Tag Archives: u.s.

Business/Economics, Technology, U.S.

Former Postal Employees, and former contractors, convicted of ripping off the USPS and its customers, USPS warns of malware fraud

April 6, 2012, a 45 year old California man pled guilty to ripping off the United States Postal Service using a trucking company called Golden Pacific Logistics (GPL).

According to the prosecutor the man was awarded $6.4 million USD in contracts to do business with the USPS, of which $4.4 million were fraudulent.  His 39 year old wife pled guilty back on March 28.

The man was also a U.S. Postal Service manager, and he used his position to get the fraudulent contracts for his trucking company.  They will be sentenced on July 11.

In Connecticut, a 50 year old former postal clerk was just sentenced for stealing money orders he sold to customers, and for embezzling union funds.

He managed to steal $11,300 worth of money orders by voiding them after he sold them to customers, or by going through people’s mail and taking the postal money orders.  He ripped off his fellow postal workers by stealing more than $8,800 in Postal Union funds, while serving as president of Local 3093 Union from 2007 through 2008.

He was sentenced to five years probation, the first six months being home arrest with electronic monitoring, 200 hours of community service and paying restitution of $20,201.

The USPS is also warning people of a malware (malicious software) email.

People are getting emails basically telling them they have a refund waiting, and it looks like you’re clicking on the USPS ClicknShip link, but you’re actually opening a program that collects all your info off your computer.

The USPS says just delete such emails, and contact them directly about any refunds.

Note: The United States Postal Service operates on money that comes from you and me buying postal products, not our taxes!

 

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Intelligence officers attacked, U.S. will continue night raids despite “deal”, South Carolina sends 500 troops, Mujahideen keeps out Al Qaeda

April 9, 2012, in Baghlan Province an explosion left seven people wounded.  Three are Afghan intelligence officers.

Officials say a bomb was placed in a culvert, and exploded as the vehicle carrying the intelligence officers drove over it.  Four civilians are wounded as well.

And it has been revealed that despite yesterday’s “deal” signing, U.S. led forces will still conduct night raids, and other special operations.

The deal supposedly gave the Afghan military the lead role in special operations. Even Afghanistan’s Defense Minister said night raids would be done by Afghan forces: “From now on only Afghan forces can search the homes and private properties as part of night operations.”-Abdul Rahim Wardak

Yet the deal allows Afghan military leaders to request that U.S. led forces still carry out such operations “as required or requested”.

The U.S. state of South Carolina is sending 500 members of their state militia to
Afghanistan.  The 169th Fighter Wing of South Carolina’s Air National Guard deployed on Easter Sunday.

The Christian Science Monitor has published an article that tries to explain who and what the “Taliban” Mujahideen groups are, and shows that they are not the same as al Qaeda, and in fact it is the Mujahideen (not the United States) that have prevented al Qaeda from gaining a foothold in Afghanistan:  “Such differences cause natural tensions between the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has not been able to hijack the insurgency the way it did in Iraq.”– NATO intelligence officer

The Pashtuns (who make up the majority of Afghans) consider the Mujahideen “Taliban” to be their only legitimate political representatives: “One of the most important things to an Afghan, especially in the context of the last 30 years of open warfare, is personal security. The central government and to a degree NATO/Coalition forces have failed in this regard. The Taliban, in the view of ordinary Pashtuns, is the only entity able to impose law and order.”-Matthew DuPee, Afghan Affairs U.S. Naval Postgraduate School

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Department of Labor to end long term unemployment help, even though job creation is slacking, Merry early Xmas!

“It’s a hard cut off, there is no phase out. Nobody gets squat after December 31!”-Bob Fick, U.S. Department of Labor

The U.S. government is ending long term unemployment help (stop calling it “benefits” main stream U.S. media!!!).  Emergency unemployment compensation is being reduced from 53 weeks, to just 13.  Another program known as extended benefits is being ended altogether.

As a result, in the state of Idaho overall maximum unemployment help will drop from 99 weeks to 39!

The official U.S. unemployment rate is at 8.2%, Idaho’s official unemployment rate is around 8%. But that doesn’t mean companies are hiring enough people.

April 9, 2012, U.S. stock markets dropped because of news that hiring is not what everyone thought it was. The U.S. Department of Labor announced that 120,000 jobs were created in March.  That’s 80,000 less than expected!

Many “experts” were sure it would be more than 200,000!   In fact many of those “experts” now think the job gains of the previous three months were temporary, and more losses are to come: “We’re thinking that the economic data is going to lose some momentum from here going forward.”-Bob Baur, Principal Global Investors

Even Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the recent drop in official unemployment numbers was “out of sync”.

Teenagers continue to get hit hard with lack of jobs.  The official rate of unemployment for them is 25%!  The highest rate since last year, and getting close to the all time record of 25.5% in 2009 (the highest since 1948)!

Here’s a fact: There are 5.1 million less U.S. jobs now, than in December 2007! The U.S. economy needed to create at least 4.7 million new jobs since then, in order to “recover”, and it has not!

Here’s another interesting fact about the official unemployment numbers game:  New York City is considered to have made a faster “recovery” than the rest of the country, yet their unemployment numbers have gone up!  They’re now around 9.6% unemployment, close to the 10% they hit in 2009.

This is just an example of how you can’t trust the “official” numbers.  Remember, the official unemployment rate does not count people who have been unemployed for so long they no longer qualify for unemployment assistance. Also, the Department of Labor issues at least six different “unemployment numbers”.

U-3 is the one the main stream U.S. media runs with.  It’s the one giving us the 8.2% rate for March.  The Department of Labor calls it the “official unemployment rate”.

But there is also U-6, and it says the unemployment rate is 14.5%!  It’s also known as the “under-employed”, which means people who are working part time but want full time work.  The Department of Labor said there were 7.7 million under-employed people in March 2012.

U-1 is also the “employment to population rate”, which looks at how many people have jobs, and it says 58.5% of the people have jobs.

Then there’s U-4 and U-5 (aka “long term unemployment” or “discouraged workers”) numbers which tries to count people who’ve been out of work for more than six months. It’s now at 5.3 million long term unemployed.

There’s also U-2 which tries to count people who just lost their jobs.

It’s confusing, especially when you get to the “discouraged” calculations.  Examples: U-4 is U-3 + “discouraged workers”.  U-5 is U-4 + “marginally attached workers”.  U-6 is U-5 + “part time workers who want full time work”.

The bottom line is that there are millions of people in the United States still without jobs, or without good paying jobs, and that is a sign that there is no economic recovery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fukushima, Idaho, Technology

Radiation mystery at Idaho National Laboratory, Cesium & Cobalt

U.S. department of Energy reported on April 6, 2012, that radioactive particles of cesium and cobalt are being found on construction materials.

A contractor discovered the contamination.  Officials think it could be from the demolition of old buildings in that area of the INL site, which would imply that the buildings were contaminated before being torn down.

A local east Idaho DOE spokesman said there was no concern “…unless you get it onto your skin…” and you had “…prolonged exposure…”

Employees and vehicles are now being checked for contamination as they enter and leave the site.

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

Oil & Gas Prices: Egyptian pipeline blown up again, Natural Gas Glut results in 10 years low prices, U.S. investigates European oil companies in Libya, Iran reduces oil exports

According to Azerbaijani media, Iran’s Oil Ministry is confirming that their oil exports are dropping due to Western oil sanctions.

Iranian oil officials say Japan has made the biggest cut in oil purchases, despite recently getting an exemption from the United States.  Japan cut Iranian oil imports by 28% from January to April 2012.

However, Iran’s oil exports have also gone down due to their own oil embargo of the European Union.  The EU’s own oil sanctions go into effect on July 1.

Speaking of Japan, Tokyo Electric, the operator of the nuclear disaster reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, has been using oil to generate electricity, a lot more oil.

TEPCo reported that in March 2012 they used four times the amount of oil than in March 2011.  They also used the most natural gas since August 2011, and August was a record for gas use by TEPCo; 2.079 million tons.

Regarding natural gas, the United States is so full of it, that there is no where left to store the stuff.  Underground salt caverns, depleted oil fields and aquifers are being used but even they are rapidly filling.

The result is that drilling and pumping of the LNG will have to stop, natural gas prices are at ten year lows (we consumers like that).  Maybe this will mean an end to fracking and man made earthquakes?

But that might be bad news for places like Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  The town has seen an economic boom; their tax revenues have gone up more than 10% between 2006 and 2010, and 115 new business in and around Lycoming County have been created.

In Egypt, ever since the January 2011 Revolution their gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan keeps getting blown up.  April 9, 2012, it got blown up again, for the 14th time since the Revolution.

In Libya, U.S. officials are investigating oil deals made with Italy’s Eni, and France’s Total.  The companies are being investigated for their connections to Muammar Gaddafi.

Eni officials said certain payments made to Gaddafi might have violated the U.S. Foreign Corruption Practice Act.  The U.S. is helping the new Libyan government investigate many oil companies, and could result in huge fines being levied in favor of the new government.

 

 

 

 

 

 

International, Technology, U.S.

Terror Drones: April 2-8, U.S. to quadruple assassination drone attacks

The Washington Post reporting that the United States did indeed spy on Iran using UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles, aka drones).

The report says the National Security Agency has at least three years worth of drone surveillance data on Iran. The program is being run by the Central Intelligence Agency’s Iran Operations Division (aka Persia House).

April 7, Yemen military officials say a U.S. drone strike killed 24 anti-government Mujahideen in two locations.  They say some of those killed were foreign Arabs.

There are several anti-government groups in Yemen, two are called Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and Partisans of Sharia.

Reports this past week say that the continued use of drones in Yemen could draw the U.S. into a full blown civil war: ”The more the U.S. applies its current policy, the stronger Al Qaeda seems to get.”–Charles Schmitz, American Institute of Yemen Studies

“Drones are a weapon of terror in many ways, and the kind of hostility this is going to breed may not be worth the counter-terrorism gains.”-Barbara Bodine, former U.S. ambassador to Yemen

“Heavily armed American soldiers have begun appearing in large numbers at the Sheraton Hotel in the capital, Sana, a Yemeni official said.“-Los Angeles Times

Also on April 7, Israeli forces attacked Gaza Strip with drones. Israeli officials said they targeted two men on a motorcycle in the town of Rafah: “Aircraft thwarted a rocket launch in the southern Gaza Strip.”-IDF statement

Despite claiming to have “thwarted” a rocket launch by Palestinians, two rockets were launched at Israel the next morning, April 8.

April 6, “An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle crashed in northern Afghanistan…”-ISAF statement

No further details were presented.  Some reports also said a NATO helicopter crashed in the same area, but it might be witnesses confusing the rotary wing drone for a manned helicopter.

There are conflicting reports about drone operations ending in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Most reports say drone operations will end after 2014, but there is a report that says assassination drones (aka MQ 9 Reapers) will actually quadruple their terror activity until 2016!

The report says the Reapers will operate from Australia’s Cocos Islands: “But don’t expect the worldwide drone war now being waged in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen to wind down. To the contrary, an Air Force announcement posted online this week indicates the Pentagon anticipates more than quadrupling the size of the global drone war over the next four years.”-Salon, Air Force ramps up drone war

April 5, the U.S. puppet government of Somalia stated to the United Nations that they have given the U.S. permission to use drones against their own people.

“I’m not going to get into matters that relate to intelligence. I will say that the United States has been and remains extremely focused-as do all members of the international community-on combating the terrorist threat that Al Shabaab poses, as an active threat not only to Somali but to the people of the region and beyond, in particular, given its active affiliation with Al Qaeda.“-Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the UN

April 3, a U.S. drone crashed and exploded in Somalia.  The drone went down near the town of El-Bur, which is considered a stronghold of the anti-Western government Mujahidden group called al-Shabaab.  However, the residents of the town say al-Shabaab fighters left the town on March 24.

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. signs deal to let Afghan forces take lead in Special Operations, Afghan forces claim progress againt Mujahideen, yet more drugs & “leaders” captured

April 8, 2012, Afghan Interior Affairs Ministry officials say in the past 24 hours Afghan military and police forces killed 16 Mujahideen, and captured 26.

The battles took place in Nangarhar, Faryab, Farah, Badakhshan, Kandahar, Ghazni, Khost and Paktika provinces.  They also seized 2,090 kilograms (4,607.7 pounds) of drugs.

In Baghlan Province, Afghan officials claim to have captured two “prominent Taliban leaders”. Officials believe the “leaders” were responsible for the assassination of a police chief in Kunduz Province.

“Taliban” spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said the two “leaders” are not connected to his group.

Afghan police said one of their vehicles hit a mine in Baghlan Province, but no one was hurt.

USMC General John R. Allen signed a deal with Afghan Minister for Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak.  The deal turns over to the Afghan government forces, the lead role in Special Military Operations, such as night time raids.

“The Afghan Special Operations Units have developed at extraordinary speed and are manned by courageous and capable operators.  In large measure, this MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] is a result of the professionalism of the National Directorate of Security and the Afghan National Security Forces. We also recognize the growing capacity of the Afghan judicial system which will play a vital part not only in the implementation of this agreement but also in the lives of Afghan citizens.”-General John R. Allen, U.S. Marine Corps

 

 

International, U.S.

Evil U.S.A.: Videos prove that U.S. taxpayer dollars support murderers and sadists, representing the United States in the so called War on Terror! Who’s the real terrorist? Not Iraqis! Not Afghans!

There is a video series just released. It was made by employees of the U.S. taxpayer funded Blackwater private security corporation operating in Iraq.

The videos show that Blackwater employees randomly targeted Iraqi civilians, by shooting into passing vehicles, sometimes at point blank range, and by running over people.  They also swerved into Iraqi cars to intentionally hit them.

You can also hear Blackwater employees talking about killing Iraqis, for no specific reason.

Blackwater tried to escape media scrutiny by changing its name to Xe Services.  They changed their name again, and are now known as Academi.

Despite the fact that the U.S. Army has even documented Blackwater’s evil doings, the U.S. government still uses them, in fact Academi is the largest military security contractor currently working for the Department of Defense.

A Harper’s Magazine report revealed just how evil the U.S. War on Terror really is: “A woman in a black full-length burqa began to cross the street. The vehicle struck the woman and knocked her unconscious body into the gutter. The cars slowed for a moment, but did not stop, nor did they even determine whether the victim was dead or alive. A voice in the car taking the video said, ‘Oh, my God!’ Yet no one was heard on the radio requesting help for her.”-Charles Glass, Harper’s Magazine

You can see the videos here.   No Iraqi ever attacked the United States!  No Afghan ever attacked the United States!  Who’s the real terrorist?

International

One Year Later: 1.5 million tons of tsunami flotsam still heading for North America, USCG sinks Japanese fishing boat

The U.S. Coast Guard took advantage of a Japanese tsunami ghost ship to get some target practice in.

Pictures show the fishing trawler pock marked with holes after being hit by cannon fire.  The USCG declared it a shipping hazard.

This is just the beginning wave of flotsam from March 11, 2011’s major tsunami that hit Japan.  An estimated 1.5 million tons of houses, boats, cars, bodies and other debris are slowly making their way to North America.

Some analysts from Kyoto University think 90% will hit the North American coast line by October 2012.  More than 40 thousand tons will arrive by February 2013.

Of course it all depends on the ocean currents, winds and storms.