28 August 2012, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment has declared the Japanese River Otter to be extinct. Officials say the iconic otter hasn’t been spotted for more than 30 years.
Its extinction is blamed on over hunting and the spread of human habitats. There are now 3,574 animals on the endangered list in Japan.
It has been revealed that on the night of 14 August 2012, Ryan Crocker ran into a tractor trailer, then fled the scene. He was later arrested. His blood alcohol was twice the legal limit in the state of Washington. He pled ‘not guilty’ in court.
Crocker recently stepped down as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.
24 August 2012, inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, are trying to figure out why an Areva (Framatome) designed nuclear reactor shut itself down, after a warning alarm sounded.
But it turns out this isn’t the first time this has happened. On 19 August 2012, a brand new reactor, the Sinwolseong-1 (aka Reactor 1 at Shin Wolsong) shut itself down as well.
Sinwolseong-1 began operation in January 2012. Officials ruled the shut down as being caused by a failure of the input controls.
According to the IAEA, Sinwolseong-1 and Uljin-1 (aka Reactor 1 at Ulchin) are both pressurized water reactors (PWR) operated by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company.
Uljin-1 was designed by a French company called Framatome, now called Areva.
Doosan Heavy Industries claims Sinwolseong-1 is a reactor based on Korea’s first indigenous pressurized light water nuclear reactor design. They have even sold the same type of reactors to China.
On 23 August 2012, Reactor 1 of the Uljin (aka Ulchin) nuclear power plant in Korea, south, shut itself down. Officials with the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company do not know why.
A warning signal went off, but there is no radiation leak, according to officials. Korean media says the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not concerned.
Uljin-1 began operations in 1988 and is a French Framatome (company is now called Areva) type pressurized water reactor (PWR). The Uljin nuclear plant is considered the 13th largest electricity generating facility in the world, producing nearly 5,900 megawatts.
Korea media reporting that Reactor 1 at Ulchin nuclear power plant, in North Kyongsang province of South Korea, ceased operations for unknown reasons.
Ulchin is the World’s 13th largest electric power generating plant, with a 5,900 megawatt capacity.
Ulchin-1 began operations in 1988 and is a PWR – Framatome type reactor.
“…we are not in the habit of repeating a warning and we warn only once.”-Major General Ataollah Salehi, Iranian Army, 03 January 2012 threat against USS Stennis
“We’re asking an awful lot of each of you. And frankly, you are the best I have, and when the world calls we have to respond.”-Leon Panetta, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 22 August 2012 statement regarding early deployment of USS Stennis
22 August, the aircraft carrier USS Stennis will set sail for the Persian Gulf. Back in July it was announced the USS Stennis would return to the Persian Gulf four months earlier than planned. The aircraft carrier will also stay in the region for eight months, four months longer than originally planned.
The Pentagon wants to keep at least two aircraft carrier groups on station in the Persian Gulf at all times. Panetta said it was to fight threats and “Obviously Iran is one of those threats that we have to, we have to be able to focus on……Secondly, it is the turmoil in Syria….”
Back in January 2012, Iranian officials singled out the USS Stennis, threatening military action against that specific aircraft carrier if it ever returned to the Persian Gulf. They claimed the aircraft carrier deliberately sailed through Iranian naval war games in December 2011. They also accuse the U.S. Navy of sailing ships dangerously close to Iranian oil platforms.
23 August 2012, the Bank of England tried to make it look as though flooding the markets with cash is benefiting everyone. But their own words revealed the truth: “…asset purchases have boosted the value of households’ financial wealth held outside pension funds, although holdings are heavily skewed, with the top 5% of households holding 40% of these assets.”
Quantitative easing is a monetary policy that tries to stimulate the economy by buying up privately held financial assets. But as the Bank of England (BoE) pointed out, 40% of those assets are owned by only 5% of the people in the United Kingdom! You can be sure it’s a similar situation in the United States.
The BoE also admitted that traditional ‘savers’ are the ones who’re losing, as interest rates on traditional savings accounts are at record lows. So much for trying to get people to put money away for a rainy day.
One British company, that offers financial services for people over 50 years of age, pointed out that retirees are the big losers in all this quantitative easing (QE): “…the 21 million over 50s…have been negatively impacted……It is asserted, but not proven, that pension savers are no worse off due to QE gilt buying [gilt is a British term for government bonds], because the value of their pension savings has gone up to offset the fall in the annuity income they will receive when converting their pension fund into a pension income. This assertion is simply not correct and the reality is very different for those recently or soon to be retired.”-Ros Altmann, Saga
The BoE tried to smooth things over by saying the worst that could happen to retirement funds is nothing: “….QE is estimated to have had a broadly neutral impact on the value of the annuity income that can be purchased from a typical personal pension pot invested in a mixture of bonds and equities.”
The British National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) responded by pointing out that if pension funds were already in trouble before the QE started in 2009, and the QE has a neutral impact, then nothing has been improved (except for the rich). The NAPF states that what has actually happened is that retirement funds are worse off as a result of QE: “…schemes that were already in substantial deficit before the financial crisis are likely to have seen those deficits increased.”
Essentially; quantitative easing only helps the 5% of the people (elites) holding financial assets (such as bonds), it is doing nothing, or actually making things worse, for 95% of the people!!!
23 August 2012, Australia’s Quantas Airways reported its first yearly loss since it was privatized 17 years ago.
Quantas lost $250 million USD from June 2011 to June 2012. The airline blames the high cost of fuel, coupled with flight cancellations and employee strikes.
The loss means that Quantas will now put on hold a huge order (35 aircraft) for the latest 787 airliners made by U.S. company Boeing.
23 August 2012, after buying back control of its Swedish cell phone operation, Sony announced it will lay off 15% of the employees.
Sony will also move most of the Mobile Communication division back to Japan.
Until Sony’s buyback, the Mobil Communication division was a joint venture with Sweden’s Ericsson. The cuts are on top of planned lay offs in Sony’s television division.
“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.