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.
Idaho, International, U.S.

What Global Warming? Coolest Spring for Idaho since 1984

According to the National Weather Service, Idaho is going through the coolest spring since 1984.

High temperatures for Idaho have been as much as 17 degrees (Fahrenheit) below average.

Even though there’ve been lots of rainy days for Idaho (and rivers are flooding, mainly due to snow melt), the Weather Service says the actual amount of rain, so far, is not enough to set any records.

Local weather forecasts, calling for warming up to the 70s, seem to get pushed back week after week.  No global warming here.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Who the Government works for: GM & Chrysler excused from paying vicitms of car defects

“This was not a normal case. The government was deciding who was going to be taken care of and who was not.”-David Skeel, University of Pennsylvania Law School

The recent bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, did not just include money, it included legal liability for defective vehicles that caused injuries and deaths.

The bailout allowed GM and Chrysler to skip paying any court ordered settlements for injuries or deaths that happened before the auto makers went  bankrupt.  GM had 2,500 claims against it when they went bankrupt.  The excused settlements are in the tens of millions of dollars.

In the words of Telly Savalis: “Who loves ya baby?”  It’s not your government that’s for sure.

Fukushima

TEPCo admits Fukushima Daiichi can not be stabilized!

Reports saying Tokyo Electric Power Company now saying it is likely the damaged reactors at Fukushima Daiichi will not be stabilized by the end of the year, as first hoped.

Problems range from TEPCo’s own faulty assessments, to the Typhoon season now hitting Japan.

This means highly radioactive isotopes will continue to be emitted into the air, and pour into the Pacific Ocean.

International, Opinion, U.S.

Karzai & NATO going head to head, sure sign that the U.S. has lost Afghanistan

“NATO must learn that air strikes on Afghan homes are not allowed and that Afghan people have no tolerance for that anymore. If they don’t stop air strikes on Afghan homes, their presence in Afghanistan will be considered as an occupying force and against the will of the Afghani people.”-President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai

Karzai is talking tough, but his words are not aimed at “Taliban”.  Instead his words are targeting U.S. led coalition forces.  Karzai’s threats come a after an interview with NATO’s secretary general: “The Afghan society is not yet prepared to take full responsibility for the security.”-Anders Fogh Rasmussen

If the Afghans aren’t ready to take full responsibility for security, than how can their president make such bold statements against U.S. led coalition forces?

Another sign that the U.S. is losing in Afghanistan is that Rasmussen has reportedly asked the United States, and other NATO members, to increase their military budgets and expect to possibly stay longer than the new 2014 withdrawal date.

The latest fiasco in Afghanistan involves yet another “accidental” air strike on civilian homes, which killed 12 children and two women.  There have been conflicting statements from NATO; one official said they targeted a “compound” and there were no reports of civilians. The most recent NATO statement says they missed the target and hit two homes instead.  If you’ve been following the war in Afghanistan for even a year, you’d recognize an MO (modus operandi) with the U.S. led coalition: Kill everyone and then claim, “Ooops, we missed the target.”

Another point to make; Hamid Karzai would not be making such bold statements against the coalition, if he didn’t feel secure in doing so.  It’s an indication Karzai has found support from other international powers, and no longer needs the United States.  Recently the Afghan government made an alliance with Iran.

Idaho, International, U.S.

Global Food Crisis: Idaho hit by cold, wet weather, and Potato Worms

The planting season is way behind schedule in the U.S. state of Idaho; at least two to three weeks according to some farmers.  The weather has been too cold, and too wet.  Here in eastern Idaho the Snake and Portneuf rivers are flooding, making it worse.

The flooding Portneuf is hitting farmers in Inkom: “We’ll lose about 4 to 500 ton of hay and probably, I don’t know how much barley, 150 ton of barley. The problem is there’s still a lot of snow to come down, and I think it’s probably gonna be in July or August before we can get in here, and it’s gonna be to late to crop.”-Jim Guthrie, Inkom farmer

The cold is keeping seeds from sprouting: “The cold weather has probably been as much of a delay as the moisture has been. My sugar beets have been in the ground three weeks and they haven’t sprouted yet. With the cold weather we’ve been having, maybe it’s a good thing they haven’t.”-Jim Tiede, American Falls farmer

Potatoes need relatively dry soil to be planted, and they need a hot summer to help them grow big.  Farmers are worried this summer might not be hot enough, or long enough.  Add to that a little worm that likes to eat spuds: “It’s an extremely difficult pest to get rid of.  The thing can last in the soil for decades, and so the process that you go through to get rid of it is extremely long.”-Larry Hawkins, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Hawkins is talking about a microscopic bug that has seen $36 million spent over five years, trying to get rid of it.  It’s shown up in several eastern Idaho potato fields this year.  The nematodes are not native to Idaho; they first showed up in Bingham county in 2006.  They’re not dangerous to people, but can reduce potato yields by 80%.

Fukushima

Tropical storm flooding Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant!

The heavy rains from a tropical storm that hit Japan, are flooding the damaged reactor buildings with more water.

That is creating the potential for even more contaminated water getting into the Pacific Ocean.  Radioactive water continues to pour from the reactors, TEPCo has failed to stop it..

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: TEPCo continues to screw up, workers still not being checked for radiation exposure!

According to NHK, to date only 40% of workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, have been given radiation check ups.

Tokyo Electric Power Company didn’t start testing until 11 days after the 11 March disasters.

Japanese standard safe limits for radiation exposure is 100 millisieverts.  So far two workers have been exposed to more than 250 millisieverts.  Another 30 have been exposed to more than 100 millisieverts.

TEPCo is trying to shift blame by saying workers are not taking their iodide pills properly.  But even that is TEPCo’s fault; radiology experts are questioning whether the timing and level of iodide dosage was appropriate.

International

Corporate Incompetence: Japanese train company raided by police after train fire

The Hokkaido Railway Company has been raided by police, after one of their passenger trains jumped the tracks in a tunnel and caught fire.  The police took all the company maintenance and operations records.

Investigators say they found a part that fell off before the train jumped the tracks.  Also, the train conductor called HRC headquarters asking for evacuation of the passengers, but company officials denied the evacuation because they were still waiting for “confirmation” of the fire.  39 passengers were injured.

International

Global Food Crisis: China hit with long drought & big wheat harvest

China is a land of extremes, literally.

In Central China the drought has become so bad that people are being told not to expect any water for another year.  It has drastically cut rice production.  The area is normally flooded at this time of year: “Usually it’s the season to fight floods, local villagers would ride on these boats to reinforce dams along the way. However, the drought has reduced water levels significantly, and as you can see, all the boats are stranded.”-local farmer

At the other end of the extreme, in Anhui, Henan and Shandong provinces, wheat farmers think they will have their best harvest for the first time in five years.  If they do, China hopes it will reduce their need for foreign wheat: “This year is supposed to be a bumper year for wheat harvest. That is of great importance to the whole macroeconomic situation, and stabilization of the price level for commodity prices. It could also enhance China’s capability to minimize the impact of wheat price fluctuations brought by international grain prices.”-Li Guoxiang, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences