Apple keeps untaxed profits offshore.

About two-thirds of Apple’s $97.6 billion cash pile is offshore. That’s a massive ammount of money for an American company to keep outside of America.

It’s been a huge week for Apple with Apple’s announcement of quartly results, the company is now apparently worth more than Greece.


In the same week, the President of the United States named the late Steve Jobs and Apple in his Congressionally-mandated State of the Union address. Just a few hours later, in the GOP response to the President’s speech, Governor Mitch Daniels also named the Steve Jobs; saying “The late Steve Jobs — what a fitting name he had — created more of them than all those stimulus dollars the President borrowed and blew.”

Certainly Apple has created a lot of jobs over the years. But most of the jobs created by Apple are not American jobs, they’re sweatshop-style jobs for miserable, overworked workers in China.

According to the New York Times, Apple employs close to 43,000 people within the United States. While that’s not an small number of people. But Apple no longer builds its own devices. There was a time when Apple actually manufactured within the United States. Today, Apple products are built in China at Foxconn City. Apple has 230,000 people working to make iPhones and iPads. According to information obtained by Presidential candidate Rick Santorum Apple has more than 500,000 people building all Apple products in China. There is no figures on number of Apple employed in Apple stores worldwide.

According to the Apple earnings the company had a whopping $97.6 billion dollars in cash at the end of December. Unfortunately, about two-thirds of that money, “about $64 billion,” remained “offshore” at the end of December, according to Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer.

I am also painfully aware of how many jobs America needs to create simply to keep up with our birthrate, not to mention all the jobs lost over the last decade.

I’d recommend to our politicians two courses of action: (1) don’t use companies that outsource nine-tenths of their workers as examples of American innovation. It’s just poor taste. And (2) consider looking — for real — at what we need to do to get those jobs (and that cash) back here to the U.S., so it’ll be put to good work for the American people.

But there is also the TAX debate. Remember Steve Jobs. He said he didn't pay enough tax. Bit rich coming from someone who kept two-thirds of his wealth in China and paid no tax and 9 out of 10 employees are Chinese in mainland China. SO who is going pay all these new taxes? Not Apple.

I’m not demanding that Apple be singled out to be taxed extra or forced Apple or anyone to bring jobs or money back home. I’m demanding that our politicians fix the situation whereby all companies who act like Apple do into want to bring that money and those jobs back home. Second, I’m demanding that our politicians stop glorifying individuals and companies that did not and are not operating according to America’s needs and goals. This week, the President and the GOP did just that, and it wasn’t right.

Instead of glorify Apple's structure, you need change the tax system so that Apple and all other companies can't avoid Tax.

It is getting hard for people to day to get clear picture of what is going on. This has been going on for long time. Steve Jobs publically called for tax system changes, along with Warren Buffett and George Soros. But privately they been squirriling cash away outside the reach of the IRS, private lobbying delays in changes to tax laws and sueing the government to obtain lengthy delays in paying unpaid taxes, all the time using privacy laws, shell companies and private equity firms to keep thier names out of the news. Not to mention these people while they care what people think of them, the people are not been given the truth by Obama.

No wonder two-thirds of Americas don't trust the government. It isn't a conspiracy when you are right. You not paranoid if it is true the government wishes to spy on private citizens without probable cause.

Apple doesn't get named by "occupy wall street movement". Yet Apple is by far the worst (non bank) company in America. If you notice they all got ipods and iphones. Apple grants to organisations Macbooks, iPhones and discounts on range of products.

To me to occupy movement is about extortion. Give me or I protest agaisnt you. Apple has bought Obama. GOP core policies make it such they will not go against most US companies. Apple could hire North Koreans as far as Congress is concerned.

But mainstream America is sick of them both. But mainstream doesn't side with either party. No other movement has the numbers to take over yet. GOP is more likely to be pushed aside than Democrats because of the ties to the wealthiest Americans as well as money from Europe and China. Plus Democrats got the unions and university elistist movements.

Only hope for GOP is find a way to appeal to 60% of Americans. Democrats hold 42$ according to polls and GOP only 38%, rest undecided.

Apple's continued greedy. Obama's blind eye.

Apple, not satisfied with been one of the worst employers in the world have become one of the worst content partners in the world.

Apple brags about 2 billion in royalties over the last ten years, this is a far cry from Microsoft who actually holds records for royalties and on going royalties.

Now Apple wants to sabotage the online book publishing market. To effect they lured authors in with support for epub, the open publishing system, that allowed writers to convert material using thier own (often free) software. It also allowed writers to move away from Apple if (often when) Apple failed to deliver.

Apple has long history since the Apple II personal computer of screwing the customer with dud technology they refused to fix, to upgrades that really was a new computer and they took your old one, only later to see they selling yours AND you could just waited 3 months and bought the "upgrade" at a lower price.

Don't forget notable duds like the LISA and early MACS. Only way to upgrade memory was buy a NEW one with more memory. That was only after you found out the basic model had just enough memory of the OS and couple of pages on your word processor before it overheated and crashed. Remember the Apple modem? You could buy a PC for the price of an Apple modem. Never mind a scanner that cost more than a car. Video editing you could buy a house.

Now comes the "iOWN". Apple wants to own "i" as a trademark. The "i" own now extends to "i" contented. Apple doesn't own (yet) their apple trademark. A company founded by the Beatles does. Apple has many times tried to buy the Apple outright, despite orginal agreements to lease the logo.

Apple has long history of anti-competition laws, from not adhearing to industry stardards on networking, software, file formats, keys on keyboard and trying stop other companies making same products. Most notable was the law suit over the windows key. Claiming it stole their idea for the apple key. Yet Apple happy to take idea of shift from IBM. Apple claims MS stole thier idea for windows, only a few years later in court having to admit Apple and MS both won right to code from Xerox's government funded Graphics OS. Which also included idea of desktop pointing device, later nicknamed, the mouse.

Apple wanted own "smartphone". Now the tablet computer. Sci-fi fans, wasn't it a 1960's show called STAR TREK (and in others) were people had computers in their hands?

Lot of 1950s sci-fi had hand held communictors that allowed people to talk to each other. There was a 1980s game that had a computer that was also a mobile phone and had AI that allowed phone to take messages, book appointments and track your location in emergancies. Apple didn't invent the ideas, they watched them on TV and rushed to patents office. Steve jobs pushing his engineering teams to perform or else, putting his name onto every product regardless of his input.

Now with iBooks Apple is trying shut down competition and force i-product users to only use i-formatted products and i-product products to be Apple slaves with Apple new end user agreement taking huge percentage without investing into production of the product. Kind of like a software pirate does.

But there is more, Apple just lost another law suit, in every country Apple been trying to stop Samsung from selling the Galaxy tablet (Apple claims they invented this portable device despite number of other companies from trying unsuccessfully to make one). A Dutch court ruled, as have every other court in the world that Apple had no case against Samsung. Apple stole from Samsung key networking technology that enables iPad 2 to network faster. Again courts unable to work out if Apple stole ideas or not.

So much for Apple and Obama on free trade. Apple is all about trying to create a monopoly. Own other peoples ideas and digital products. I wonder if Apple given up on putting IBM and Microsoft out of business given Apple hasn't successfully made a super computer. Nor has Apple successfully dominated any market for long. Apple is only financially viable because of anti-monpoly law suits against Microsoft.

iPhone is crap. Who wants pay so much for a phone that costs more and does far less than a basic computer. Then have to buy new one each year to upgrade. There is a reason Apple closed hundreds of stores and will again. They don't give a crap about the customer, only interested in bleeding the market dry. Once new, small, smart pcs start rolling out, phones that work with your home pc, use the same software Apple once again will be "that company that gone broke so many times before".

So Obama is lying about his commitment to ending inequality, after all Apple is one of his largest supporters and also one of the largest companies to fire Americans while making billions in profits only to send jobs to China just to increase profit. Nor has Obama done anything to protect rights of content providers, instead choosing to go after the hosts over copyright violations. A non-American file host service. Never mind all the American webhosts that host pay-to-click and forex scams and all the American web hosts that spam. Megaupload was targets because they were the biggest. Obama wasn't protecting anyone but American business who put money into his campaign. Megaupload didn't copy anything, people did and do and will because it now costs more than a months income to watch one weeks content. People sick of basic cable running the same re-runs. People sick of paying half a days pay to watch a 1 1/2 hour movie that has 15 minutes of intro and 10 minutes end credits and pay two hours pay for a drink and popcorn. You can buy 2 litres in the supermarket for less than you pay for a CUP in the movie thertre. But no Obama rather protect Disney, Warner and all the other porn producers from free internet porn.

That's right you read right, most of the content megaupload suppose to have distributed is porn. Big companys have shares in private equity firms, who in turn have shelf companies in Nevarda and Cayman Islands who inturn fund production of porn in LA. Most movies if anyone had half a brain to google search are hosted in countries outside US reach. Anyone using megaupload would know they hosted uploads from individuals, most of whom didn't want pay HUGE fees to us based hosts. Most of the pirate material (and mega deleted frequently and had reporting system) was archives from popular American porn sites (well said Asian porn but they were all US based llcs registered by same few mega-rich private equity firms owned by nameless private companies). 30 percent of Time's revenue is porn according to some research.

Apple, Disney and many others who are big Democrat supporters publicly don't produce any porn and often speak against it. Some media companies forced to admit they profit from porn. Especially when women from "X-rated" movies appear in b-grade teen movies and companies then claim they don't encourage underage drinking or underage sex like in all the teen flicks made by so called second tier companies that Disney, Apple, AOL-Time-Warner have a stake in. Then when same porn queens get hollywood invites, invites issued by companies that supposably don't make porn. Same companies that flood money to Democrats and yet most of their movies don't make a profit, putting burdon on state of California and US government on missed revenue.

Obama has a blind eye, the dollar bill is blocking him from seeing the very thing he speaks against.

Free market doesn't exist. Wake up.

Apple's Greedy and Evil License Agreement

When you buy software you should read EULAs (End User Licence Agreement) or find tech experts to explain it to you. I have years of computer experience with software and agreements, EULAs, I've seen many little gotchas (such as all that software you bought under student licence can't be used later for business use) or just trying to figure out what the agreement allows and doesn’t allow (such as most don't allow you to use backup copies nor install it on your new computer).

I have never seen a EULA as over complicated, greedy and evil as Apple’s EULA for its new ebook authoring program.

Apple, in this EULA, is claiming a right not just to the software, but also to the software’s output. Image if Microsoft was trying to restrict what people can do with Word documents, or Adobe declaring that if you use Photoshop to export a JPEG, you can’t freely post it online. As far as I know, in the consumer software industry, this practice is unprecedented. Basically Apple is claiming ownership in part over your work.


The killer is Section 2B, and it does indeed go far beyond any license agreement I’ve ever seen:

B. Distribution of your Work. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, your Work may be distributed as follows:

•  (i) if your Work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute the Work by any available means;
• (ii) if your Work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or
  service), you may only distribute the Work through Apple and such distribution is subject to the following limitations and conditions: (a) you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary) before any commercial distribution of your Work may take place; and (b) Apple may determine for any reason and in its sole discretion not to select your Work for distribution.

And then the next paragraph is bold-faced, just so you don’t miss it:

Apple will not be responsible for any costs, expenses, damages, losses (including
without limitation lost business opportunities or lost profits) or other liabilities you may incur as a result of your use of this Apple Software, including without limitation the fact that your Work may not be selected for distribution by Apple.

The nightmare any writer thinking of using Apple under this agreement? Well you might have created a small novel and you think you can sell for modest amount online at 5 or even 10 bucks per copy. Then you are lured in by the "Apple" success promise. So then you carefully convert your writing in iBooks Author. Then you submit it to Apple and they reject it. Now they own it. You can't submit to google or anyone else. You can't even give it away on your own website. Also you can't rewrite, reformat or alter your submitted work.

Image if Micosoft took 30% from every professional speaker who used powerpoint? What if JK Rowling was told she owed 30% of all her revenue. Image you published a successful "ibook" and it was made into a movie (better still while you alive). Apple going to control that, make money off that and any spin offs. They own you.

How do they get away with this? Because of American politics. Whom so ever the Democrats favour, the laws of copyright contain the right loopholes. Just like Hollywood constantly waiting for writers to die. While it does happen that some books find movie success while orginal writer alive. Apple is positioning itself to abuse writers rights while the writer is alive.

Still think Steve Jobs was a nice guy? Think Al Gore is a nice guy? Think Apple care? All they want is to take as much as they can and contol as much as they can. Apple is anti-family, anti-Christian.

Unions Not Paying Recruiters

In Australia the unions hired an agency Work Partners to recruit new members. Work Partners collapsed owing workers lot of money and had not paid worker entitlements for years. Should be simple but it isn't. The former directors and management were setting up a new company, which the unions signed up with. Also the unions have been found to be behind in paying bills to the old company. Money which would go to workers owed unpaid wages and superannuation.

Seems the unions attitude is we ONLY look after ourselves.

Isn't first and will not be last time unions get into trouble. Unions historically have no business sense. Once there used to be lots of small unions, due to financial mismanagement unions merged. Then unions formed into super unions in effort to "globalise".

Well it comes as no surprise that unions are losing members, when membership can be as much as a one to two weeks wages. With the economy running so tight, no surprise people are ditching the unions. In Australia the unions give money to Labor Party. A clear advantage over many other parties who have to find donars and hold fund raisers. In turn Labor Party is full of unionists and most of the top people in the party are not from the party, but unions.

Been lot of corruption in unions and almost nothing done. Misuse of union funds for parties, prostitutes and union leaders hiring family, as well as the promotion in the union of "political animals" instead of whom the rank and file prefer has contributed to decline in union membership. While main reason is high fees, a minor reason is also union dealings with members. Unions claim to represent workers and workers rights. Yet unions lead from the top, only interested in socialist agenda and telling members who to vote for. A situation not unique to Australia. As seen with unions in France, UK and US been highly political. In UK and France the unions lean so far left they need training wheels to stand up straight.

So it comes to me as no surprise big unions hire a recruitment agency and the non-union employees of said agency are scammed out of their superannuation. Thanks to corruption of corporation laws the unions and management are not held liable, but "the company". A piece of paper still is a "legal entity". Yet unions claim to be against "19th century thinking". But unions themselves are "19th century" thinking. So unions get out of not paying bills and management get out of paying bills because of 19th century laws that an incorporated company is a legal entity. Last time I checked paper isn't an AI that is capable of independent thought, that management was at the helm so to speak.

So clear to me unions are not the solution, but one of many problems needing to be solved.

We need an end to "incorporation", unionism and the whole "winner takes all" economics. Unions clearly are as self centred as merchant banks who engaged in wild speculation to raise big finances. Many in the finance industry do tell that one reason banks have to raise so much is to high expectations to pay all the union pension funds, especially since the unions pay themselves first and keep paying themselves out of union funds.

Apple Found Abusing Workers. Democrat Hyprocracy and Public Bias.

What makes the iPhone or Apple so special that for years Democrats have covered up widespread abuse of workers in Apple plants? Sure Apple name wasn't on the pay slip, but all the plants have Apple logos. They supply almost exclusively electronics to Apple. Electronics once made in America, but outsourced by Steve Jobs to lowest bidder.

When alive, media asked Steve Jobs about his "work ethics" and "treatment" of foreign workers. He denied Apple having any links to companies that over-work and underpaid workers. Yet many stories surfaced about Steve Jobs constantly demanding lower prices, even when Apple was making a fortune, Jobs demanded constantly lowering of costs. With most of the "savings" going straight into the pockets of Steve Jobs.

Apple has bowed to public pressure and released a list of its suppliers, admitting that many employees are overworked and underpaid. But Apple is unrepentant with no action taken by Obama, the unions, China (where most the abuse taken place) and American public. iPod, iPhone and iPads aren't been destroyed by protesters. No picketing of Apple by unions. No congressional outrage and American public don't ditch Apple. Why?

Apple knew, their internal audit of its supply chain showed that just 38 per cent of the company's suppliers adhered to Apple's own standard of a maximum 60 hour work week and minimum one day off per week.

Apple publically admitted they forced last year supplied to repay workers $3.3 million they paid in excess broker fees to get jobs at Apple supplier plants. Apple said it had forced a total of $6.7 million in such reimbursements since 2008. While alive Steve Jobs was praised, especially by Obama. When Jobs died, the praise increased. Yet Jobs was a credit stealing, idea stealing and all round bastard. But he was a political animal who put money into the right hands.

Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder (well before dying Jobs called him self the founder and brains behind Apple) who died in August, constantly denied between 2008 and 2010 that the company supported worker-abusing 'sweatshops.'. The media was soft on Apple. The Obama adminstration was soft on Apple.

Now Apple has hired Bill Clinton for PR. This comes as no suprise. The unions take no action. This despite Apple shifting 5,600 jobs to China so Steve Jobs could have money he knew he didn't need. Jobs until the day he died was obsessive about money.

Now where is the investigation into Apple's link to trade in raw materials in Africa and link to "conflict trade" in rare earth metals out despite UN embargo on trade on materials obtained by slavery by "insurgents".

So America's love affair with iPods, iPhones and iPads continues despite Apple anti-family, anti-Christian and anti-American employment policies.

What happened to truth, justice and the American way? Steve Jobs spat on that and the people still stand and cheer.

But how often in History have we seen a well spoken con-artist talk people out of their liberty, health, wealth  and even life. Steve Jobs was one of the "Winner takes all" bastards who destroyed American economy for self-gain. When will you stop cheering those who ruined your life?

Jobs is dead, John Kennedy is dead but you cheer these and many other Democrats who were rich thieving bastards. Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Obama are destroying the economy to get rich and powerful. When will you stop cheering them?

I for one will never buy Apple.