All posts by Hutchins AAron

Born in Deutschland 1965, hometown was Bütthart, parents were not U.S. government employees. However, when father was tricked into joining the U.S. Air Force Civil Service, in 1969, with the promise that we could remain in Germany, we were promptly shipped off to Iran. Due to one of my Iranian educators being disappeared, along with her husband, by the U.S. ally Shah of Iran's Israeli & U.S. created Savak (for the then official terrorist act of promoting the idea that women can vote), and due to my U.S. citizen mother being placed on Savak's Terrorist Arrest List (for supporting the idea that women should vote, at that time the U.S. ally Shah of Iran did not allow women to vote, now they can) we left Iran for the United States in 1973, literally in the middle of the night. At the U.S. Embassy airbase the CIA operated Gooney Bird (C-47) was so packed with other U.S. citizens fleeing our ally Iran (because the Shah gave the OK to arrest any U.S. citizen for such terrorist acts as promoting the concept of voting) that we were turned away by the Loadmaster and had to take a chance on a civilian flight out of Tehran's airport. My father told me he and my mother had three culture shocks; first when they arrived in Germany as civilians, then after being shipped off to Iran as U.S. government employees, then again returning to the United States as unemployed civilians (because so much had changed in the U.S. while they were gone, their only news source was the U.S. Armed Forces Radio & Television Service which heavily censored information about the home front). Since I graduated high school in 1982 I've worked for U.S. government contractors and state & local government agencies (in California), convenience store manager in California, retail/property management in Georgia, California and Idaho. Spent the 1990s in the TV news business producing number one rated local news programs in California, Arizona and Idaho. 14+ years with California and Idaho Army National Guard and the U.S. Air Force. Obtained a BA degree in International Studies from Idaho State University at the age of 42. Unemployed since 2015, so don't tell me the economy has recovered.
Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Despite making a profit Nissan will cut production, blames inflation!

21 June 2012, Japan’s Nissan Motor is cutting production in Japan.

Starting next month Nissan will end production of four models of cars in Japan. It amounts to 15% of Nissan’s Japanese production.

The move comes after Nissan reported a profit of $4.29 billion USD for the Japanese year ending in March.  Company officials say the production cut is meant to offset surging production costs, and declining car sales in Japan.

The rising value of the yen is also making it more difficult to sell cars made in Japan to other countries.

Nissan officials say they will try to keep workers employed by assigning new jobs to them.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Government Idiots: Japan oil industry says U.S. & EU oil sanctions against Iran will not affect global oil supply!

“For the time being we will be able to continue smoothly transporting Iranian oil to Japan. I would like to thank the government and all parties concerned for their efforts.”-Yasushi Kimura, Petroleum Association of Japan

21 June 2012, Yasushi Kimura, president of the Petroleum Association of Japan, basically said the U.S. and European oil sanctions against Iran are impotent!

Kimura based his conclusion on the fact that there is plenty of oil supply, and that because of the continued downward spiral of the international economy global demand for oil will drop.

The fact that the United States exempted several countries from their oil sanctions, including Japan, also proves that the U.S. sanctions against Iran are nothing but hot air!

So what were U.S. & European leaders trying to accomplish with their impotent oil sanctions against Iran?

Business/Economics, International

Corporate Evil & What Economic Recovery? Downloaders blamed for downturn, can now expect to spend two years in prison if caught!

20 June 2012, the Upper House of the Japanese Diet passed a tough new anti-downloading law. If your caught ‘illegally’ downloading music or movies you could pay a $25,000 USD fine and/or spend two years in prison!

The law was pushed by the corporate music and movie industry.  The Recording Industry Association of Japan is blaming their economic downturn on downloaders!  I don’t think so!  The new draconian anti-downloading law goes into effect in October 2012.

Fukushima

One Year Later: Left behind; Fukushima pets still without homes, new kittens found near nuclear plant

Volunteer animal rescuers in Japan are reporting that pets are still being found in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster area.

Recently six kittens were found and taken to a animal hospital in Tokyo.  They were taken to Tokyo because local animal shelters are still full of abandoned pets from the March 2011 disasters. More than one year later volunteers say there are still hundreds of abandoned cats and dogs living near the nuclear power plant!

The animal hospital in Tokyo reported that the kittens were healthy, and homes were found for them.  Volunteer animal rescue groups say they will increase the use of the internet to send out international SOSs for the pets that were left behind.

ONE YEAR LATER: TUNA CAUGHT NEAR UNITED STATES CONTAMINATED WITH RADIATION! U.S. MEDIA TRYING TO DOWNPLAY

International, U.S.

World War 3: 15,000 U.S. troops now in Kuwait, preps for Wars to come! Target Iran! Defend Israel! Invade Libya!

“The United States should preserve the model of ‘lily pad’ bases throughout the Gulf, which permits the rapid escalation of military force in case of emergency.”-SFRC report

19 June 2012, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) revealed that there are nearly 15,000 U.S. troops in Kuwait, three times more than in 2003.

The SFRC report also admits that staging troops all over the Middle East was in preparation for wars to come, possibly with Iran: “…the Obama administration is working to update the security architecture of the Persian Gulf to promote
regional stability, provide a counterweight to Iran…”

The report also admits that one of the foreign policy goals of the United States is to support Israel over any other Middle East country: “…the United States should be scrupulous in determining which weapons systems to sell in order to (1) ensure that sales contribute to regional security and do not weaken the position of Israel...”

The SFRC states that military deployments should continue in Afghanistan, as well as begin in Libya: “The U.S. Government should continue to cultivate the capabilities of GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] partners in select defensive missions, such as missile defense, combat air patrol, and maritime security, while building capacity through deployments in other theaters such as Libya and Afghanistan.”

The problem with the idea of GCC countries sending troops to Afghanistan is that most GCC countries are Arab. Afghanistan is not Arab, it does not border the Persian Gulf and it’s not in the Middle East, it’s in Central Asia! Remember the fiasco in Afghanistan when Jordanian (Arab) troops were sent in?

Then there’s Libya.  Libya may have a dominant Arab population, but it’s not part of the Persian Gulf, it’s not even Middle Eastern, it’s in North Africa. This just proves that U.S. leaders are still ignorant of the way things work in the Middle East.

The SFRC report is titled The Gulf Security Architecture: Partnership with the Gulf Cooperation Council, it is available in PDF form.

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Global Economic War: China cuts back on Rare Earths. Expect your new cell phone to cost more!

20 June 2012, China claims to provide 90% of rare earth minerals to the global high tech industries.  Now they’re holding back.

Rare earths are necessary for the high tech gadgets we have.  U.S. and European officials criticized China saying their mining cut backs will cause prices to skyrocket.

China claims they’re cutting back because the mining operations are causing environmental damage.  But could it be retaliation for the Obama administration recently imposing ridiculously high tariffs on Chinese solar power products?

By the way, the tariffs quite possibly were the final nails in the coffin for Hoku Materials in Pocatello, Idaho, which could have provided hundreds of good paying jobs! Thank you Mr. President!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: Japan government to insure ships carrying Iraninan oil!

On 1 July 2012, the European Union’s sanctions against Iran kick in.  This includes European shipping insurers (who dominate the market) ending insurance on ships carrying Iranian oil.

20 June 2012, the Japanese Diet has passed a law that allows the government to cover Japanese tanker ships transporting oil from Iran.

The law was unanimously passed by the Upper house, and will provide up to $7.6 billion USD in coverage.  Many Japanese insurance companies expressed concern for providing enough insurance due to the warmongering by the U.S. and EU against Iran.

The government insurance policy goes into effect several days before the EU sanctions on 1 July.

Fukushima

One Year Later: TEPCo accepts blame for poor handling of Fukushima Daiichi, but also points finger at incompetent government.

20 June 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) published a thick report concerning the handling of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

It admits three of four damaged reactors (there are six reactors at the facility) actually went into melt down, because of total loss in cooling.

“The report admits that the company’s management of the emergency cooling system, which had been criticized by a government panel, was inadequate.”  However, “The report also blames the government for directly and indirectly interfering with TEPCO’s emergency response efforts. It says government officials disregarded what was actually happening on the ground, causing unnecessary confusion.”-NHK (nippon housou kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

The reactors were supplied by the U.S. company General Electric. The disaster is ongoing!

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Forced re-start of Ohi Nuclear plant backfires; emergency at Reactor 3, missing cooling water! People not told until the day after!

About a week ago the Japanese federal government forced the re-start of the Ohi nuclear power plant.  Prime Minister Noda gave the order, saying “…Japanese society can not survive!” without it.

Now, 20 June 2012, the operators of the Ohi disaster reactors, Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCo) revealed a potentially major problem with Reactor 3, and they didn’t discover it until an alarm sounded when they tried to re-start it!

Reactor 3 has lost cooling water, and KEPCo officials don’t know why.  Just like TEPCo officials at Fukushima Daiichi, they believe the water got out through leaks but so far they can’t find any!

The alarm sounded when the water dropped by 5 centimeters (almost 2 inches).  Doesn’t sound like much but realize the cooling tanks are huge and it could amount to tons of water lost!

People living near the nuclear plant (in their wisdom the Japanese officials allowed nuclear plants to be built near homes, and vice verse) are outraged because they were not told about the problem until 13 hours later.  They were already angry because most of them opposed the re-start.

KEPCo said it did not warn the residents because there is no law in Japan requiring them to do so, in regards to the amount of water lost.

Ohi’s Reactor 4 is also scheduled for re-start.  The reactors at Ohi were supplied by the U.S. company Westinghouse.

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Government admits it was not prepared to handle Fukushima Daiichi! Ignored radiation contamination predictions from United States!

19 June 2012, NHK (nippon housou kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) reporting that a Japanese government ‘white paper’ report on science and technology in 2011, states that the government was not prepared to respond to the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Diiachi.

“…tsunami estimates were too lenient and facilities which had been in place for nuclear safety were ineffective.  It says the way the public was notified about the spread of radioactive substances was inadequate.”-NHK

Also, on 18 June 2012, the Foreign Ministry of Japan revealed that the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) presented a map of the most likely radiation contamination spread from the GE designed reactors.

The Japanese government refused to make the radiation spread map public, until now.

The U.S. DoE map was made using data from 17 March to 19 March 2011. It was supposedly given to the Japanese Science Ministry and the Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency, via the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

“The map shows radiation spreading northwest from the accident site. Parts of the map indicate levels of 125 microsieverts per hour. The figure suggests residents close to the plant were exposed to the annual [yearly] permissible level within 8 hours.“-NHK