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.
Fukushima

Global Food Crisis: 80% of damaged Japanese farmland unusable in 2012!

The Japanese government announced that it hopes to restore farmland damaged by salt contamination, caused by the March tsunamis.  However, only 20% will be restored in 2012, leaving 80% unusable.

Most of that farmland is in Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures.  Those prefectures make up one of the largest agricultural areas of Japan.  About 20,500 hectares (50,656 acres) were destroyed by the sea salt.

The Agriculture Ministry says it will take at least three years to restore the farmland, and that does not count the land in highly radioactive areas around the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

It’s interesting that the earthquake, tsunamis and ongoing nuclear disaster hit one of Japan’s biggest areas for agriculture and fishing.

 

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

What Economic Recovery? More trouble for Idaho’s Hoku polysilicon factory, looks more and more like the deal is off!

“If service is terminated, these high value systems may freeze, causing irreparable and material damage to Hoku’s plant assets. Any damage would need to be repaired, at additional cost, prior to continuing with the commissioning and operation of the plant.”-Hoku Corporation complaint to Idaho Public Utilities Commision

“The fact of the matter is, Hoku has missed a payment it owes to Idaho Power and has failed to provide….any assurance that such a payment will be forthcoming. Idaho Power has concerns that if the commission allows the Hoku complaint to run the usual course….Hoku could potentially become millions of dollars delinquent in amounts it owes.”-Idaho Power response

Pocatello, Idaho’s, polysilcon factory, run by Hoku Materials (which is a subsidiary of Hoku Corporation, which is 60% owned by China’s Tianwei New Energy Holdings Company Limited) has run into trouble with Idaho Power, again.

Hoku failed to pay its electric bill, and Idaho Power says it will discontinue service.  Hoku was served with the disconnect notice on December 22.  This is not the first time Hoku has had trouble with their electric bill.

Earlier this month, Chinese media reported that Hoku had started operations, but now it’s clear that was just wishful thinking by Tianwei New Energy Holdings Company Limited.  The Chinese claim was based on Hoku CEO Scott Paul saying things were ready to go back on November 21.

This just adds to the ever growing problems with Hoku:  Their CFO resigned, they lost nearly $8 million in their last reporting quarter, they had to sell majority shares to Chinese companies (as well as take Chinese loans) to raise enough money to finish construction of their factory, and the ongoing tit for tat trade war between the U.S. and China (involving U.S. made polysilicon and Chinese made photo voltaic products) could mean curtains for a company that has hundreds of people in the Chubbuck/Pocatello area hoping to get a job with Hoku.

GLOBAL ECONOMIC WAR: IDAHO POLYSILCON PRODUCER, HOKU, QUIETLY STARTS OPERATIONS,  LOSES MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AGAIN

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Corporate Evil: Sears & Kmart connected to Romney’s Bain Capital! Bain Capital working with Carlyle Group!

News reports have been revealing that the Mitt Romney co-founded Bain Capital (and its affiliates) are behind many of the huge job layoffs in the United States, since the late 1980s.

Turns out that Bain Capital could be involved with the problems at Sears and Kmart!!!

In 2005, Vornado Realty Trust bought 7.5 million shares of Sears Canada. Vornado was also involved with Bain Capital in taking over Toys “R” Us, which  took over KB Toys resulting in 3,400 jobs lost.

Vornado also backed the take over of Sears by Kmart in 2005, leading to the creation of Sears Holdings Corporation.

Part of the recent list of Sears/Kmart store closings showed that several Sears stores were being converted into Kmart stores.  Is this just a Bain Capital inspired conspiracy to shut down Sears?

In another posting I showed how the demise of KB Toys, and the take over of Toys “R” Us, were part of the Mitt Romney style of ‘investing’ which results in net job losses.

In the early 1990s, Bain Capital, along with a company called Acadia Partners, bought the Coldwell Banker subsidiary from Sears.

Here’s the scary thing. In the short time I researched Romney’s creation, Bain Capital, it became clear that the so called investment company is involved in almost every corporation in the United States!

Bain Capital, along with dozens of other so called investment companies (including the infamous Carlyle Group) are systematically taking over and shutting down businesses in the United States.  Those shut downs are not based on the true performance of those companies, but on the personal desires of those involved in the so called investment companies (as I tried to explain in a previous posting). And it’s all about the money.

Of interest is the fact that Bain Capital’s 13F-HR filing, for June 2011, shows that it owns stocks in only five companies!  Their 13F-HR statement says those five companies make up 100% of their stock holdings. Pretty pathetic for such a prolific investment company!

Political Incompetence & Corporate Evil: CHRISTIAN/MORMON MITT ROMNEY CO-FOUNDED BAIN CAPITAL, WHICH HAS BEEN DESTROYING JOBS SINCE 1984! DESTROYED JOBS IN CHUBBUCK, IDAHO. DEMISE OF KB TOYS CONNECTED TO TOYS “R” US

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

Political Incompetence & Corporate Evil: Christian/Mormon Mitt Romney co-founded Bain Capital, which has been destroying jobs since 1984! Destroyed jobs in Chubbuck, Idaho. Demise of KB Toys connected to Toys “R” Us

“Mitt Romney’s history at Bain Capital is not going to help his image as a job creator.  Now, we want to disclose that NBC Universal and Bain Capital are each a part owner of the Weather Channel.  Bain Capital’s main business model is buying companies like American Pad and Paper and restructuring [industry code for ‘slash and burn’] them.  In many instances, Bain turned a profit by strip mining these companies.  American,  AMPAD is what it’s known, the stock was driven down [on purpose by Romney, I explain a little further in the article] and the company went bankrupt.  They fired hundreds of workers along the way.”-Ed Shultz, MSNBC

MSNBC is admitting that a company affiliated with NBC, Bain Capital  co-founded by Mitt Romney, has been destroying jobs, not creating jobs as Romney claims.

In 1984 Romney co-founded Bain Capital, which grew out of Bain & Company.  The soul purpose of the company is to buy out other companies, then gut them and sell them off piece by piece. Of course this means jobs are destroyed.

Interestingly, back in October, MSNBC’s Ed Shultz actually downplayed Romney’s connection to Bain Capital.  He and some of his guests, stated that a photo published in the Boston Globe was fake: “…it’s probablly a joke photo.”

Now Ed Shultz is backpedaling.  He, along with other MSNBC anchors and reporters, are revealing that Bain Capital has been behind many of the job loses in this country since the late 1980s!

The New York Times reported that Romney left Bain Capital in 1999, but, as part of his ‘retirement package’ is making money off their continued slashing and burning of U.S. jobs.  According to the article, Romney, 13 years after leaving Bain Capital, is still making millions of dollars off his retirement package!

old kb toys pine ridge mall

Former location of KB Toys, Pine Ridge Mall, Chubbuck, Idaho

Anybody remember KB Toys? I do. I was an employee of the Chubbuck, Idaho, Pine Ridge Mall at the time they closed down the KB Toys store in that mall. By 2004 KB Toys went bankrupt and 3,400 people lost their jobs! Guess what, one of Bain Capital’s affiliated companies was behind that!!!

pine ridge mall

Fading Pine Ridge Mall, Chubbuck, Idaho

Oh, and what about Romney’s connection to Massachusetts? Romney ‘retired’ from Bain Capital in 1999.  The Bain Capital partnership took over KB Toys in 2000.  KB Toys is headquartered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Romney became governor of Massachusetts in 2002.  In 2003 the Bain Capital partnership started shutting down KB Toys stores. Mmmm, connection?

Here are some more examples of deals that resulted in job losses at the hands of Romney’s Bain Capital (and affiliated companies like Holson Burnes Group): Clear Channel Communications, 2,500 job cuts.

Photo album factory in South Carolina, 150 jobs lost.

Sensata Technologies, a European company with U.S. operations, several hundred U.S. employees lost their jobs.

American Pad & Paper, or AMPAD, lost 185 jobs.

The case of AMPAD reveals how Romney’s Bain Capital works.  They buy up companies in the same market, then they whittle them down until there is only one or two in the market, who then become big money makers by default.  AMPAD’s competitor was Staples. Romney touts Staples as a good example of his management skills, but what the Boston Globe found out (and reported in a 2007 article) is that Romney simply bought out competitors and shut them down until Staples was just about the only game left in town.

Now how about the KB Toys deal? KB Toys and Toys “R” Us were the top toy stores in the United States.  A company connected to Bain Capital buys out KB Toys and shuts them down.  What about Toys “R” Us? Yes there’s a Bain Capital connection.  In 2005, one year after the KB Toys bankruptcy, Toys “R” Us was taken over by KKR Group, Vornado Realty Trust and Bain Capital for $6.6 billion!  In 2009 Toys “R” Us takes over what is left of KB Toys; website, trademarks, and intellectual property rights.  Mmmm, you seeing the pattern?

This goes against the principle of the free hand of capitalist competition.  The jobs lost because companies went out of business were not actually due to any ‘poor’ performance of the employees, or lack of sales, but because the ‘investors’ Romney & Co wanted it that way!

Also, Bain Capital works the same way the rest of Corporate America does, they don’t use their own money to take over companies, they take out huge loans from the too big to fail banks that got taxpayer bailouts!

One report said Romney’s “investments” have resulted in at least 12,000 U.S. jobs lost!  It’s probably more than that, the way Bain Capital and affiliated companies shut down businesses does not result in net jobs gained, but net jobs lost!  Anybody remember Oliver Stone’s 1987 movie Wall Street?

Opinion: MITT ROMNEY CONSTITUTIONALLY INCOMPETENT. RELIGION BASED MARRIAGE LAW WILL VIOLATE CONSTITUTION.

Washington DC BS: MITT’S MYSTERY MONEY NOT EXPLAINED BY LATEST ADMISSIONS

Fukushima

Government Incompetence & What Economic Recovery? Think your taxes are bad here in the U.S.? Try 45% income tax and 10% sales tax, welcome to Japan!

The Japanese government is about to raise taxes on its already struggling population.  This after Japanese unemployment hit record high levels.

The national government is pushing for an increase in income tax, from the current 40% to 45%!  They want to push their low national sales tax from the current 5% to 10% by October 2015 (still low by European standards).

The reason is to raise money to help pay for reconstruction of areas hit by the quake/tsunami, and to help with deal with the ongoing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.  I suspect that in the long run these tax hikes will only reduce consumer spending, helping to drive even more Japanese businesses away from Japan (that’s the reason for their record high unemployment).

The national government (the Diet) will vote on the tax reform plans after March 2012.

Fukushima

Global Food Crisis and Government & Corporate Incompetence: Fish catch down 70% off the coast of Fukushima, U.S. FDA misleads!

Fish catches, off the coast lines of Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures, is down 70%.  That’s from the beginning of April 2011 to the beginning of October 2011, compared to the same time last year.

Those three prefectures are the main fishing grounds for the local Japanese fishing industry.

The reasons are a combination of tsunami damage to ports (especially Miyagi, which was literally wiped out), and radiation contamination caused by Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.  Most fishermen had voluntarily stopped fishing over radiation concerns, but some continued to fish, only to find out a lot of their catch was contaminated after it arrived at fish markets.

Contrary to the reassuring statements on the U.S. FDA website, there is no standardized Japanese government testing of fish (or any food product) for radiation contamination. Most contamination was (and still is being) found by private citizens groups, or local governments who acted on their own volition.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Health insurance rates in Idaho could go up more than 10%, thank you ObamaCare

Two insurance companies, that are part of Milwaukee based Assurant Health, have notified that Idaho Department of Insurance, that they will jack up rates by more than 10% in 2012.

Those two operations are John Alden Life Insurance and Time Insurance.  They’ve both filed rate increases of 13%!

This is part of the 2010 health care reforms, commonly known as ObamaCare.  Under the reforms an insurance plan that went into effect after September 1, can be subject to such rate increases.

The 2010 reforms actually allow insurance companies to jack up their rates as long as they can make a convincing case.  Some of the many accepted excuses are age and if you smoke.  Now how is that supposed to keep costs to consumers down?

To find out if your insurance plan (if you even have one) is jacking up your rates you can check companyprofiles.healthcare.gov.

 

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/12/29/1932970/2-idaho-health-insurers-file-rate.html#storylink=cpy

Business/Economics, Technology, U.S.

Corporate Incompetence: Verizon will charge you $2 extra when you pay your wireless bill, blame the too big to fail banks

Beginning January 15, 2012, Verizon will charge you and extra $2 when you pay your wireless bill over the phone or online using a debit or credit card.

You can avoid the charge by using an e-check, or signing up for AutoPay.

Verizon officials say the charge is to make up for what they are charged by the credit and debit card companies (that’s right, businesses get charged fees every time you use a credit or debit card).

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Sears post partial list of store closings. Idaho, Oregon, Colorado & Washington makes the list

It’s only been two days since Sears Holdings announced they were closing up to 120 Sears and Kmart stores, and now they have named 79 of those stores.

I already explained why their Chubbuck and Pocatello, Idaho stores could be closed.

Sears store in Lewiston Center Mall, Lewiston, Idaho, makes this initial list of 79 closings.  The list does not provide details on any timeline for closing.

Some regional media sources have stated that other stores in the area “escaped” the list, however the list is only 79 of as many as 120 total closings (and it could be more).

Other Pacific Northwest Sears stores that made this early list are in Roseburg, Oregon, Longmont, Colorado and Walla Walla, Washington.  Also, the Kmarts in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and Spokane, Washington will be closed.

Also, a Sears store in Denver, Colorado, that was formerly a Kmart store, will be converted back into a Kmart store.

You can find out more by going to www.searsholdings.com and looking under their media tools section.

 

International, U.S.

Scotland moving fast towards independence from England, independence from NATO, could join Nordic Alliance, yet still be led by the Queen? The Royal Nordic Alliance is a revival of the Hanseatic League, and they’ve got big plans!

“The Scottish Government will of course publish a white paper in advance of the referendum, detailing independence, including the new relationship of equality with England, such as the Queen remaining as our head of state, and this will be the positive platform for Scotland’s future that people will be asked to approve.”-Scottish government statement

In an article found in the Scotsman, Scottish officials are working fast on legislation that would not only free them from the English tyranny but create their own military force.

Plans could also include leaving NATO in favor of a military partnership with the recently created Nordic Alliance. The Nordic Alliance is currently made up of Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

Despite what some bloggers say about Scotland not being Nordic, a check of Scottish history proves a direct connection with Nordic peoples (and lets not forget the even older pan-European Celtic peoples).

However, it’s now clear that while Scotland wants independence from England, it does still want to be part of the Monarchy. I don’t base that on just the official Scottish government statement, but the fact is that the current members of the Nordic Alliance are monarchies, with direct ties to the Queen of England.

So much for Scottish Independence.  In fact, this whole “independence” movement in Scotland could just be part of bigger plans to create a grand Royal Nordic Alliance, with the Queen of England in charge.

According to the HeraldScotland it’s all about money and control. Their article calls it a Scottish-Nordic financial institution that will eventually include Scotland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and possibly  Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.  These regions were all part of the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages.

This new Nordic Alliance is part of an anti-government, pro-privatization (pro-business, modern day feudalism) movement:  “…the public sector is failing to engage with this [business, private] sector when it comes to procurement. There is also a serious funding gap, both the difficulty of obtaining ‘micro’ credit from banks and the total absence of any ‘microinvestment mechanism’.”-Anne-Grethe Eckman, Nordic Enterprise Trust

Supporters of the Nordic Alliance movement claim they are doing this for the good of small/micro businesses. They point to the fact that governments seem only interested in helping big businesses. That sounds good, but the major problem I have is the connection of the Nordic Alliance to the monarchies of northern Europe, like the Queen of England. History shows that the little guy always suffers by the hands of Royalty.

I also wonder if this Nordic Alliance movement is also part of a conspiracy to take down the European Union and replace it with a more corporate/private sector centered system.  (research Club of Rome, Trilateral Commission and Bilderberg)