Oil Price Manipulation‏

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/oil-flat-day-rise-15766326

This is what happens when you don’t have regulations….

Oil prices rose to nine-month highs above $106 a barrel Thursday

Despite the rising prices, there seemed to be ample supplies available. A report showed U.S. crude stockpiles growing more than expected last week, suggesting demand remains sluggish.

When Supply is going up and prices are also going up something is not right. That is not a free market. That is a manipulated market that needs to be regulated.

The American Petroleum Institute said late Wednesday that crude inventories rose 3.6 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted an increase of 1.7 million barrels.

Crude has soared from $75 in October, raising concern that higher gasoline prices may stymie consumer spending and an improving U.S. economy. Analysts fear mounting tension over Iran's nuclear program could lead to a disruption of global crude supplies and trigger a jump in prices.

It could lead to a jump in prices? Could? Prices have gone up $31.00 a barrel in 4 months and the fear is it could go up? It is going up and nothing has happened yet.

Time to regulate!

Corporate Taxes....‏

Last year we were told corporate profits were the highest on record. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/economy/24econ.html


Six months ago we were told Corporate America is hoarding over 2 Trillion Dollars.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/hoarding_cash_Yzfk2c8aK1wAPrZCRdEVnJ


Today Obama is trying to convince everyone the problem with the US economy is corporate taxes are too high. If only corporations didn’t have to pay so many taxes they would be opening new factories all over this country.

If their tax rate was lower they wouldn’t be inclined to hire 13 year old Chinese girls who make $260.00 a month, working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. If only taxes were lower they would be happy to hire Americans at 50 grand plus benefits.

The problem this whole time has been taxes. Who knew…. The problem of 15 trillion dollars in National debt is somehow going to be fixed if corporations pay less taxes. Don’t try to make sense of that logic….. Just accept what Obama is saying is true.

In order to follow American politics you must ignore all common sense. Just nod your head and smile. If you think for yourself you may conclude they are all full of sh*t.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-22/obama-to-ask-congress-to-lower-corporate-tax-rate-to-28-remove-loopholes.html

Representative Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican who heads the House Ways and Means Committee, has released part of a proposed corporate tax overhaul. Camp proposed a 25 percent top rate and changes to the international tax system that would let companies avoid paying U.S. taxes on most of the income they earn outside the country. How is that going to encourage companies not to sent jobs overseas? They really think we are all just stupid.

Bill Gates Responible for F35 Cost Overruns‏

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awst/2012/02/06/AW_02_06_2012_p30-419987.xml&channel=defense

Chinese hackers actually sat in on what were supposed to have been secure, online program-progress conferences, the officials say.

there is consensus that escalating costs, reduced annual purchases and production stretch-outs are a reflection to some degree of the need for redesign of critical equipment. Examples include specialized communications and antenna arrays for stealth aircraft, as well as significant rewriting of software to protect systems vulnerable to hacking.

It is only recently that U.S. officials have started talking openly about how data losses are driving up the cost of military programs and creating operational vulnerabilities. These people should read my emails. They would have known about this issue in 2003.

James Clapper, director of national intelligence, says that Internet technology has “led to egregious pilfering of intellectual capital and property. The F-35 was clearly a target,” he confirms. “Clearly the attacks . . . whether from individuals or nation-states are a serious challenge and we need to do something about it.”

They should start by reading my emails. Doing so could have saved them Billions. The next thing they should do is go to Bill Gates mansion and arrest him for Treason. Blind fold him. Put him in an orange jump suit. Cover his ears. Throw him in the back of a cargo plane and fly him down to Gitmo to be held with the other the enemy combatants. Give him a military trial and hang him. Then seize all his bank accounts to help pay for the carnage he has brought. Next ban all government and government contractors from ever using a Microsoft product ever again. Anyone caught using Microsoft is going to Gitmo.

In July 2011, then-Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn pointed out that a foreign intelligence agency had victimized a major defense contractor and extracted 24,000 files concerning a developmental system.

the lost information would help the intruder develop similar systems and generate methods of attack and defense. Some U.S. officials have pegged the costs at tens of billions of dollars.

Lockheed Martin officials now admit that subcontractors (6-8 in 2009 alone, according to company officials) were hacked and “totally compromised.” In fact, the stealth fighter program probably has the biggest “attack surface” or points that can be attacked owing to the vast number of international subcontractors.

Not only could intruders extract data, but they became invisible witnesses to online meetings and technical discussions, say veteran U.S. aerospace industry analysts. After the break-in was discovered, the classified program was halted and not restarted until a completely new, costly and cumbersome security system was in place.

The Insurance Capital‏

http://www.theday.com/article/20120221/NWS12/302219943/-1/NWS

Cigna announced in July that it will add at least 200 jobs in the next two years at its Bloomfield site in exchange for a $50 million package of tax credits offered in legislation pushed by Malloy.

That is $250,000 per job….. How is that a good deal for the state? So if the State pays an obscene amount of money to Cigna then Cigna will create some jobs. Is that really how it is suppose to work.

Urgent Bunker Buster Improvements Ordered‏

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-13/bunker-buster-bomb-improvements-sought-by-pentagon-win-approval.html

US is preparing to attack Iran. I still don’t see this happening. Especially not before a presidential election. The ripples this would create would be vast. Regardless they are preparing.

The Pentagon won congressional approval to shift $81.6 million in funds improve the military’s largest conventional weapon, the 30,000-pound Boeing Co. Massive Ordnance Penetrator,

Pentagon spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Robbins said today in an e-mail. ‘It was an urgent request,”

The move to improve the bomb shortly after the Air Force took delivery may have been triggered by Iran’s announcement Jan. 9 that it would begin uranium enrichment at the Fordow facility near Qom that’s tunneled into mountains.

The Pentagon request to upgrade the bomb was submitted 11 days after the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed the enrichment activity. The location at Qom is 90 meters (295 feet) under rock

The Air Force took delivery in September of the first of 20 bombs built to fit in the B-2 stealth bomber. The bomb is six times bigger than the 5,000-pound (2,268 kilogram) bunker-buster that the U.S. Air Force and the Israeli Air Force have to attack deeply buried nuclear, biological or chemical sites.

The 20.5-foot-long bomb carries more than 5,300 pounds of explosives and is guided by Global Positioning System satellites

So a standard Bunker buster is 5,300.

A daisy cutter is 15,000 pounds. These used to be the largest conventional bombs the US had. Nothing bigger then a daisy survived these. http://inventors.about.com/od/militaryhistoryinventions/a/Daisy_Cutter.htm

Then they created the 20,000lb MOAB. MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS! Which was created for Iraq. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-43/B_Massive_Ordnance_Air_Blast_bomb

Now they are up to 30,000 for busting up Iranian bunkers. When it comes to blowing stuff up we are the best.

Space programs...Yesterday and Today.‏

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/17/john-glenn-fever-gripping-cape-canaveral-again/

America feeling nostalgic about the great things we used to be able to do. Today we have no ability to do any of them anymore. We have no ability to get into space, and won’t for many more years. If we want to go to space we need to ask the Russians to take us. The only way to feel good about where we are is to look back. Looking forward is too depressing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46430438/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Meanwhile over in Communist Red China they are moving full speed ahead with their operational space program. They are actually launching astronauts. They are building their own space station. They are working to get to the moon. They actually have a plan and are doing things. What a novel concept. A space program that can actually go to space. Neato. They must be so proud.

Foxconn feeling the pressure‏

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-17/foxconn-group-raises-china-wages-for-third-time-since-2010.html

Wages going up 25%. Hot Damn….. Good news everywhere I look today.

The basic monthly pay of a junior worker in Shenzhen has risen to 1,800 yuan ($290) from 900 yuan three years ago.

$290.00 a month and that is the improvement…... So a worker will worker 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for a month, and even if they took every penny of that they still wouldn’t be able to afford an Ipad. No wonder Apple only has 5 stores in China for a country of 1 Billion people.

But if you listen to the experts China is the new market place. The buying power of people making $290.00 a month is vast.

I am sure working at Foxconn is considered a good job too. Imagine having a sh*tty job.

Caterpillar Moving plant to Georgia‏

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2012/02/17/caterpillar-to-build-plant-near-athens.html

Caterpillar is moving a manufacturing plant from Japan to Athens Georgia and creating 1400 new American jobs.

Yup it is an election year. No doubt.

Uconn receives record applications....Thanks Jim Calhoun‏

http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-uconn-record-applications-0218-20120217,0,2817909.story

The University of Connecticut has received a record-breaking number of applications 30,000 — for undergraduate admission for the fall of 2012.

That is a direct correlation to the men’s basketball team winning the National Championship for the 3rd time in 12 years. The first time admissions spiked was after they won it in 1999.

It is also directly related to the men’s football team getting better and being part of the bowl scene.

So when people question how much money Jim Calhoun makes. When they question the wisdom of building a football stadium and whether it is a waste of money. Now they know. They can stop questioning it.

Good sports teams = National exposure. National exposure = People wanting to go to your school.

So get better soon Jim Calhoun because the school is depending on your success. Having smart Chemistry students doesn’t get you on CBS Saturday afternoon in front of the entire country. Nobody cares…... And ESPN isn’t spending sports center discussing the super intelligent literature majors. They are talking about Uconn Sports though and high school kids have taken notice. That is good for the school and good for the state.

Go Uconn!

Obama Fundraising‏

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_19980223

meeting with about 20 supporters at a swank hotel and dining 70 more at novelist Robert Mailer Anderson's Pacific Heights home. Ticket cost to the events: $35,800 per person.

Do the math 90 people X $35,800 each = $3,222,000 for one afternoon. What do you think they talked about? You think they talked about poor people. You think they talked about unemployed people. You think they talked about workers rights. The plight of the middle class. Chances are anyone who can spend 35K (for one dinner) isn’t too concerned about issues the rest of us are concerned about.

So when it seems like Obama is only representing the rich people (just like the Republicans) now you know why.

At least two protesters were removed after standing up and yelling about ongoing fighting in Afghanistan and oil drilling. "I love it, that's what San Francisco is all about," the president said. "People are not afraid to share their ideas here." That is what America is about….If you disagree with your president you get dragged away in handcuffs. What could be more American.

Airbus A380 falling apart too‏

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/08/us-airbus-checks-idUSTRE8171DI20120208

Boeing shouldn’t feel too bad. The A380 (which is only a couple of years old) is also falling apart. Enjoy your flight.

safety officials extended checks for Airbus A380 wing cracks to the entire superjumbo fleet on Wednesday and said the widespread defects could pose a safety risk if left unremedied.

The new measures by the European Air Safety Agency (EASA) "reflect the results of a first round of checks, which found cracks in almost all of the planes inspected,"

This condition, if not detected and corrected, may lead to a reduction of the structural integrity of the aeroplane,"

the flaws are thought to be structural and widespread, the fleet-wide inspection order will refocus attention on faults recently found in flagship jets from both of the world's dominant aircraft makers.

Boeing (BA.N) and Airbus, a division of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (EAD.PA), maintain that their newest planes are safe to fly after problems were caught at an early stage.
There shouldn’t be structural problems at an early stage. Or any stage for that matter. It is inexcusable.
Cracks have been discovered in a "handful" of the 4,000 such brackets on each aircraft, he added. "The safe operation of this aircraft is not at stake." Before it was widespread and a safety hazard. Couple lines later it is not widespread and not a safety issue. Make up your mind…..For me if the plane is cracking it is a safety issue.

It was during lengthy repairs to another Qantas plane that the A380 problems first surfaced, following a 2010 engine explosion that tore open one wing.

Thank God the engine exploded otherwise they might not have noticed the wings are disintegrating. When you are lucky you are lucky.

The Airbus and Boeing problems are nonetheless "worrying because it means neither manufacturer has been on top of everything," he said. "Both planes were two-to-three years late, and yet we're seeing these unusually early problems." Exactly what Andrew predicted would happen too. They never mention me in these stories.

Boeing Tormented by the Dreamliner‏

http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/02/08/boeing-tormented-by-additional-787-dreamliner-delays/

The title of this story should read “Boeing tormented by really stupid outsoucing” Then there should be a secondary title which reads “Andrew told us so”.

It has discovered a manufacturing error, which according to industry experts, has caused delamination in the plastic-composite aft fuselage section of some 787 Dreamliners.

This is not the first time they have had delamination issues. Early on the wings delaminated and needed to be reinforced. Now the tale is delaminating. The 787 has only been in service for less then a year.

This new composite material is complete sh*t. It is just a matter of time before a 787 disintigrates in mid air and hundreds die.

Boeing did say that there are no short term safety concerns. Of course they said that. Just buckle up and enjoy your flight.

The delamination is happening in a section of the aft fuselage near where the horizontal tail is joined.

structural stiffening rods, which had been hardened with fuselage skin in massive ovens, have partially separated from the skins. Sounds safe to me.

One of the principal reasons for delay is the problem of faulty shimming by mechanics working for Alenia (Not Americans), building the 787′s horizontal tail in Italy. Shimming is a process of filling gaps between small objects using various materials. The workers had applied too much torque while tightening fasteners which compressed the shims and degraded the compost material. Nobody noticed this in the last 5 years?

Boeing till present has completed the assembly of 50 Dreamliners and has delivered five They delivered 5. The other 45 are all kinds of completely f*cked up. Thanks to outsourcing.