Tag Archives: wall street

Business/Economics, International

Trilateral Commission: European Central Bank to become true central bank of Europe

13 December 2012, after months of trying to create a true central bank of Europe, European Union (EU) members agreed to give the job to the already existent European Central Bank (ECB).

The move is meant to standardize banking policies for EU members.  The ECB will be considered the “supervisor” of EU banks. It also allows the ECB to have full access to information from all EU member banks.

Even the United Kingdom, who is usually opposed to approving anything that would make the European Union stronger, agreed to the deal: “It shows that when you go in with a clear and principled argument and you make your case, then you can succeed and that’s what Britain has done tonight.”-George Osborne, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer

International

World War 3: Japan scambles F-15s to intercept Chinese aircraft

13 December 2012, for the first time in Japanese history Japan has scrambled eight F-15 Eagles and one AWACS to intercept what turned out to be a Chinese research aircraft.

Japanese officials say it was the first time a Chinese aircraft violated Japanese airspace, however, China says the airspace belongs to them.  Recently Japan took over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.  China and Taiwan say the islands are in Chinese territory.

The Chinese aircraft belongs to China’s Oceanic Administration.  China has also been sending ships into the disputed area.  Recently the Obama administration said publicly that the United States supports Japan’s claims to disputed territory.

International, Opinion, U.S.

World War 3: United States to invade Mali in 2013, is it really about the oil? Blame the British Empire!

On 07 December 2012, the Washington Post reported that President Barack Obama is planning to invade northern Mali, on the pretext that the northern half of Mali is being ruled by Islamists friendly to al Qaeda.

The invasion will be joined by France, but officially it will be an African led invasion.  The Washington Post even quoted a U.S. official: “…the military concept proposes an Africa led effort, but several key questions must be answered to ensure that this effort is also well planned and well resourced.”-Johnnie Carson, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

The West African country of Mali (which by the way borders Algeria which borders Libya, hmmmm) is considered by some sources to have “…no known commercially exploitable oil or gas resources.” 

However, for the past few years Canadian and European oil companies have been actively involved in oil exploration, in the northern areas of Mali.

Canadian oil giant, Heritage Oil Corporation, is specifically involved with block 7 and block 11 seismic and exploration fields in the northern part of Mali.  This information comes from Africa Oil Corporation (also a Canadian company, despite the name), which says they are 25% involved with the Heritage Mali operations.

Heritage, on their own web site, admitted they were concerned about the security of their area of operations: “Following the coup in March 2012, Heritage is monitoring the security situation and considering all options.”

Other oil companies involved include: Eni, an Italian company. Selier energy, another Canadian outfit.  Sonatrach, an Algerian (formerly French?) company.  And Centric Energy, based in United Kingdom, they also have a 25% stake in Heritage’s block 7 and block 11 operations in Mali.

With the majority of oil companies involved in Mali coming from Canada and United Kingdom, is this another case of the evil British empire getting the United States to do its dirty work?

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Israeli ground forces raid into Gaza!

10 December 2012, reports saying that Israeli armored vehicles and bulldozers had raided into the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

Israel has never honored the cease fire agreement brokered by Egypt last month. On 23 November Israeli ground troops shot and killed one Palestinian, and wounded seven others, in a village east of Khan Yunis.

Then around 28 November, Israeli naval forces kidnapped several fishermen, and sunk their boats.  Then, at the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, four Palestinians were wounded after IDF forces open fired.  Another person was wounded, north of the refugee camp.

Recently, Human Rights Watch (who sometimes makes reports supporting U.S. aggression) concluded an investigation into the 18 November 2012 Israel airstrike on a Gaza home.  12 people were killed.  HRW concluded that all killed were civilians, and that the Israel claim that the building was the home of a “terrorist operative” was a lie: “The Israeli claim that the attack on the Dalu home was justified is unsupported by the facts. The onus is on Israel to explain why it bombed a home full of civilians, killing 12 people.”-Fred Abrahams, HRW

Despite the facts that show Israel is the true unprovoked genocidal aggressor, Prime Minister Nut Job Yahoo (Binyyameen Netanyahu) said that it’s still the Palestinians who are the threat: “Over the last day, we have again been exposed to the true face of our enemies. They have no intention of compromising with us….”-09 December 2012

International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3: Iran decodes all data from stealth drone, says U.S. lying about spying on Iranian nuclear program!

“All the intelligence existing in this drone has been completely decoded and extracted and we know each and every step it has taken…..The U.S. President had told the Israeli officials that the drone was tasked with spying on Iran’s nuclear program, but our experts found, after decoding the drone, that it had not performed even a single nuclear [spying] mission over Iran….this reveals that Americans are treating the nuclear issue as an excuse…”-Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force

Last December Iran gained control of a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Stealth drone.  It’s taken them a year, but they say they’ve decoded all data in the drone’s computers.

Without saying more, Iranian officials said there was no data which showed the U.S. spying on any Iranian nuclear program, every geographical area that the drone flew over was devoid of anything relating to nuclear programs.

This suggests that the U.S. operators of the drone didn’t know what they were looking for, or as the Iranians believe, this is evidence that the U.S. rhetoric about Iranian nuclear programs is nothing but rhetoric.

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; 01 – 04 December 2012. More illegal U.S. led night raids! Pakistan threatens military action in Afghanistan! Soldiers running over cops! Longest war in U.S. history!

04 December 2012

In Balkh Province, the people of Chahar Bolak district said U.S. led forces conducted an illegal night raid, which led to the men and women of 15 families being separated from each other, and then the women were raped!

Amnesty International says the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan has resulted in at least half a million people living in refugee camps.  The camps are not equipped to deal with cold winter weather:  “We are in dire need of help, the weather is getting cold but we don’t have blankets, fuel, and warm clothes. I don’t know how to keep my children warm.”-Shahzada Khan, refugee who fled Laghman Province because of the violence caused by the presence of U.S. led forces

Afghan government leaders are angry over statements made by Pakistan’s Interior Minister.  Pakistan is now accusing Afghanistan of being the home base for terrorist operations in Pakistan: “…if they do not halt their terrorist activities in Pakistan…..We will reply if there is any activity from Afghanistan…”-Rahman Malik

Afghan Interior Minister, Mojtaba Patang, criticized Afghan National Police (ANP) saying the ‘national’ police units are totally influenced by local politics: “Our police forces have been linked with the political and other groups, they are not national police forces. Issues are created by regional police forces. They are supporting the crime intentionally or unintentionally in their areas where they belong to and are performing duties in the same areas.”  

03 December 2012

In Nuristan Province, the deputy district governor and chief of intelligence were killed and six cops wounded, after Mujahideen attacked the building they were in.

In Paktia Province, in Masto village, an Afghan National Army troop ran over and killed a policeman.

ISAF said: “Two International Security Assistance Force service members died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan.”

In Uruzgan Province, five people killed, nine wounded, by an explosion near the local Afghan Intelligence Department in Tarinkowt city.  The explosion was the result of a remote detonated motorcycle bomb.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, say 10,500 people die from tuberculosis every year in Afghanistan.  In a round-a-bout way they blamed the U.S. occupation.

02 December 2012

In Farah Province, locals in the Gulistan district say U.S. led forces raided homes and kidnapped several people.

In Nimruz Province, local government officials say the U.S. struck a suspected Mujahideen home, killing three people.

In Nangarhar Province, Mujahideen attacked the Jalalabad airbase.  According to local government officials, five suicide bombers attacked at once, then firefights broke out.  Some reports say as many as 18 people killed, 40 wounded. Other reports say the Mujahideen made it onto the airbase complex.  ISAF would only say that there were “…multiple explosions in the vicinity of Jalalabad airport.”

Former Afghan Central Bank Chief, Abdul Qadir Fitrat, said government officials were involved with the collapse of Kabul Bank.   Billions of USD were withdrawn or issued as fraudulent loans.  Several reports say the money went to people in other countries and at least 19 individuals and companies in Afghanistan.  Fitrat says no one has yet to be arrested, and even accused the President of being involved: “In Afghanistan we have president who is acting over the law who is not prepared to be inquired regarding the monetary crime which has been committed by himself and family members.”

01 December 2012

In Paktia Province, in Kahiar Kot district, locals say a U.S./NATO transport plane crashed killing everyone on board.  Locals say it looked like the plane was having technical problems. No word from ISAF.

In Uruzgan Province, a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle killing three people and wounding four others. Also, locals from Char Chino district say U.S. led forces attacked them, killing four people and kidnapping two others.

Deputy Afghan House Speaker, Haji Zahir Qadir, apologized for the beating his body guards gave to a Afghan cop.  The incident took place near a U.S. military base in Wazir Akbar Khan area, right after a suicide bombing.  Apparently the cop thought the body guards were Mujahideen and tried to attack them.

The Afghan government is now investigating the creation of an official provincial Mujahideen Council, in Herat Province. It was formed a few months ago, and involved redistributing captured Mujahideen weapons back to the Mujahideen.  The stated goal of Herat’s Mujahideen Council is to unite all local Mujahideen groups into one powerful organization, that works similar to the U.S. state run National Guard.  One national government official says Herat officials have misused funding for water and energy projects to create the Mujahideen Council.

German defense officials announced they will close down two of their Afghan bases in Baghlan and Kunduz provinces, sometime in 2013.

The United States Senate has voted, 62 to 33, to accelerate the pullout of U.S. troops: “It is time to end this war, end the longest war in United States history!”-Jeff Merkley, Senator from Oregon

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

Some Economic Recovery, for U.S.? Apple reverses outsourcing

07 December 2012, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, revealed that some computer manufacturing will be brought back to the United States.

However, the actual assembly of a specific line of Macs will still be contracted out.  Cook says they’re still figuring out where in the U.S. to assemble the computers.

Analysts say the move amounts to about a $100 million USD investment into the U.S. economy, which is tiny when you realize Apple has at least $1 billion in cash and other investments.  So, don’t expect this insourcing of a new Mac to be the cure all for the U.S. unemployment blues.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? California: Federal austerity to kill hundreds of thousands of jobs, largest court system in the U.S. to shut down, private sector job loses speeding up!

“As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation.”-phrase usually associated with government regulations originating in California, but it also refers to the economy

Federal government austerity measures (whether it’s the automatic fiscal cliff, or those agreed to by the President and Congress), could go into effect in January 2013 and could result in 225,000 Californians losing their jobs.  More than half of those would be from defense cuts (Almost $500 billion USD in defense cuts are being considered, which could result in at least half a million people losing their jobs across the country).

Defense contractor Northrop Grumman has already announced voluntary buyouts for 200 employees in California and Utah.

The second largest U.S. defense contractor, Boeing, said it will try to cut $1.6 billion from its operations by 2015.  The cuts will affect Boeing’s operations in California, including the selling or demolishing of Boeing property.

The Los Angeles court system (the biggest in the country) will shut down some operations.  Some of the courthouses to be closed are Catalina Island, Hollywood, San Pedro, Whittier and Pomona.  No word on how many people will lose their jobs.  The shut down of the courts will drastically affect civil cases.

Citigroup’s recently announced lay offs will affect about 240 employees in California.

The College of the Redwoods will cut a total of 39 jobs by June 2013.

Geron Corporation to cut 40% of employees after its cancer drug turned out to be a failure.

Entropic, home networking technology supplier to cable and satellite TV companies, will lay off 40 employees.

Memorial Medical Center to lay off 114 people by January 2013.

Dignity Health will let go 50 employees at their Saint John’s hospitals.

Kaiser Permanente officially announced 530 lay offs.

San Diego Hospice laid off 180 employees.

Santa Barbara Bank & Trust: “…468 positions will be eliminated over the course of the next twelve months. 80 percent of those whose positions have been eliminated will not depart the bank until at least April 30, 2013….”

Fourth Wall Studios suddenly laid off about 90% of its staff, reports say the layoffs were driven by a major shareholder: “It was a sudden decision and not necessarily expected by everyone, and I have to leave it at that…”-Jim Stewartson, CEO

The preceding list came from announcements made between 29 November and 06 December 2012.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Yet another U.S. company invests big, but not in the U.S., in Korea

06 December 2012, for awhile now U.S. President Barack Obama has been touting his desire that U.S. corporations start investing into research right here in the United States.  Yet, a failing U.S. company has decided to spend money it supposedly doesn’t have outside the U.S.

Sears Holdings announced that they are bringing back their old Roadhandler tire brand.  You might think that’s good news, but the new Roadhandler tire is simply a Korean Hankook tire with the Roadhandler name on it.

Hankook tires have good reputation, but in these bad economic times when more and more U.S. citizens are losing their jobs, why couldn’t Sears (a company supposedly going broke) spend their big bucks investing in a quality U.S. made tire?

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Government Incompetence & What Economic Recovery? U.S. made aircraft parts being ripped off by Israeli military and scrap metal dealers, army vehicles and ammo disapearing!

06 December 2012, possibly because of the bad economy in Israel, but investigators now believe that Israeli Defense Force (IDF) personnel are involved in the theft of engines for F-15 and F-16 aircraft.  The engines might have been sold to scrap metal dealers.

The theft of engines took place at Tel Nof air base, near Rehovot, last year.

This is not the only time parts for U.S. made aircraft were stolen.  Last year police raided a scrap metal warehouse in Tel Aviv. It was full of new parts for U.S. made F-15 and F-16 aircraft.

Also, IDF ground forces have revealed that in the past few months several vehicles and at least 1,500 tank rounds went missing from an army base in southern Israel.

The economy is really bad in Israel, and has led to numerous strikes and protests.  The most recent strike involved nurses who said Israeli hospitals are full of sick people who are not being treated due to the fact that there is no money to hire more staff.