“Free” Trade

B’Man’s POS Watch: TN Sen Bob Corker

‘Bail-out’ Bob Corker can’t seem to grasp math except for his paying controllers and banker buddies. He was on Fox News Sunday lamenting about how atrocious Americans are that they are only paying a third of the costs of Medicare. Poor Bob and his American public funded health care. What an outrage he must feel.

His attack against the American public and especially health care is long standing:

On September 30, 2009 Corker opposed the health-care reform amendment that would legally allow Americans to buy cheaper Canadian drugs. Corker opposed President Barack Obama’s health reform legislation; he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

In late February 2010, Corker took a decidedly less bipartisan turn when he became the sole senator to back retiring Senator Jim Bunning

of Kentucky in filibustering a 30-day extension of expiring unemployment and COBRA benefits.

You see, Mr and Mrs Tennessean, at a time where you deserve all the help (and more) that his banker and war-mongering buddies receive, he wants to kick you in the nuts.

Bob, let me point this out, you ravenous war-hungry chicken hawk: Americans are paying 100% of the illegal and immoral wars you support with every vote, including your continued defense of the disastrous Iraq War:

Corker has become a defender of the Iraqi war since taking his seat in the 110th Congress. Despite frustration by the public, any further reduction in U.S. forces in Iraq must be based on improved conditions in the country, Corker said. He urged ultimate success will be determined by the Iraqi government, over which the U.S. has limited control, and the withdrawal of some of the troops that were added in 2007 has created some pressure on the Iraqi government, but warned

that further cuts now could destabilize the country.

Corker denied Democrat’s Afghan war strategy which boosts civilian efforts to rebuild the impoverished country and places nuclear-armed Pakistan at the center of the fight: “I have no idea what it is, other than sending additional troops. I hope we dig a lot deeper,” said Corker. He expected that the United States is having to build the economic and

governmental structure of Afghanistan after decades of war.

You see how that works, right? He wants to take away your healthcare and fights to stop the extra help needed for the unemployed, but has no problem spending $BILLIONS on shit holes of his making. People, will you ever wake up to this smarmy redneck who is spitting in your face and laughing at you on behest of his paymasters? He believes you are involved in “generational theft” because you have paid into and must use Medicare. As a matter of fact, he wants all social services cut to the bone or completely done away with. He has fought against you and good paying jobs many times, but expects even more money out of you to pay for his idiotic boondoggles of Empire and subservience to the Jewish banking cartel.

But, Bob, it is far deeper than just those two issues, you tainted SOB. They are paying 100% of the banker bailouts you vote for. They are paying 100% of your salary, including your benefits and healthcare.

You must know that the elections are rigged or most of your constituents are too ignorant for you to be able to say such things right now when your rich ass has little to worry about, but the rest of us are suffering and need all the help we can get. It doesn’t matter that most of your political career is stained with illegal property sales, missing records (just like your ‘nemesis’, Barack Obama), conflicts of interest galore.

He votes yes for warrant-less searches, additional funding for wars, increasing military spending, free trade agreements, continued IMF funding, cash for clunkers and the Patriot Act extensions. He voted no to auditing the Fed.

In other words, he votes AGAINST you, Mr and Mrs Tennesseans, and FOR his money providers. A true POS.

Some day, Bob, I hope people wake up and see you for the shill you are. You are despicable and those who vote for you are morons.

Richard Noggin Saturday: Tennessee Senator “Bailout Bob” Corker

I know a lot of Tennesseans who are barely making it. Many people, even with some money are very close to losing their homes and are becoming unable to feed their families. People are staying at home, instead of their normal forays out into the community. Almost everyone I know has a loved one that is in dire straights and help them whenever they can… financially, with food, taking care of their children, etc.

Food pantries are growing. Many food aid programs for kids, specifically, are seeing rising numbers.

But these same people cannot see the disconnect of the moron, Bailout Bob Corker (the puppet of the Federal Reserve) that they recently elected (AGAIN) in large numbers. How can people be so stupid to support and elect such a lying fool, when it is obvious what the real issues are. Just look where he gets his money and understand that he is protecting the very ones that are causing the problems in this country.

You can see the interview here, but it will make you want to puke, if you understand anything about what this sycophantic numbnuts is saying.

Instead of suggesting that the mega-bailouts to bankers and giant corporations are an issue (no, he gushes praise on the thieving bastards), instead of explaining that the Empire can no longer be supported (meaning that the US military, the world’s BIGGEST “entitlement” program, ever, MUST BE CUT… SUBSTANTIALLY), instead of telling us that the bogus “war on drugs” or the continued support for apartheid Israel is draining us, he says that Medicare, Social Security and Foodstamps must be cut… you know, the “entitlements”. It doesn’t matter that he hasn’t helped bring more jobs to the market and that most of the people I know receiving foodstamps WORK, TOO. Its just that their jobs don’t pay a living wage.

I’m telling you people that what I have been warning you about is coming.

You are about to see massive changes to the help that poor people need. This means that you are about to witness people suffer and die, while we continue the Empire for Israel and maintain the the $BILLIONS poured out to Israel and the tax cuts to the richest of the rich (like Corkwhore).

When you see the invalids, the mentally disabled, the poor old Grandmothers and the most innocent children starve and die, will you say something or do anything? What will it take for you to understand that whores like Corker are in this for other reasons than to help or to represent you, as Tennesseans?

It is already happening in Ohio, as HeartofShadows points out.

And before any fool starts breaking out the charts that show entitlement spending being more than military “defense” spending, remember that we aren’t defending anything except the profits of military providers. At the same time we are sending jobs away to foreign lands, which force workers to utilize whatever assistance they can get. Don’t just mumble the bullshit, “Get a job” when there are so very few jobs to get.

Maybe you are one of those heartless bastards that thinks we need a culling of the “entitlement” users. If so, I hope you are one of the first to go.

US Financial Crisis and Crash Is Imminent

I mentioned yesterday that our wages have taken a dive and basically equal 1967 levels. I said that I have been warning about this “System” for years and what I saw as the only strategic advantage we have is to prepare by growing as much as possible, our own food, putting away some silver (and a bit of gold) for bartering purposes. I have suggested that you have a weapon for hunting/protection. I have done all the same things that I recommended, by the way.

Do I feel prepared? Not really. But I have food stocks. I have LP gas stored. I have everything I need, except long term, alternative power source (although I do have wood and a wood heater, should a total breakdown occur).

I would suggest that we are about to embark in some extreme times, and very soon.

Quantitative Easing is happening. And the reason for it has nothing, whatsoever, to do with job creation. It is simply more extraction of American’s wealth to pay off the gamblers in the Big Banks.

Way back in Jan, Snordelhans created a video from horse237′s (the Video Rebel) essay, “Translating Zero Hedge: Your Wages Will Be Cut In Half“, in which horse suggests that 2012/2013 is the crash year. He suggests that your wages will be cut in half… maybe not literally, but because of inflation/hyperinflation, your purchasing power will be halved. He discusses Bernanke’s claims and the speech that I highlighted here, that basically spells out what they are doing.

1. Lower interest rates to near zero (check)
2. Buy Securities to expand Federal balance sheet (check)
3. Increase money supply (check)
4. Buy foreign and domestic government debt (check)
5. Devalue the Dollar (Next)

Well, Helicopter Ben, just announced #5, the last step in the preplanned dismantling of the US Dollar.

Just as I have bitched about here for so long, it has been the De-industrialization, especially via NAFTA (and all the other “Shaftyas”) as the main conduit. They intentionally sent our jobs away. This went a long way towards the goal of removing money from the middle class to feed the baby-eaters and other worshipers of Giant Corporations.

So, I can see prices skyrocketing at the grocery store, my utilities and power. Gas is on a constant rise. Virtually everything is going up.

Is horse’s vision and reasoning sound? Do we actually have but weeks before the proverbial shit hits the fan?

This Is Your Final Warning: The Worst Financial Disaster In 500 Years Is Nigh

My Debt Cancellation hero is Professor Steve Keen of Australia.

He said in a recent  video
1) We have the greatest level of debt to GDP to cancel in 500 years which means we are approaching the greatest Depression in 500 years. That means the greatest levels of Austerity unemployment, wage cuts, defaults, bankruptcies and starvation in 500 years in Europe,  North America and the rest of the world. Of course if we followed Dr Keen’s advice on Debt Cancellation we know for a certainty: ‘This need not be.’

2) The nations which have been deindustrialized (emphasis on America) will face the hardest landing when debts are cancelled and we are forced to face reality. He said he feared for the fate of those people in deindustrialized nations  when the paper Bubble is pierced.

American deindustrialization began in 1994 with the passage of the North American Free Trade Act. The Federal Reserve has just announced it will begin or really continue buying up fraudulent Mortgage Backed Securities. This will free up cash for the banks to drive up food prices by buying even more commodities in the futures markets. Foreigners will realize our current inflation will accelerate and rise rapidly after the elections. The real inflation rate is 10% but will go higher as the dumping of the dollar accelerates. Investors are buying gold and silver. The dollar has declined in value which makes imports including oil more expensive. China simultaneously announced that they will trade for oil in yuan. Henry Kissinger invented the Petrodollar after th1973 Arab-Israeli war. America needed wars and rumors of ward in the Mideast to spike oil prices higher. Higher oil prices were good for the dollar because OPEC took all those excess dollars they earned to buy US Treasury bonds. The Japanese and the Chinese who have no oil ran huge trade surpluses with America which they used to buy oil. And all those Petrodollars were forwarded to Washington  to fund America’s wars for Israel.

The Petrodollar is near death. I recently wrote that the Chinese are buying gold as if they knew the dollar would die very soon. Consider this fact.  The FED is starting to accelerate inflation from a 10% base which will severely punish anyone holding dollars. And with the Federal Reserve announcing they will keep interest rates low through 2015 we know the dollar will decline rapidly. Who would buy a Treasury bond paying 3% interest when he reads that the inflation rate has just reached 15%?  Who would hold onto a Treasury bond he bought last year after he reads that the American inflation rate has soared to 20%? And will anyone hold dollars after the inflation rate reaches 25%?  I have defined a 25% inflation as the beginning point for Hyperinflation for an international reserve currency like the dollar.

There is a tipping point at which everyone including America’s best friends will clearly see the end is nigh and dump the dollar. I have been predicting a crash after the elections for some time. I have also been predicting a Bretton Woods type conference will be called at which the dollar is devalued by at least 40%. That is the end of the America we knew. Combined with am existing 10% inflation rate that means your wages and pensions will be cut in half. Inflation was recently quieted in America for a few months with the decline in the value of the euro but now once again the euro is rising and the dollar is declining. Food and gasoline prices are once again rising steadily.

There will be an economic shock within 4 weeks. I believe its purpose will be to stampede the voters into voting for Romney as Obama has outlived his usefulness. Both men are puppets of the New World Order. This period before the elections might well be your last chance to stock up on food before the dollar crashes.

I must repeat that all of this suffering is not necessary. It began with the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913.  We can stop it by repealing the Federal Reserve Act and ending both fractional reserve banking and interest bearing currencies.

I wrote an article some time ago about your wages being cut in half. The rise in inflation was slowed a bit by the rise in the dollar due to the euro’s decline which has now been reversed. The dollar’s demise will be swift with the announcement of Quantitative Easing to Infinity. Fasten your seat belts. Anyone who gets paid in dollars is in for a bumpy ride.

…

Notes: This first article is really important in terms of solving our economic problems through Debt Cancellation.

The New Economics, Radical Solutions Required And Offered

http://vidrebel.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/the-new-economics-radical-solutions-required-and-offered/

The Chinese Are Buying Gold As If They Knew The Dollar Would Die Very Soon

http://vidrebel.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/the-chinese-are-buying-gold-as-if-they-knew-the-dollar-would-die-very-soon/

This next  article explains why fractional reserve banking must be abolished.

IMF Economists: ‘We Were Wrong.’ Will Someone Please Tell The Press And The Politicians.

http://vidrebel.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/imf-economists-we-were-wrong-will-someone-please-tell-the-press-and-the-politicians/

The Bankers Want America To Lose World War III

http://vidrebel.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/the-bankers-want-america-to-lose-world-war-iii/

LOL!! I Stole 3.5 Trillion Dollars From You. I Dare You To Do Something.

http://vidrebel.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/lol-i-stole-3-5-trillion-dollars-from-you-i-dare-you-to-do-something/

7 Out Of 10 “American” Vehicles Are Made Anywhere BUT America

General Motors is becoming China Motors. Forget the spin. The evidence is clear and convincing. Did U.S. taxpayers save GM for China? Listen to the candid comments of GM’s CEO.

There are a few issues in the video that I disagree with, but on the whole, this should be all you need to know about how $8BILLION of your tax dollars has been robbed, since you cannot seem to grasp the other sources of thievery. If you realize that your best jobs are being shipped to China, or that the factories are being sold to Chinese government supported corporations who care nothing for “Free Trade”, maybe you’ll get angry (but I won’t be holding my breath).

American Dreamers… Here Is A Moment Of Clarity

You know all the jobs I told you were gone and never coming back, leaving us vying for poverty level paying jobs (aka, slave labor) after all our hard work and dedication?

Like I said, they ain’t coming back:

Hello Fellow Debt Slaves

The plan was conceived and implemented a long time ago. I have tried with every step to counterpunch by reinvention of myself and vocation, but apparently to no avail. I recently interviewed for a position at a local company (this was my first interview in about 4 months). I spent 2.5 hours interviewing with every swinging Richard Noggin there, including the owner of the company. It all felt right, until each interviewer asked me about how much money I use to make. This was quite telling, since every aspect of what they needed, I fit to a T.

Its been three weeks and I have heard nothing. I left a voice mail message for the direct manager of my position and I was never called back.

Dr Doug did recently get a job, where he is far more qualified and educated than anyone at his job. And he is making 1/2 of what he did a couple of years ago.

That’s a 50% cut.

On top of that, you can expect another 50% cut when the rest of the world (especially the BRIC nations) pull the plug on the petro dollar’s world currency status. It will happen via massive inflation (just as Bernanke said he would, as I covered here).

Watch this.

Another fact is that decent job growth is over. Even tho the pretty picture painted for us (AKA “lies”) by our government tells us that there is job growth, the only “growth” is shitty jobs.

Paul Craig Roberts lays it out by using Shadow Stats numbers and a description of the bogus birth/death model. What few jobs that are “created are suck jobs:

Let’s look now at the kind of jobs that were created. Of the new jobs reported by BLS,
92% are in services. Of this 92%, only 7% could possibly relate to exportable services–architectural, engineering, and computer systems services.

Of the reported new service jobs, 29% are in health care and social services. The categories that account for the health services jobs are ambulatory health care services and hospitals. Waitresses and bartenders account for 20% of the reported new jobs.

Employment services account for 29% of the new reported jobs. Transportation and warehousing accounted for 5% of the reported new jobs, despite a loss of 60,000 jobs in general merchandise and department stores.

In other words, the vast majority of the new jobs are low paying jobs, except for a few truck drivers.

So lets all drive trucks for a living.

More and more low wage folks are allowed to enter this country and they are taking the once more lucrative positions (look at how many doctors are Pakistani, or whatever). Its basically the same across the board, like in engineering. In many cases, as wakjob points out in the comments of the above PCR post, the imported wage degraders and other folks who “took our jobs” has ruined many a company:

Companies ruined or almost ruined by imported Indian labor

Adaptec – Indian CEO Subramanian Sundaresh fired.
AIG (signed outsourcing deal in 2007 in Europe with Accenture Indian frauds, collapsed in 2009)
AirBus (Qantas plane plunged 650 feet injuring passengers when its computer system written by India disengaged the auto-pilot).
Apple – R&D CLOSED in India in 2006.
Australia’s National Australia Bank (Outsourced jobs to India in 2007, nationwide ATM and account failure in late 2010).
Bell Labs (Arun Netravalli took over, closed, turned into a shopping mall)
Boeing Dreamliner ES software (written by HCL, banned by FAA)
Bristol-Myers-Squibb (Trade Secrets and documents stolen in U.S. by Indian national guest worker)
Caymas – Startup run by Indian CEO, French director of dev, Chinese tech lead. Closed after 5 years of sucking VC out of America.
Caterpillar misses earnings a mere 4 months after outsourcing to India, Inc.
Circuit City – Outsourced all IT to Indian-run IBM and went bankrupt shortly thereafter.
ComAir crew system run by 100% Indian IT workers caused the 12/25/05 U.S. airport shutdown when they used a short int instead of a long int
Computer Associates – Former CEO Sanjay Kumar, an Indian national, sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for accounting fraud.
Deloitte – 2010 – this Indian-packed consulting company is being sued under RICO fraud charges by Marin Country, California for a failed solution.
Dell – call center (closed in India)
Delta call centers (closed in India)
Duke University – Massive scientific fraud by Indian national Dr. Anil Potti discovered in 2012.
Fannie Mae – Hired large numbers of Indians, had to be bailed out. Indian logic bomb creator found guilty and sent to prison.
Goldman Sachs – Kunil Shah, VP & Managing Director – GS had to be bailed out by US taxpayers for $550 BILLION.
GM – Was booming in 2006, signed $300 million outsourcing deal with Wipro that same year, went bankrupt 3 years later
HP – Got out of the PC hardware business in 2011 and can’t compete with Apple’s tablets. HP was taken over by Indians and Chinese in 2001. So much for ‘Asian’ talent!
HSBC ATMs (software taken over by Indians, failed in 2006)
IBM bill collecting system for Austin, TX failed in 2012 written by Indians at IBM
Intel Whitefield processor project (cancelled, Indian staff canned)
JetStar Airways computer failure brings down Christchurch airport on 9/17/11. JetStar is owned by Quantas – which is know to have outsourced to India, Inc.
Kodak: Outsourced to India in 2006, filed for bankruptcy in Jan, 2012.
Lehman (Jasjit Bhattal ruined the company. Spectramind software bought by Wipro, ruined, trashed by Indian programmers)
Medicare – Defrauded by Indian national doctor Arun Sharma & wife in the U.S.
Microsoft – Employs over 35,000 H-1Bs. Stock used to be $100. Today it’s lucky to be over $25. Not to mention that Vista thing.
MIT Media Lab Asia (canceled)
MyNines – A startup founded and run by Indian national Apar Kothari went belly up after throwing millions of America’s VC $ down the drain.
Nomura Securities – (In 2011 “struggling to compete on the world stage”). No wonder because Jasjit Bhattal formerly of failed Lehman ran it. See Lehman above.
PeopleSoft (Taken over by Indians in 2000, collapsed).
PepsiCo – Slides from #1 to #3 during Indian CEO Indra Nooyi’ watch.
Polycom – Former senior executive Sunil Bhalla charged with insider trading.
Qantas – See AirBus above
Quark (Alukah Kamar CEO, fired, lost 60% of its customers to Adobe because Indian-written QuarkExpress 6 was a failure)
Rolls Royce (Sent aircraft engine work to India in 2006, engines delayed for Boeing 787, and failed on at least 2 Quantas planes in 2010, cost Rolls $500m).
SAP – Same as Deloitte above in 2010.
Singapore airlines (IT functions taken over in 2009 by TCS, website trashed in August, 2011)
Skype (Madhu Yarlagadda fired)
State of Indiana $867 million FAILED IBM project, IBM being sued
State of Texas failed IBM project.
Sun Micro (Taken over by Indian and Chinese workers in 2001, collapsed, had to be sold off to Oracle).
UK’s NHS outsourced numerous jobs including health records to India in mid-2000 resulting in $26 billion over budget.
Union Bank of California – Cancelled Finacle project run by India’s InfoSys in 2011.
United – call center (closed in India)
Victorian Order of Nurses, Canada (Payroll system screwed up by SAP/IBM in mid-2011)
Virgin Atlantic (software written in India caused cloud IT failure)
World Bank (Indian fraudsters BANNED for 3 years because they stole data).

I could post the whole list here but I don’t want to crash any servers.

The plan, in globalization, is to bring us down to the pay levels of third world countries and then, after most of us American Rednecks are starved to death, we will accept ANYTHING… ANY JOB at ANY Wage. They did it via off-shoring and now the import of this cheap-ass, non-productive labor.

The question is, do we just sit here and take it or do we DO SOMETHING before its too far gone (as if it isn’t already)? Just look at what is being done to Greece as a primer for what is next here.

And to you ignorant rednecks that still haven’t figured this out, like the friend of my wife on Facebook who bitches about her tax money going to the worthless dregs who WON’T work, that new job you got, working for the state, is a drain on MY tax dollar, you scumbag hypocrite fool. Or maybe that stupid ex sister-in-law who bitches about the same thing, but she has never owned up to a responsibility (like raising her child) and the only job she ever had was minimum wage, how many times and how much money should I spend re-educating myself just to make the same amount of money your convenience store ass makes?

In my personal life, I have been explaining this phenomena to my family and they are beginning to understand that this is planned and that we must find some other source to provide for our needs, including gardening and livestock. I recommend that you do the same, as soon as possible, for like the video (and the source, Video rebel’s Blog) says, we don’t have but until after the 2012 elections that the final plug is pulled.

Asia Wins Again and Again While The USA Loses

I have been in sales for a long time. High end automation. Over the years I have watched the decline of manufacturing (and discuss it here often enough) and always listened as those folks responsible for NAFTA, CAFTA and every other “SHAFTA” they could think of to enrich corporations (to the detriment and loss to the American worker) as they told us that we will focus on high-tech manufacturing and allow general industry and heavy manufacturing to go off shore.

It was for the betterment of the country, don’t ya know?

I have sold multi-hundred thousand dollar machine tools and virtually every type and level of automation (including robotics, etc). I even had some very good years in 2003 and 2004. But, I knew it was slowly dissolving… disappearing into other lands. With our government’s help (doing the bidding of the Corporations that own them lock, stock and barrel), they dismantled one key industry that we had superiority in and allowed China and other Asian nations to develop their engineering and products until we cannot compete. In most, if not all cases, their high-tech manufacturing is protected by their government, where here, not so much (not at all, in actuality).

In Manufacturing and Technology News, Richard McCormack shows us how we lost the advantage and explains who has it in his article U.S. Precision Machine Tool Industry Is No Longer A Global Competitive Force:

U.S. producers of some of the most technologically advanced machine tools are in trouble, according to an assessment by the Department of Commerce. Sales of high-precision five-axis machine tools are declining. U.S. share of global exports is in a freefall. Foreign companies in China and Taiwan have caught up with U.S. technical capabilities, rendering stringent U.S. export controls moot. U.S. companies are being purchased by foreign rivals. A lack of training programs has created a shortage of skilled workers able to use the complex machinery. Commercial and U.S. government customers prefer foreign machine tools. Export controls are hampering foreign sales. The entire U.S. machine tool industry spends only $1 million a year on research on five-axis machine tools.

These are some of the findings from a “Critical Technology Assessment” conducted by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.

U.S. producers of five-axis machine tools had sales of $253 million in 2008, down 11 percent from 2005 sales of $284 million. That was before the U.S. machine tool industry suffered a meltdown in 2009, when domestic consumption tumbled by 60.4 percent, according to the Association of Manufacturing Technology.

Sales of five-axis machines to domestic customers from U.S. producers declined by 19 percent from 2005 to 2008, from $242 million in 2005 to only $195 million in 2008. There are six American companies dedicated to producing five-axis machine tools, and at least 20 in China. Five-axis tools are used for the production of precision components in the aerospace industry, in making gas and diesel engines, automobile parts, and throughout the medical, textile, oil, glass, heavy industrial equipment and tool industries. “Many other industries are discovering the advantages of these machines,” says the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).

This is not new, but devastating, nonetheless. It happened with robots (only a handful of US manufacturers to compete with very good foreign brands). It happened with PC Board chip mounting equipment. It happened with 3 Axis routers (similar to the 5 Axis stuff Robert discusses). It is happening, even tho we were told that it was this stuff we would keep. We would let the small, mass-produced stuff go offshore and focus on high-tech, leading edge products and manufacturing.

Again, we find that either they made ANOTHER monumental mistake (does it seem like our government is the most inept entity on the face of the earth, or what?)…. ORRRRRR…. they do this shit intentionally. I have to ask folks, can our leadership make THIS MANY mistakes? Do we continually elect the most ignorant and foolish leaders or are they intentionally doing this stuff? For the life of me, I find it hard to believe they are this stupid.

Whatever. Its leaving the US, no matter what the reason. And so is another highly touted industry: the solar panel building companies.

Evergreen Solar Heads To China ‘As Quickly As We Can’

If you can’t beat China and can’t get the U.S. government to understand what you’re up against, then you may as well join them.

That is what Evergreen Solar has decided to do, shifting production of solar fabrication and assembly from its factory in Devens, Mass., to Wuhan, China.

Evergreen Solar CEO Rick Feldt went to Washington, D.C., and met with Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. He told them Chinese government policies made U.S. production uncompetitive. But the Obama appointees do “not quite [have] the understanding that we think is necessary about what’s actually happening in this industry,” Feldt told financial analysts on Feb. 9. “The United States keeps talking about keeping jobs. You go to the President’s State of the Union Address and he said, ‘I want to keep jobs in the United States.’ It’s easy if you say it, but you’ve got to do something to do that.”

Without an adequate response from the U.S. government to counter competitive forces working against domestic production, “we are going to China as quickly as we can,” Feldt told the analysts. “The issue for us is just how long does it take to get there. We’ve got the China operations underway as we speak.” The company expects to spend $50 million this year on its Wuhan, China, facility.

Now read the rest of the article and think about that for a minute. Think about this statement:

In response to the Chinese competitive challenge, Evergreen Solar has two options. It can try to counter China’s advantage by reducing its costs in Massachusetts as low as possible, or “get to China as fast as we can,” said El-Hillow. “We’ve tossed internally about becoming more aggressive in Washington, trying to get them to understand the situation that we face as a solar manufacturer and leveraging our wafer technology. There’s no silver bullet here. It’s an incredibly tough situation.” Added CEO Feldt: “The issue for us is just how long does it take to get [to China].”

And you would think that since the government offered Big Money to help them get started, they would have some sort of patriotic duty to stay… some small bit of conscious that would do whatever they could to stay here, or, our government do more to help level the playing field. But, no, this company took that money, developed the processes and manufacturing systems with that money, and now will do whatever it can to get out of the USA.

And you silly rednecks think that the problem is “liberals”…

In 2007, the company received $23 million in grants from the State of Massachusetts to build its facility on state-owned property in Devens. It also received $17.5 million in low-interest loans along with a 30-year lease on the property.

For now, the company will keep cell manufacturing in Devens. “We think we’re extremely competitive making wafers any place in the world,” said Feldt. “We have this fixed investment in cell manufacturing so it comes down a little bit to cash versus GAAP accounting depreciation [and] amortization.” Even if the company continues to improve its Devens, Mass., plant “it’s not all clear to us that we’d be better off by buying a whole new set of equipment in a salvaging operation in China and scrapping the equipment we have here. These cell lines are not easy just to pick up and move — of course it’s possible — so we’ll have to play that one by ear. We think that we will continue to reduce wafer and cell costs efficiently that would make sense given our fixed investment here. Of course if it doesn’t we would take other action.”

You may not give a damn about manufacturing. But you should give a damn about how money is taken, used up then the corporations shit on you by going elsewhere. THAT should bother you. But that is the entire problem across the board. These very same big corporations don’t give a f#ck about you. They don’t care if you or some little chinese f#cker make the shit that we gobble up.

THEY DON’T GIVE A F#CK ABOUT YOU (see the Carlin video to understand), yet they are considered “persons” by the courts in this land. These very same corporations that will take the money and run are considered the same as you. Can you believe that shit? And how do they get by with it? They own the “parties”, especially the leadership within those parties.

Let me explain something to you by using some old guy’s own words. I know most of you think that this guy isn’t worth hearing about, but it might help you in your search for “why” (go to the link to read the entire thing, well worth the education). I want to focus on a couple of points that he addressed regarding political parties and how they culminate in what we are now experiencing first hand (we should have paid attention to this old coot):

From: Washington’s Farewell Address

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty.

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and the duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true— and in governments of a monarchical cast patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest instead of warming it should consume.

Did the man wake up, dig out from his grave and write this yesterday? Either that or he predicted what would happen. Whatever. The man was right and if we were to seriously believe in the Constitution, we would dissolve those two complicit evil and murderous parties that have melded into one monster that is (from every indication) purposefully tearing America apart and giving the crumbs to the rest of the world.

“Best Cost Countries” And How To Blame The Government For The Failure Of Corporate America

As I have done before, I receive regular articles from Manufacturing & Technology News and wanted to post the article with my observations. To me, this simply points out that Corporatism rules this country and that those who are in control of corporations don’t give a single rat’s ass about the American workers or their well being (at least from their job perspective).

Corporations are anti-worker. Corporations are entities set up with one goal in mind: making the most profit for their share holders as possible. Period. They do this off of the backs of labor and always have.

So, when I read such stuff as Mr Farr writes (and Richard notes) like blaming government for the current fiasco, I have lived the last 30+ years watching corporations take off towards those “best cost countries” (aka cheapest labor and overhead possible). His blame is hollow when he and his ilk are just as responsible for this mess as any government official ever alive. And both parties are complicit.

I have been calling on Emerson Electric companies for 20+ years. I have actually sold Emerson Electric owned product and know first hand how cheap they are and how they run in to the ground any entity they buy up. So, Mr Farr, excuse me as I call your Bullshit for what it is… Bullshit.

Emerson Electric Votes With Its Feet, Saying The Goverment Is Destoying American Manufacturing

By Richard McCormack
richard@manufacturingnews.com

One of the country’s most important industrial companies says the United States is not a good place to manufacture and it will continue moving its assets offshore.

The federal government is “doing everything in [its] manpower [and] capability to destroy U.S. manufacturing,” says David Farr, chairman and CEO of Emerson Electric Co., in a presentation at the Baird 2009 Industrial Conference in Chicago Ill., on Nov. 11. In comments reported by Bloomberg, Farr added that companies will continue adding jobs in China and India because they are “places where people want the products and where the governments welcome you to actually do something. I am not going to hire anybody in the United States. I’m moving. They are doing everything possible to destroy jobs.”

In his Powerpoint presentation available on the Emerson Electric Web site, Farr notes that the federal government is damaging prospects for U.S. economic growth with a $1.41 trillion federal deficit (10 percent of GDP); $12 trillion in government debt that will grow to $20 trillion in 10 years; a policy of printing money; a “non-targeted $800-billion stimulus”; bailouts for Wall Street and the automobile companies; the prospect for cap and trade legislation; a “government takeover” of health care to the tune of more than $1 trillion; increasing taxes and regulations; and a “lack of U.S. $ support” for manufacturing. The global stimulus “soon will fade,” says Farr.

What does it mean for a company like Emerson? “We continue to increase our international and emerging market presence,” says Farr. The company has increased its emerging market sales by 19 percentage points over the past 10 years, from 13 percent of total sales in 1999 to 32 percent in 2009. It is now generating 55 percent of its sales from overseas operations, a figure that will grow to 60 percent by 2014, with 40 percent of total sales coming from emerging markets.

“Emerson’s investment in emerging markets is continuing to pay off with sales growth,” say Farr. In 1999, the company generated $12.4 billion in annual sales from mature markets and $1.9 billion from emerging markets. By 2009, sales from mature markets grew to $14.2 billion, while sales from emerging markets more than tripled to $6.7 billion.

The company projects sales from mature markets in 2014 of between $16 billion and $17 billion, while emerging market sales will reach almost $12 billion.

Between 1999 and 2009 “73 percent of growth is from emerging markets!” Farr exclaims. “More than 60 percent of our growth is expected to come from emerging markets over the next five years so Emerson will continue to invest in these key markets.”

In 2001, the company had 21 percent of its 360 manufacturing facilities located in “best cost countries.” Today, Emerson has 250 manufacturing locations and 36 percent of them are in “best cost countries.” That percentage is going to increase to more than 40 percent.

Emerson is following the money. Infrastructure investment in the United States now accounts for 21 percent of the global total of $12 trillion, down from 27 percent in 2004. Asia Pacific’s share of global infrastructure investment has increased from 18 percent of the global total in 2004 to 27 percent in 2009. That number is expected to continue going up — to 31 percent of global investment in 2014 and 37 percent in 2019.

The current recession has been destructive and the United States will have a hard time recovering, says Farr. U.S. job losses of 7.3 million to date are only slightly less than the total of the last four recessions combined (8 million). The current downturn is having a big impact on Emerson and its employees. The company has reduced its headcount by 15 percent. It has closed 55 facilities and has incurred $540 million in restructure expenses.

The 2001 recession was also tough on the company. It reduced its headcount by 14 percent, closed 75 facilities and incurred $437 million in restructuring expenses. “But the world did not change much,” says the Emerson CEO. With the current recession, “there will be some fundamental changes going forward.”

The company reported sales for its 2009 fiscal year ending in September of $21 billion, down from $25 billion in 2008 and $22 billion in 2007. It had an operating profit of $3.2 billion in 2009 (15 percent of sales).

I will say this. At least now we will see the true spirit of the Corporate Controllers of this country. What you, as a poor redneck just trying to make ends meet needs to know, these jobs will NEVER come back. The vast majority of jobs that have folded up (either for good or to move overseas to those “best cost countries”) are NEVER going to come back to the USA. If you had a decent paying job making parts for an American automotive company… sorry, your job is gone FOREVER. If you were lucky enough to move to an Asian automotive company, get ready to see your wages decrease (or NEVER increase to accommodate inflation). And when it gets bad enough, watch as these jobs disappear, as well.

We used to think that China was the “best cost country”, but I read recently that Mexico is now.

You think that is going to help your chances keeping a good job as these corporations (who ONLY care about the profits) move out even more over the next two years?

It is a snow ball rolling down hill and I see it growing and growing.

BTW: My comment on the article:

Comment: Mr Farr’s comments have a ring of BS to them. I have called on Emerson Plants for almost 20 years and have watched as they took every advantage of “best cost countries”, with NEVER a thought of the American worker in mind. This moving away was happening long ago and the fact is that government and Corporations are BOTH instrumental in this fiasco. Corporations control our government. This is so evident that surely there is no argument. So, Mr Farr, I see this as just another way for you to fulfill your obligations to make as much profit for your shareholders as you can. But do not think for a second that you can start this crap and think that everyone will believe it. Emerson Corp is set to make money… with or without Americans. I say you take your entire shebang elsewhere, then.

Prison Planet: An Unreconcilled Dichotomy

I subscribe to Prison Planet RSS feeds. Not because I think Alex Jones is a Patriot (maybe he is, maybe he isn’t), but because there are always some very good links to other authors I respect. But I have noticed a tendency for them to make a post and follow with another that basically is at extreme odds with the previous.

When I see things like this, it causes me to wonder what their purpose and ideology actually is other than grabbing whatever headline they possibly can.

One example is that they keep touting Ron Paul’s videos and writings there and then will show Paul Craig Roberts’ stuff and in some instances, they are almost opposite thoughts. I posted this about Paul less than a month ago where I take him to task over his complete aversion to “Medicare for all”. This same info was presented at Prison Planet. But just a week prior, Alex featured a post by Paul Craig Roberts that is ideologically the opposite. Roberts wrote:

What the US needs is a single-payer not-for-profit health system that pays doctors and nurses sufficiently that they will undertake the arduous training and accept the stress and risks of dealing with illness and diseases.

I wonder, just wtf does Alex think? Is Prison Planet another Crooks and Liars that features writers who wish a thing could happen, but then ideologically they reel themselves in and fall for the bullshit that Paul spews regarding that particular subject (in C&L’s case, it is their undying ass-kissing of Obama)?

Make up your freaking mind, Alex.

Well, it happened again today.

Prison Planet featured Paul again today and his continued “Free Trade” idiocy, claiming that:

If we were really interested in democracy, peace, prosperity and safety, we would pursue more free trade with other countries. Free and abundant trade is much more conducive to peace because it is generally bad business to kill your customers.

No one addresses the point that “Free Trade” is one reason we find ourselves in the manufacturing predicament we are in. There is no such thing as “free trade”. One party or the other will screw the other. Trade systems are implemented that basically cause the American companies to shut down business here and hire the cheap, sometimes “slave” labor of other countries in the guise of “free trade”.

In non-purposeful opposition, Roberts has written this at Prison Planet:

There is a great deal to be said in behalf of free markets and free trade. However, for many economists free trade has become an ideology, and they have ceased to think.

Such economists have become insouciant shills for the offshoring interests that fund their research and institutes. Their interests are tied together with those of the offshoring corporations.

Free trade economists have made three massive errors: (1) they confuse labor arbitrage across international borders with free trade when nothing in fact is being traded, (2) they have forgot the two necessary conditions in order for the classic theory of free trade, which rests on the principle of comparative advantage, to be valid, and (3) they are ignorant of the latest work in trade theory, which shows that free trade theory was never correct even when the conditions on which it is based were prevalent.

When a US firm moves its output abroad, the firm is arbitraging labor (and taxes, regulation, etc.) across international borders in pursuit of absolute advantage, not in pursuit of comparative advantage at home. When the US firm brings its offshored goods and services to the US to be marketed, those goods and services count as imports.

But, even more sad than this obvious schizophrenic thought pattern is the fact that Paul steps right up to the line, almost ready to give us the total story, then stops. WTF?

Democracy is obviously not what we are interested in. It is more likely that our government is interested in imposing its will on other governments. This policy of endless intervention in the affairs of others is very damaging to American liberty and security.

Why did he stop there? Why not do what Roberts does? Of course Democracy is NOT what the US is interested in. What ARE they interested in, Ron? What purpose could there be, other than some supposed hidden agenda of “imposing our will” on them?

There is a damned purpose we are there. I address the Imperialization and strategic logistics involved here all the time. But, when one takes into consideration all the other happenings in Afghanistan and Pakistan (and perhaps Iran), does anyone else see the dots connected? Like OIL?

Pepe Escobar calls it Pipeline-Istan:

Nothing of significance takes place in Eurasia without an energy angle.

Ron (and Alex) could be more open about this, if they understand it. If Ron doesn’t, then that speaks loudly for itself.

Listen, rednecks, I like Ron Paul because he seems to want to hold the bankers in check by auditing the Fed. I like him more because he believes that we should not be interventionist and that bombing other innocent people is bad, even when his party (that he is still a part of, altho their ideology is nothing the same as his) cheer-leads the bombs, including leaders that sing for more.

But when it comes to his foolish bantering about even more Free Trade when we have been so adversely affected by the “Free Trade” that we have experience thus far, tells me that he has lost his mind or has another agenda. I also can never

My point is, tho, that Prison Planet has a Schizo problem when they continue to post opposite thoughts and ideologies.

I am not sure what audience Alex is trying to truly serve (kind of like estimating who Beck is trying to woo at the moment). But keep one thing in mind. Alex is an “entertainer”, much in the same way Limbaugh is. They are both radio jocks and want an audience and the means to sell you shit (just take a look at the place and see all the ads everywhere).

I am not knocking making money. I need more myself. But please, don’t pretend to be a patriot, when the message is so damned convoluted as to cause many thinking people to wonder just WTF is going on in that brain. At least he doesn’t use Vicks salve to sway his listeners.

I give my kudos to Alex (and he likely has little to do with the hour to hour actions of the blogs). He is the face of the 911 movement and he deserves the recognition. But I can’t help but think that the money and the limelight causes people to do things that simply don’t add up. If money and limelight weren’t a factor, I believe there may be a bit more continuity in thought from day to day.

I wish I did have the answer to the following:

How does Alex feel about Single payer, Not-for-profit healthcare for all (Medicare for all)?

Come out and tell us, Alex. Or are you afraid that you might lose half your audience?

For me, Roberts trumps Paul on a daily basis, especially on this subject of health care.

Remembering Austan Goolsbee

Who, you ask?

This is the guy that came out to give assurances to Canadians after  Barack Obama’s campaign promises to limit or regulate NAFTA. He fell on his sword to tell the press and everyone listening that this was not true. Mr Goolsbee explained that Mr Obama was using rhetoric and that the Canadians had nothing to worry about.

Now back to “Who, you ask?”

I wonder if you have heard a word about him since that time. Is he still a part of Mr Obama’s “team”? Does it matter?

I say, “Yes, it matters.” Because we have been lied to AGAIN by The Left’s Savior, Mr Barack Obama. This man is the height of political expediency and will lie with abandon, not giving a shit about you or your support any more than what he needs to get elected or his policies passed. He lied to you to get elected and now his actions show him to be the bald faced liar he is (and I have seen from day one).

How can it be that this ignorant old redneck can see him for the damned liar he is and you others can’t? (I must have asked myself that question a million times during the Bush Admin)

This country is chock full of Sheople and it is bringing us down. You fools that are still immersed and emotionally invested in the two party system are literally bringing this country to its knees.

From the WSJ:

Perhaps we should call this Austan Goolsbee’s revenge. Recall that last year the Obama economic adviser had told a Canadian diplomat to ignore Mr. Obama’s Nafta campaign rhetoric; the candidate was merely pandering to Big Labor. When that disclosure became news, Mr. Goolsbee was banished to the campaign’s isolation ward for imperfect spinners. Now we know Mr. Goolsbee — not the candidate — was the one telling the truth.

h/t UNDERNEWS

How many of you Sheople are going to defend your Savior from this lie? Are you now going to agree with the man when you know NAFTA has taken a huge toll on the American worker? Will you join in and attack those that see the lie, call him on it and become the same idiotic sycophants that were ball licking W?

When Will Guido Come Calling?

There comes a time in every old mafia movie where “The Enforcer” (many times named Guido) is sent out to collect payment. Its never a pretty scene, usually ending up with broken knee-caps or a cap to the back of the head.

There are some frightening things happening right now within our government (erasure of many civil liberties, armed and active troops training for policing duty, FEMA prisons built, empty and ready for inmates) and one of the more scary to me is the debt generation we are putting ourselves through and the people we are asking to bail us out (namely, primarily, The Chinese).

Is it just me that thinks about what the retribution for causing this huge amount of mafia debt will be when we can’t (or WON’T) pay it back? What becomes the next step when it appears that a small shop owner can’t make his payment to The Boss? Guido comes calling and Guido means fucking business:

To resolve the issue of America we must be able to transcend conventions and restrictions. In history, when a country defeated another country or occupied another country, it could not kill all the people in the conquered land, because back then you could not kill people effectively with sabers or long spears, or even with rifles or machine guns. Therefore, it was impossible to gain a stretch of land without keeping the people on that land. However, if we conquered America in this fashion, we would not be able to make many people migrate there.

Only by using special means to “clean up” America will we be able to lead the Chinese people there. This is the only choice left for us. This is not a matter of whether we are willing to do it or not. What kind of special means is there available for us to “clean up” America? Conventional weapons such as fighters, canons, missiles and battleships won’t do; neither will highly destructive weapons such as nuclear weapons. We are not as foolish as to want to perish together with America by using nuclear weapons, despite the fact that we have been exclaiming that we will have the Taiwan issue resolved at whatever cost. Only by using non-destructive weapons that can kill many people will we be able to reserve America for ourselves. There has been rapid development of modern biological technology, and new bio weapons have been invented one after another. Of course we have not been idle; in the past years we have seized the opportunity to master weapons of this kind. We are capable of achieving our purpose of “cleaning up” America all of a sudden. When Comrade Xiaoping was still with us, the Party Central Committee had the perspicacity to make the right decision not to develop aircraft carrier groups and focus instead on developing lethal weapons that can eliminate mass populations of the enemy country.

From a humanitarian perspective, we should issue a warning to the American people and persuade them to leave America and leave the land they have lived in to the Chinese people. Or at least they should leave half of the United States to be China’s colony, because America was first discovered by the Chinese. But would this work? If this strategy does not work, then there is only one choice left to us. That is, use decisive means to “clean up” America, and reserve America for our use in a moment. Our historical experience has proven that as long as we make it happen, nobody in the world can do anything about us. Furthermore, if the United States as the leader is gone, then other enemies have to surrender to us.

Biological weapons are unprecedented in their ruthlessness, but if the Americans do not die then the Chinese have to die. If the Chinese people are strapped to the present land, a total societal collapse is bound to take place. According to the computation of the author of Yellow Peril, more than half of the Chinese will die, and that figure would be more than 800 million people! Just after the liberation, our yellow land supported nearly 500 million people, while today the official figure of the population is more than 1.3 billion. This yellow land has reached the limit of its capacity. One day, who knows how soon it will come, the great collapse will occur any time and more than half of the population will have to go.

We must prepare ourselves for two scenarios. If our biological weapons succeed in the surprise attack [on the United States], the Chinese people will be able to keep their losses at a minimum in the fight against the United States. If, however, the attack fails and triggers a nuclear retaliation from the United States, China would perhaps suffer a catastrophe in which more than half of its population would perish. That is why we need to be ready with air defense systems for our big and medium-sized cities. Whatever the case may be, we can only move forward fearlessly for the sake of our Party and state and our nation’s future, regardless of the hardships we have to face and the sacrifices we have to make. The population, even if more than half dies, can be reproduced. But if the Party falls, everything is gone, and forever gone!

Now, DeProgram says in the intro to the piece that they cannot verify if this so-called speech is real or not (it is most definitely long and freaking scary as hell). This guy compares the Chinese people to Nazis, but even better. Then he truly takes the cake in the outlandish and open explanation of total annihilation of the American public, to be “cleaned up” and them take over (almost to the point to make this unbelievable… which is why I hesitated so long to make mention of it). Also note that this speech was supposedly given a few years ago and could totally be a hoax, but when I see something like this, surely I should share and let you make up your own mind to its authenticity or whether or not it warrants a warning:

It is indeed brutal to kill one or two hundred million Americans. But that is the only path that will secure a Chinese century, a century in which the CCP leads the world. We, as revolutionary humanitarians, do not want deaths. But if history confronts us with a choice between deaths of Chinese and those of Americans, we’d have to pick the latter, as, for us, it is more important to safeguard the lives of the Chinese people and the life of our Party. That is because, after all, we are Chinese and members of the CCP. Since the day we joined the CCP, the Party’s life has always been above all else! History will prove that we made the right choice.

Now, when I am about to finish my speech, you probably understand why we conducted this online survey. Simply put, through conducting this online survey we wanted to know whether the people would rise against us if one day we secretly adopt resolute means to “clean up” America. Would more people support us or oppose us? This is our basic judgment: if our people approve of shooting at prisoners of war, women and children, then they would approve our “cleaning up” America. For over twenty years, China has been enjoying peace, and a whole generation has not been tested by war. In particular, since the end of World War II, there have been many changes in the formats of war, the concept of war and the ethics of war. Especially since the collapse of the former Soviet Union and Eastern European Communist states, the ideology of the West has come to dominate the world as a whole, and the Western theory of human nature and Western view of human rights have increasingly disseminated among the young people in China. Therefore, we were not very sure about the people’s attitude. If our people are fundamentally opposed to “cleaning up” America, we will, of course, have to adopt corresponding measures.

Cleaning Up.

So, this morning I happened to read about VX Gas (supposedly the topic of the show “Eleventh Hour”, which, until today, I had never even heard of) at Discover Magazine and how to survive. I rethought my shrugging off the Chinese statement and decided to post about this and allow you to make your own informed opinion.

Here’s how you survive VX (the world’s “deadliest chemical weapon”):

We see nerve gas often enough on TV and the silver screen that it’s worth understanding out just how it works. VX gas can be deadly when ingested or when it makes contact on the skin. Depending on how much exposure a victim has suffered, it can kill in 10 minutes or a couple of hours. It functions by interfering with the break down of acetylcholine in the muscles. Normally when a nerve fires, acetylcholine is released to cause the muscle to contract. After the contaraction, an enzyme is released to break down the acetylcholine, allowing the muscle to relax. The phosphorous in the VX gas bonds with the enzyme, causing the acetylcholine to stay in place, leading to muscle contractions and spasming. Death can result from asphyxiation, but also from the victim harming themselves while in convulsions.

In the show, the brilliant Dr. Hood comes upon a victim seconds after she has been exposed to the chemical. He does exactly the right thing: He triggers the emergency shower immediately, stripes off the exposed clothing and gets as much of the VX off her as possible. The poison can be countered with an antidote, so people exposed to the gas can be saved if they’re treated in time. They’re only hope is that their exposure is low enough that they can get to the hospital. A high dose can kill in 10 minutes, a low one might take hours to kick in. VX, even in gas form, is heavier than air, so the key to surviving it is to get to fresh air and high ground (which means you have to do the opposite of what you would do in case of a dirty bomb or atomic explosion, where the goal is to avoid radioactive fallout by going inside and staying on the lower floors, as fallout can settle on roofs, so make sure you can tell your apocalyptic scenarios apart!)

This public service message brought to you by Science Not Fiction. You may resume normal activity.

So back to Guido: Could China be ready to come a calling? Will it be a broken kneecap or a cap to the head? For sure as hell, we won’t ever be able to pay it back.

New Manufacturing Data Suggests Deeper Recession Coming

Folks,

It isn’t “bad” yet. It is only beginning.

From my perspective as an equipment salesman to factories, I get the leading indicator whether or not manufacturing will grow (or not). I was asked by one of my Principals to provide my monthly forecast and honestly, I don’t see a single robot selling in January (with one possible exception that has been lingering for months: which is never a good sign). People and companies are hoarding their money.

I took my mother and family to lunch at the most popular resaraunt in town (which is normally packed) and it was barren.

I drive down main street and there are hardly anyone around, much less shopping. Red Sale signs and no people to buy.

There is but two major employers in this town and both have had lay-offs with more to come (one may shut down all together).

Every machine builder and integrator I call on is basically begging me to find them business (which I do when I can). Normally, in more robust times, my phone rings constantly, but I will bet that I receive less than 5 calls THIS WEEK.

People are getting desperate and are beginning the looting and thievery, especially in the big towns (just ask my Bro, Raw Dawg).

Now, it isn’t just a redneck spouting his observations, it is backed with data:

The Wall Street Journal (1/3, Evans, Matthews) reported, “Manufacturing activity around the world fell sharply in December, suggesting that the U.S. recession will extend well into 2009, if not longer, and that unemployment will rise globally.” According to “separate surveys of manufacturing activity around the world released on Friday, the first business day of the new year, were also bleak.” The Journal continues, “The simultaneous woes of manufacturing in rich countries and poor countries are something new in the global economy. In the past, weaknesses in U.S. and European manufacturing meant a windfall for developing economies, which took up the slack. … The struggles of big steel companies are particularly troubling, because that industry’s health is considered an early indicator of how other industries are faring.”

The Washington Post (1/3, D1, Schneider, Shin) reported on the front page of its Business section, “The Institute for Supply Management’s index of industrial production slipped from 36.2 percent in November to 32.4 percent in December, the lowest level since June 1980″ and “None of the industries covered in the survey reported an expansion in their business, and the drop registered not just in the institute’s index of production, but also in the volume of new orders and raw material costs.” Meanwhile, “prices paid for raw materials fell by 7.5 percentage points to 1949 levels.” Analysts said “none of Friday’s reports bodes well for the first three months of 2009.” They said “that whether the global economy bounces back in the second half of 2009 depends on the success of government stimulus efforts.”

The Financial Times (1/3, Guha) reported, “Spanish and German companies experienced acute problems. The findings will add to pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates again this month.” John Ryding and Conrad DeQuadros, at RDQ Economics, said the new data showed “the global nature of the economic contraction.” They said “the case for a massive global fiscal stimulus continues to grow.”

The Chicago Tribune (1/3, Boak) reported, “Manufacturers such as Advance Lifts Inc. have a simple resolution this year: survive. Expecting a 35 percent drop-off in annual sales, Advance Lifts Chief Executive Hank Renken recently laid off 19 of 72 workers in St. Charles who make such products as hydraulic loading docks.” In addition, “Steel mills, chemical plants, computer assembly lines and even industrial bakeries are bearing the brunt of a global recession that has struck with alarming force since October.”

AFP (1/5) reports that manufacturers were said to be “reducing inventories and shutting down capacity to offset the slower rate of activity caused by a prolonged recession. In the machinery sector, respondents to an ISM survey said Europe ‘has slowed down dramatically, while Asia — particularly China — has virtually shut down.’” Analysts said “there was no sign that the US industrial activity decline was easing, citing the new numbers.”

Bloomberg News (1/5, Chandra) reports, “Clogged credit markets, the collapse in housing and mounting job losses have hurt demand for everything from furniture and appliances to automobiles, driving General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to the brink of bankruptcy. The ISM’s employment index decreased to 29.9 from 34.2 in November. The gauge of prices paid fell to 18, reflecting the drop in commodity costs. Economists had projected that the measure, which averaged 65 in 2007, would drop to 20.”

Labor Day 2008

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Labor Day Facts:

Minimum wages by state:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm

1909 – Trapper Boy, Turkey Knob Mine, Macdonald, W. Va. Boy had to stoop on account of low roof, photo taken more than a mile inside the mine. Earned 75¢ for a ten hour work day.

Who Are We Celebrating?
154.5 million

- Number of people 16 and older in the nation’s labor force in May 2008, including 82.6 million men and 71.9 million women.

Quote of the day: “Labor was the first price, the original purchase-money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labor, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased.”

~Adam Smith

Employee Benefits

82% – Percentage of full-time workers 18 to 64 covered by health insurance during all or part of 2006.
77% – Percentage of workers in private industry who receive a paid vacation as one of their employment benefits. In addition:

- 77 percent of workers receive paid holidays.
- 15 percent have access to employer assistance for child care.
- 12 percent have access to long-term care insurance.
- 71 percent have access to medical care, 46 percent to dental care, 29 percent to vision care and 64 percent to outpatient prescription drug coverage.

Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2009, Table 634
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/

1901- Emergency room nurses

Our Jobs
Americans work in a variety of occupations.

- Teachers 7.1 million
- Hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists 778,000
- Chefs and head cooks 345,000
- Taxi drivers and chauffeurs 333,000
- Firefighters 288,000
- Roofers 269,000
- Pharmacists 247,000
- Musicians, singers and related workers 170,000
- Gaming industry (gambling) 111,000
- Tax preparers 104,000
- Service station attendants 90,000
- Logging workers 88,000

7.7 million – Number of workers who hold down more than one job. So-called moonlighters comprise 5 percent of the working population. Of these, 4 million work full time at their primary job and part time at their other job.

When Do They Sleep? – There are about 288,000 moonlighters who work full time at both jobs.

10.4 million – Number of self-employed workers. Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2009, Table 585

22 million – Number of female workers 16 and older in educational services, and health care and social assistance industries. Among male workers 16 and older, 11.5 million were employed in manufacturing industries.

28% – Percentage of workers 16 and older who work more than 40 hours a week. Eight percent work 60 or more hours a week.

4 – Median number of years workers have been with their current employer. About 9 percent of those employed have been with their current employer for 20 or more years.

10.3 million – Number of independent contractors. Other workers with alternative work arrangements include 2.5 million on-call workers, 1.2 million temporary help agency workers and 813,000 workers provided by contract firms.

15.6 million – Number of labor union members nationwide. About 12 percent of wage and salary workers belong to unions, with Hawaii and New York having among the highest rates of any state. North Carolina has one of the lowest rates, 3 percent.

73.5% – Size of labor force growth in Frisco, Texas, between 2000 and 2005, the highest among cities with populations of 25,000 or more. Frisco was followed by the fellow Texas cities of Cedar Park (growth of 66 percent) and McKinney (52.5 percent), then by Carmel, Ind. (49.9 percent) and Dania Beach, Fla. (45 percent).

74,700 – Number of jobs added in Harris County (Houston), Texas, between September 2006 and September 2007, the largest increase in employment among the nation’s 328 largest counties.

5.4 million – The number of people who work at home.

Another Day, Another Dollar

$42,261 and $32,515 – The 2006 annual median earnings for male and female full-time, year-round workers, respectively.

1939 – Migrant packinghouse workers crating celery. The amount of work depends on quantity of produce available. If many truckloads come in, they may work all night; otherwise, only an hour or two. If there is a frost (freeze-out) or drought, they may have to wait six or eight weeks for work in the next crop

$1,585 – Average weekly wage in Santa Clara County, Calif., for the third quarter of 2007, the highest among the nation’s 328 largest counties. Clayton, Ga., led the nation in growth of average weekly wages the third quarters of 2006 to 2007, with an increase of 24 percent to $919.

Hot Jobs

53% – Projected percentage growth from 2006 to 2016 in the number of network systems and data communication analysts. Forecasters expect this occupation to grow at a faster rate than any other. Meanwhile, the occupation expected to add more positions over this period than any other is registered nurses (587,000).

Early, Lonely and Long — the Commute to Work

16.7 million – Number of commuters who leave for work between midnight and 5:59 a.m. These early birds represent 13 percent of all workers.

76% – Percentage of workers who drove alone to work. Another 11 percent carpooled, and 5 percent took public transportation (excluding taxicabs).

30.9 minutes – The average time it takes to commute to work for residents of New York state. New York residents had the most time-consuming commute in the nation, followed by that of Maryland residents with 30.6 minutes. The national average was 25.0 minutes.

3.1 million – Number of workers who face extreme commutes to work of 90 or more minutes each day.

53% – Percentage of workers 16 and older living in Virginia who worked and lived in different counties, the highest rate in the nation.

Know your rights as a worker:
http://www.doleta.gov/jobseekers/rights_as_worker.cfm

The Guilty Speak– and write

The Guilty-Speak: Too bad it takes retirement to give someone the balls to speak out and up about things , they too did, that must change!! No wonder Obama had to go overseas– it is clear that ANYONE in the political arena evidently must play the game dictated by the ‘Party’ or they end up sitting on the bench only allowed to voice their opinion and stand. ie: Dennis and Ron.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07252008/watch3.html

Putting Government Back To Work

For more on money and politics, let’s go now to a man who saw first hand how the city’s money chase has crippled and corrupted Washington.

His name is Ernest ‘Fritz’ Hollings, and he spent 38 years in the United States Senate – a long and colorful run during which he made a name for himself as a passionate advocate for the hungry, a champion of balanced budgets, and a fighter for jobs in the textile industry. He called it quits four years ago and went home to South Carolina. But he was back in town recently, to see old friends and sign his new book, MAKING GOVERNMENT WORK. I talked with

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

 at a Senate office building on Capitol Hill just before his book party. Why did you write this book now?

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

I wrote the book because I could see what was wrong. I was raising money. I wasn’t running for reelection.

BILL MOYERS:

As a senator in your last term.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

As a senator in the last two or three years that’s all I was doing was raising money. And working for the campaign and for the party. The hardest working people in the world are the congressmen and senators. We work from early morning ’til late at night and all weekend and everything else. But we are working now, not for the country, but for the campaign.BILL MOYERS:

What do you mean?

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

All the time is fundraisers. All the time is money, money, money, money. In 1998, ten years ago, I ran and had to raise 8 an a half million. The record is there. Eight and a half million is 30,000 a week. Every week for six years. Each and every week for six years. Oh Dick Russell of Georgia-

BILL MOYERS:

Former senator.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

He says, “Now a senator is given a six year term rather than a two year term. He’s given six years, the first two years to be a statesman. Then the second two years to be a politician. His last two years a demagogue.” We use all six years to raise money. That’s why I wrote the book. To try to get the government off its fanny and cut out all the politics and let’s work for the country for a change.

BILL MOYERS:

What do you mean, it’s not working? You say you can’t get anything done in Washington anymore. What’s not getting done?

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Legislation. Anything meaningful. They fill up the tree both sides, it’s nothing wrong with Harry Reid or Mitch McConnell, they’re durn good leaders and they’re doing what the senators want done. And they’re all smart senators and they’re all responsible people. But they’re playing the game and the media hadn’t exposed. That’s why I wrote it. I’m trying to expose-

BILL MOYERS:

The game? What’s the game?

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

The game is money. I got to get the money to heck with constituents, I gotta get contributors.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

I’ve talked to the senators; you ask ‘em, they know they’re not gettin’ anything done. And they grown men and they’re conscientious women and everything else, they’re outstanding. But they know that all they’re doing is on a money treadmill. That’s all it is.

BILL MOYERS:

You write, “When I first came to the Senate 40 years ago, Senator Mansfield,” he was the majority leader then.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Yessiree.

BILL MOYERS:

“Had a vote every Monday morning to make sure”

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

To get a quorum.

BILL MOYERS:

“To get a quorum. And we worked until five o’clock on Friday every week.”

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

That’s right. We didn’t go home on the weekends. We tried to get out Thursday afternoon or night or at least early Friday morning to go to the West Coast for fundraisers. That’s why Hollywood and that’s why Wall Street has got that much influence. I’m not going to South Carolina. They got no money for a Democrat. I have to travel all over the country.

BILL MOYERS:

Years ago, you write, “On Washington’s birthday, a freshman senator would read the farewell address at 12 o’clock noon and then we’d have votes in the afternoon.”

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

We’d have votes. Now we have merged Lincoln’s birthday with Washington’s Birthday and take ten days off in February for fundraising. We have St. Patrick’s Day, ten day break for fundraising. Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, the month of August, Labor Day, Yom Kippur and Columbus Day that’s ten days gone in October. September, October, is fundraising. Everything is attuned for the campaign, the hell with the country.

BILL MOYERS:

A constant permanent campaign.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

That’s exactly what it is.

BILL MOYERS:

Commercial television is the big winner in this because that’s where so much of the money goes.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

That’s right; the rich have got all the speech they want. The poor got lockjaw. He can’t articulate out onto the television. And-

BILL MOYERS:

The poor can’t. They have no voice.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Yeah, and that’s the trouble. They tell you, don’t go waste time and don’t go see people and everything. Get on television and get a little tricky television and everything else like that. All these artists have got all kinds of different ways and different things like that to bring up and tricks to play.

BILL MOYERS:

The clear message is money has a stranglehold on our democracy.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

You gotta untie that money knot and then begin the government will begin to work.

BILL MOYERS:

So, you conclude therefore, if we limit the money, Congress will have time to work for the country, rather than–

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

The campaign. That’s exactly right. They can talk to each other, they can deliberate. There’s no, you fill up the tree with amendments; the leaders know– legislation is made down on K Street. They tell you when to vote, when they got the votes.

ILL MOYERS:

Lobbyists.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

The leader brings it up, he knows where it’s going. And it’s not going anywhere, but he’s goin’ to get a vote, to make ‘em embarrassed about immigration, or about energy or about sub-prime mortgages. The votes are made for the campaign. It’s not to get anything done, bah humbug. You can forget about that. They’re not doing anything up here. And the senators and congressmen know it.

BILL MOYERS:

What do you make of the fact, as you point out in your book, three days before the first presidential primary in Iowa; The New York Times listed the positions of all the candidates on eight important issues. Not one of them on trade or outsourcing of jobs.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

That’s right. And they came way out. We had, in South Carolina, since President George W. Bush has been in; we have lost 94,500 manufacturing a net loss. We’re getting’ some more jobs in BMW in Spartanburg, but a net loss. And they never mentioned it in the early Democratic primaries. They’re-BILL MOYERS:

Why?

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Because they gotta get the money.

BILL MOYERS:

And who gives them the money?

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Wall Street, the banks, and business

 BILL MOYERS

Yeah, you say presidents negotiate trade agreements not to open markets, but to protect corporate America’s foreign investment. That’s how you see it.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Well, I know it. I mean look at the Congress. Under article one, section 8, the Congress shall regulate. Not free-

BILL MOYERS:

Regulate–

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Congress regulates trade both domestic and foreign.

BILL MOYERS:

And you say in your book that Congress is not doing that.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

They can’t do it because they’ve gotta get the money. You put in a trade bill and down on your head comes THE WALL STREET JOURNAL and the big banks and The Business Round Table and The National Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufactures they’re not for domestic. They’re for Chinese and Indian manufacturer even The National Chamber of Commerce is not worried about Main Street, Peoria, Illinois; Main Street, Shanghai. You see, Henry Ford built up the middle class along with organized labor. He said I want the fellow making the car to be able to buy the car. So, he doubled the minimum wage. He put in health care and retirement costs and everything else of that kind, benefits. And so we had a good working relationship between labor and that– now, all of these trade agreements for the investors to protect their investment in China and India, but, uh-uh forget about labor.

BILL MOYERS:

You write–

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Yeah.

BILL MOYERS:

Your country and mine, that’s the United States of America, is going out of business?

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Oh yeah. What hasn’t been outsourced is being bought with that cheap dollar. Vodophone is gone to the Germans. Bell Labs is gone to the French with all their research and everything else. Westinghouse Nuclear with all of their research and technology and everything, is going to Toshiba, Japan. And Anheuser-Busch, the Belgians. Anheuser-Busch is beholden to the stockholders but nobody’s beholden to the people other than the congressmen and senators. And they’re not doing their job.

BILL MOYERS:

But they’re voting for NAFTA. They’re voting for these trade agreements.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Yeah, we’ve gone to an outright trade war and globalization and that’s were we’re AWOL. The way to get free trade is raise a barrier to a barrier and remove them both. Then you got free trade.

BILL MOYERS:

But when you were chairman of this very powerful Commerce Committee, here in the Senate, you’d make these cases.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Yeah.

BILL MOYERS:

They would call you protectionist, they would call you–

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Yeah, I am a protectionist. You– you got Social Security to protect you from the ravages of old age, Medicare to protect you from ill health. You got food and drugs and clean air, the water we drink, the food we eat, antitrust to protect the openness of the market and everything else. Before I open up Moyer Manufactory, you gotta have clean air, clean water, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, plant closing notice, parental leave, safe working place, safe machinery, antitrust. You can go to China for 58 cents an hour. They’d get you the plant, they own the workers, and you don’t have any investments so you don’t have to worry about it.

BILL MOYERS:

You say all we need to do to make the country work, is follow the lead of the forefathers to compete in globalization. To build the country’s economy Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison, made sure the first bill to pass the Congress in its history on July 4th 1789–

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Seventeen eighty nine.

BILL MOYERS:

Was a–

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Protectionist bill, tariff bill on 60 articles. We financed the country’s development with tariffs. That’s how we–that’s the Treasurer’s Building is the best building here in Washington. The best building in Charleston is the custom house. The best building in Brooklyn is the custom house. Treasury had the money. Teddy Roosevelt said, “Thank God I am not a free trader.” Oh, Lincoln, everybody says, I’m either for Roosevelt, I’m a Lincoln Republican. He was a big protectionist. Oh, he raised tariffs. They were gonna build a transcontinental railroad on the Abraham Lincoln. And they said we could get the steel cheap from England. He said, ah – wait a minute, we’re gonna build our own steel mills, and then we’ll have not only a steel capacity, but we’ll have the railroad. And so he was a builder. Everybody was a builder. Eisenhower, he protected oil. Jack Kennedy, I went to him, and he protected textiles. Ronald Reagan, he protected computers and Harley Davidson. He saved it. I saw George W. the other day about three weeks or a month ago, he was at the Harley Davidson plant, but protectionism saved it. That’s why they were making money at Harley Davidson. Oh, he got–

BILL MOYERS:

That’s because of–

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Voluntarily restraint. Reagan got on steel, computers, machine tools, and automobiles. He got voluntary restraint and that’s the only way to do it. Sober up

BILL MOYERS:

Do you take any hope on this issue on money in politics? From McCain and Obama? Are they saying anything that or doing anything that–

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

I happened to hear and I don’t know, but the finance chairman for Obama was just told to get up 300 million for the rest of the campaign till November. Also, get up millions for the Denver convention. And that’s all they’re doing is raising money.

BILL MOYERS:

You and John McCain sat on the same committee. You were chairman of the Commerce Committee–FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Oh yeah

BILL MOYERS:

He was a member of the committee–

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

We were good friends. And I love him.

BILL MOYERS:

And how does he–

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

I know him, yeah.

BILL MOYERS:

And he used to be thought of as being an advocate of campaign finance reform.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Exactly right. And he was an advocate against these tax cuts. But now they’ve taken the maverick McCain and trying to make him the Christian right and the money raiser and everything else like that. They’re trying to make him an ordinary Republican. And you can tell he’s ill at ease. He, John McCain is not happy campaigning right now. I can tell you that. He’s– the media loves him. He had a room up there by the commerce committee with donuts and coffee and all and the press wouldn’t go to the press gallery. They’d go to McCain because they could get a statement out of him. And he was honest. He’d tell you how he felt. So, the press loves him and everything else. But they’re disappointed in him now, because they’re trying to change him over to qualify him as a Republican.

BILL MOYERS:

What would you do about the power of the press in our society today?

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Tell them that by gosh, tell the truth. You know the debate between Walter Lippman and John Dewey. And Walter Lippman said, what we oughta do is get the experts in finance and defense, and education and the various elements of government, and let them determine the company’s the country’s needs, and give it to the Congress and let ‘em pass it. John Dewey, the educator said, no, no, let the free press report the truth to the American people and the needs will be reflected, to the congressmen and senators in Washington. And he was right. But they’re not telling the truth anymore. They all were doing the headlines rather than headway. They’re all getting by with perceptions; they’re all getting by with pollster politics. They’re not talking about the needs. The country is ready, willing, and able to work, the government’s not working.

BILL MOYERS:

And the book is, MAKING GOVERNMENT WORK. Senator Fritz Hollings, it’s been good to see you again.

FRITZ HOLLINGS:

Good to be with you.

Another Northeast Mississippi Furniture Factory Bites The Dust

From the Tupelo Daily Journal a story about another furniture manufacturer closing its doors. This is nothing new to me, since I have called on this company and knew over a year ago that times were very tough for them. Times are tough for all furniture manufacturers in America (all going overseas). Action Lane announced closing at least one of its plants in Pontotoc (I have sold a lot of equipment to that facility) recently (leaving just 3 more in Mississippi and at least one is supposedly on the chopping block).

Fulton plant suspends operations

The future of some 200 workers at Hickory Hill Furniture in Fulton is up in the air after its parent company said it was shutting down its operations temporarily.

Customers of Norwalk Furniture, which owns the Fulton plant, were told late Friday that the company was restructuring its business and talking to its lender and that it could not take any new orders starting on Monday.

Friday’s message, sent by Norwalk Chairman Jim Gerken, Vice Chairman Bill Gerken and CEO Domenic Aversa, said the company was “committed to keeping you informed and will be in contact as developments occur.”

“To be clear, the company is evaluating all of its options and has not filed for bankruptcy court protection,” the message read. “We will not be accepting new orders until we resume operations.”