The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation announced that it has disposed of almost all of its investments in Olympus.
Singapore held 2% of Olympus stocks. They are the first major stock holder to announce they were dumping their shares in Olympus. U.S. Olympus stockholders seem to be waiting for Olympus officials to provide an explanation as to where all their money went.
A few international news sites have reported that CBS News conducted a poll that showed 85% of people in the United States are against war with Iran. Blog sites have been picking up that ball and running with it. The problem is that it’s not true.
I looked at the CBS News Poll, and it’s not quite what’s being reported by other internet sites. The results were 55% who thought diplomacy was enough, 17% who said Iran was no threat, and 15% who wanted to go to war NOW! I didn’t see any “85% against war with Iran”.
The CBS News Poll has a lot of other interesting responses about U.S. policy in the Middle East, North Africa, China and North Korea, but, like many polls, the number of respondents are just to small to accurately represent the whole of the U.S. population.
According to the Commonwealth controlled (British Empire, via Rupert Murdoch) Wall Street Journal, warmonger U.S. President Barack Obama is about to sign off on a deal to provide the UAE with bunker buster bombs.
The WSJ article claims that the UAE is about to buy 4,900 JDAMs. These are not necessarily bunker busters, but could be configured as such. JDAM stands for Joint Direct Attack Munitions. Basically it’s an advanced smart bomb that can be set up with a variety of explosive material, depending on what the target is.
The UAE deal is part of a trend. In recent months the United States has already sold thousands of JDAMs to Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Bunker buster bombs are not defensive weapons, they are first strike weapons, used when you invade a country. This is why the sale of these weapons to Middle Eastern countries, who don’t like Iran, is a sign of a coming attack on Iran.
Russian media say the UAE arms deal also includes Hellfire anti-tank missiles. Iran has the largest tank force in the Middle East.
Regarding the WSJ, as well as most U.S. media sources, being controlled by the British Empire; a clue is that many times they use Commonwealth English grammar rules. In their article about the JDAM sale to the UAE they punctuate the abbreviation for UN, and UAE. That’s incorrect for U.S. English grammar rules: “In American English, U.S. (with periods) is more common as the standard abbreviation for United States, although The Chicago Manual of Style now deprecates the use of the periods (16th ed.). US (without periods) is generally accepted in most other national forms [such as British English] of English. In longer abbreviations incorporating the country’s initials (USN, USAF), periods are not used.”-Wikipedea: Manual of Style
I had a college professor try to clarify the rules; he said only abbreviations for country names, and proper names for people get punctuated in U.S. grammar rules. Organizations and business names do not. The UN is an organization, not a country.
In fact, even military vehicles used in UN peacekeeping operations do not punctuate the “UN” painted on their vehicles. The U.S. military stopped punctuating their abbreviations in the late 1940s, when the new standardized U.S. grammar rules were finally adopted. USAF=United States Air Force, USN=United States Navy, USMC=United States Marine Corps and USA (without punctuations)=United States Army. So the next time you see a product labeled “Made in USA” (no punctuations) does it mean it was made by the United States Army, or that the company is ignorant of U.S. grammar rules?
What about the UAE (United Arab Emirates)? The UAE is actually a confederation of seven smaller emirates. Despite many sources calling the UAE a federation, it can not be, because each ruler of each emirate maintains supreme authority within their emirate. Therefore the UAE is not a “country”, but an loose organization of smaller countries. This is the case with the failed Confederate States of America. In fact being a loose confederation was a primary reason for their losing the Civil War (War Between the States) in the 1860s.
The same can be said for the Commonwealth of Independent States, or CIS. This is a confederation of countries lead by Russia, and includes many former members of the Soviet Union.
However, even Wikipedia: Manual of Style confuses the issue: “For consistency in an article, if the abbreviated form for the United States appears alongside other abbreviated country names, avoid periods throughout; never add full stops to the other abbreviations (the US, the UK, and the PRC, not the U.S., the U.K., and the P.R.C.).”
In the case of the WSJ article, it’s interesting that they punctuate U.S. and UN (the article was written by three people).
Did I distract you enough from the preparations for war with Iran?
“Idaho’s the last state that should say we don’t want to do business with Asia. Asia’s where the money is.”-Brad Little, Lieutenant Governor of Idaho
Recently the U.S. Department of State announced they were increasing staffing in China and Brazil.
Most U.S. and Chinese media reports suggested this was due to the increasing number of foreign students wanting to go to school in the United States. The Chinese media even said it was a money making scheme for U.S. colleges: “A number of state governments in the U.S. are tightening their grip on education spending, which means smaller subsidies for public colleges to pay teachers and fund research. International students on average pay far more for tuition expenses than U.S. residents.”-ChinaDaily
According to U.S. Department of Commerce (yes it’s a “department”, not an “agency” as Rick Perry said), it’s also about the money Chinese tourists bring to the U.S. In 2010 those visitors contributed more than $5 billion to the U.S. economy.
What about Brazil? In 2008 there were reports that Brazilians working in the U.S. wanted to go back to Brazil. Now the U.S. State Department claims they can’t keep up with demands from Brazilians wanting to come to the U.S.
In September a report showed that the U.S. government has been wooing new Brazilian companies to move to the U.S.
EverWrite and DeskMetrics were two companies mentioned. Young Brazilian entrepreneurs say it’s much too hard to start a new company in their home country, so they move to the United States (that’s funny ’cause just this past week Idaho business leaders told our U.S. Congress that it’s too hard to maintain a business in the United States).
Chinese businesses are being wooed here as well. This brings me to one of two points; that increasing U.S. Embassy staffing in China and Brazil is really about bringing foreign workers into the U.S. You see, many of those Chinese and Brazilian companies are bringing their own employees.
In fact, here in Idaho our state leaders have made a deal with the Chinese. They will have their own 10,000 to 30,000 acre industrial and housing zone south of the Boise Airport, with their own Chinese employees, and even some level of national sovereignty.
“I think China’s coming over here shows they are willing to collaborate on the re-invigoration of the American industrial base.”-Jeff Don, Idaho representative for the Chinese company, called Sinomach
Here in southeast Idaho the Chinese have already moved in.
Sinomach is China’s third-largest contractor, and pressured Southeast Idaho Energy for a contract to build SIE’s $2 billion goal gasification fertilizer plant in Power County. In May, 2011, SIE closed its American Falls, Idaho, office claiming they were trying to reduce operating expenses.
A polysilicon factory is just about to start up in Pocatello. It’s run by Hoku International, which is now a subsidiary of a Chinese company. The few local employees hired went to China to learn about their job duties. So far no more word on anymore local hires, which makes you wonder if the main Hoku labor force will be coming from China?
Officials in Boise, Idaho, admit they’re working with more Asian corporations: “We’re getting calls from investors from all across Asia who are interested in Idaho.”-Cece Gassner, assistant to the mayor of Boise, for economic development.
The other point (regarding increased U.S. Embassy staffing) is that U.S. citizens are flocking to China and Brazil.
Japanese, and even PBS, media reports show that many U.S. citizens aren’t waiting until they’ve been hired to move to China; there’s a growing number of U.S. citizens who’ve moved to China, and are still looking for employment. In fact many U.S. job seekers in China, are finding that they’re competing not only against Chinese job seekers, but their fellow U.S. citizens.
In Brazil, the current population, according to the World Bank, is more than 194 million people. That’s an increase of almost 3 million since 2008! Most of those people moved to Brazil, many from the United States.
“In Brazil the middle class has grown and has more money nowadays. Consumers are becoming more sophisticated and want more quality, they want differentiation. In 2000 you could not find gourmet coffee on supermarket shelves, now we have 104 different brands that are certified as gourmet coffees in the program in the stores.”-Nathan Herszkowicz, ABIC
Right now Brazil is the number one producer of coffee, and according to Brazil’s coffee industry association ABIC, Brazil is about to become the number one consumer as well.
According to officials with ABIC, the coffee consumption rate, in Brazil, is increasing by 4% every year.
While increased coffee consumption is a sign of good economic times for Brazilians, it could be bad news for everyone else: Coffee farmers in Brazil are now focusing on growing for domestic sales, rather than exporting their drinkable beans. That could increase prices for the rest of us.
By the way, the ranking of biggest coffee consumer is based on a country’s consumption of 60 kilogram (132 pounds) bags of coffee. If you look at per capita (per person) consumption of coffee, then Finland is number one!
At the beginning of November, Hewlett-Packard reported they had donated $1 million to charity, for the fiscal year which ended October 31.
Now, according to a Boise TV station, HP employees called and reported a major layoff at the HP Boise operation was in the works.
KBOI says they contacted HP officials. The officials stated they are still working on the details of a forthcoming press release, which will explain the layoffs.
“Get out of here, now!”-James Trieb, Burlington Detective
In Burlington, Vermont, a local newspaper videographer revealed that the local police tried to stop his coverage of the suicide of a war veteran at the Occupy Burlington demonstrations.
The newspaper’s editor said it was a public news event that justified being covered: “It occurred in a public place where there has been a lot of controversy.”-Michael Townsend, Free Press Executive Editor
The video of the incident is posted on the newspaper’s website.
On November 10, in two separate incidents, two people were shot and killed during protests on the east and west coasts of the United States.
On the west coast, in Oakland, California, what appears to be a gang shooting took the life of a man who might have used the protest to try an hide from his killers. Occupy Oakland demonstrators claim the man was not part of the protest.
On the east coast, in Burlington, Vermont, a 35 year old War on Terror veteran shot and killed himself as a form of protest. Occupy Burlington demonstrators say the man told them of the government’s failure to help him with a condition he developed due to his military service: “This person has clearly needed more help than we were capable of giving him here at this park.”– Emily Reynolds, University of Vermont student
Back in Oakland, paranoid city officials are ignorantly blaming the possible gang shooting on the Occupy protestors: “I have been very vocal on the fact that this cannot continue. I think fear has become a reality. They should pack up and leave, if not, we should take whatever action is necessary.”– Ignacio De La Fuente, Oakland City Councilman
In Burlington, the veteran’s protest by suicide has encouraged more people to openly protest. It’s also encouraged the Burlington police to get violent: “We’re dealing with a large group of people. We have stuff available. We have to.”-Andi Higbee, Deputy Police Chief
Burlington media says up until the veteran’s suicide local officials had been tolerant of the Occupy protest. That has changed, and the mayor of Burlington is even using the suicide to mount an anti-gun campaign: “We need to reflect on guns in Vermont.”-Bob Kiss, Burlington mayor
Japan’s NHK reporting that the incredibly bad investment deals Olympus made, were influenced by a U.S. financial advisory company.
The company was created in 1997 by former Japanese stock brokers. The company charged Olympus outrageous mediation fees for their advise on taking over other companies. Reports say at least U.S.$687 million in mediation fees were paid to what could be a bogus company.
Olympus officials are said to have spent a lot of time visiting their U.S. based, but Japanese run, financial advisory company.
The Japanese Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission has ordered Olympus to present accurate financial reports by December 14. If they do not, Olympus will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. If you have Olympus stocks, sell, sell, sell!
“Despite the county’s best efforts, these negotiations have not produced a deal that fairly treats the county and its citizens, and there is no reason to believe that further out of court negotiations will lead to a fair, acceptable result.”-David Carrington, County Commission President
On November 10, Jefferson County, in Alabama, filed the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. They can’t pay back a loan from JP Morgan Chase of U.S.$3 billion, used to upgrade the county sewer system.
Just like many business owners and individuals have tried, the county was trying to negotiate for a new loan. At the last minute (again, small business owners, construction contractors and individuals have experienced this) the finance industry changed its mind.
The failed negotiations put all other county services at risk of being shut down, so they had no choice but to file bankruptcy. It’s not just the county that’ll be affected: “Bankruptcy will negatively impact not only the Birmingham region, but also the entire state.”-Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama
Amazingly, JP Morgan Chase says the $3 billion bankruptcy will not negatively affect them financially!
Jefferson County, Alabama, is part of a growing trend of municipalities going bankrupt. Since 2010 seven U.S. cities and towns have gone officially bust.