Category Archives: Idaho

Idaho, Technology

Idaho Wildfire Update, 10 September 2012: Canada joins the fight at Pocatello Tanker Base!

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10 September 2012, the smoke just won’t go away, ’cause fires just keep poppin’ up!  So far, the year to date fire retardant used by fire fighting aircraft out of Pocatello airport (aka Pocatello Tanker Base) is 261,797 gallons (991,009.4 liters).

Little “seeders” 802 Air Tractors are the backbone of airborne firefighting operations out of Pocatello airport, but Neptunes, MAFFS C-130s and now Convair CV580 operated by CONAIR of Canada, are making appearances at the tanker base.

Click pics (by AAron B. Hutchins) to make bigger:

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there are new fires in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Wyoming.  There are currently 34 large wildfires burning through the United States.

Idaho has seven large fires, with 640,881 acres (259,355.3 hectares) burned! California has nine fires, but with fewer burned acres, at 151,988 (61,507.36 hectares).

The most recent fires here in eastern Idaho were the Flint Canyon Fire south of American Falls, West Menan Fire and the Pickering Fire near Rexburg.

Regarding the now notorious Mustang Complex Fire, recently officials said the fire was so hard to get to that it would probably burn until the first heavy snowfall of winter!

The Mustang Complex Fire, burning along the Idaho/Montana border, increased by 20,000 acres (8,093.7 hectares) on 09 September 2012.  Mandatory evacuations were ordered.  The fire is now the single largest in the United States, at 281,000+ acres (113,716.6 hectares)!

EAST IDAHO WILDFIRE UPDATE, 29 AUGUST 2012: BURN AREAS BECOME DUST FARMS. 

Idaho, U.S.

East Idaho Wildfire update, 29 August 2012: Burn areas become dust farms. New Smokey the Bear?

More fires have popped up in eastern Idaho.

On 27 August, four smoke jumpers put out a small fire near Pocatello, called the Bell Marsh Fire.  Also on 27 August, the Lava Tube Fire, near Craters of the Moon National Monument, south of Arco, started and is still active, having burned 800 acres (323.7 hectares) so far.

On 25 August, the Radar Hill Fire burned 1,800 acres (728.4 hectares) in Clark County, north east of Dubois.

Click pics to make bigger

The National Interagency Fire Center reports that Idaho and Montana are tied for number of active wildfires, at eight each.

California leads the country with number of acres burned; 495,544 (200,539.5 hectares).  Idaho is second with 410,783 acres (166,237.9 hectares).

Idaho media reporting that a new Smokey the Bear has been found. A bear cub was rescued from the Mustang Complex Fire west of Salmon, Idaho.  It’s been named Boo Boo.  Click here to see pics.

IDAHO WILDFIRES 16 AUGUST 2012: MAFFS C-130S RETURN TO POCATELLO AIRPORT, IDAHO NATIONAL GUARD JOINS BATTLE!

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

Economic Recovery? No food crisis in Idaho, farmers see 15% increase in exports! Thank Canada and Mexico!

“With 96% of the world’s population and 80% of the world’s wealth being outside of the United States, the international market opportunities for agricultural products are great.”-Idaho Department of Agriculture

According to the Idaho Department of Agriculture, farm exports are up 15% compared to 2011, and 2011 was a record setting year!

“Canada and Mexico are Idaho’s largest agricultural export markets, with Japan and China following closely behind.”-Idaho Department of Agriculture

South Korea has also become a top importer of Idaho ag products, seeing a 98% increase since 2011!

Dairy has become Idaho’s number one ag product, making up 35% of Idaho’s exports! Compared to other U.S. states, Idaho’s exports rank 3rd for vegetables and 4th for dairy products (2011 stats).

For the first six months of 2012, total ag exports hit $2.7 billion USD for Idaho!  State officials thank currency exchange rates, strong commodity markets, trade agreements and growing international consumer demand.

It also doesn’t hurt that Idaho’s agricultural industry produces far more than what the state’s population of 1.5 million people can eat.

Unfortunately most of the employees of the Idaho ag industry are migrants.  Idaho employment laws allows farm workers to be paid less than minimum wage.

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Hoku continues downward spiral. Pocatello plant mothballed! Micron dead! Emmett fails! Idaho State government conspiracy?

Famous last words: “Sustainable, renewable energy is going to play a big role in Idaho’s future.”-Butch Otter, current Governor of Idaho, 2011 statement

Reality check: “New projects are non-existent. There’s no support for renewables in this state.”-Peter Richardson, Boise attorney

As of 21 August 2012, Hoku Corporation stock was worth only 9 cents per share!

According to a recent Associated Press (AP) report, all of the promises of support for renewable energy related companies in Idaho, were false.

Pocatello’s Hoku Materials polysilicon factory for solar power panels is now officially mothballed. Boise’s Micron Technology’s energy venture is dead, and Emmett’s biomass power project failed.

Large scale wind power in Idaho is also being targeted.

The AP says the reasons range from federal tax breaks ending for the alternative energy industry, to economic war between China and the United States, to the fact that electricity rates in Idaho are already the second lowest in the country.

But what happened to all those promises of support from the State?  The bottom line is that the government of Idaho does not want to throw money at new alternative energy companies, state officials are all talk, no walk (but they love to take the credit for companies moving to Idaho, Butch Otter did with Hoku in his 2007 State of the State speech).  After all, Idaho’s main source of electricity already comes from decades old renewable and reliable hydroelectric dams (maybe that’s what Governor Otter was referring to in his 2011 statement).

Another thing, state lawmakers have not required local utility companies to buy into these new energy companies, as have the states of Oregon and Washington.  In fact many of these new companies were required to buy their electricity from Idaho Power, Rocky Mountain Power and Avista!

“LIQUIDATE HOKU MATERIALS”

Business/Economics, Idaho, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Hewlett Packard to report record loss, gives half a million dollars worth of stuff to Idaho university!

“…HP carries so much weight in the area, when they do something, when HP sneezes, you know, there is a ripple effect.”-Matt Rissell, Idaho Technology Council’s Software Alliance, interview with Boise State Public Radio

22 August 2012, Hewlett Packard (HP) is expected to report a record quarterly loss of almost $9 billion USD.  It’s the largest loss for HP ever!

HP is already in the process of laying off 27,000 employees.  People in Idaho are worried because HP has a huge campus in Boise, and any layoffs there will definitely hit other Boise area businesses: “For every hundred workers you lose, you’re going to lose at least another fifty.”-Don Holley, economics professor Boise State University

But despite all this doom and gloom, HP is actually benefiting Boise State University, in fact it’s benefiting another chip/computer maker, Idaho’s own Micron.

On 21 August 2012, it was announced that Hewlett Packard donated half a million U.S. dollars worth of equipment to the new Micron Business and Economics Building, located on the Boise State campus.

“We are working with Boise State to provide key technology that will enhance the student experience and help build future business and community leaders.”-Von Hansen, HP Boise

Notice Hansen didn’t say anything about employment, the focus is on “business and community leaders”.  Most leaders actually have a poor history of new job creation.

 

 

Idaho, Opinion, U.S.

Government Incompetence: U.S. Army suicide rate doubles in July! Suicide now kills more troops than combat!!!

16 August 2012, the United States Army says the suicide rate for active duty, reserve and National Guard troops has now surpassed the 2011 high. July 2012 suffered 38 suicides, double from the month of June 2012!  That’s more than one soldier per day!!!

The monthly average is now at 29 suicides.  2011 ended with an average of 23 suicides per month.

The majority of suicides are those troops with combat experience. July was also a record high for active duty troop suicides.

In June dumb ass Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said: “That is an epidemic, something’s wrong.”

No shit Sherlock!  It’s called unjustified War on Terror, police stateism, economy down the toilet!

Things are so bad that earlier in the year the Idaho National Guard demanded that the state re-open a closed suicide hot line (the patriotic Republican state leaders closed it down claiming a lack of funding)!

General Lloyd J. Austin III gave the same bull shit comment I’ve always heard about preventing suicide: “To combat it effectively will require sophisticated solutions aimed at helping individuals to build resiliency and strengthen their life coping skills.”

I’ve heard that rhetoric since the 1980s!  What they really want are troops that are like the compliant monkeys of Japan: Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

But the more our leaders (Republicans, Democrats, religious & unAmerican Corporate America) betray our Constitution, screw over the families of troops by destroying the economy, ship jobs overseas, use prison labor instead of law abiding workers, religious hypocrisy, etc, the more those who join the military to supposedly fight for the American Dream are going to become disillusioned and turn to suicide, or something else (remember Bronze Star awardee Timothy McVeigh?)!

Idaho, Technology

Idaho Wildfires 16 August 2012: MAFFS C-130s return to Pocatello airport, Idaho National Guard joins battle! Amazed residents just now noticing the smoke! Idaho & California have the most fires!

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“We’re ready to go. We’ve gotten the clearance from the governor. We’ve got the state disaster emergency declaration done. Now, it’s just a matter of getting a mission assignment from the Bureau of Homeland Security.”-Colonel Tim Marsano, Idaho National Guard

Can you believe that? Even Homeland Security is calling the shots for firefighters!

16 August 2012, in eastern Idaho the new human caused Fox Hill Fire, close to Wyoming, has burned at least 250 acres (101 hectares).  Fire officials say buildings are threatened, but they don’t expect to have any containment until 18:00 hours on 17 August.

Click pics (by AAron B. Hutchins) to make bigger:

Click here to see pics of the last time MAFFS C-130s were at the Pocatello Airport.

On 15 August, the human caused Gun Range Fire, near Idaho Falls, burned about 588 acres (237.9 hectares) before being contained.

Fires are so numerous in Idaho that the Idaho National Guard is being called into battle. According to the Boise based National Interagency Fire Center, there are at least 12 fires in Idaho (NBC news says 9, but they’re wrong), and only one is contained (yesterday’s Gun Range Fire)!

The only other state with as many wildfires is California. Altogether, at least 60 wildfires are currently burning in the United States.

It looks like this year will beat last year’s number of wildfires, already the acreage burned this year is 1.5 million more than last year (currently 6.3 million acres or 2 million hectares have burned)!

I have been amazed by the number of people here in southeastern Idaho, who are just now noticing the smoke.  Some don’t notice it until I point it out to them, like “Hey, didn’t you notice you can’t see the mountains anymore?”.  The response was “Well now that you mention it…”

While coming out of the Fred Meyer yesterday I overheard two people commenting about how smokey the sky was.  Hello! It’s been that way for more than a week now!  Oh well, just reminded me of the days when I lived in southern California and was amazed how many people there couldn’t seem to tell the difference between a smoggy day and a clear day!

Besides Idaho and California, the other states dealing with wildfires are:  Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

TWO NEW WILDFIRES IN EASTERN IDAHO

Idaho, U.S.

West Nile Virus: Texas declares emergency, 16 dead, 381 infected. New cases across the United States, CDC first reported that cases were lower than last year!

“Texas is on track to have the worst year ever for West Nile virus.”-Christine Mann, Texas Department of State Health Services

“We’re in a fight we can’t win on the ground.”-Zach Thompson, Dallas County Health Department

15 August 2012, the mayor of Dallas, Texas, has just declared a health emergency.  A health emergency has also been declared for Dallas County. Reports say between 14 and 16 people in Texas (10 in Dallas County alone) have now died from West Nile, a type of Japanese encephalitis virus.

As of 13 August 2012, there were 381 reported cases in Texas. In all of 2011 only 27 cases were reported in Texas.  In the city of Houston, officials say that 90% of tested mosquitoes show they are infected with the virus.  The emergency declarations allows local officials to conduct massive aerial spraying operations to kill mosquitoes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at least 24 people, in the United States, have died.  42 states are reporting cases, but 80% are concentrated in Texas, Oklahoma (55 infections and one death) and Louisiana and Mississippi (both with 39 infections and one death).

Massachusetts has just reported their first case: “Today’s announcement is a compelling reminder that people should take simple, common sense steps to protect themselves against mosquito bites and the illnesses they can cause.”-Al DeMaria, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Illinois has reported a new case. DuPage County Health Department says a woman in her 50s is infected. She lives in the Chicago suburb area. So far there are seven confirmed infections in that state.  Officials say the cases are showing up earlier than normal, most people got infected in July.

Minnesota is also reporting cases that are showing up sooner than normal.

California is reporting one death and 18 infections.

On 14 August, North Carolina reported their first West Nile death.

New York has ordered a second round of truck spraying to kill mosquitoes in Nassau County.

Indiana and Ohio are reporting higher than normal amount of cases.

Officials, from many states, are blaming a warm winter and wet spring for the mosquito outbreak.  But here in Idaho we did not have a wet spring, in fact we’re so dry that our wildfire season started months early!  Yet, Idaho now has three case of humans infected with West Nile. Eight Idaho counties are reporting that mosquitoes are testing positive for West Nile.

The CDC is not sure why there’s a sudden increase in West Nile cases: “It is not clear why we are seeing more activity than in recent years.”-Marc Fischer, CDC

But maybe the CDC is out of touch? According to the Guardian Express, as recently as last week the CDC’s own website had posted much lower case numbers than what were being reported by state health officials: “Either they are short on staff and have fallen behind or something more disturbing is at work.”

Now the CDC has declared West Nile an epidemic!