are unsure, with only 24% opposed.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Occupy America! New York City mayor orders Wall Street protestors out, so the park can be cleaned. War veterans arrested. JP Morgan buys off NYPD

October 13, Reports out of New York City say that the mayor has ordered protestors out, so that city workers can clean Zucotti park.

Protestors will hold a meeting soon, to decide how they will respond.

Several War on Terror veterans were arrested, one a former U.S. Army interrogator in Iraq.  At least eleven protestors in San Francisco, California, were arrested on Wednesday.  They had blocked access to the Wells Fargo headquarters.

On Tuesday, about 200 protestors were arrested in Boston, Massachusetts, and about 27 in Chicago, Illinois.

A former equities broker says James Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Company, gave the New York City police millions of dollars to fight the protestors: “…$4.6 million to the New York Police Department to beef up police presence on the streets and to crack heads and to violently oppress protesters.”-Max Keiser, former equities broker

In the past Keiser called JP Morgan “…the biggest financial terrorist on Wall Street.”

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Japanese fleeing to United States, China and Australia, in the millions

The number of Japanese leaving their country, in one year, has hit a record 1.1 million.  That’s according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, which counted the number of Japanese who’ve officially become permanent residents of foreign countries.

The country of choice for most Japanese expatriates is the United States, with more than 388,000 becoming residents as of the end of 2010.

China is next with about 131,000, and Australia with about 70,800. The top three countries have remained unchanged since 2008.

Within the U.S., Los Angeles is the number one destination followed by New York City.

International, U.S.

Occupy America! Some facts about Revolutions the leaderless Wall Street occupiers, and Tea Partiers, need to know

The following is a brief on research I did on how Revolutions actually work, because they don’t follow the predictions of Karl Marx; that revolutions are led by the lower classes.  Three authors were read: Crane Brinton, James C. Davies and Ted Gurr.

James C. Davies (creator of the J-curve theory of revolutions) compared the theories of Karl Marx and A. de Tocqueville, with the Dorr Rebellion,  1917 Russian Revolution and 1952 Egyptian Revolution.

Davies found that economically motivated revolutions come after a relatively long time of decline for the middle and upper classes (the poor are too destitute to do anything about their situation).  In other words, it’s like a frog in a boiling pot of water; it takes awhile before the middle and upper classes realize they’re being screwed over.

Davies also discovered that if economic times are bad enough no revolution will take place, because everyone is too busy fending for themselves.  In other words if the middle and upper classes wait too long, they won’t have the strength to fight the elites.

Ted Gurr (Why Men Rebel) found that civil strife is affected by many factors, including economic deprivation and how the society views its leaders/government.

Gurr found that societies with a history of recurring civil strife are most likely to continue with such problems in the future.  Here in the United States the main problem is that too many citizens put too much faith in their ‘authorities’; from organized religion, to Corporate America and their government (at all levels/local/state/federal).  The irony is that the United States was founded on rebellion against authority (something that has been forgotten by many U.S. citizens).

Gurr also found that the success, or failure, of a revolution depends on how much support (from the general population and from outside the country) it gets.

One way the government/Corporate America can snuff out domestic support is to control the media coverage of such revolutions.  In fact our government (along with the British) has also used the media to create false revolutions (false flag ops) in other countries: The 1953 coup in Iran is a prime example.

Another proof of support for revolutions comes from the 1776 U.S. Revolution. If it wasn’t for the occasional raids into the southern Colonies by the Spanish, and the blockade of the British navy by the French navy, there would be no United States.

Crane Brinton (The Anatomy of Revolution) applied the scientific method in studying the 1641 English Revolution, 1776 U.S. Revolution (American War of Independence), the 1789 French Revolution and the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Brinton found that those revolutions were actually started by middle and upper class leaders.  The poor had little to do with it. The motivation of the middle and upper classes were economic: They were living in circumstances that were threatening to take away the economic gains they, and their predecessors had made, for the benefit of the elites.

Some beginning signs of Revolution: Austerity acts; tax increases/cuts to social programs.  Tax revolts.  Mobilization of Revolutionaries.  Ineffectual government reforms/accommodations.  Government repression.

Revolutionaries tend to be better leaders, organizers and motivators, than the establishment, but Brinton has warnings for Revolutionaries: Usually what happens is moderates take control of government but end up running things the same as before.  Then extremists take over, and things can get nasty, like a “reign of terror”.  Extremists can take advantage of “mob mentality” resulting in social terror that is presented as being democratic. Eventually extremists turn on each other, leading to dictatorships.  (Also, read Orwell’s Animal Farm. There’s also a cartoon version, but it’s not really for the kids ’cause it follows the book closely.)

So, these three researchers discovered that it’s not the poor who lead revolutions, it is the middle and upper classes.  The middle and upper classes revolt because their economically unstable governments (and now unstable Corporate America as well) put pressure on the more stable public, which causes the public to feel threatened and creates, at the very least, the perception that their economic prosperity (or even the chance of ever achieving prosperity) is finished.

Occupy America: Steve Jobs’ secret to success; Live Life your way

Occupy America: Federal Reserve boss blames Wall Street

Opinion, U.S.

United Police States of America: The U.S. is not governed by the Rule of Law, Obama can kill you without explaining why

So much for the Rule of Law.  How many times has George Bush Jr used that phrase during one of his many speeches justifying the War on Terror?  Well the Obama administration proves that the U.S. government operates without due process, without regard for the law, they make up secret laws as they go.

“The Justice Department wrote a secret memorandum authorizing the lethal targeting of Anwar al-Aulaqi, the American-born radical cleric who was killed by a U.S. drone strike Friday, according to administration officials. The document was produced following a review of the legal issues raised by striking a U.S. citizen and involved senior lawyers from across the administration. There was no dissent about the legality of killing Aulaqi, the officials said.”-Washington Post

In the recent killings of two U.S. citizens, Anwar al Awlaki and Samir Khan, President Barack Obama says the Justice Department came up with legal justification for the killing, even though al Awlaki has never been directly linked with any attacks against the U.S.  He was killed for speaking his mind!

“The White House refused to offer evidence of al-Awlaki’s role in terrorism or answer questions about the standard for killing an American.”-Washington Post

Here’s an interesting statement: Obama called al Awlaki “…the leader of external operations for Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.” What’s interesting is that it’s the first time the United States referred to al Awlaki in that way!  In fact, it was after they killed him that the U.S. government “linked” him directly to attempted terrorist attacks (the main stream media bought the bullshit)!

There are media reports out of the Middle East that say al Awlaki’s assassination coincided with the return of the pro-U.S. president of Yemen, from medical exile after being wounded in an attack on his life.  Al Awlaki was seen as a leader in the Arab uprising going on in Yemen right now, and a threat to the pro-U.S. president of Yemen.  That’s probably the real reason he was killed.

Here’s another interesting point, the mosque in Virginia, where al Awlaki preached, stated that his message was of tolerance, until he went to Yemen, where he was arrested and tortured by the pro-U.S. Yemen government.  After that is when he started making statements against the U.S.  Well no surprise there, but then all these holier than tho police state NAZIs actually expect you to thank them after they torture you!

And what did U.S. citizen Samir Khan do?  He edited a Jihadi Internet magazine!  So I guess us bloggers are fair game.

Many people might say that since the U.S. Justice Department legally justified the killing, then it must be legal.  The problem is that in a society run by the Rule of Law, all laws must be public knowledge (remember the saying: Ignorance of the law is no excuse).  This “law” the Obama administration came up with is “classified”.

So now, in the United States, the land of the Rule of Law, is a secret law that says the President of the United States can kill any U.S. citizen based on what that citizen says, or who they piss off!  Who’s the real terrorist here?