Tag Archives: crime

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Chock Full o’Crap Western News Media: Korea South caves to Iran’s growing Purchasing Power!

“Iran is one of the major importers of Korean products. And in the eventuality that the policy of sanctioning Iranian oil is implemented, then that nation will suffer.”-Rostam Qasemi, Iranian Oil Minister

On 02 July 2012, I posted how Korea South (a U.S. ally/puppet) was getting around oil sanctions against Iran, by using Iranian tanker ships.

On 03 July 2012, Iranian media revealed the reason Korea South went against its master’s (United States) wishes: Iran has more purchasing power than the United States!

On 26 June 2012, Korea South announced they would stop oil shipments from Iran.  Iranian diplomats quickly threatened the embargo of all products made in Korea South.  Officials in the southern half of Korea did the math and decided it was not economically sound to go along with the puppet master’s (U.S.) oil embargo against Iran.

Just how much does Korea South rely on Iran for trade?

In 2007 Korea South signed a trade agreement with Iran.  According to the Korea International Trade Association, exports to Iran have increased 32%, while imports of Iranian goods increased 63.7% (the way the data was presented wasn’t clear, the percentages could be 32% for imports and 63.7% for exports)!

“Korea’s shipments to Iran amounted to $6 billion [USD] last year.”-Korea Times

The Korean Times reported that the threat by Iran, to embargo all southern Korean products, would slam 2,900 companies!

There are at least two petroleum companies from southern Korea working in Iran, and they have backing from U.S. investors!  In fact U.S. companies are involved with at least $1.4 billion USD worth of North American investments into Iran!

Here’s the bottom line; Iran is a big spender, and they pay in cash or trade!  The United States is broke, and they pay with credit, or steal it from you with bogus War on Terror tactics.  Who’s gonna get the World’s business in the long run?

 

Fukushima

Government Incompetence One Year Later: 600 page report blames ongoing nuclear disaster on idiots in government! Faulty construction of disaster reactors blamed!

“The accident was not a natural disaster but was obviously a man made disaster.”-Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission

On 05 July 2012, the results of a months long Diet (Japanese parliament) investigation into the ongoing nuclear disaster at the General Electric designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power factory, places blame squarely on Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo), and the government.

The report also stated that failings in management began years before the  March 2011 disaster.

The report criticizes government response to the nuclear disaster.  The former prime minister who was in charge last year, Kan Naoto, gave a typical Japanese political response, agreeing with parts of the report and refuting other parts.

The report said that construction of Fukushima Daiichi was not up to earthquake standards, as claimed by TEPCo. The report says the nuclear disaster might have actually started with the earthquake, not the tsunami.

Government and corporate leadership only made things worse: Self serving attitudes of leaders resulted in willful negligence, both in the construction of the nuke plant, and the disaster response.

There were plenty of opportunities for TEPCo to upgrade Fukushima Daiichi with stronger construction and better safeguards.

In the first hours of the disaster the government interfered at different levels, causing confusion within corporate chains of command.

The government also confused the general public, by giving reports that conflicted with media reports. In some cases government reports outright contrasted with events watched live on Japanese TV  (I remember watching live on the internet as the tsunami swept over three story buildings, then heard a government official saying the waves were only 3 meters tall!!!)!

The government issued confusing evacuation advise, in some cases people actually evacuated into areas being contaminated with radiation. The report suggests that government leaders were trying to avoid taking full responsibility for the disaster by making evacuations voluntary, and using terms like “just in case”.

Another issue was the announcement of radiation danger zones long after the nuclear disaster began. The report says the government had radiation data for a whole month before hand, and could have declared the danger zones much sooner.

The Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) began in December 2011, interviewing 1,167 people, including former government and TEPCo officials.   The NAIIC is planning “…to make an English version of the final report to show it to the world.”-Kurokawa Kiyoshi, lead investigator

Japanese version of report here.

 

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Fresh water fish more radioactive than salt water fish! More proof that you need lots of salt in your diet!

03 July 2012, the Ministry of Environment in Japan discovered that fresh water fish are more susceptible to radiation contamination than salt water fish.

From December 2011 to February 2012, they sampled fish from rivers, lakes and eight locations in the Pacific Ocean.  Fresh water fish were much more contaminated than salt water fish.

In a river north of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, goby fish were found with 2,600 becquerels per kilogram of cesium!  The highest readings of cesium in salt water flounder and bass were 260 becquerels per kilogram.

The researchers speculate that the salt in the ocean water absorbs much of the radiation, and then the fish excrete it (the concept is similar to the idea of taking iodide pills after a nuclear accident).

Radiation ends up being concentrated in the bodies of fresh water fish.

ONE YEAR LATER: LEFT BEHIND; FUKUSHIMA PETS STILL WITHOUT HOMES, NEW KITTENS FOUND NEAR NUCLEAR PLANT

Business/Economics, U.S.

Corporate Evil & Investor Evil: U.S. drug maker hit with record fine for fraudulent claims on Paxil, Avandia and Wellbutrin! Stock price shoots up!

02 July 2012, GlaxoSmithKline reportedly pled guilty to fraudulent activities involving the drugs Paxil, Avandia and Wellbutrin.  The company is being fined a record $3 billion USD!

The U.S. Department of Justice says the pharmaceutical giant claimed the drugs could be used to treat conditions and/or people for which they were not approved!

Paxil is meant for adults only, but was sold for use in children! The antidepressant Wellbutrin was sold as a weight loss drug!  GlaxoSmithKline was also accused of failing to report safety data, concerning the diabetes drug Avandia, to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration from 2001 to 2007.

Also, under a type of probation, for the next five years company executives could lose their bonuses to the government, if any employee is caught conducting fraudulent activity.  As well, sales reps will no longer be paid based on total sales, but on the quality of their job performance.

Interestingly, when news of GlaxoSmithKline’s guilty plea was heard investors jumped on the company’s stock driving the price up!  Why would an ‘honest’ investor want to buy stock in a company who admits to fraud?

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

LIBOR: U.K. orders new investigation! Top three Japanese banks involved in international rate fixing! Bank governor admits banks are “deceitful”! More proof of Trilateral policies, & that the Too Big to Fails caused the economic mess!

“Your working hypothesis should be that every bank in the industry did some version of this same thing. There will be more to come.”-unnamed banking official in letter to British news media

02 July 2012, Marcus Agius, a chairman of evil British Empire’s Barclays has resigned.  Barclays recently settled with U.S. and U.K. regulators over the LIBOR scandal. The settlement was a pittance compared to the damage Barclays, and other banks caused.

The general public in Britain has been calling for Barclays boss, Bob Diamond, to resign as well.  Public officials are calling for criminal charges: “…when we’re setting up the National Crime Agency we should look at the record of the Serious Fraud Office. I suspect financial crime is easier to get away with in this country than practically any other sort of crime.”-Ken Clarke, Justice Secretary of United Kingdom

Barclays “systematically” falsified data to set the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR.  Regulators from Switzerland and U.K., are investigating at least 20 banks, including the top three banks in Japan (for fraudulent Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate or TIBOR), banks in Canada, U.S. and European Union!  Elites from Japan, North America and Europe are members of the private organization Trilateral Commission.

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, said LIBOR “is now dead”, and even called the very banking system he represents “deceitful”!  Now the British government is calling for a new independent investigation into the British banking system and LIBOR.

The amount of money manipulated by the LIBOR (and now TIBOR) scandal is estimated at more than $361 trillion USD!!!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? European unemployment rate holds on to record highs! Austerity policies to blame! Trilateral policies in motion!

02 July 2012, the European Union (EU) statistical office released unemployment data from its member countries.  Record high rates persist.

For the month of May, Spain set a new record of 24.6%! Unemployment for Spanish people under 25 years of age hit 52.1%!  For perspective, that’s more than 5.6 million people out of work in a country with a population of 46 million people!

Portugal at 15.2%, Italy at 10.1%.  In total, the number of people unemployed in the EU reached 17.6 million, an increase of 88,000 from April to May 2012!

Greek numbers are months behind, but their report for March shows an increase in unemployment, to 21.9%!  Unemployed Greek youths are also at 52.1%!

EU officials noted that the greatest increase in unemployment are in member countries that have harsh austerity policies (cut spending, increase taxes, which are publicly stated policies of the Trilateral Commission).

 

 

Idaho, U.S.

Pocatello Charlotte Fire update: 80% contained. Vulture/desperate contractors already descending. 19 fireworks cases despite ban! Respect for dead pets found in fire.

“Today is the day we are really going to attack this fire.”-Lorin Nielsen, Bannock County Sheriff

01 July 2012, Sunday morning press conference reporting 80% containment of Charlotte Fire, in Pocatello, Idaho.

Today is a critical weather day, a red flag warning is in place until 21:00 hours.  About 40 fire fighting trucks and 150 personnel are hoping to fully contain the fire by Monday morning.

The city of Pocatello, and Bannock County, banned fireworks, yet there were 19 fireworks case calls over night.  Police stated no tolerance was applied to those caught.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Pocatello residents with gas BBQs with lids can continue to use them.

Hot spots and flares up still occurring within the center of the burn area. There were problems in the Mink Creek area, but law enforcement has resumed escorting residents into that area.

State and local officials expressed concern over the number of looky loos trying to get into the burn area.  Also, construction contractors, who’re either vultures or just desperate for work, have already been pestering those people who’ve suffered lost or damaged property.  County officials are warning people of fraudulent contractors.

Fire fighters are reporting finding dead pets in the burn area, they are leaving them in place and covering them with towels.

Bannock County Humane society is giving away food for dogs and cats to victims of the fire.

Charlotte Fire 50% contained. No return home

 

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

Global Class War: Hungary taxes potato chips last year, now adds cell phone calls! Nebraska already suffering with highest cell phone tax rate in United States!

In September 2011, Hungary joined several countries placing extra taxes on snacks like potato chips.  Full of crap western news media said it was an effort to fight obesity, but a recent Japanese report straight up said it was a way for the Hungarian government to raise more money to pay its out of control debts!

In May 2012, Hungary also passed an extra tax on cell phones calls!  It’s called the voice-traffic levy.  The Hungarian government hopes the new phone tax will create at least $133.6 million USD this year.

NHK (nippon housou kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) reporting that Hungary was forced to create the extra tax under demands from the European Union.  But some people have switched to using smartphones which can make calls through the internet.  Hungarian officials did not tax internet based calls.

Here in the U.S. state of Idaho, groceries are already taxed.  It’s fun to watch people from out of state go into shock when they find out they have to pay tax on groceries.

Idahoans are not happy about the decades old grocery tax.  Political leaders have tried to throw us a bone by allowing a grocery credit on the end of year tax filings.  But woe to them that try to add extra taxes on snacky foods in the name of forcing us to be healthy, when in reality they just want to steal more of our increasingly limited money.

But wait, there’s more!  According to a 2011 Money article, Nebraska leads the U.S. with the highest cell phone tax rates!  Combined federal, state and local cell phone tax rates amounted to 23.69% in 2011!!!

Idaho’s state and local tax rate was 2.2% (not counting federal taxes).

“Cellphone users are overtaxed relative to consumers of other goods, and at risk of double taxation. Additionally, the wide number of taxing authorities and the wide variety in rates makes tracking problematic and burdensome.” -Joseph Henchman, Tax Foundation Director of State Projects

The reason this is class warfare is that these kinds of taxes do not affect the elitist wealthy, they target the overwhelming majority of citizens who are not rich!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

LIBOR: Evil British Empire banks forced businesses to take on loan insurance, while they jacked up international interst rates! More proof the Too Big To Fails caused the economic crisis! More proof of Trilateral Commission operations!

29 June 2012, British news media reporting the LIBOR scandal isn’t over.  Not only was Barclays (and other British and U.S. banks) involved with manipulating international interest rates, but they also forced smaller businesses to buy loan insurance, “mis-selling” it as a way of protecting themselves from those high LIBOR interest rates!

Recently Barclays settled with the U.S. government over manipulation charges.  Barclays is the tip of the British banking empire LIBOR scandal iceberg, which dominates western economies.

Investigators say the LIBOR fixing took place from 2005 to 2009.  The scandal involved too big to fail banks in North America, Europe and Japan (the regional members of the Trilateral Commission).

 

 

Idaho, U.S.

Pocatello burning! Evacuations! Southeast Idaho burning! Bannock County bans fireworks, declares state of emergency!

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Click on pics to make them bigger. Pics by me.