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.
International, Opinion

Israel cuts off tax moneys for Palestinians, punishment for Fatah & Hamas unifying

Talk about taxation without representation, Israel collects most of the customs fees, and taxes for the Palestinian territories.  It’s another way the Israelis make life hell for the Palestinians.

Now Israel says they will not turn that tax money over to the Palestinian government, in retribution for Fatah and Hamas unifying.  The money Israel is withholding is more than have of what the Palestinian government needs to operate.  Palestinian officials say they’re now forced to ask for donations from the international community.

International, U.S.

Iran says has proof Osama bin Laden died years ago, did U.S. kill bin Laden relative?

“If the U.S. military and intelligence apparatus have really arrested or killed bin Laden, why don’t they shown him (his dead body), why have they thrown his corpse into the sea?”-Heidar Moslehi, Iran’s Intelligence Minister

Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Heidar Moslehi, claims Osama bin Laden died from disease years ago.  Pakistani officials made a similar claim a few years ago.

Moslehi goes on explaining that the U.S. claimed that it was following Islamic law, when they dumped bin Laden’s body, but Islamic law does not approve of burial at sea, and does not have a specific timeline for burial.  He says this is a sign that the Obama Administration is lying about what they did with Osama bin Laden.

Moslehi says the claim by Obama that their DNA evidence is proof, is weak, because they are not giving details of the DNA process.  Also, it’s possible to get a 99.9% match through any close relative of Osama bin Laden, and the bin Laden family is big.

A University of California criminology professor points out that DNA testing is not that reliable: “If the DNA test compared the profile of the man shot in Pakistan with members of bin Laden’s family members, the results could properly be presented only as a likelihood ratio…”-William thompson, UCI In other words, DNA will not provide the actual identity of an individual, only a probability.  Is it possible the U.S. assassinated a close relative of Osama bin Laden?

Even though Iranian officials criticize the Obama Administration for weak evidence, Iran has not produced evidence for their claim that Osama bin Laden died years ago.

 

Fukushima

Another nuke plant in Japan leaking radiation

Japan Atomic Power Company said its Tsuruga nuclear plant leaked a small amount of radiation on Sunday, 08 May 2011.  But this is not the first time.

On 02 May radiation was detected outside the reactors.  JAPCo officials think the radiation leak is coming from the cooling water for the fuel rods. They are shutting down the plant to inspect.

Tsuruga nuke plant is in Fukui Prefecture, directly west of Tokyo.

Fukushima

More Strontium detected at Fukushima Daiichi! Government may start checking surrounding areas

Radioactive strontium continues to be spewed from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  Soil samples taken at the plant, on 18 April, tested positive for strontium 89 and strontium 90.

Strontium collects in your bones and can cause various bone cancers.  You get contaminated by breathing it.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says April’s strontium 90 levels are 130 times higher than the levels detected in March!  The levels of strontium 89 are 4,400 becquerels per kilogram of soil!

Because of the increase in strontium levels, officials in the Japanese government are advising that readings need to be taken in areas outside the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Once again, you’d think  they’d already be doing that.

 

Fukushima

Chubu Electric decides to shut down nuke plant, Japanese auto & electronics industries will be hit

After first saying no, CEPCo now says OK they will shut down their Hamaoka plant.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked Chubu Electric Power Company to shut down their Hamaoka nuke plant, because the plant sits on top of a convergence of fault lines, that could produce an 8+ quake.  The plant is not built to withstand such a quake, and the Japanese government wants the plant operators to reinforce the reactors.

The problem for CEPCo is that they have no way to replace the electric power that will be lost when they shut down the reactors.  The Japanese auto industry, and other manufacturers, are worried because they are already dealing with supply problems due to lack of electricity.  The shut down of Hamaoka nuclear plant will only make the supply situation worse.

CEPCo officials say that, so far, they can not come up with any practical alternative to replace the lost electrical power.

Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and Suzuki have factories in the prefectures that will be affected by the nuke plant shut down.  Also, electronics makers Panasonic, Toshiba and Fujitsu have factories that will be affected by the shut down.

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

China continues to sell off U.S. bonds

China is the biggest buyer of U.S. sovereign debt (bonds), but has been selling off that debt at a steady pace. In February China sold off $1.15 trillion (yes, trillion) in U.S. bonds.

Chinese officials say the sell off of U.S. bonds could continue for another two months, or as long as the Federal Reserve continues with its quantitative easing (QE) policies.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, China holds $4.47 trillion in U.S. sovereign debt.  China wants to cut it to less than $1 trillion.  Even then, Chinese officials say holding that much U.S. debt is only good for the short run.  I guess they don’t think the future looks very bright for the United States.

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!