The United States has announced it will upgrade U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ) to a joint force headquarters (JFHQ) with expanded operational responsibilities. The new command will report to the US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). The revamped structure will assume the control of about 55,000 personnel stationed in Japan from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command some 6,200 kilometers away in Honolulu, Hawaii. The move is intended to streamline communications between the US and Japan, especially during a crisis involving China.
Japan-U.S. joint statement on war preparations forecasts doom
Tag: Stock Market
Intel shares fall 20% on plans to cut 15,000 jobs
Intel on Thursday revealed drastic plans to slash its employee headcount and capital spending in an attempt to put its business back on a stable financial footing, as it suffered the latest setback in its slow-moving turnaround plans.
Related:
US CHIPS Act Funding for Intel
On March 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce and Intel Corporation announced a preliminary memorandum of terms under which Intel will receive approximately $8.5 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. Funding will help advance Intel’s critical semiconductor manufacturing and research and development projects at sites in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon – U.S. locations where the company produces some of the world’s most advanced chips and semiconductor packaging technologies.
Meanwhile, in China:
China’s ‘basic self-sufficiency’ in chip-making tools could come this summer, veteran says
Two Fed-Supervised Banks Blew Up Last Week; Two More Dropped Over 40 Percent Yesterday; and the Fed Wants to Investigate Itself — Again
Last Friday, California state regulators closed Silicon Valley Bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) became the receiver. Its stock price had lost over 80 percent of its market value over the prior year; $150 billion of its $175 billion in deposits were uninsured, either because they exceeded the $250,000 FDIC cap and/or they were foreign deposits. The bank was effectively operating as a Wall Street IPO pipeline in drag as a federally-insured bank. The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco had quietly been bailing it out – to the tune of $15 billion. Oh – and by the way – its primary regulator was the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. And while all of this hubris was occurring, the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, Gregory Becker, was sitting on the Board of Directors of his regulator, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
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Oh, and by the way, the Fed member banks in each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts that can choose to be regulated by the Fed, literally own their regulator. That’s right, they own the stock in their regional Fed bank, which is a private institution, unlike the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. which is an “independent” federal agency. (See, for example, These Are the Banks that Own the New York Fed and Its Money Button.)
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Adding to the ongoing arrogance of the Fed, its Chairman, Jerome Powell, released a statement two minutes after the market closed yesterday, stating that “The events surrounding Silicon Valley Bank demand a thorough, transparent, and swift review…” So, once again, it’s decided to investigate itself. The Fed’s Vice Chairman for Supervision, Michael Barr, will oversee the investigation.
Michael Hudson: Why the US banking system is breaking up
Economist Michael Hudson responds to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, and explains the similarities with the 2008 financial crash and the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.
Michael Hudson: Why the US banking system is breaking up
Calling a recession and blaming it on interest rates
The latest US GDP figures for second quarter of 2022 renewed the debate about whether the US economy was in a recession or not. Real GDP contracted in the second quarter of this year by a 0.9% annualised rate (or by 0.2% quarter over quarter). That meant the US economy had contracted for two successive quarters, and so ‘technically’ (by that definition) was in a recession. Real GDP is now up only 1.6% from Q2 2021. And business investment is slowing, up only 3.5% from this time last year, the slowest rate since the end of the COVID slump in 2020.
Calling a recession and blaming it on interest rates
On this day, 24 July 2009, 3,000 steel workers in Tonghua, China rioted and beat an executive to death when threatened with privatization and job losses.
Jianlong Steel Holding Company official Chen Guojun, who earned over 3 million yuan the previous year, planned to take over the majority state-owned Tonghua Iron and Steel Group. He announced plans to cut the number of workers from 30,000 down to around 5,000, with those made redundant receiving around 200 yuan in compensation. The firm was still profitable, but the planned restructuring was aimed at increasing profits further amidst a global economic downturn.
Outraged, the workers shut down production and rioted, beating Chen, blocking roads and smashing police cars to prevent police and ambulances from reaching him.
The sale was subsequently scrapped.
On this day, 24 July 2009, 3,000 steel workers in Tonghua, China rioted and beat an executive to death when threatened with privatisation and job losses.
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After Crypto Money Piled into Campaign Coffers of Senators Lummis and Gillibrand, They Introduced a Sweetheart Legislative Bill for Crypto
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: June 20 , 2022 ~
On June 7, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York who sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee which oversees commodities, and Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming who sits on the Senate Banking Committee which oversees Wall Street and trading, introduced a bill as an early Christmas present to the crypto industry. It carries the Alice in Wonderland title of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act.
After Crypto Money Piled into Campaign Coffers of Senators Lummis and Gillibrand, They Introduced a Sweetheart Legislative Bill for Crypto
How the 14th Amendment Made Corporations Into ‘People’
Under U.S. law, some essential rights of the 14th amendment belong not only to American citizens, but also corporations—thanks to a few key Supreme Court cases and a controversial legal concept known as corporate personhood.
How the 14th Amendment Made Corporations Into ‘People’
Related:
‘Corporations Are People’ Is Built on an Incredible 19th-Century Lie
US Federal Reserve Says Its Goal Is ‘To Get Wages Down’
The chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, said his goal is “to get wages down.”
US Federal Reserve Says Its Goal Is ‘To Get Wages Down’
H/T: THE NEW DARK AGE
OPEC chief says there’s ‘no capacity in the world’ that could replace Russia’s 7 million barrels a day in oil supply + More
OPEC chief says there’s ‘no capacity in the world’ that could replace Russia’s 7 million barrels a day in oil supply (Archived)
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But the strategists noted that the status of the United States as an energy independent country – meaning it produces as much energy as it consumes – could mitigate the impact of this. US-listed oil stocks Exxon Mobil and Chevron were both up by just under 1% Monday.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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