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, International, Opinion, U.S.

China refuses to pay U.S. debt

“The U.S. wants China to pay its economic bills by raising the value of the yuan. This is preposterous!”-Zhang Yansheng, Institute of Foreign Economics

Officials from China and the United States are meeting this week to discuss, what else, economic issues.  Many U.S. officials want the Chinese to raise the value of their money, the yuan, in order to help the U.S. dollar.  But the Chinese say bullsh*t!

Ma Xiaoye, of the China Foundation for International & Strategic Studies, says U.S. leaders created the economic problems, so “How can the U.S. count on a foreign currency to solve them?” Zhang Yansheng added “The U.S. should take responsibility for its own policies, instead of asking China to pay for it.”

The U.S. wants China to raise the value of their money, against the U.S. dollar, to help fight inflation in the United States.

Chinese analysts say the problem is that every time the Federal Reserve implements a quantitative easing (QE) policy, it sends “hot money” into the world economy creating “market bubbles”, which is what China does not want.

Maybe if the Federal Reserve stops issuing money that really isn’t there, the Chinese might decide to raise the value of their money.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Only 45.4% of U.S. workers employed, all time Historic low

Think the recent jobs data are a good sign of recovery?  Think again!

Since 2007 the United States has lost 7.25 million jobs.  According to a USA Today report, only 45.4% of workers, both men and women, were employed.  When you look at just men, only 66.8% of male workers had jobs in 2010.  That’s a record low!

Another way to look at it: The number of unemployed adults is surpassing the number of children in the U.S.

“No matter how wealthy you are, you have a problem if half the population are not working and depending on those who are.”- John Goodman, National Center for Policy Analysis

 

Business/Economics, Opinion, U.S.

U.S. corporate executives continue to make bank, while the rest of us struggle

A report by Standard & Poor’s shows that while the workers of the United States continue to struggle, the corporate leaders are raking in the dough.  In fact corporate executives are making more now, than they did before the 2007 market correction.

S & P’s 500 reports that in 2010, the average yearly salary of a corporate executive was $9 million, NOT counting bonuses.  That’s a 24% increase over 2009.  Are you making that much?  Did you get a 24% raise?

The S & P’s report proves you are not making that much.  The report says the average worker got a piddly 3% increase in pay.  The average pay for those who are employed is $40,500 per year (41% earn less than the average).  That’s only one half a percent of the average salary for a CEO.

When are workers going to wake up?  Who is really doing the work that makes the corporations money?  It’s NOT the executive officers!

 

Fukushima

Chubu Electric refuses Prime Minister’s request to shut down nuke plant, for now

Prime Minister Naoto Kan had asked Chubu Electric Power Company to shut down their Hamaoka nuke plant, because it turns out that it is right over a convergence of fault lines, and scientists expect a magnitude 8+ quake.

Hamaoka is south west of Tokyo. Kan wants CEPCo to shut down the plant, and reinforce the reactors to withstand an 8+ quake.

CEPCo officials studied several options, including how to pay for the cost of reinforcing their nuclear plant.  They decided they don’t have the money to reinforce the plant, and it would not be feasible to raise electric rates high enough to pay for it (because customers would refuse to pay the higher rates).

CEPCo also decided that shutting down the plant would make the already bad situation, for Japanese industries dealing with lack of power, even worse.

CEPCo is not ruling out shutting down the Hamaoka plant, if they can do it with out reducing electrical power, and find money to pay for the reinforcing.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Proof the housing market is still crashing; Fannie Mae wants another $8.5 billion bailout

The top mortgage lender in the United States, Fannie Mae, wants another $8.5 billion dollars to save its butt.  This after reporting a loss of $6.5 billion during the first three months of 2011.

Fannie Mae blames the loss on credit expenses. They also blame falling home prices.  If Fannie Mae gets the new bailout money (at taxpayer’s expense) it will make it the costliest government bailout, of a single company, in U.S. history; $99.7 billion.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

China wants to move Cinese companies to U.S., but says U.S. blocking them

“As the U.S. government continues to request accessibility to the Chinese market for its firms, we now raise a similar request on behalf of Chinese firms.”-Zhu Guangyao, Vice Finance Minister

For decades U.S. companies have been shipping off factories, and jobs, to China.  Now China says the United States is blocking their attempts to bring factories and jobs to the U.S.

“We have received many complaints from Chinese companies that have met discrimination as they try to invest in the United States, even though the U.S. side has repeatedly stated that Chinese companies are welcome.”- Zhu Guangyao, Vice Finance Minister


International

UN admits Haiti cholera may have come from Peacekeepers, it’s not over

United Nations health investigators say the strain of cholera, that killed more than 4,000 people in Haiti, came from south Asia.

The UN officials say they traced the strain back to a river near a UN peacekeeper camp, that was occupied by troops from Nepal.  The UN admits that sanitation conditions at the camp were below standards.

The UN investigators refuse to blame the Nepalese, even though they say the evidence “overwhelmingly supports” that the Haiti cholera strain came from south Asia.

The cholera epidemic is not over for Haiti.  The United Nations predicts another 800,000 Haitians could become sick this year.

International

Iran & Cuba join forces to counter Hillary Clinton’s U.S. media war

“In line with the imperialistic interests of the U.S. and Europe, the American and European media outlets don’t reflect the exact reality of what happens in our nations.”-Ramin Mehman-Parast, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman

Recently Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Congress to spend more money on increasing pro-U.S. international media organizations.  She said the U.S. was losing out to foreign media.

Now the Iranians, and Cubans, have joined the international media war, by joining forces.

Besides wanting to show their side of the story, in Latin America, the Iranians say they need a more trustworthy source of Latin American news than the U.S. media.  

International, U.S.

Iran claims U.S. and Israel smuggling Crack & Meth into Iran from Afghanistan

Iranian investigator Majid Abhari, says he has proof that drugs being brought into Iran, through Afghanistan, are being run by the CIA and Mossad.  He has some convincing evidence.

First, traditionally opium, and marijuana/hash, were the drugs that came through.  Now, Iranian drug police are confiscating morphine, crack and meth.  Those drugs are considered “western” drugs and are not normally used by addicts in the region.

Second, Iranian police have discovered that transactions connected to the “western” drugs are being made with credit cards.  Traditional drug dealers operate “cash only” businesses.

Iran claims to be the most active anti-drug enforcers in the world.  Last year they seized 85% of the world’s illegal opium.  In the past five years Iran has spent $50 million to fight drug trafficking from just Afghanistan.  Iran also claims thousands of their anti-drug police have been killed.

Iranian police say drug trafficking from Afghanistan has jumped 40 times higher after the U.S. invaded .  According to the UN, Afghan opium production was at 185 metric tons (204 U.S. tons) per year, before the U.S. invaded.  The United Nations says opium production is now at 3,400 tons (3748 U.S. tons) per year (in 2007 it hit a record of 8,200 metric tons [9039 U.S. tons]).

Iran should know how the CIA and Mossad operates, after all, during the reign of the pro-U.S. Shah the CIA, and Mossad, trained Iran’s intelligence agencies (especially the infamous SAVAK).

IRAN SAYS U.S. & ISRAEL BEHIND REGIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING