Tag Archives: ows

Business/Economics, U.S.

Occupy Detroit! Officials say City workers need to make more sacrifices, City workers say it’s the Officials who are sucking up all the money!

“Simply put, our city is in a financial crisis, and city government is broken. That’s not new. That’s not an opinion. That is a fact.”-Dave Bing, Mayor of Detroit

Detroit is going bust, and the city leaders are taking it out on the city employees.

City leaders want employees to take a 10% cut in pay, and pay 10% more for their health benefits.  City workers responded by pointing to the fact that there’s too many high level salaried vampire officials sucking up all the money: “The problem isn’t us, it’s the layers and layers of management that should go!”-Catherine Phillips, government employees’ union

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Corporate America Incompetence: Toyota opens new U.S. factory, two years behind schedule, blame Wall Street

A new Toyota factory opened in Blue Springs, Mississippi.  Company officials hope sales of Corollas goes up enough they can produce 150,000 new Corollas every year.

They also hope no more parts supply issues will hamper U.S. production.

The Mississippi plant could employ 2,000 people, and is the 14th Toyota factory in North America.

The factory was supposed to open more than two years ago, but the credit crisis hit Toyota’s financing for the construction, which caused the delay.  Toyota officials specifically blamed the Lehman Bros. scandal.  Thanks Wall Street!

 

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

Corporate Incompetence: Olympus scandal deepens as company officials destroy documents, investigators say lost money went to organized crime, U.S. investor sues

“Olympus was exploited over its cover up totaling losses of 50 billion yen, and since 2000, over 200 billion yen has disappeared into the underground economy.”-leaked Japanese government memo

The New York Times claims to have seen an official memo, from Japanese investigators, which says it is highly likely that the fraudulent investment schemes that Olympus optical company was part of, were done for organized crime.

Investigators say U.S.$4.9 billion of the money Olympus invested, are unaccounted for! This is far more than initially reported.

This info comes as NHK reported that Olympus officials held a press conference in which they swore they were reforming their policies, and that they really are going to make money this year.

But that doesn’t help the fact that a new unnamed source says what we’re hearing is just the tip of the iceberg, because for years Olympus officials destroyed data, to cover up losses involving foreign investments.

Here in the United States a major holder of Olympus securities is so fed up that he’s filed a lawsuit.  Lloyd Graham says Olympus violated the U.S. securities and exchange laws.  Graham holds Olympus securities specifically issued to the U.S. market, called American Depository Receipts (ADRs) of Olympus.

Graham says Olympus officials intentionally hid investment losses, and released false reports on the firm’s finances and earnings for at least five years.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Occupy the World! Greeks attack U.S. Embassy, Hundreds arrested in New York, Bank of America occupied in California, retired Cop says police work for the 1%!

“All the cops are just workers for the 1%…As soon as I’m let out of jail, I’ll be right back here and they’ll have to arrest me again.”-Ray Lewis, retired Philadelphia Police Captain

Don’t think the OWS movement is dead, thousands are trying to shut down Wall Street today, November 17.  Those thousands include health care workers, retired police officers and even investment brokers!

“The fact of the matter is, there is a schism between the rich and the poor and it’s getting wider.”–Gene Williams, bond trader

The NAZI NYPD physically attacked the protestors, so far more than 200 have been arrested.  At one point, when the protestors stared to sign the National Anthem, the NYPD blasted them with sound cannons.

Across the country, in California, at least 100 protestors were arrested after they tried to take over the Bank of America, California HQ, in San Francisco.  For awhile the protestors were successful, disrupting bank operations for about four hours.

In Greece, in what could be a revival of the anti-U.S. revolutionary movement, known as 17 November, thousands of Greeks attacked the U.S. Embassy.  In 1973 the Greek people overthrew the U.S. backed military government. Now they see what’s happening in their country as an attempt by the corporate world, specifically Corporate America, to take over their country again.

More than 20,000 people marched through central Athens, while another 12,000 protesters joined a rally in Greece’s second-largest city, Thessaloniki.  The Greek government called out 6,000 cops to handle the protests.

Thousands of Italians also took to their streets, to protest their new non-elected technocrat controlled government’s draconian budget cuts.  Italian college students tried to use firecrackers as weapons against the cops.

Transportation unions shut down Italian public transportation services for several hours.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: U.S. hospitals shipping medical waste to Brazil, calling it “Textiles”

“I hope that the United States is looking into this case, and the guilty party is properly punished for the crime against Brazil.”-Wilson Damasio, Social Defense Secretary of Brazil

Brazilian authorities have confiscated two containers with 45 tons of hospital waste from the U.S.  They say they have info that another 14 containers are on their way from South Carolina.  They are being illegally shipped as “cotton textiles with manufacturing defects”.

Inside the two containers were found used and bloodstained sheets, pillowcases, bath towels, robes, pajamas, diapers, syringes, hospital gloves, catheters, and bandages.

Brazilian officials are pushing for a formal complaint to be filed against the United States.

 

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Citigroup to layoff 3,000

The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, have been reporting that an unnamed source says Citigroup will layoff 3,000 employees.

Some employees have already been notified.

900 layoffs will take place in the banking and securities divisions.  The unnamed source says the number of laid off Citi workers could exceed 3,000 by next year.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Occupy America! 07:00 hours, November 17, Wall Street will be attacked by thousands of protestors

“Enough of this economy that exploits and divides us. It’s time we put an end to Wall Street’s reign of terror and begin building an economy that works for all.”-occupywallst.org

At 07:00 hours, New York time, on November 17 the OWS movement claims they will launch a human wave attack on Wall Street.

Organizers say events will take place in Europe as well, it’s being called “International Day of Action”.

Despite some U.S. media reports calling an end to the OWS movement, after a weekend of brutal police crack downs across the country, it’s clear the OWS movement is alive and well.

New York City officials say they’re ready: “Our plan is to be prepared. Our goal is to ensure this city continues to run.”-Cas Holloway, Deputy Mayor  

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Occupy America! New study shows U.S. Middle Class shrinking fast, the 99 percenters are right!

A Stanford University study has researchers shocked at how fast the middle class is disappearing in the United States: “We already kind of knew that segregation by income had been going up from 1970 to 2000, though I was struck by the magnitude of that increase. One of the striking findings in the report is that in 90% of metropolitan areas, income segregation went up in the 2000s.”- Sean Reardon, Professor

The number of families living in middle income neighborhoods dropped to 44% in 2007, down from 65% in 1970.  The study looked at 2007 U.S. Census Bureau data covering 117 metropolitan areas.

The Stanford study also found what many economists, the IRS, and the Occupy Wall Streeters have been saying; fewer people are getting most of the money: “Given that in 2008 the top 10% of earners controlled approximately 48% of all income in the United States, the increasing isolation of the affluent from the low and moderate income families means that a significant portion of society’s resources are concentrated in a smaller and smaller portion of neighborhoods.”

Analysts say that it’s a good bet that Census Bureau data from 2008 to present would should an even bigger decline in the middle class.

 

International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3: Pentagon to kill computer hackers, pushing for cyber weapons

A 12 page U.S. Department of Defense report, given to Congress, says all options are on the table for dealing with computer hackers: “When warranted, we will respond to hostile attacks in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country. We reserve the right to use all necessary means; diplomatic, informational, military and economic, to defend our nation, our allies, our partners and our interests.”

The President of the United States would make the ultimate call. But analysts say the policy could open a can of worms, after all, if China was able to trace a hack back to the U.S. who’s to say they wouldn’t be legally justified in attacking the U.S. hacker?

Back at the beginning of November, Pentagon officials revealed they are pushing for offensive cyber weapon systems: “We are shifting our investments to activities that promise more convergence with the threat and that recognize the needs of the Department of Defense. Malicious cyber attacks are not merely an existential threat to our bits and bytes. They are a real threat to our physical systems, including our military systems.”-Regina Dugan, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

The irony is that most of the destructive computer hacks, and/or virus attacks, seem to be coming from the United States!  Does that mean our own military is going to start bombing our own computer geeks?

 

Idaho, Opinion, U.S.

United Police States of America: Idaho bars media from executions, violating Federal rules

“To determine whether lethal injection executions are fairly and humanely administered, or whether they ever can be, citizens must have reliable information about the ‘initial procedures’ which are invasive, possibly painful and may give rise to serious complications.”-9th U.S. Circuit Court,  2002 ruling

On November 18, Idaho will execute a man using lethal injection, for the first time.

Attorney’s have protested saying lethal injection has been proven to be inhumane.

Now, the Idaho Department of Correction is barring all the media, in full violation of the Federal court’s ruling, from witnessing the execution: “The procedures were developed so that we would preserve the dignity of the offender.”-Jeff Ray, Idaho Department of Correction

Can you say: Bull Crap on that?   “Preserve the dignity” of a guy convicted of killing three people in three separate incidents, my ass!  Prison officials don’t give a rat’s ass about prisoners’ dignity, there’s plenty of evidence of that!  More like keep the fact that lethal injection has turned out to be a highly painful way to die (it’s described as similar to people who are undergoing operations, and are fully conscious, and can feel everything yet can’t move or talk, even though the doctors think they’re under the effects of anesthesia).  Some witnesses to lethal injection executions say they could see the convict crying after the injections had taken effect.

Several other groups have been barred as well.  The American Civil Liberties Union is also protesting.  The Associated Press is joining almost all of Idaho’s major media organizations in official protest.  Idaho officials claim the Federal Court ruling applies only to California.

I still say a bullet to the head is the fastest most humane way to execute someone.