KBR

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#34636039

KBR being sued for putting soldiers (in Iraq) at risk in 2003.
Today those soldiers are dying.

To refresh your memory KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton.

Halliburton is the oil services company that does mostly work for the government. Their CEO was Dick Cheney.

Cheney earned tens of millions as CEO. When he became vice president he maintained millions in stock and also received deferred salary while he was Vice President. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/26/politics/main575356.shtml

As a result Halliburton received BILLIONS worth of no bid contracts in Iraq.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/25/60minutes/main551091.shtml

Halliburton is an extremely shady company. They have been in trouble over and over and over for unethical behavior.

They overcharged the US government.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/12/politics/main588216.shtml

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/aug/04/business/fi-halliburton4

They supported terrorist’s regimes
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/22/60minutes/main595214.shtml
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7119752/

They were fined 579 million for paying bribes to win contracts.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/02/12/kbr_halliburton_fined_579m_total/

They were involved in raping one of their own female employees and covering it up.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=3977702&page=1

12 soldiers are dead because they were electrocuted in the shower do to shoddy KBR electrical work
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=4489783&page=1

GMAC

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704234304574626613952095966.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews#articleTabs%3Dcomments

GMAC getting another 3.5 BILLION. This on top of the 12 BILLION they received last year.

Never ceases to amaze me the second a big bank hiccups the US Treasury opens up the cash drawer and starts piling the money on the table. There is no limit for the corporate banks.

Meanwhile where the real people live it is a daily struggle and nobody cares.........

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/nyregion/30foreclose.html

"In New York City, where 20,000 homeowners faced foreclosure this year, a recent study by the Center for NYC Neighborhoods found that lenders have offered new or trial mortgages to just 3 percent of the homeowners who have sought help."

So basically the big banks took the TARP money. Then they took the 75 Billion (the government handed them) to re adjust people mortgages (but then didn't re adjust them. They simply pocketed the money). In the end they will still foreclosure and get the homes. So it is a win win win for the big banks.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2006-04-03-gm-deal_x.htm

What is interesting about the GMAC bailout is 1) When GM sold GMAC in 2006 it was profitable. 2) One of the companies that ended up buying them (Citibank) has already received TARP money. So Citibank got bailed out (as Citibank) and then they got bailed out a second time as GMAC. Must be nice.....That is like GM receiving a bailout for Buick, then a separate bailout for Cadillac. I suppose if we wait long enough that might just happen too.

Moldy Tylenol

http://www.webmd.com/news/20091229/tylenol-recall-expands

"Moldy" Tylenol is giving people "nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea."

That sounds awesome. I bet it was made in China too. Of course nobody is highlighting where it was made but you can be sure where ever tainted products are found China isn't far away.

Oh here it is.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003732744_vitamins03.html

"China makes 70 percent of the world's penicillin, 50 percent of its aspirin and 35 percent of its acetaminophen (often sold under the brand name Tylenol)"

Airport Security is optional

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/air-security-technology-stopped-xmas-attack/story?id=9436877

"19 airports across the country already give passengers the option to undergo a full-body imaging scan instead of a pat-down"

The rediculous part of this story (that nobody is talking about) is the decsion by the TSA (last May) to stop using the explosive "sniffer" machines. That decsion is directly linked to this latest security failure. Again nobody connects the dots.

They didn't need the sniffers because they had the body scans. But then the body scan machines aren't available everywhere. Where they are available it is optional because people don't want their hooters on display for all to see.

So as we see security as it relates to explosives is non existent.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/21/AR2009052104361.html

Wilmington

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/17/60minutes/main5996883.shtml?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

This story is interesting. Wilmington Ohio screwed when DHL left and 10,000 people lost their jobs. It is the same story told over and over across the country.

If you watch “Roger and Me” ( from 1989 ) about Flint Michigan’s struggles when GM moved plants to Mexico it is essentially the same story.

Corporate America lays everyone off and entire communities suffer.

It has been 20 years and Flint still hasn’t recovered. http://www.mlive.com/business/mid-michigan/index.ssf/2009/07/flints_unemployment_rate_hits.html

Nobody should expect Wilmington to recover either.

I take issue with the first line of the story stating that this is the third year of the “Great Recession”

It isn’t the third year….. it is the 10th year. This downward spiral started at the end of the Clinton administration (in 2000) and it hasn’t ended yet. Nor is it going to end .

2000 the US economy heading towards recession
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/dec/27/usa.michaelellison

2001 US economy in recession
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/27/business/27ECON.html?pagewanted=1

2002 US economy in recession
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/07/business/americans-gradually-feel-grip-of-recession.html

2003 recession is over but there are no jobs. (So it is not really over)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/18/business/18ECON.html?ex=1059105600&en=f840f4e10721aec3&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

2004 Recession is coming – Again
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=94806&page=1

2005 Recession very close.
http://www.forbes.com/2005/03/24/cz_js_0324soapbox_inl.html

2006 Recession will be bad.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/coming-recession-will-be-nastier-than-2001s-economist-says

In 2007 everyone "officially" agrees the recession started but in actuality it has been here since 2000.

Except for the housing bubble (which wasn’t real) it has been bad economic news for 10 straight years. Everyone should accept that it is going to continue on for the next 10 too.

Wall Street enjoys the largest bonuses ever.......

Meanwhile in the real world (where the rest of us reside) you have rising unemployment

The highest number of foreclosures in history

Bankruptcies continue to rise.

Small Bank failures (the banks that aren't too big to fail) continue on unimpeded

Good thing the recession is ending.

Liebermans priorities

700 Billion dollar stimulus Lieberman could support. No problem

800 Billion for Wall street bonuses Lieberman could support. No problem

Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, predicted “overwhelming support among Senate Democrats” for releasing the money.

Healthcare for the people....Well Lieberman isn't so accommodating.

Down he goes

My last post explains this article. The American people voted for change and what we have now is what we always have. America isn't buying the snow job.

Obama - Meet the new boss.. Same as the old boss

Obama.....Bush.....Clinton.....What is the difference...... They are all the same. Bought and paid for. They all talk a good game but when it is time to play ball it is always the same game.

"Food and Drug Administration chief Margaret Hamburg warning of "significant safety concerns." (Where was this same concern when China was making tooth paste tainted with Melamine? Where was the concern when millions of American toddlers were sucking on toys covered in lead paint. Where was the concern when the FDA lifted the ban on shoddy Chinese Chicken.

"These arguments don't hold up well, considering that 40 percent of the active ingredients in American prescription drugs come from India and China, and that the latter slipped tainted heparin past the FDA"

IRS is mean to everyone except Citibank

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/15/AR2009121504534.html?hpid=topnews

This is unbelievable. If you don't pay your taxes you go to jail. No if ands or buts. The IRS is not known for cutting anyone a break ever. BUT if you are Citigroup....well....that is another story entirely. The IRS is more the willing to help Citigroup avoid Billions in taxes. If you are Citigroup the IRS is your friend. Next month you will start reading stories about high profile people in trouble for not paying taxes. It happens every tax year. It is the IRS's way of scaring people during tax season. Yes, It doesn't matter who you are unless you are corporate America. Then there is an entirely different set of rules.

Stimulus Check

http://stimuluswatch.org/2.0/performance_places/state/CT/300/id/asc

So the State Of Connecticut has been given $12,901,185 in Federal Stimulus money . So far that money has created 11 jobs according to this website. That comes out to about 1 million dollars per job. What a complete waste of money.


I like how Yale is getting federal grant money. Yale who has an endowment of 16.3 BILLION Dollars.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125363732991331211.html

This country is so screwed up it is unreal.

Caterpillar

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29139938/

In February Caterpillar told Obama they would rehire laid off workers if his stimulus passed. Well it passed.......

Today on CNN there is a story about long term unemployed. One of the people profiled was laid off by Caterpillar last April. Not only did they not hire people back but they continued to lay people off.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/news/0912/gallery.long_term_unemployed/4.html


Oh wait they are going to rehire 550 workers. They laid off 20,000 and will rehired 500. That stimulus is working out great.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aWaNyeYiD82U

AT&T about to nickel and dime customers

http://www.pcworld.com/article/184589/atandt_iphone_users_irate_at_idea_of_usagebased_pricing.html

"AT&T's overtaxed data network has led to shoddy service. AT&T received the lowest score among wireless carriers with a below average rating in a recent Consumer Reports customer satisfaction survey."

So basically this is saying AT&T told people to join their service because they are great. Then people did join (because the IPhone is all the rage) but now their sh*tty network can't handle the volume of people using their products. The products they told everyone to come use. So now they want to start gauging people for using their service.

They want to remain the exclusive seller of the IPhone but then they complain that Iphone users use to much of their service.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123973238611017715.html

One scumbag operation dumps another

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/13/AR2009121302262.html

When it comes to sending American jobs overseas reputation matters. Having a scumbag philanderer represent their pure operation was not going to work.

NFL is being stupid and greedy

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4718965

This is another colossal mistake by the NFL. The first mistake was pulling out of the collective bargaining agreement. The owners didn’t think 40% of Billions was fair. So now they will cause a work stoppage in two years.

This is mistake #2.

Both of these idiot moves the NFL closer to resembling MLB. That is not a good thing. There are reasons why MLB struggles and the NFL has been a juggernaut. This is undoing all the advantages.

The reason baseball sucks is because there is no revenue sharing. So you have the rich teams Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies etc. And then you have everyone else.

Whenever a small market baseball team develops a good player they can never afford to keep them. So all the good players funnel to the rich teams. That is why you end up with the Yankees winning year after year. Not because they are overly smart but because they are filthy rich. When was the last time the Yankees developed anyone? All their players were taken from other teams (except Jeter). When was the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates won anything? A long long long time ago. Because they are poor.

The reason the NFL is awesome is because small market teams can compete and do well. Green Bay, Baltimore, Arizona all have a chance. Now the NFL is going to screw it all up.

Greedy Idiots.