Sunday, October 4, 2015

Dilemma in Syria


Russian warplanes began airstrikes in Syria, adding an unpredictable new element to a four-year-old war that has already drawn in the United States and allies, fueled a refu­gee crisis and expanded the reach of the Islamic State.

U.S. officials said the strikes appeared to target opponents of Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad, a key Russian ally. Those hit include U.S.-backed units that were trained and armed by the CIA, officials said.

So here is Saudis, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, USA, Europe, Russia, and Egypt wants ISIS destroyed.

While Saudis, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, USA, Europe, and Egypt wants Assad out.

The Russian got the right idea. Any terrorist is simply a terrorist. They merge , branch, and elegate. So let the Russian plan work. They have Air force and ground force of the Assad.

That is the key.   Just a thought.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Chicken Place.




Chick-fil-A’s debut in the Big Apple drew people willing to wait as long as 30 minutes in line, quizzical looks from others who didn’t get the hoopla over a fried chicken joint.
“It’s a monumental day,” an excited Jaimie Crawford, a New York transplant from South Carolina, said as she waited patiently in a line that snaked out the door and down the block. “It’s a little taste of home far away.”

The opening had the feel of a festival, with fans taking selfies with a costumed mascot cow or talking frantically to friends on the phone about the opening. Tourists posed in front of the store at the corner of 6th Avenue and 37th Street.

Chick-fil-A spokeswoman issued a statement, saying, “We are aware of the demonstrations. Grand opening day activities will continue as planned. We are excited about serving customers great food with remarkable service.”

Collectively Free accused the Atlanta-based chain of ignoring the rights of chickens and of hypocrisy over comments CEO Dan Cathy made three years ago opposing gay marriage.
“They pick and choose how Christian to be,” 

It is a chicken place.       Just a thought.

Stock Market Direction?




United States domestic oil production has nearly doubled over the last six years, pushing out oil imports. Saudi, Nigerian and Algerian oil is suddenly competing for Asian markets, and the producers are forced to drop prices. 

Earnings are down for oil companies that have made record profits in recent years, leading them to decommission rigs and sharply cut investments in exploration and production. 

On the demand side, the economies of Europe and developing countries are weakening and vehicles are becoming more energy-efficient. So demand for fuel is lagging a bit. China's recent devaluation of its currency suggests the economy of the world's biggest oil importer may be worse off than expected.

Oil producer Countries such as Saudi, Kuwait, Nigeria, Iran, Libya, Venezuela, Canada are loosing 60% of oil income. Thus reducing their expenditure. China is slowing down.

US dollars appreciated world wide by 38% which cause all US multi national companies to have difficulties in their earnings and exports.

Europe is in much difficulties as GDP is below 1% and the Quantitative easing is just beginning.

You conclude.          Just a thought.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Volkswagen Scam

VW TDI badge

The German transport ministry announced that Volkswagen had rigged emission tests on 2.8 million diesel vehicles in Germany alone. Switzerland temporarily banned the sale of VW diesels in the country.

It sounds like the sinister plot of some straight-to-DVD movie. Since 2009, Volkswagen had been installing elaborate software in "clean diesel" vehicles sold in the US, so that the cars' pollution controls only worked when being tested for emissions. The rest of the time, the vehicles could freely spew hazardous, smog-forming compounds.

Suffice to say, regulators were livid once they caught on. Not only did the EPA order the German firm to fix the affected vehicles but the agency could end up levying fines in $ Billions.
The Department of Justice is also contemplating criminal charges.

The scandal has only widened from there. Volkswagen admitted that some 11 million clean diesel cars sold worldwide contain software to fool regulators, with the vast majority of cars likely to be in Europe.

Volkswagen, in other words, is in deep shit.  The company has halted US sales of its 2015 and 2016 clean diesel vehicles and now has to fix millions of existing cars. It has already set aside $7.3 billion to deal with the problem. Meanwhile, VW's stock price has been plummeting, with the company losing one-third of its market cap in the last week.

If VW can fix it, why didn't just manufacture it appropriately from the start?

Just a thought.

Friday, September 25, 2015

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Prison...



For Obama, it was part of his campaign to reform the criminal justice system, particularly mandatory sentencing for non-violent offenders. There are an estimated 1,574,700 inmates in state and federal prisons, according to 2013 figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

"As a society, we seem to be OK with certain communities just being locked in this cycle,'' Obama says in the special.
"Our kids are being raised around drug crime, they naturally gravitate toward drug crime, they then get involved in the criminal justice system, and it just churns, and everybody thinks that's normal."

Let us fix it.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Reap.....



To wreak havoc on Washington, America needs a leader with real solutions,”  “Political rhetoric is not enough we need a plan of action. Actions speak louder than words. I have a plan to move this country forward. Walker didn't say what he is going to do to the people for the coming eight years.

Walker has made a political career out of targeting labor unions. As governor, he famously authorized legislation that stripped most collective bargaining rights from public-sector workers, sparking protests from labor unions around the country. He dealt another blow to unions this year, when he signed a "right-to-work" law that makes it illegal for unions to require workers to join a union and pay dues even if they benefit from the union contract.

As a presidential candidate, Walker frequently alluded to his success fighting union power, which he cited as proof of his leadership abilities.

His anti Union actions opened the field widely for problems with equal pay act, employees rights, and increased management cost, law suits, discriminations, among other many issues. With that the Republican voters gave him equal to Zero vote, Wreaking havoc on his own campaign.

Just a thought.