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 Incompetence: Japanese government focusing all resources on Fukushima, is this a case of too little too late?

Almost four months after the world’s worst nuclear accident, is the Japanese government finally taking serious action in Fukushima Prefecture?

On 04 July 2011, the Japanese government announced they will take over all radiation monitoring in Fukushima, including the monitoring being done by Tokyo Electric Power Company.

This comes after growing complaints by residents of Fukushima Prefecture, that the government wasn’t doing enough.  Already several cities have begun their own decontamination efforts.  One city, Date, said they were going to bill the government and TEPCo.

Residents are also upset about the government’s targeted evacuations.  They’re based on radiation levels, however there are different groups taking those readings, and it’s confusing residents.

Before the government decision to take over radiation monitoring, testing was being done by local governments, independent groups, universities and Tokyo Electric.  Residents felt it was about time for some standardization.

The Japanese central government will use their monitoring data to determine future evacuations.

Fukushima

National Government Incompetence: City 124 miles away from Fukushima contaminated, residents will conduct self monitoring

A group of residents of the city of Moriya say they will begin monitoring radiation levels, because the central government can not.

Moriya is 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, yet it is showing some of the highest radiation levels in the area.

Residents say when they approached the central Japanese government with their concerns, they were told their government was being overwhelmed by the nuclear crisis, and did not have the man power to conduct the radiation monitoring in their area!

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

Rare Earth Minerals the ‘oil’ of the 21st Century. Who controls the most? Same old adversaries of the 20th Century

Rare earth minerals will become the ‘oil’ of the 21st century.  That’s because they’re used in high tech electronics, and the more the world becomes reliant on electronics, the more valuable rare earth minerals become.

In fact, some analysts say some of the current wars raging on the African continent are all about control of rare earth minerals.

Here are some examples of rare earth minerals: Dysprosium is used in electric motors for vehicles, and Terbium for the latest televisions.

Who’re the biggest controllers of rare earths?  Why they’re the same major players of the Cold War in the 20th century: Russia (the boss of the Soviet Union during the Cold War), China and the United States.

However, China actually controls 90% of the production/refining of rare earths.  This is where their true power comes in.

Rare earth minerals are so important that the Japanese University of Tokyo spent a lot of money conducting a search for other sources of rare earths.  Their target search area was the Pacific Ocean.  International law would prevent any monopolization by any country, of rare earths found in the Pacific Ocean.

They found plenty.  From 2000 samples taken at 78 locations, Associate Professor Yasuhiro Kato estimates there is 800 times the rare earths at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, than there is on land.

They targeted volcanic vents on the Pacific Ocean floor.  Hawaii has a lot.  The problem is that most of the high concentrations are at depths of 3,000 to 6,000 meters (9,842 to 19,685 feet).  So there are technical limits to getting at the Pacific Ocean rare earths.

Fukushima

National Government Incompetence: Japanese city will decontaminate self, will send TEPCo & the national government the bill

The city of Date, 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, will undergo intensive decontamination.  This announcement comes after the central Japanese government announced the evacuation of 113 more households.

City officials, and residents, are not happy with the central government’s targeted evacuations.  Many residents want a mass evacuation, because radiation levels are on the increase all over the city.

To try and alleviate the concerns of the people living in Date, city officials have decided to undertake decontamination efforts, on their own.  They claim they will decontaminate every building and home in the city.  They also claim they will decontaminate the surrounding mountain sides.

How are they going to pay for it?  No worries, they plan on sending Tokyo Electric Power Company, and the central Japanese government, a huge bill.

International

Pacific Ring of Fire: Second Indonesian volcano erupts

On July 3, Indonesia’s Mount Soputan, on the Sulawesi island chain, erupted.   An ash cloud went 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) high.  An evacuation zone of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) was ordered.

This is the second Indonesian volcano to erupt this year. In March, Mount Karangetang, also on the Sulawesi island chain, spewed lava and gas clouds, forcing thousands to evacuate.

 

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? China to raise interest rates, requires banks to hold more money in reserve

The Chinese government is contemplating another increase for interest rates, in an attempt to fight off inflation.

On top of that, the Chinese government has ordered banks to tighten their hold on cash.  Currently Chinese banks are required to hold back 21.5% of their cash. The increase in capital reserves, as it’s sometimes called, is intended to slowdown lending.  Lending is another way to drive up inflation.

However, the Bank of China issued a report that says increasing interest rates, and forcing banks to cut back on lending by increasing their capital reserves, is not having any immediate affect on inflation.  That’s because Chinese banks went on a huge lending spree, which flooded the economy with so much money that it will take some time before inflation is brought under control.

In a previous report, it was estimated by a Chinese government audit, that local governments (just local governments) are now in debt by $1.65 trillion.

 

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Inflation hits makeup, Cosmetics prices to go up, up

Estee Lauder Group announced they will be raising prices on their various makeup brands by 8% to 10%.

Corporate officials are blaming the price rise on the increased cost of labor, and resources.

Estee Lauder Group is not the first cosmetics company to raise their prices.  Earlier in the year Christian Dior, Lancome, Biotherm, Chanel and others announced prices increases.

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? China reports slowdown in non-manufacturing

“We will continue to monitor the situation and evaluate whether this bodes a further slowdown for business activity and economic growth.”-Cai Jin, China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing

China continues to see evidence of economic slowdown, as the non-manufacturing sector shows slowed growth for second month in a row.

The slowdown in non-manufacturing (things like basic resources for bigger companies) is blamed on declining orders from the manufacturing sector.  Manufacturers are cutting back because of declining orders from their international customers.

China is the world’s second largest economy.  If the slowdown in their economy continues, it could be a sign that there is no global economic recovery.

Business/Economics, Opinion, U.S.

Declare Independence from Banks: Economist says Big Banks control the United States, revolution only answer

“People think jobs create wealth, they don’t, they don’t.  It is being done by capital instruments [loans].”-Rodney Shakespeare, Trisakti University

A British economist with Trisakti University, in London, U.K., says ‘wealth’ is now actually created by big banks, and the big banks totally control the U.S.

The ‘wealth’ is created by the interest and fees the banks charge on their loans (capital instruments), and their money is fake:  “The banks do not lend existing money.  They create money out of nothing.  They add administration costs and they add interest and then they lend it for anything.   And that is where you’ve gone horribly wrong.”

The real money, the ‘wealth’, comes from individuals, governments and corporations paying back the loans the got from the big banks.  Essentially the banks are making big money for themselves, from nothing (why else do they keep reporting huge profits in a bad economy).

Over the past few decades, big western banks have been gaining control by making as many people, governments and corporations addicted to living off of their loans.  A tiny elite of people are benefiting: “Of course the banks and financial elites think this is a marvelous idea, because it effectually means that all the time they can ‘cream off’ what is essentially a ‘tax’…”

There are two answers Professor Shakespeare suggested; share the ‘wealth’ by spreading the benefits of capital instruments (bank loans) amongst the people, or: “…an uprising against what could be summarized as ‘banker occupation’.  Until that happens there’s no chance of new thinking coming into being.”

I can only think of mass default on loans to be the most destructive way to rise up against “banker occupation”.  This would involve not only individuals, but governments and corporations as well.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Corporate officials used Idaho unemployment funds to float their companies

According to the Idaho Department of Labor, corporate executives based in Idaho, used unemployment benefits to float their companies (because of the bad economy).

The executives, who own their companies, would apply for unemployment benefits claiming they had lost their executive position.  They would then use the money to float the company that they held controlling stock in.  It was all legal.

As of now they can’t do that anymore.  Idaho lawmakers created a new law that says corporate executives applying for unemployment benefits must prove they have no ownership in the company they had worked for.  The new law affects about 30,000 executives in Idaho.

However, the new law allows corporate executives to stop paying into the corporate unemployment system.  In Idaho unemployment taxes are paid by employers, not employees, but employers can be eligible for a refund.