Category Archives: Business/Economics

Business/Economics, Fukushima, Technology

Just how much do we rely on Petroleum? No ink, no bleach, no tape, no Shonen Jump

You wouldn’t believe how much we use petroleum products (oil & natural gas) in our everyday lives. The people of Japan are finding out the hard way.

The 11 March 2011 quake/tsunami has resulted in several petroleum plants closing down, due to damage and power cuts. Those plants turn oil and natural gas into everyday products.

How would you like disposable diapers with no tape to seal it shut? Unicharm Corporation discontinued production of special tape used to wrap diapers because of a lack of the chemical needed to make the tape.

Are you one of those people who just have to have your whites their whitest when doing the laundry? No bleach. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co has stopped production at its Kashima factory, because of lack of electricity.

Love your Manga? The publisher of mangas including Shonen Jump, is delaying publication because there’s no ink. Maruzen Petrochemical Co stopped production of Diisobutylene, a chemical product used to make ink. Amazingly Maruzen is the only producer of Diisobutylene in Japan, so bye, bye Manga.

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.

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.

Business/Economics

Remember the Mexican Gulf Oil disaster? Company officials get bonus for beating “safety” standards!

“Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico, we achieved an exemplary statistical safety record as measured by our total recordable incident rate and total potential severity rate.”-Transocean, LTD

Transocean, one of the companies involved with the BP (British Petroleum) oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, gave it’s executives pay raises and bonuses, for having their “best year” ever for safety!

Can you say “What the F**k!”  Let me remind you that 11 people were killed on 20 April 2010, after an explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon platform. Nine of those killed were Transocean employees. And they say they had their best year ever?  If that was their best year ever then they need to be investigated big time.  How many other people have died while working for Transocean?

Also, the disaster isn’t over with. There are still plumes of stuff coming up from the bottom of the Gulf. The well that the Deepwater Horizon was drilling at the time of the explosion may have been capped, but there are reports that plumes are coming up from other areas, that might have been caused by previous drilling by the Deepwater Horizon platform.

More proof that corporations don’t give a crap about you.

Business/Economics, International

Insurance companies abandon survivors of Japan disaster

Because survivors of the March 11 tsunami lost everything, including any insurance documentation, many insurance companies are giving them the cold shoulder.

Most survivors are made up of the elderly, who lost all documentation in the tsunami. They are extremely concerned about their future, one man pointed out that all he has is his retirement income, which is set to be reduced.

Japanese attorneys are now going to disaster shelters, offering free legal counseling concerning lost documents.

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.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

G20 meeting focusing on letting China in, kicking U.S. out

The current G20 meeting, in China, is discussing many issues, including the disasters in Japan. But, what seems to be the focus is how to bring China into the SDR, and, China’s desire to remove the U.S. dollar as the international reserve currency.

The G20 is made up of bankers and finance officials from 19 countries, and the European Union.  Their objective is to come up with finance and banking systems for a global economy.

Because of China’s growing economic strength, the G20 would like to have the Chinese yuan brought into the SDR.  That is the Special Drawing Rights fund, which is currently as close as you can get to an international money.  It is meant to make huge international transactions easier for members. The SDR replaced gold and silver as standards for international trade in 1969.

China is worried about continued reliance on the U.S. dollar as THE reserve currency for international trade.  Many Chinese economist, and other economist around the world, believe the U.S. dollar’s value is overrated, and is unstable.  They call the use of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency a “dollar trap”.

“Nations around the world have no way of restricting dollar issuance by the Federal Reserve. The current international monetary system lacks both stability and fairness.”- Xu Hongcai, deputy director at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges

Basically China wants a new international reserve currency, no more U.S. dollar.  This will play into the hands of those who want a true international form of money.