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

Corporate Incompetence: TEPCo shuts off wrong valves!

Yesterday I speculated that Tokyo Electric Power Company probably installed their water radiation filters backwards.  Today NHK reporting that incorrect settings of the system are the cause of TEPCo’s problems.

At least twice TEPCo had to stop their decontamination of water, at Fukushima Daiichi, because they were getting the reverse effect; an increase in radiation levels in the water.  Another time they stopped because they broke a water pump.

It turns out all those problems were caused by the incorrect setting of valves.  The result was that less than half of the filter chambers were being used.  TEPCo blames their throwaway workers for misunderstanding the “open” and “shut” indicators on the U.S. designed system!

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Idaho Personal Income report misleading, wages & construction down again

Idaho media reporting an increase in “personal income”.  The problem is that “personal income”, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, includes things the average person does not consider “personal income”.

What government officials consider “personal income” includes unemployment benefits, business investments, business profits, farm profits, construction profits and government payments, besides individual wages.

The report for the first quarter of 2011 shows an increase.  But that’s due mainly to business profits, investment returns and farm profits.  When you look at wages for workers, it went down.

Also, income from construction in Idaho also fell, for the 3rd straight quarter.

If your wondering how businesses keep showing a profit, it’s because they’ve been laying workers off, or not hiring when they should!

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Credit Crisis hits SAAB, can’t pay employees, shuts factory

A few days ago U.S. Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke said one of the factors in deciding the economy was worse then they thought, was continuing financing problems (credit crisis).  Swedish car maker SAAB, just announced they are the latest victims of the credit crisis.

SAAB can not get short term loans, which is what it uses to pay its employees.  Not only is this a bad sign of the economy, but a reminder that “Western” corporations run on debt, not revenues.

This inability to pay its employees comes after SAAB closed one of its factories in Trollhatten, due to lack of parts (thank Japan’s failed “just in time” supply system).

SAAB is trying to get loans from Chinese companies, they’re waiting for government approval.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Bannock County, Idaho, jacks up property taxes on farmers, by 90%

“We’re trying desperately to hold to these farms and we are paying our share. And if we haven’t been paying our share, it’s because assessors haven’t been doing their job.”-Grant Olson, wheat farmer

In a surprise announcement, Bannock County officials said they messed up and failed to properly assess farmland.  They will now hit farmers with a property tax bill that’s at least 90% higher than last year!

Grant Olsen, a farmer in Robin, Idaho, says his tax bill has gone up year after year.  Olsen is highly suspicious of the county’s reasons: “They say the reassessment hasn’t been done for 10 years, and now they have to obey the law. Why haven’t they been obeying the law?”

As a resident in Bannock County I can say that property taxes have gone up yearly, even with the decline in residential property prices.  When I’ve complained to the assessor they’ve blamed increased fees due to the passage of school levees.  That’s part of the problem, but the specific “property” tax has gone up as well.

County officials told the public that they would provide a better explanation of why they have to increase farmland property tax so much.  Bannock County has a reputation for having higher than average property taxes.


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

What Economic Recovery? Idaho can’t comply with No Child Left Behind, no money

Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Luna says No Child Left Behind (aka Adequate Yearly Progress, AYP) is actually stopping states from improving student’s academic performance: “The law has become a stumbling block to continued improvement in raising student achievement.”

The main reason that AYP is a stumbling block is that states are required to pay for efforts to comply with higher standards set by the Federal program.  Luna officially told the U.S. Department of Education that Idaho will not comply with AYP standards, until it is revised to help states do so.  Idaho, among many other states, does not have the funding to meet AYP standards: “We don’t have the luxury of time and resources to continue on with the federal law that should have been rewritten four years ago.”

The problem is that Idaho’s education system is already lagging behind most of the United States, in performance and funding.  So even if AYP is revised it’s highly unlikely that Idaho can comply.

Business/Economics, Opinion, U.S.

Despite bad economy 1 in 3 U.S. workers hate their job so much they want to quit, careers offer diminishing returns

“From the employee viewpoint, not only has the deal been redefined, in many cases, the new deal is not being delivered as promised.”-Mercer

In a report from human resource company Mercer, one in three workers in the United States hate their job so much they would rather quit and take their chances being unemployed.

One of my daughters works for a local Home Depot store, and they have employees quitting almost weekly.  And the local job market really sucks.  By the way, she really likes working at the local Home Depot and thinks there are other issues regarding those employees who quit.

But I’ve been amazed at how many people quit their jobs in these bad times, and the times are getting worse.

According to Mercer, the main reason for employees hating their jobs, is actually part of our economic problem; decreasing pay/benefits, cuts in work hours and the realization that their jobs are dead end careers.  When adjusted for inflation, the average U.S. worker is making $400 a year less than in 1988.  Why bust your butt for diminishing returns?

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? United Nations says government cut backs making things worse

“Austerity measures in response to high government debt in some advanced economies, such as Greece and Spain, are not only threatening public sector employment and social expenditure, but also making the recovery more uncertain and fragile.”-UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs

The UN is warning that cuts in government spending will only make the global economy worse.  This comes a week after the International Monetary Fund said the economic crisis was now in the political phase, meaning the private sector had failed.

Interestingly the UN is also blaming the bad economy on global lenders like the IMF.

 

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: 6 out of 10 towns got no Nuclear evacuation order after 11 March!

10 cities around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were supposed to get evacuation orders immediately after the nuclear disaster, following the 11 March 2011 natural disasters.  Only four of those cities got the evacuation order.

The national government of Japan, and the prefectural government of Fukushima have apologized for the break down in communication.

Also, Tokyo Electric Power Company was responsible for notifying five nearby cities/towns of the nuclear disaster, but evidence shows that was a major ‘F’ up.  One town got 80 faxes of the notification, while another town got zero notification!

This major breakdown in communication, by TEPCo and government,  resulted in massive confusion about what people were supposed to do.

 

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Radiation decontamination fails for the third time, reactor temperatures rising!

For the third time Tokyo Electric Power Company stopped decontamination of radioactive water at Fukushima Daiichi.  This time radiation levels on the outflow side of the massive water filter skyrocketed, instead of going down.

The idea is that water coming out of the decontamination unit would have less radiation.  The opposite is happening.  When TEPCo re-started the operation on Tuesday radiation levels were at 3 millisieverts per hour, by Wednesday, 22 June 2011, the levels hit 15 millisieverts per hour.

The result is that not only has decontamination efforts stopped, but TEPCo says it can not inject anymore water to cool reactors, for fear of massive flooding of contaminated water out of the reactors (even more than what is leaking out now).  Already the temperatures in Reactor 3 are rising.

Japanese media says the water decontamination unit was designed in the United States.  Could it be possible that the decontamination chambers are backwards?  Don’t laugh, here in Idaho in the late 1990s, on the Shoshone-Bannock Reservation boil order after boil order were being issued.  Finally, after tribal officials investigated their new water treatment system, it was discovered that all the filters were in backwards.