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

Japan nuke workers suffer Heat Stroke!

Tokyo Electric Power Company will now put air conditioners in the worker’s rest stations,  after at least one worker succumbed to heat stroke.

Temperatures inside their protective suits are hot after only 30 minutes of wearing them.  Unlike some military NBC masks, that can allow you to drink water, the nuke suits used at Fukushima Daiichi do not allow the workers to drink water.

There is only one building on the compound that still has working air conditioning.  TEPCo will bring in more air conditioning units.

Fukushima

TEPCo testing for Plutonium in Pacific Ocean!

Tokyo Electric Power Company officials say they will test the ocean for plutonium.  They have already found soil samples to be contaminated with the toxic isotope.

TEPCo official Matsumoto Junichi says because plutonium was found in the ground around Fukushima Daiichi, then it’s possible it is getting into the ocean.  They will check the ocean floor, because plutonium is heavier than other isotopes, and probably sank.

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

Former U.S. official says don’t blame China for U.S. economic problems, yet

“If we didn’t import from China, we’d import from somewhere else.”-Henry Paulson, former U.S. Treasury Secretary

Henry Paulson is saying that if U.S. corporations didn’t have China to ship jobs to, they’d ship off U.S. jobs somewhere else.  He, and others, believe that by shipping off U.S. jobs to other countries, it helps to keep inflation down.

Of course it does, because that means less people working which brings down consumer spending which helps keep inflation down.  Inflation traditionally goes up when the economy is good and people spend more money, which is what is happening in China right now.

There is worry that the fast growing inflation in China could spread to the rest of the world.  For those countries whose economies are in trouble it’s not a good thing: “If China has problems, our problems would be more difficult.”-Henry Paulson

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

North Dakota flooded, Red River flooding Canada, called “unprecedented”, will affect wheat production

The Red River has flooded North Dakota, now flooding in Manitoba, Canada is being called “unprecedented”.

Emergency Measures Minister, Steve Ashton, says this is one of the worst flood situations Manitoba has seen in 150 years.  The flood is expected to hit Winnipeg by the first of May.

“Flood fighters” in North Dakota are still dealing with the flooding.  Officials there say it’s being caused by ground that is too saturated to handle the snowmelt, along with rain.   The flooding will affect U.S. spring wheat production, and sugar beat production.

In Canada, the flooding will affect wheat and canola production.

It’s not just the Red River that’s flooding.  About 100 North Dakota National Guard personnel are working to shore up the levee along the Sheyenne River.

Flooding in Canada also damaged rail lines used by the Canadian Pacific railways.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Credit Rating of United States trashed, kind of

Today, April 18, Standard & Poors downgraded the long term credit rating of the U.S., to a negative rating!

“More than two years after the beginning of the recent crisis, U.S. policymakers have still not agreed on how to reverse recent fiscal deterioration or address longer-term fiscal pressures.”-Nikola Swann, Standard & Poor’s

Standard & Poor’s is one of three major agencies that evaluate government and corporate debt.  The S & P analysts think the division between Democrat and Republican law makers is too far apart for them to make any real progress in dealing with the country’s public debt.

Investors with the Dow Jones reacted by dropping the industrial average by 200 points in the first half hour of trading.

The downgrade of the U.S. follows the downgrading of Ireland’s banks, as well as several other international financing issues.   Even though S & P dropped the U.S. credit rating to “negative”, they still maintain a AAA/A-1+ rating on U.S. sovereign debt.

Long term debt, money borrowed from financial institutions, is debt that will take more than ten years to be paid back.  Sovereign debt refers to government bonds.

 

 

International, Technology

Iran launches first domestically produced Anti-Aircraft missile

The missile system is actually based on the old U.S. designed Hawk missile system.  The Iranians call their updated version ‘Shahin’ (not to be confused with ‘Shaheen’ which is a different missile system).

Most of the upgrades are related to search and track capabilities.  They say it’s a mid-altitude missile, one source saying its range is 15 miles (maybe they meant 15 kilometers?).  I can’t be sure of the performance claims, simply because the Iranian media gives wildly different data.  One source said the missile could reach 150 kilometers (93 miles), that’s the Thermosphere, man!

International, Technology

Iranian automaker boosting exports with its Dena Car

“The LX model is outfitted with an EF7 gasoline engine and a CNG-based engine. The ELX version is equipped with a turbo-charged EF7 engine.”-Nima Mosleh, IKCO deputy CEO for New Product Development

The Iran Khodro Company says it hopes exports of their new car, Dena, will hit 15,000 for the new year.

The car called Dena (not to be confused with a U.S. kit car), is a sedan and IKCO’s fourth domestically produced car.  Iran has been enjoying a growing car market through out the Middle East, and Central Asia.

Last year Iran Khodro exported 40,000 cars.

 

Fukushima, Idaho

Idaho robot succefully measures Radiation in Reactors

NHK reporting that the robot sent by the Idaho National Laboratory has measured radiation levels inside reactors 1 and 3.

The robots were sent to Japan to help deal with the damaged Fukshima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The max radiation level inside the Reactor 3 building is 57 millisieverts per hour, while max level in Reactor 1 building is at 49 millisieverts per hour.  The readings were taken on the first floor of the buildings.

Normal safe limits, for nuclear employees, are 100 millisieverts, but the Japanese government raised it to an emergency limit of 250 millisieverts.  Even at the emergency limit, a worker would exceed it within four and a half hours of exposure.

They will check Reactor 2 building next.  NHK video

International, U.S.

U.S. Air Force sends help to fight Mexican Coahuila Fire

About 30 USAF reservists, from Colorado, headed to Texas on April 16.  They will be using their C-130 Hercules transports to drop fire retardant on the Coahuila fire in Mexico.   That fire is the largest fire in Mexico’s history, as of April 16 it was within 96.5km (60 miles) of the Texas border.

The USAF is also using C-130s to fight the largest fires in Texas’ history as well.