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, Fukushima

Grocery store shelves empty due to lack of Packaging for food products

According to The Daily Yomiuri, lack of food is not the only reason for bare grocery store shelves.  Even food that is abundant is not making it to the Japanese grocery stores because of a lack of packaging.

The problem is a lack of plastic, and plastic wrap, used for food packaging. The 11 March 2011, 9.0 quake severely damaged a petroleum complex in Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture, where the chemicals are made for plastics. (another example of  how we are dependent on oil)

Even plastic bottle cap producers have shut down.

Cardboard production has been stopped as well. The result is products like milk can not be packaged, according to Nippon Paper-Pak Co, a major beverage packaging firm.

Fukushima

Japanese government OKs intentional release of Radioactive Water!

After blasting Tokyo Electric Power Company for the leaking water from Reactor 2, the Japanese national government has given the go ahead to release radioactive water from reactors 3 & 4!

Chief Cabinet secretary, Edano Yukio, said the intentional release of contaminated water from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is to maintain operational safety!

International

Miyako City hit with highest tsunami so far; 125 feet high

University of Tokyo Associate Professor Yoshinobu Tsuji, along with others, have surveyed damage at the coastal city of Miyako.

They’ve concluded that the height of the March 11 tsunami, in that area, was 38 meters (125 feet) high, and swept 200 meters (656 feet) inland.

The wave height was due to the geography of the coast line.  Associate Professor Yoshinobu Tsuji expects that they will find evidence of even higher wave action in the surrounding area.

Fukushima

Shitake mushrooms radioactive, no response from national government, local government taking action!

Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, has order its own ban on Shitake mushrooms after a sample tested positive for contamination.

Iodine and cesium were found on mushrooms grown outdoors in the city of Iwata. No contamination found on indoor grown mushrooms. Iwata is 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The radiation levels are higher than safe limits set by the national (central) government. It was the local government that set the ban on shipping the contaminated mushrooms, after no order was heard from the central government.

Fukushima

Winds blowing radiation to North America, now the Black Current will bring radiation as well

The predominant winds from Japan are bringing radiation spread into the air, to North America.  The radiation is, so far, lower level isotopes, and the air disperses it over the long distance.

Now there is highly radioactive isotopes spilling into the Pacific Ocean, in higher concentrations, and the currents could eventually bring it to the North American coast.

The Kuroshio Current (Black Current, or Black Tide) runs northward up the Pacific coast of Japan, then turns eastward into the North Pacific Current heading towards the North American coast.

Fukushima

Japanese government demands leaking radioactive water be stopped!

Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano Yukio, has demanded that Tokyo Electric Power Company stop the leak of highly contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.

TEPCo has failed at two attempts to stop the leak. They have admitted that they don’t even know where it’s coming from. It’s pouring into a pit connected to Reactor 2, at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Now TEPCo will try to use silt screens in the ocean, to block the spread of radiation in the water.

International, U.S.

Dengue Fever spreading like wild fire in South America, Hawaii getting hit, thank climate change & humans

Dengue fever is spread by Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, and thanks to the extra rain South America is getting, those mosquitoes are breeding like flies.  Even Hawaii, in the Pacific Ocean, is reporting cases.

Brazil is the hardest hit, so far, already more than 30,000 cases, just in the state of Rio alone, and at least 23 dead. The capitol city Rio de Janeiro is reporting that so far this year, cases have skyrocketed 2059%, compared to the same time last year.

Argentina is already warning of the spread of Dengue to other South American countries as the wet weather continues.

In Paraguay, so many people have crowded into hospitals with Dengue that officials canceled elective surgeries to free up beds. So far this year 18 people have died of Dengue in Paraguay. Compare that to all of last year, when they had 15 deaths.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) has confirmed at least four cases in Pearl City, Oahu, Hawaii, with 12 more suspected cases.  In Hawaii Dengue is spread by the Asian Tiger mosquito (Aedus Albopitus).

CDC officials say Dengue originates in humans, but is spread by mosquitoes.  Tracking Dengue fever is more about tracking where infected humans travel. Most people show no symptoms. The CDC website has more information.

Dengue cases are hitting all over the world, in mainly humid climates, or areas that are getting more rain than usual.

 

Business/Economics, International

Despite claims, Looting is taking place in Japan

I watched an economic forum on what will happen to the Asian region, economically, on NHK.  During the introductions, one of the representatives talked about how well behaved the Japanese are after their March 11 disasters.  She used an example of “no looting going on” as proof.

Well, guess what, looting is taking place.  Hiroshi Takagi, of Miyagi Prefecture, says his pharmacy has been robbed three times since March 11. Locals have been forced to create their own neighborhood watch groups, patrolling the streets at night. Even the Japanese National Police admit crimes in the disaster areas are becoming a problem. They say calls to police have increased 60% since the disasters.

International, Opinion, U.S.

Japanese government holding up Aid Moneys, Red Cross frustrated

‘‘Although it is not the duty of the central government to decide how to distribute the funds, we would like to devise some sort of guidelines to enable speedy distribution.”-Yoshihiro Katayama, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister

In another example that shows Japan is not prepared for disasters, billions of donated money is sitting around waiting for the national (central), and local governments, to figure out what to do with it.  Which is amazing because they were able to deal with a similar situation after the 1995 earthquake, what’s the problem now?

Local governments are complaining about how the money is going to be issued. Also, government officials say they are waiting for the charities to recommend how the money should be used. Did anyone tell the charities?

Fukushima

Kitty Litter fails to stop radioactive water leak from Reactor 2!

First the concrete failed, now the disposable diaper absorbent fails.

Workers combined 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds) of  polymeric absorbent with 60 kilograms of sawdust and three bags of shredded newspaper into pipes leading to a pit connected to Reactor 2, at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.  It failed.

Highly contaminated water continues to pour into the Pacific Ocean.