Tag Archives: wall street

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Economic powerhouse Germany sees surprise drop in factory orders, recession certain!

“…a catastrophe and very bad news….We have a huge problem in the rest of the euro area that now seems to be reaching Germany and its labor market. For the coming quarters, the economic outlook is quite gloomy.”-Thomas Harjes, economist at Barclays

On 06 November 2012, Deutsche Bundesbank revealed that there is no let up in the dropping factory orders for German companies.  September had a 4.7% drop, October saw a 4.6% drop, from the year before.

From October to September (month to month) there was a 3.3% drop, which was much more than analysts had expected.

Factory orders from European Union (EU) customers (Euro-area orders) make up the biggest part of the drop, followed by orders outside the EU (export orders): “The weak economic environment in the euro area and in the broader global economy is having a bigger impact on demand for German industrial goods. Therefore industrial production may weaken further in the months to come.”-Statement from Germany’s Economy Ministry

Germany is considered the economic powerhouse of the European Union.  Almost a month ago the President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann, said: “The German economy continues to be in robust shape….”

Now one analyst says Germany “…is unlikely to be spared from a technical recession.”-Annalisa Piazza, New Edge

Christian Ott, an investment bank economist said: “…the [German] resilience has come to an end…”

Idaho, U.S.

What Democracy? U.S. Main Stream Media say Idaho picks Mitt Romney, with 0% of polls reporting! More proof you wasted your time voting!

“These are party loyalists. We don’t get into the ‘faithless electors’ scenario.”-Ben Ysursa, Idaho’s Secretary of State, referring to Idaho’s Electors

The evening of 06 November 2012, with some people still voting in Idaho, and 0% of “polls” reporting, the U.S. main stream media confidently “projected” that Mitt Romney won the Gem State!

Could it be because Idaho is one of those states where the electors are made up of the dominant political party, and must vote accordingly?  Why yes!  So all you Idahoans who keep going to the polls, Presidential election after Presidential election, hoping to bring change with your vote, you’re all fools!

Do you know who Idaho’s Electors are?  Travis Hawkes, Republican who raised millions for Mitt Romney. Teresa Luna, Republican appointed to run Idaho’s Department of Administration.  Jason Risch, Republican attorney. Damond Watkins, Republican who gave Mitt Romney at least $1 million!

These Shadow Voters actually vote on 17 December 2012, weeks after the facade of the popular vote is over!

I’m not just targeting Republicans, the main stream media did the same for California and Hawaii, “projecting” that each of those states elected Democrat Obama, even though people are still voting as I write this!  (which was at approximately 21:00 hours Mountain Time, 06 November 2012)

 

U.S.

What Democracy? Rogue ballot counter caught ‘Red’ handed changing ballot results!

Just a few days before the 06 November 2012 elections, officials in Oregon revealed that a Clackamas County ballot counter was altering submitted ballots!

On 05 November, the Willamette Week published an article in which the accused Oregon City woman admitted to them that she changed at least two ballots.

However, government officials say they’re not sure how many ballots were changed, and they pointed out that the accused began working as a ballot counter back in 2000.   The woman is being investigated after an election official caught her ‘red’ handed in the process of changing ballots.

And what was she changing the mailed in ballot results to?  Why, to favor Republican candidates!  Most likely Republican party officials will disavow any knowledge of the election fraud, and claim she’s a rogue ballot counter.

 

Opinion

What Democracy? The late great George Carlin was right! If you vote it’s your fault!!!

Video

“I have solved this political dilemma in a very direct way: I don’t vote. On Election Day, I stay home. I firmly believe that if you vote, you have no right to complain. Now, some people like to twist that around. They say, ‘If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain,’ but where’s the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent politicians, and they get into office and screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You voted them in. You caused the problem. You have no right to complain. I, on the other hand, who did not vote, who did not even leave the house on Election Day, am in no way responsible for what these politicians have done and have every right to complain about the mess that YOU created.“-George Carlin

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

Some Economic Recovery? Idaho’s $1 billion per year meat industry will get boost from Japan!

06 November 2012, the Japanese Health Ministry decided to ease restrictions on U.S. beef imports.  Seven years ago Japan banned U.S. beef from cows older than 20 months, because of the Mad Cow disease.

They will now take beef from cows as old as 30 months.  There is one condition, the brain and spinal column must be removed.

Japan is a major buyer of beef from the U.S. state of Idaho, and even with the 20 month age restriction, sales to Japan has helped Idaho's meat industry make about $1 billion USD per year ($2.5 million of that is from exports of beef)!

Japanese health officials say they’re raising the age restriction because there has been no Mad Cow reported in the U.S. for ten years.  Unfortunately that is not true, back in April it was confirmed that a cow in the U.S. state of California had the disease.

The real reason is probably economic: Japanese officials claim that more than 90% of U.S. beef exports to the rest of the world are from cows 30 months of age or younger, and their decision to increase their age restriction will help drop the outrageously high beef prices in Japan: “They say U.S. beef prices will come down about 20%, once the ban is eased and imports increase. I think our customers will be happy.”-Grocery store manager in Japan

Another reason could be that U.S. officials, backed by the U.S. beef industry, has been threatening to retaliate by restricting the sale of Japanese beef in the U.S.

 

 

 

U.S.

What Democracy? U.S. Main Stream Media always calls the winner of the Presidential elections before all the voters have voted, and at least one month before the Electors have voted! Do you know when the Shadow Voters actually vote?

“There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their States.”-U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

When I was a kid in the 1970s it always amazed me that the U.S. media would call the winner of a Presidential election before all the voters had voted (especially people in Hawaii or Guam).  And this was back in the day before electronic voting.

It is simply a logistical impossibility to count all the individual popular votes within a 24 hour period, even with electronic voting.  So how can the U.S. media declare the winner, and who died and made the U.S. media the decider of the elections?

Add to that the confusing fact that we the popular voters don’t really elect the President.  It’s called the Electoral College (Shadow Voters), and they don’t even vote until December!

Now throw in the fact that there is no Federal law dictating how electors vote!  Some states require their electors to vote according to the popular vote, other states require their electors to vote according to what ever is the dominant political party in that state.  Some states even fine electors if they vote against the dominate political party, and the U.S. Supreme Court approves!

Back to the fact the the Shadow Voters vote on a day in December, a day picked   by the U.S. Congress.  Knowing that how electors vote depends on the laws of their state, and that they don’t even vote until December, then (again) how can the main stream U.S. media declare the new President shortly after the popular vote elections?

International, U.S.

What Democracy? United States has “…worst election processes in the world”! Venezuela has “best” system in the world! Former U.S. President says so!

“We’ve learned a lot about Democracy in Latin America, and they have made a lot of progress….The elections in Venezuela, although some people have criticized the result….there’s no doubt in our mind….that he [Hugo Chavez] won fairly and squarely…As a matter a fact, of the 92 elections we’ve monitored, I would say the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world!…..Mexico had their first honest election and the Carter Center was the only monitor invited in….all the other countries in Latin America, except for one [Venezuela]….and another one in North America [United States]….has public financing of all the election process.  If you qualify to run for public office you get public financing, and outside money does not affect the outcome of the election……The United States election process is shot through now with, I’d say, financial corruption.  We have one of the worst election processes in the world.“-Former U.S. President, true Christian and international election observer Jimmy Carter, 11 September 2012 annual Carter Center “Conversation”, in response to question about election monitoring in Latin America

The former president was talking about the more than 90 countries that his organization, The Carter Center, has worked to observe elections, to make sure they are fair.

The month after Carter made his statements about U.S. democracy, the U.S. states of Texas and Iowa announced they would arrest international election observers that entered polling places.

Carter says the main problem is private financing of campaigns for public office.  He explained there was a time when candidates used only public financing to run for office: “You know how much [privately sourced] money I raised when I ran against Gerald Ford [1976 U.S. Presidential elections]? Zero!…. You know how much [privately sourced] money I raised to run against Ronald Reagan [1980 U.S. Presidential elections]? Zero! We got public financing for the elections. You know how much [privately sourced] money’s gonna be raised this year in the United States for the President, and the Senate and House elections?  Six billion dollars!…..And that money comes from people who, now under the Supreme Court ruling, don’t have to be identified….and a lot of it can come from corporations partially owned by foreigners.”

Carter said the only way the election process can begin to be fixed is if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses its “stupid decision”, and there is a return to public financing of national campaigns.

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Corporate Incompetence: Two nuclear reactors shut down due to thousands of faulty parts! Three more reactors to follow!

05 November 2012, two nuclear power reactors in Korea, south, have been shut down due to the discovery of thousands of potentially faulty parts.

Government officials (Knowledge Economy Ministry) say they discovered that at least eight parts suppliers have been lying about the reliability of those parts.  Officials suspect that at least 5,233 bad parts are being used in five nuclear reactors.

The parts include things like fuses and switches.  Officials say they are not parts directly related to the nuclear reactors and their radioactive fuel.  However, the reactor shut downs will greatly impact electric power supply in the Republic of Korea, officials say it will take several months to replace all the parts.

I did not find any reports indicating if the faulty parts might have been the cause of two emergency shut downs back in August.  Korea (south) currently has 23 nuclear reactors in operation. They hope to have 39 by the Gregorian/Western/Christian calender year 2030.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3 & What Economic Recovery? Mazda sees massive sales drop in China, two months in a row! Ends night time production with Ford and Changan!

05 November 2012, Japan’s Mazda reports massive sales drop in one of the richest countries in the world; China.   Mazda sales dropped 35% in September, and 44.9% in October, compared to the same months in 2011.

Mazda officials are blaming the drop on a boycott of Japanese goods by Chinese consumers. This is because of Japan nationalizing an island (with plans for militarization) in the East China Sea.

Mazda has now cut its 2012 sales expectations in half.   The night shift at a car factory in Nanjing will be ended.  The Nanjing factory is a joint venture with U.S. Ford and China’s Changan Automobile.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; 30 October – 01 November 2012. Cops attack each other, over a woman! Mujahideen allowed to run for President! UAE sues Afghanistan! Mujahideen rescue kidnapping victims! Cops kill Red Coats! Australia to increase troops after saying they were leaving! King Copper in Afghanistan!

01 November 2012

ISAF said: “A U.S. Forces-Afghanistan service member died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan today.”

More than 100 women applied to be the first females to attend the British style Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA).  Only 30 will be picked.

In Ghazni Province, two headless bodies were found.  Police say they have no clues as to who did it.

31 October 2012

In Uruzgan Province, cops (? not sure, source info not clear about this) manning two check points went to war with each other over a woman! Local officials report one group of cops at one check point became concerned when a woman was held up at another check point. A gun fight erupted, with one group running into the mountains.  “Foreign” troops were called in and they detained that group.

The Afghan presidential elections will be held 05 April 2014, the same year the U.S./NATO is supposed to withdraw.  It was also announced that former Taliban government/Mujahideen will be allowed to run for president: “We are even prepared to pave the ground for the armed opposition, be it the Taliban or Hezb-i-Islami, to participate in the election, either as voters or candidates. There will be no discrimination.”-Fazil Ahmad Manawi, Afghan Independent Election Commission

In Kandahar Province, six people, including children, were killed after the vehicle they were in ran over a landmine.

In Helmand Province, seven women and one man were killed by an explosion. Local police believe the bomb was meant for a U.S./NATO convoy that was using the same route.

United Arab Emirates sued Ariana Airlines of Afghanistan for $10 million USD.  UAE courts ruled on the lawsuit a month ago, only now are Afghan airlines officials hearing about it. The case involves the leasing of aircraft, which the UAE airlines says were never returned to them after the lease expired.  The Afghan airlines says the aircraft actually came from a airlines called Pamir Airways, and that the aircraft were returned to Pamir Airways.

In Ghor Province, Mujahideen rescued three kidnapping victims, through negotiation.  The deal involves the settling of a murder case where three students were killed.  However, there are still ten men being held.  The mass kidnapping took place after 13 men were sent to remove the bodies of victims of a massive suicide bombing.

Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that more Diggers were needed in Afghanistan. Her explanation is that in order to withdraw Diggers from Afghanistan they first needed to increase their numbers: “As we begin detailed planning for its final phases, which of course remain some time off, it is likely that we will identify the need for some additional personnel and resources to complete those final phases of practical extraction and repatriation.”

30 October 2012

Afghan officials are accusing the Red Coat British military of covering up the murder of Afghan civilians by Red Coat personnel.  This comes as five Royal Marines are on trial for just such a case.

In Helmand Province, and Afghan cop got revenge for such Red Coat shenanigans by shooting and killing two British personnel.

In Kunar Province, local government officials are again claiming that Pakistan has launched more than 100 artillery rounds into their province. Amazingly no one was hurt.

In Sar-e-Pul Province, it was announced that large scale mining operations for copper are about to get underway. The Balkhab copper mine is one of the largest copper reserves in the world.  Bids from international mining companies are being reviewed: “The bidding process for Balkhab copper reserve is finalized and the international proposals are being assessed by Afghan mines ministry. Afghan government will announce its decision regarding the winner in the near future.”-Wahidullah Shahrani, Ministry of Mines

The winning bidder will begin mine operations in 2013.  Besides oil, minerals/metals like copper are a driving force behind western foreign policies.