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, U.S.

NATO says No Military Solution to Libya, avoids questions about arming Rebels in violation of UN Resolution

In an interview on al Jazeera NATO secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the solution to the civil war in Libya will come only through political discussions.

For some reason al Jazeera (who supports the UNSCR 1973) did not mention the statement in the text of their posting. You have to watch the video of the interview. It’s about 1:50 into the interview.

“I hope to see a political solution, sooner rather than later. Obviously there’s no military solution, solely.”-Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Al Jazeera then pointed out that despite the arms embargo, which is part of the UNSCR 1973, Libyan rebel leaders openly state they are getting weapons from the UN coalition (which includes NATO). Rasmussen was asked why, seemingly, NATO was not enforcing the UN arms embargo when it came to the rebels.

“We participate in the arms embargo, and to my knowledge there has been no bridge to the arms embargo.”-Rasmussen

Al Jazeera pressed the NATO leader about the arms embargo, while showing video of rebels receiving new weapons. They also pointed out that UN coalition member Qatar (which is Wahhabi Arab, same as al Qaeda), is openly providing weapons to the rebels. They tried to get a simple yes or no answer, this is what they got: “We participate in the enforcement of the arms embargo in strict conformity with the text of UNSCR 1973.”-Rasmussen

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Toyota says planned North American plant closures will last 5 days in April

“There are problems with parts supply. But each day, we are doing our utmost to improve the conditions so that we can deliver cars to many customers.”-Akio Toyoda, Toyota President

Toyota is having trouble getting around 150 components, but that’s down from 500 components after the March 11 quake.

Toyota said it will halt North American production starting on April 15.  It doesn’t look like production will be shut down for five days straight, instead it will be spread out, one day here, one day there.
Assembly line workers may report for training, use vacation days, or take unpaid time off.

Fukushima, Idaho, U.S.

Idaho RadNet 2 Days Behind, confusing info!

I’ve been checking the Idaho RadNet web site and have gotten frustrated because it’s become clear Idaho DEQ is not updating the site. I checked it today, 08 April 2011, @ 11:00AM Mountain Time, and the RadNet posting is still for 06 April 2011.

Recently the Associated Press reported how the RadNet monitors are not reliable.

On top of the Idaho RadNet web site not being updated, the text portion seems to be the same as it was last week, or, Idaho is still getting hit with iodine-131 and xenon-133.

The numbers that RadNet posts are in Beta counts per minute, which is how a Geiger counter reads. The problem, reveled by University of California Santa Cruz professor, Daniel Hirsch, is that there are no set universal standards regarding how much radiation exposure is “bad”.

One source says they consider 100 counts per minute as “bad”. Well, if you look at the Idaho RadNet web site, you’ll see counts as high as 300. However, if you try to use the RadNet web site explainer pages, to figure out if you’re safe or not, you only get more confused.

 

Fukushima, U.S.

Don’t trust EPA RadNet radiation monitoring, No set standard in Radiation Exposure Limits

“The monitoring system isn’t functioning fully.”-Daniel Hirsch, University of California Santa Cruz

Hirsch said that EPA is too slow in releasing data about the radiation from the nuclear accident in Japan.  Some RadNet monitoring systems have been offline for months.

The Associated Press, quoting the Environmental Protection Agency’s own website, said as many as 20 of the RadNet sites were down. Also, 38% were under “review”.  When a RadNet site is under review, it means that the officials are doubting the readings.

Daniel Hirsch pointed out that radiation exposure standards from one government agency to another are different, which adds to the problem of letting people know if they are at risk or not. It also explains why some “experts” disagree with other “experts” about the dangers from Japan. There is no set standard for radiation exposure!

This explains a lot of the confusion in Japan during the first two weeks of the nuclear disaster. I remember watching press conferences where it seemed  officials from one agency contradicted officials from another agency. You’d think when it comes to nuclear power there would be a set universal standard regarding radiation exposure!


Business/Economics, International

While the U.S. economy stagnates, Chile’s grows 7.2%

Chile’s economy continues to awe outsiders. For the month of February, 2011, Chile’s economy grew by 7.2%.

Chile’s Central Bank said it’s due mainly to exports. The top export from Chile is copper. Right now copper is trading for $10,000 per ton.

Other exports helped Chile: Fruit, timber and fishing.  Chile also got a boost from it’s transport industries.

The down side is inflation. The Central Bank says it’s inevitable that with such explosive growth inflation will follow.  Currently inflation in Chile is at 4.3%.

Business/Economics, International

If eating well is a sign of a good economy, then Venezuela is doin’ fine

From 1998 to 2008 Venezuelans increased their caloric consumption by 55.5%. That’s according to a study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Also, between 70-75% of the food is produced locally. It reflects Venezuela’s focus on increasing domestic production.

Venezuela also has a law that says the government must keep three months worth of food, for an estimated 27 million people, stocked up for emergencies.

International, Opinion

40,000 Mexicans protest Drugs War

“We urgently need to restore dignity to this nation and fight violence with education, culture, poetry and employment.”-Javier Sicilia, son was killed last week

In Mexico City at least 40,000 people protested the drugs war, pointing out that most deaths make no sense as they are mainly innocent bystanders, or people who have no proven connection to drug dealing, or the government.

Recently mass graves were found. They did not contain the bodies of drug gang members, or the Mexican military or police, but of migrant workers.  A similar mass grave was found last year, again migrant workers were the victims. The Mexican government said a drug gang was responsible. Why would drug gangs want to massacre migrant workers in Mexico?  Are they afraid they’ll take their jobs?

To the people of Mexico, this so called drugs war launched by a pro-Bush President, is looking more and more like a war on everyday civilians.