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, U.S.

Obama willing to sell out U.S. troops to South Korean Command, sign of declining U.S. Empire

In an unprecedented move, the United States has agreed, in principal, to put U.S. forces under the direct command of South Korea. Details are still being worked out.

“It is an unprecedented measure since the U.S. military is characteristically reluctant to place troops under the command of other countries.”–The Chosun Ilbo, Korean newspaper

Officially the move is to help South Korea in case of attack by North Korea. But isn’t that why our troops are there to begin with? Why do they have to be placed under direct control of the South Koreans?  Never in United States history has another country controlled our military forces! Even the Russians didn’t do that after the fall of the Soviet Union.  Is it another sign of the decline of the U.S. Empire?

 

International

China sends Gas & Diesel fuel to Japan, says Japanese government delaying aid shipments

China is sending 10,000 tons of gas, and 10,000 tons of diesel fuel, to help Japan deal with its disasters.

The fuel should be off loaded this weekend, however, Cheng Yonghua, the Chinese Ambassador to Japan, says the Japanese government is actually making it difficult for aid to be sent. Recently NGO relief groups made similar comments.

China has already sent tents, blankets, water, rubber gloves, temporary toilets and shoes.  However, more and more people in the areas of devastation say they are not getting any help.

Business/Economics, International, Opinion

Proof that Coffee prices are too high, 3 men lynched over truck load of Coffee

According to Guatemalan Police, 3,000 people took part in lynching three would be coffee thieves.

The police say the residents of La Democracia caught the men trying to take off with a truck load of coffee, then beat, hung and burned the men to death.

The police also say the townsfolk blocked them from stopping the lynching.

People are actually being killed for one of the most popular beverages. Something to think about the next time you sip on that cup o’ joe.

International, Opinion

Sweden joins fight for Libya’s Oil, ooops, I mean fight to protect Civilians

Sweden announced they will be sending aircraft to enforce a no fly zone over Libya. The Swedish parliament voted 240-18 in favor of the plan.

They will send up to eight warplanes, including their JAS 39 Gripen, and a transport plane to join the NATO-led coalition.

This is almost getting to be like World War One, where countries jump in on the fight one after another, until the whole world is at war.

Fukushima, Technology

U.S. sending World’s largest Concrete Sprayers to Japan

Claimed to be the largest concrete spraying trucks in the world, they will be on their way to Japan, after upgrades in California and South Carolina.

The two trucks are made in Germany, for spraying concrete for skyscrapers.

Kelly Blickle, a spokeswoman at Putzmeister America Inc., says similar types of trucks were also used on Chernobyl in 1986.

Officially the trucks will be spraying water, but if necessary, can spray concrete to entomb the reactors.

Fukushima

TEPCo screws up data for a second time!

“TEPCo faces a grave situation as it is failing to live up to the expectations of people who are very worried by the company.”-Nishiyama Hidehiko, NISA

The Japanese government is upset, after finding that radiation readings from TEPCo, proved to be faulty.

The Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said Tokyo Electric Power Company presented faulty numbers on readings from contaminated ground water, around Reactor 1, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

This is the second time TEPCo screwed up (maybe lied about?) its data. The first time was about contamination coming from Reactor 2, last week.

Fukushima

Why has the U.S. increased military help to Japan, and why are they going to pull out in mid-April?

The United States has continued to increase military help to Japan (Operation Tomodachi), to help deal with the disasters of 11 March.

Recently the USMC said it was sending a team specially trained in nuclear emergencies, and, the U.S. military is conducting a massive three day search for missing people in Japan, along with Japanese Self Defense Forces.

On top of that there are reports that the U.S. military is going to pull out most forces in Japan in mid-April.  The source of this info was not named.  It is thought some U.S. personnel will remain to help deal with the nuclear disaster.

It’s not just military personnel that the U.S. has sent, but personnel from other government agencies, as well as tons of equipment including radiation protected robots from the INL in Idaho. All this at taxpayer expense.

I know many experts, at the beginning of this Fukushima Daiichi disaster, said it wasn’t that bad, and rated it on par with Three Mile Island.  Those experts who called it another Chernobyl were dismissed by officials.  If that’s so, then why so much personnel and equipment from the United States?  And why, apparently, a pull out by mid-April?

Is there a reason 18,000 Japanese, and 7,000 U.S., troops will under take a massive, intensive search for missing people this weekend, then call it good after three days?  The official reason is that it will coincide with low tide along the coastline. The search will not take place in the radiation danger zone.

There’s a lot of evidence that the nuclear disaster is much worse than is being officially reported. For one, TEPCo has been caught lying about it’s radiation readings, twice now. Also, the IAEA, along with Greenpeace, has given their radiation readings which are much higher than what the government is issuing. The International Atomic Energy Agency has even asked for expanded mandatory evacuations, which the Japanese government said no to.

The problem for the United States is that the prevailing winds from Japan bring the radiation contamination right to it. The winds blow towards the U.S. from Japan.

So it is very likely that this nuclear disaster is worse than what is publicly stated, and, the United States is right in the path of any toxic wind from Japan.  Is this why the U.S. is sending so much help to Japan?

Why would U.S. forces begin ending their Operation Tomodachi in mid-April? Is it because only so much can be done to suppress a major disaster (like full melt down), and after that you need to get the hell outa Dodge? There is a time factor when dealing with nuclear disasters, and several experts stated it was time to start dumping concrete last week!

Fukushima

Cities left to die of starvation in Radiation Zone in Japan!

Not everyone who was living withing the 20-30km (12.4 to 18.6 miles) zone was told to evacuate.  Thousands of people were ordered to stay indoors, not to leave their homes, or even their work places, because of radiation.

Well, it’s been a three weeks now and those people are still there, running out of food and water. No supplies are getting in because of the radiation threat.

One mayor is so desperate that he’s posted a video call for help on YouTube. Sakurai Katsunobu, mayor of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, said there are literally 20,000 people in his city that face starvation because no help has come. They obeyed the Prime Minister’s orders to stay indoors, but no help has arrived.

On 25 March the government said they should evacuate themselves, but the mayor points out that most people lost any form of transportation, because of the tsunami.

Sounds like a lack of emergency planning on the part of the government.  Yet more proof that Japan is not the most prepared nation in the world.

Fukushima

Radioactive water leaking into the ground under the Reactor!

Tokyo Electric officials now admit that contaminated water is leaking into the ground under the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Earlier TEPCo dismissed concerns over radioactive water getting into the ground, after tunnels and trenches under the pant were found to be full of contaminated water.

This continues the trend of corporate officials to dismiss concerns about serious issues, only later to admit the concerns were valid.