Category Archives: Technology

International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3: South America gettin’ riled ’bout Julian Assange. Bradley Manning international hero!

“Inside this embassy in the dark, I could hear teams of police swarming up into the building through its internal fire escape……. If the U.K. did not throw away the Vienna Conventions the other night, it is because the world was watching.”-Julian Assange, 19 August 2012 statement from Ecuadorian embassy in London

“We are continuing to seek a diplomatic solution. We remain ready to continue the conversations we have had, but that is now a question for the Ecuadorians.”-British government statement

“We warn the government of the United Kingdom that it will face grave consequences around the world if it directly breaches the territorial integrity of the embassy of the Republic of Ecuador in London!”-Bolivian Alliance for the People of Our America

“I ask President Obama to do the right thing. The United States must renounce its witch hunt against WikiLeaks. The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation. The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters. The United States must pledge, before the world, that it will not pursue journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful!”-Julian Assange, 19 August statement from Ecuadorian embassy in London

“We believe this is a bilateral issue between Ecuador and the United Kingdom and that the OAS [U.S. created Organization of American States] has no role to play in this matter.”-U.S. State Department statement

“They’re [United Kingdom] out of touch. Who do they think they’re dealing with? Can’t they see that this is a dignified and sovereign government which will not kneel down before anyone?”-Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador

“And to the [U.S.] Army private who remains in military prison in Ft Leavenworth, Kansas, who was found by the United Nations to have endured months of tortuous detention in Quantico, Virginia, and who has yet, after two years in prison, to see a trial, he must be released.  Bradley Manning must be released!  If Bradley Manning did as he was accused, he is a hero and an example to all of us, and one of the World’s foremost political prisoners.  Bradley Manning must be released! On Wednesday Bradley Manning spent his 815th day on detention without trial. The legal maximum is 120 days!”–-Julian Assange, 19 August statement from Ecuadorian embassy in London

“This is a sort of declaration of war. The U.S. has degenerated into a rogue state. What the U.S. wants, the U.S. gets from its allies, regardless of if it’s legal or if it’s ethical or in breach of human or legal rights. We’re all lackeys.”-Christine Assange, mother of Julian Assange

“This is not a bilateral dispute between two countries, it is about respect for international law, respect for humanitarian law and respect for embassies and diplomatic corps!”-Nicolás Maduro, Chancellor of Venezuela

“This Friday, there will be an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of Latin America, in Washington DC, to address this very situation.”-Julian Assange, 19 August statement from Ecuadorian embassy in London

“Britain….is wrong. The threat is not only an aggression to Ecuador, it’s against Bolivia, it’s against South America, against the whole of Latin America!”-Evo Morales, President of Bolivia

“To my family, and to my children who have been denied their father: Forgive me, we will be reunited soon.”-Julian Assange, 19 August statement from Ecuadorian embassy in London  (see video of speech here)

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Nuclear Disaster Reactors: Damage to Belgian reactor impossible to repair?

16 August 2012, after an emergency meeting was held, officials decided it was likely that the Doel nuclear plant in Belgium will be shut down permanently.

But this means dozens of other nuclear reactors throughout western Europe could be shut down as well.  The whole thing started in 2004 when France inspected two reactors and found perpendicular micro-cracks in the containment vessels.

The perpendicular cracks were not from age, but had been there from day one. It was a design flaw!

Belgium decided to check their reactors, since they were the same design, and found even more micro-cracks. The boss of Belgium’s Federal Agency of Nuclear Control told the emergency meeting that they found “something else”; thousands of parallel cracks as well as the perpendicular cracks.

The defects are so numerous that Belgium officials say it is unlikely they can be repaired.  Belgium will shut down two reactors, and continue investigations. A final report will be presented in October.

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

International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3: NATO member Turkey deploys new SP anti-aircraft tanks to border with Syria

15 August 2012, one day after holding what was officially called ‘war games’ near the border with Syria, Turkey is now deploying Atilgan self propelled anti-aircraft missile batteries to the border.

The Atilgan is a Turkish designed Pedestal Mounted Air Defence System (PMADS) firing U.S. designed Stinger missiles. The PMADS is mounted on a U.S. designed M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC).

It’s interesting that even the Turkish media said yesterday’s war games were actually show of force preparations against Syria.

There are also reports that Turkey is expanding their air force operations at Sazgin Airport.  The same airport was used for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Also, on 13 August the Turkish government held emergency meeting regarding Syria.  The meeting included local government leaders from towns along the border with Syria.

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Nuclear Disaster Reactors: Belgium shuts down nuke plant; cracked containment vessel, emergency international meeting!

14 August 2012, the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control is shutting down Reactor 3 at the Doel nuclear power plant in Belgium.

Workers discovered cracks, and other ‘anomalies’, in the containment vessel.  The reactor was built by a company that went bankrupt 40 years ago. Dozens of nuclear plants across western Europe use the same design.

Belgian officials have called for an emergency meeting, with international experts, to be held on 16 August.  Belgium gets 50% of its electricity from nuclear power.

Idaho, Technology

MAFFS 2 & 6: USAF Reserve & National Guard C-130 water bombers @ Pocatello Airport

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

EAST IDAHO WILDFIRES 2012: MAINTENANCE DAY FOR SKYCRANE FIRE FIGHTER @ POCATELLO AIRPORT

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

What Economic Recovery? Hewlett Packard to layoff 300 British employees, government officials calling it a “quarterly cull”! HP has too much debt, turns to GE for help!

“This is not part of the global program, it’s just a quarterly cull.”-unnamed government source

03 August 2012, news media in the United Kingdom have discovered that Hewlett Packard (HP) has told the British government they will let go at least 268 employees.

British law requires companies that are laying off more than 20 employees to notify the government.

Despite the unnamed government official’s statement, some analysts believe this is part of the planed layoff of 27,000 HP employees by October 2014.

HP officials in France and Germany said they’re planing to cut their workforce by 10%.  In Sweden it could be as high as 14%.  Italy and Spain are still awaiting HP’s layoff estimates.  Even the announced 268 layoffs in the U.K. are not considered the final cut.

Unions in Britain are claiming that HP will end up laying off at least 1,600 employees.  CEO Meg Whitman, refused to answer British media questions.

On 30 July 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported that HP was finding it harder and harder to get credit default swaps on its debt.  The cost of such swaps has quadrupled for HP since last year.  That’s because more and more investors are worried that HP will end up busted.

Also, HP’s debt load is now at $21 million USD, no thanks to its recent purchase of a company called Autonomy.

As a result HP has turned to General Electric (GE) for financial help.

On 02 August 2012, GE Capital announced they will offer credit to HP resellers. The offer includes 60 days of no interest re-payments: “Resellers of any size can view this kind of financing as working capital that they can use to help grow their markets and expand their businesses. We’re pleased to be working with HP to support its resellers.”-Mike Marcolina, GE Capital Commercial Distribution Finance

 

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology

What Economic Recovery? For the first time in 62 years, TV maker Sharp will layoff 5,000 workers! Despite profits Panasonic will let go 7,000 workers! Sony 10,000!

01 August 2012, Sharp announced that it will layoff 5,000 employees between now and March 2013, then, on 02 August reported a record loss of $1.6 billion USD for the quarter April-June!  That’s three times its loss from the same quarter last year!

The layoffs will affect workers in Japan, and in other countries.  Sharp hopes most of the layoffs will come from convincing older workers to retire early.

Sharp now expects to lose $3.2 billion for the year 2012!

Sharp has reported record losses, but, Panasonic recently reported profits and still plans to layoff 7,000 employees!

On 30 July 2012, Panasonic revealed that it plans to reduce its headquarter staffing by 7,000, leaving only 150 HQ staff employed!

Panasonic reported profits for the past quarter, but they (just like Sharp) suffered huge losses in 2011, and they expect sales to drop for the rest of 2012.

Panasonic executives say they hope to find other jobs for the 7,000 HQ staffers in Japan.

Back in April 2012, Sony revealed they will layoff 10,000 employees, both in Japan and in other countries.  On 02 August 2012, Sony reported a loss of $315 million for the quarter Arpil-June.

Sony officials revised their expected losses for this year, almost doubling it!

All three of these companies are losing big money in one sector of their industry: Televisions with LCD screens!  They say people around the world just aren’t buying enough LCD TVs.

Or is it that company execs messed up and ordered the production of way too many TVs with liquid crystal displays?