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

Government, Corporate & Farmer Incompetence: Cows fed with radioactive hay!

Officials with Fukushima Prefecture announced they found the source contaminating beef cattle: Radioactive hay.

It was initially reported that beef farmers were feeding their cows with feed that was kept indoors.  Turns out they were not.  Farmers admitted that they quickly ran out of feed that was kept indoors, and began feeding the cows hay from outside.

Since people don’t eat hay, no one had tested hay for radiation.  Now they have, and it tested positive for cesium contamination.  The local government safe limit is 300 becquerels per kilogram, the national safe limit is 500.

Officials are still testing local well water.

 

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: TEPCo admits they’ve screwed up on trying to control nuclear plant!

Tokyo Electric Power Company has admitted that the many delays in getting the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuke plant under control, are due to the use of improvised parts and equipment.

TEPCo says they were never prepared for such a disaster, as a result many of the equipment they put together to tackle the problems, are made of material that can not stand up to the job.

TEPCo admitted that many of the leaks that have plagued water decontamination and cooling are caused by the use of hoses that are not meant for the job.

We rarely hear about Reactor 5 (since the reactors of main concern have been 1,2,3 & 4), but it turns out its cooling system was shut down at the beginning of July, because of shoddy improvised hoses/plumbing.  TEPCo will try to install better hoses and re-start cooling operations.

Another reason for the use of shoddy improvised parts and equipment: Tokyo Electric Power Company officials admit they did not understand the severity of the situation at the beginning of the disaster, and thought they would have the nuke plant under control within a few days.  Now they are asking for more time, to get proper parts and equipment to replace the improvised ones.

 

U.S.

Study says relaxation can work almost as good as headache medication, and is cheaper

University of Mississippi researchers say relaxation can work just as good on migraine headaches, as expensive medication.

The study was actually a cost benefit analysis.  Researchers followed people for a year, and compared the cost of prescription medication against professional relaxation services like massage, hypnosis, etc (called minimal contact therapy).

The results were that the minimal contact therapy was just as effective, and $500.00 cheaper.  Some of the patients in the study say they’ve actually cut back on their professional relaxation treatment to just a few times a year, saving even more money.

 

International, U.S.

Deadly European E Coli hits Arizona, Michigan

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that an Arizona man died from the same strain of e.coli that has killed about 50 people in Europe.  The man died last month, after a trip to Germany.

The CDC confirmed six more U.S. citizens are infected.  They all live in Michigan.  Five of them had been in Germany.  There are possible cases in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Massachusetts.

Fukushima

Corporate incompetence: TEPCo stops water decontamination…again

10 July 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company has stopped its water decontamination operation, again.  This time it’s due to chemicals leaking from the system.  The chemicals are used to absorb radiation from the water.

According to NHK, TEPCo is blaming the new leaks on “non-durable” materials used to build the decontamination unit.  Basically they used parts that could not withstand the pressure, radiation and chemicals in the system.

Many reports from Japan have been confusing, because they’ve referred to problems in the ‘cooling’ system, when they mean decontamination system.  This could be because the two systems are interconnected.

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Tokyo officials admit Radioactive beef was sold in markets, can’t find source of contamination!

A couple of days ago Tokyo officials reported that cows from Fukushima Prefecture tested positive for high levels of cesium contamination.  Originally officials said none of the beef was sold in Tokyo markets.  Now they admit radioactive beef was sold.

Beef from a total of 11 cows, from a Minami Soma city farm, were tested.  But it turns out that beef from six cows, from the same farm, were not tested, and were sold in Tokyo and Tochigi markets.

Some of the contaminated beef tested for as much as 3,200 becquerels per kilogram of cesium.  The national safe limit is 500.

Officials from the Fukushima Prefecture have inspected the Minami Soma farm.  They discovered that the cows had been kept indoors, along with their feed.  A skin test on the cows, prior to shipment for slaughter, showed no radiation contamination.   Water for the cows came from a well, testing is being done on the water, as well as the feed.

Officials in Tokyo are now back tracking the shipping route used to deliver the beef.  There are concerns that somewhere along the route the beef became contaminated.  It’s also possible that the beef became contaminated during the butchering process.  This could mean that extremely high levels of cesium are being emitted, probably from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

International

Pacific Ring of Fire: Japan hit by another 7+ earthquake

July 10, a 7.3 quake hit the same area that experienced a 9.0 quake on March 11.

Two meter high (6.4 feet) waves were seen on the coasts of Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures.

Officials with Japan’s Meteorological Agency say this latest aftershock resulted from the Pacific Plate shifting horizontally.  They believe more aftershocks in the 7 range could occur, into next year.

International

UN caused Cholera epidemic continues to kill in Haiti & Dominican Republic

A United Nations caused cholera epidemic, is still killing people in Haiti and Dominican Republic.

Last week nine people, in the Dominican Republic, died, bringing the total to 71.  The first Dominican Republic case was discovered in November 2010.

But that’s nothing compared to what’s happening in Haiti.

Neighboring Haiti was swept with cholera, starting in October 2010.  As of March 2011 nearly 5,000 people have died, and more than 200,000 are infected.

Health officials working in Haiti say the United Nations grossly underestimated the seriousness of the epidemic: “It is going to be larger than predicted in terms of sheer numbers and will last far longer than the initial projections.”-Dr Sanjay Basu

In fact, Doctor Basu predicts that if conditions don’t improve soon, more than 11,000 Hatians will die by the end of 2011.

Investigations by the UN revealed that UN Peacekeeping troops from Nepal spread the disease due to the unsanitary way they kept their camp ground.

Business/Economics, International

Another reason the housing market bubble in China could burst: New Income Tax Laws

Recently the Chinese government changed income tax laws, to help low income workers keep more of their money.  The new law increased the number of workers who don’t have to file income tax.

The Chinese real estate industry is now warning that could reduce property sales.

In China you must have official papers declaring you a permanent resident of the area you want to buy property in.  If you don’t have such paperwork, you can use your income tax filing to show that you work in that area.  The problem with the new tax law is that it will reduce the number of migrant workers who would’ve had those tax records to use to buy a home with.

A Beijing realtor says the new tax law will reduce the number of qualified migrants, in his area, by more than 90%.

This comes after the Chinese government ordered banks to tighten mortgage lending by either increasing down payments, or increasing mortgage interest rates.

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Japanese beef contaminated with Cesium!

Tokyo officials say they found beef, shipped in from Fukushima Prefecture, is contaminated with high levels of cesium.

On 08 July 2011 the beef tested positive for 2,300 becquerels per kilogram of cesium, the national safe limit is 500 becquerels per kilogram.

The beef came from cows raised in Minami Souma, in Fukushima Prefecture.

Japan’s Health Ministry says this is the first time such high levels of radiation showed up in beef.  They are now requesting the six prefectures around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, to increase testing their cows for radiation.