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, U.S.

Quotes from the front line of unemployment

In June, the average amount of time a person is unemployed reached a record 39.9 weeks.

“We have had many, many months to stimulate this economy and still not seeing businesses hire, it’s a real concern.”-Frank Davis, LEK Securities

“I send out 50 to 60 resumes a week. Nobody ever gets back to you.”-Rob Attanasio, unemployed more than one year

“I feel washed out from the statistics, in terms of not being heard, in terms of the energy that it has taken for me to keep trying to find work. I don’t feel like I’m even on the radar screen in Washington.”-N. David Cooper, unemployed more than one year

“I’ve had nightmares about my family living on the street.”-Said Nasser, unemployed more than one year

“What we’re seeing here is a sort of settling into the reality of where things are, maybe not holding out as much hope as they once held out that there’s going to be a big recovery, and all of it is going to come back. Instead, people are looking around and saying, ‘Maybe this is going to be what it’s going to be.'”-Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor.com

“Your hope soars when you snag a job interview; then it’s dashed when there’s no job offer. Repeat this over and over again and you start to feel like it’s better not to get your hopes up.”-Fran Hopkins, unemployed more than one year

“It’s very hard when you’re over 60. Nobody wants us. We’ve just been leaving resumes, that’s it. You get no reply.”-Mary Kadin, unemployed since April 2011

 

Business/Economics, Opinion, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Mainstream Media Experts get it wrong, again. Job creation predictions way off

“Today, companies are producing more goods and services than ever before. The economy is able to do that with 7 million fewer workers. If we can do so much with so much less, where is the incentive to hire?”-Bernard Baumohl,  The Economic Outlook Group

For the past few days the stock markets have been going up (mainly those reported by the Dow Jones).  Some mainstream U.S. media outlets were saying it’s because of good jobs data.  It turns out their claims of good jobs data was based solely on “expert” economists, who were just plain guessing (like always).

Today, July 8, the U.S. Department of Labor released the official job hiring numbers for June, and boy are the “expert” economists way off.  The mainstream media had been reporting that “expert” economists predicted 120,000 people would be hired in June.  The actual number of people hired…18,000.   That’s a big difference.  It’s also clear proof that the U.S. economy is not recovering.

The job creation number is a “net” number, meaning it’s what’s left over after you subtract the number of people who lost jobs.  Another way to say it is that corporate america fired way more people than they hired.  And this has been going on for years now.

“We are backsliding. The chances are that we go into another recession or we muddle along at technical growth, but actually making no improvements as far as Main Street goes. The chance of one of those things happening is extremely high.”-Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute

How bad is the unemployment situation?  Officially 7 million people lost their jobs as a direct result of the credit crisis, which started in 2007/2008.  Today, officially there is still 6.3 million people with no jobs!   And by “officially” I mean those people who’re still counted by state and federal unemployment agencies, there are potentially millions who’re no longer counted.

If you notice I used two quotes from economist who seem to know what’s really going on.  I see many reports and comments from such economists, yet the mainstream U.S. media always goes with the “experts” who always get it wrong.

Why would the mainstream U.S. media continue to report faulty data?  Could it be because the mainstream U.S. media is not only traded on the stock markets, but is actually invested in the stock markets, so basically they’re scamming potential investors to give up their money to the biggest casino in the world, The Stock Market?

There are also those who believe the mainstream U.S. media is doing the bidding of the Federal government, in trying to make things look better than they really are, to try and prevent mass civil disobedience (like what’s happening in some European countries).

In any event, it is clear that you can’t rely on the mainstream U.S. media for “facts” about our economy.  And you can not use the stock market as a gauge for the performance of our economy.

The fact that 6.3 million people are still officially out of work, shows that after three years of promises about improving our economy, and claims that the recession is over, absolutely nothing has improved and many “Main Streeters” think we’re heading into a Depression.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

New York takes over Germany, the real reason the stock market is going up

U.S. media reported that the continued increase in the New York Stock Exchange (reported by the Dow Jones) is because of good economic data, like better than expected job numbers.

Monthly unemployment numbers are still over 400,000, and many economists have repeatedly stated that it needs to drop below 400,000, for several months in a row, to be considered a “good” sign.

Could the real reason be that the NYSE (aka NYSE Euronext) was just approved, by shareholders, to take over one of Germany’s stock markets: Deutsche Boerse AG.

The take over still needs approval of Deutsche Boerse shareholders.

This seems to be a more likely reason for the upswing in the NYSE trades, because Germany is the only economic powerhouse left in the European Union, thanks to its many trade deals with China.

According to the NYSE website, “…NYSE Euronext’s equities markets include the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext, NYSE Amex, NYSE Alternext and NYSE Arca.  NYSE Euronext also operates NYSE Liffe, a European derivatives business.”

The Dow Jones is a stock market index, which includes the NYSE Euronext trades in its daily reporting.

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Chinese credit crunch could burst Chinese housing market bubble

In an effort to fight inflation the Chinese government recently ordered banks to tighten their grip on the money supply.  One way is to cut back on loans.

The China Construction Bank announced they will increase down payments on homes, for first time buyers, to 40% of the purchase price.  The Chinese banks were told to either raise the amount of down payments, or increase interest rates on mortgages.  This could pop China’s housing market bubble.

International, U.S.

100 Iraqi politicians sign letter of warning, the U.S. better leave or else

Despite repeated public statements, protests and even attacks against U.S. troops, U.S. officials are still haranguing the Iraqi Prime Minister about letting them stay.

U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen admitted that his staff is having a hard time convincing the Iraqi officials that the United States should stay past their agreed upon withdraw date.  The U.S. is now taking the stand that Iraq has serious security gaps, that only the U.S. can fill.

In response to the continued efforts of the Obama administration to renege on the promised withdraw date, 100 Iraqi lawmakers signed a letter of warning, which basically said if the U.S. gets its way all hell will break loose in Iraq, with the focus of that hell upon U.S. forces.

 

 

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Japanese nuclear plant operator lies about plant safety, gets caught!

In Japan, the restart of the Genkai nuclear power plant has been put on hold, after a whistler blower revealed that the company boss ordered false statements about the plant’s safety.

Operator Kyushu Electric Power Company got the go ahead to restart the nuclear plant, located in Saga prefecture, after a public meeting in which email testimonies were read in favor of restarting the plant.  Those emails, supposedly from independent observers, and even affiliates of KEPCo, turned out to be lies.

Saga is located many hundreds of miles from Fukushima, on the southern island of Kyushu.

It’s been revealed that the boss of KEPCo ordered false emails to be sent to the public hearing, in order to win approval for restart.

Now local officials will wait until the central Japanese government completes its new stress tests, before giving the go ahead for restart.

 

International, Technology

Brushing your teeth can get you pregnant

“Our data suggest that the presence of periodontal disease is a modifiable risk factor, which can increase a woman’s time to conception, particularly for non-Caucasians.”-Roger Hart, University of Western Australia.

An Australian study links clean teeth to increased birth rates.  3,416 women were tracked, and the results suggest that bad oral hygiene in Caucasian women delayed their ability to get pregnant by two months.

The study might be “racist”, but it concluded that non-Caucasian women with gum disease took a full year to get pregnant.

Previous studies have also concluded that men with dirty mouths have a hard time getting women pregnant.  I don’t know how serious we should take these studies, because other studies have linked dirty mouths to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even respiratory problems.

 

International

Studies say cutting back on salt does not reduce death rates

“Cutting down on the amount of salt has no clear benefits in terms of likelihood of dying or experiencing cardiovascular disease.”-Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

No fewer than seven international studies have concluded that reducing salt in your diet does not reduce the chance of death.

A moderately low salt diet might reduce your blood pressure, but there is no evidence it will prolong your life.  However, there is evidence that people who have congestive heart failure might increase there chance of death with a low salt diet.

This makes sense to me, because salt, along with potassium, helps prevent your muscles from cramping.  Your heart is a muscle.

The studies looked at 6,000 people.  Researchers admit they need to do more detailed studies, like looking at cardiovascular morbidity in people with normal or high blood pressure.

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: More Japanese tea farms contaminated with Cesium!

Another tea growing prefecture is now contaminated with dangerous levels of cesium.  Tochigi prefectural government says 1,810 becquerels per kilogram of cesium is contaminating the harvest, piked earlier this week.

The levels are three times the safe limits set by the Tochigi government.  Tochigi Prefecture is 160 kilometers (99.4 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

This latest prefecture is part of a growing list of prefectures that have stopped tea shipments because of cesium.  Others include Chiba, Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures. Shizuoka is Japan’s largest tea producer.

International, Opinion, U.S.

Paranoia about terrorism out of control in the U.S., or is the TSA run by a bunch of sicko perverts? Butt Bomb Implants?

The Transportation Security Administration says they are concerned about terrorists going to the ridiculous trouble of surgically implanting bombs in their bodies.

Of course the TSA says the latest full body scanners can’t detect such things, so they’ll have to resort to even more invasive pat downs, or other means of checking you out.

TSA officials admit there is no evidence that terrorists are planning such an inefficient way to blow things up.

Think about it, the cost of implanting a bomb inside yourself go against one of the standards of terrorists, that is to do things as cheaply as possible.  Why not spend the money on a shoulder launched guided anti-aircraft missile?  Also, you couldn’t send the terrorist in to do the job right away, because of recovery time from surgery.  And if the surgeon is not the best in the world at stitching, the scar from the surgery is a dead giveaway, no need for more invasive pat downs.

One report says TSA officials think terrorists would implant bombs in their butt!  Hey buddy, what’s that bulging from your butt?  Why the big ass scar on your butt?  Oh, officer I just had butt implants done in Hollywood, I’m gonna be a big shooting star.  Yeah right!  Butt bomb implants?  Doc, now that I have a bomb in my butt can I sit down?  I suggest keeping off your butt until it’s time to blow up the plane.  Well that’s simple, TSA agents just have to watch for the person who refuses to sit down.

TSA officials also say women could put bombs in their boobs!  Excuse me ma’am but your boobs are oddly shaped, I’m gonna have to cop a feel. By the way, one bomb “expert” in Colorado said the detonator for a boob bomb would be under the boob, so if someone presses down…BOOM!  The next time you check out the scars on that porn star’s boobs it might not be silicone in there. Especially if it’s an evil Muslim porn star, you know those Muslim women like to put bombs in their boobs.  It’d have to bee a woman who hates wearing bras, ’cause you might set it off just by putting on your bra, if that “expert” in Colorado is correct.

Here’s another inefficiency in body bombs: Another report said that the body bombs would have to be set off by the terrorist using a large syringe to inject a chemical into the bomb to make it explode.  How does the terrorist get through security with a large syringe of fluid?  Also, how would passengers on a plane, or bus, or train react if they saw someone whip out a huge syringe and jab it into themselves?  If they jab their stomach passengers might think, oh diabetic.  But what if they jab their boobs, or bend over awkwardly and jab their ass?  Still, how’d they get through security with a syringe?

Reality check: Terrorists don’t have to blow up the plane, or bus, or train or whatever.  They can just blow up the TSA checkpoint, or the TSA agents doing a random check in a random location, it’ll still have the same affect.  Look at what anti-abortion terrorists have done; place bombs in trash dumpsters to take out emergency responders, who where responding to the shooting of people who where trying to go into the abortion clinics.  Simple things like that is how most terrorists think, not “I’m gonna put a bomb in my butt/boobs, wait several weeks while I heal up, then try to get on a plane by going through a security checkpoint designed to find bombs.”

Remember, there is no evidence of such a butt/boob bomb plot.  Officials can only point to a British intelligence report that speculates that terrorists might implant bombs into their bodies.  Anybody remember the last time the U.S. went along with British intelligence?  It was the months leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.  Since then all “intelligence” from the British, about Saddam Hussein and Iraq, have been proven to be faulty or even made up.

A retired FBI bomb expert said body bombs are totally impractical: “While possible, it is much less likely to work than other scenarios. There are more practical ways of doing it.”-Leo West

Apparently President Obama supports the TSA’s latest claims, his spokesman Jay Carney, said that the U.S. must continue to evolve ways to search for terrorists and their bombs.

I think the TSA is run by a bunch of perverts, who’re looking for any excuse to exercise a Homeland Security grope fest on your ass and boobs.