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, U.S.

Red & White Horse: Iran says Western sources behind lies about Iran sending troops to Syria. Russia says Syrian people caught in the middle of game of conquest by the West. Gingrich behind the curve, Western forces already in Syria!

Russian media claim a Chinese newspaper has published an article that says Iran is sending 15,000 troops to Syria.

The Russians asked several Iranian university and media officials about this: “As far as I know there is not and will not be any program to dispatch Iranian military troops to Syria.”- Reza Moghadasi, Mehr News

“Iran has no troops in the country. Iran has never had troops involved in the problems within Syria. Someone in the Chinese media has been receiving information that is completely false.”-Seyed Mohammad Marandi, University of Tehran

But, so far, there has been no comment from Iranian government leaders.

Despite some U.S. Republican pining over covert military action in Syria, an Israeli military intelligence source (called DEBKAfile) a has already confirmed that indeed, Western and Qatari military forces are already in Syria, helping the Free Syrian Army.

Russian government leaders are accusing the U.S. and Europe of using the Syrian people as pawns in their game of world conquest: “This is a global game; this is about geo-political and geo-economic interests and unfortunately countries like Syria are being held hostage for the geo-political and geo-economic interests of Western countries.”-Konstantin Kosachev, State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee

Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other.

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

Business/Economics, International

Occupy Belgium! Firefighters attack riot police! So much for the new government in Belgium!

Belgium went more than a year without a government, 2010-2011, and there was little civil strife.  Now that Belgium has a government almost everyone is striking, including firefighters.

Firefighters went on strike because the new government wants to destroy their retirement program.  Riot police were called out, but the firefighters had planned ahead.  On February 10, they had their pumper trucks ready to go and hit the police with high pressure water, and even fire extinguishers.

Watch the fun video on RT.  The firefighters broke through police barricades and soaked the Belgian Prime Minister’s office!  Belgium is the first European country to officially go into a double dip recession.

Business/Economics, Technology, U.S.

75% reduction in Alzheimer’s, thank Vitamin A

“This is a particularly exciting and rewarding study because of the new science we have discovered and the potential promise of a therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. Our next objective is to ascertain if it acts similarly in humans.”–Gary Landreth, Case Western Reserve University

Research into a cancer drug called Bexarotene is showing promise as a treatment for Alzheimer’s.   Bexarotene is a retinoid, a chemical related to vitamin A.

Researchers used the retinoid on lab mice with laboratory induced Alzheimer’s.  Alzheimer’s is believed to be caused by plaque build up on the brain.  Amazingly when the mice were given Bexarotene, there was an immediate clearing of plaque that lasted for three days.  The result was up to a 75% reduction in plaque.

They hope to test the drug on humans soon.

Influenza

China says Influenza B still preventable with flu shots

The UN’s World Health Organization recently said China was being hit with influenza B.  On February 8, officials with the Chinese National Influenza Center said their research shows the current flu B is still preventable with flu shots.

Officials said that the current B strain has not mutated to a drug resistant form. They also said that the number of cases in China are at “acceptable” levels.

Influenza B affects humans and seals, and is not in the same family as influenza A (which includes swine flu).

International

World’s heaviest Cricket found in New Zealand

A former park ranger in New Zealand spent two days looking for a Weta.

There are at least 70 types of weta on New Zealand. Most look like big wind scorpions, or gigantis potato bugs, but the one found by the former park ranger looks like a giant cricket.

The one he found is considered the heaviest insect.  At 71 grams it weighs more than a sparrow, and is three times heavier than a mouse!

He took pictures of it sitting in his hand, eating a large carrot.

Kit Bashing, Technology

Kit Bashing: Iran to display life size model of U.S. Stealth Drone, sends Obama a smaller hot pink version

Iranian media reports that a full scale model of the U.S. RQ-170 stealth drone will be used in upcoming parades celebrating the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Also, Reuters reporting that Iranian officials answered U.S. President Barack Obama’s demands to have the drone sent back to the U.S., by sending him a small hot pink model of the drone instead.

The model sent to Obama is said to have an inscription that reads “we will step on the United States”.

The Iranians say the toy stealth drone is selling like hot cakes in Iran, at $4 per model, they will be sending Obama his toy model via the Swiss embassy: “We made the ‘RQ’ in pink as it is Mr. Obama’s favorite color and we will send it to him via the Swiss embassy.”-Seyyed Saeed Hassan-pour, Aaye Company (they make the toy model)

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

What Economic Recovery? The maker of the world’s first digital camera, Kodak, will make cameras no more

Eastman Kodak, a U.S. pioneer in camera and film production since 1880, and the first company to make a digital camera, will no longer make cameras of any kind.

Kodak went bankrupt in January 2012.  At least 400 employees in New York will lose their jobs.  The company will focus on its lagging printer brand (ranked sixth place in the U.S. market).

Kodak officials say they will still sell cameras, they just won’t be the ones making them.

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Forget Greece, Japan in deeper debt, analysts call for action now. Things to get worse in 3 to 4 years!

Forget the European Union crisis, Japan’s sovereign debt (such as government bonds) is now almost double that of Italy, and more than Greece.  Some analysts say there is not enough money in Japan to pay the debt.

NHK interviewed two Japanese economic/finance analysts.  One, Hiromichi Shirakawa, of Credit Suisse, said Japan’s economic problems are not cyclic, but structural.  This means there is something inherently wrong with Japan’s economic/finance system, and if not dealt with now things will get even worse in three to four years.

The other analyst, Yasunari Ueno, of Mizuho Securities, said Japan’s government needs to implement “total fiscal reforms” now!

International, U.S.

2009 Greek study says new strain of H3N2 is drug resistant! U.S. CDC says anti-flu drugs no longer work!

The European Union’s Eurosurveillance published a report in 2009, about Greece’s efforts to combat flu viruses: “Greece is a known crossroads among three continents (Europe, Asia, Africa) through which resistant strains can spread.”

From 2004 to 2008, Greek researchers looked at how the various viruses reacted to available anti-viral drugs.  Anti-viral drugs work mainly by attacking protein cells.  In flu viruses the specific proteins are called “M2”.  However, they are only effective in the early stages of infection.

For those of us who don’t like reliance on petroleum products, some anti-virals (like the now ineffective adamantanes) are based on petroleum hydrocarbons.

The Greek study concluded that current flu viruses have become resistant to most anti-viral drugs, precisely because the drugs were being used so much: “Resistance to M2 inhibitors first appeared following extensive drug use in Asia and the U.S. after the SARS epidemic in 2004. The worldwide spread of these resistant strains occurred through replacement of sensitive with resistant viruses, probably because of other selective advantages of the resistant strains connected to other genes than M2.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backs the Greek study up. After studying the 2009 flu epidemic in the U.S. the CDC concluded that the viruses are now drug resistant!

 

Influenza

WHO says H3N2 will dominate this year’s flu season, Romania & Sweden at Epidemic levels!

On February 3, 2012, the UN’s World Health Organization said the new strain of H3N2 will dominate the 2011/2012 flu season.  This came after 1.74 million Japanese were infected in January.

The WHO said notable increases in flu cases are expected in North America, Europe and northern China.

The dominant flu is H3N2 (a type of influenza A, aka swine flu).  But Mexico is still being hit by H1N1 (also a type of swine flu), and China is dealing with influenza B (a type of virus that infects humans and seals).

Canada is seeing a steady increase in H3N2 cases.  The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control is reporting increases in H3N2 cases in Bulgaria, Iceland, Italy and Spain.  Romania and Sweden are now at epidemic levels.