March 13, 2012, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission released a preliminary report on last year’s fire at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant in Nebraska. It shows corporate incompetence that could have led to disaster, if the plant hadn’t already been shut down.
The nuclear reactors had been shut down for maintenance, and were shut down […] Continue Reading…
On March 13, 2012, the Japanese government imposed sanctions against another Iranian bank, the 21st since last year.
It’s called Bank Tejarat, and is the third largest in Iran. There’s just one problem, most of the deals involve Iranians buying Japanese products, not the other way round!
In 2011 Iranians bought U.S.$1.65 billion worth of Japanese […] Continue Reading…
On March 13, 2012, the Chinese government approved a request from Japan, to buy U.S.$10 billion worth of bonds.
Japanese officials admitted the move was to help them “diversify” away from U.S. bonds. The move signals the growing influence of the Chinese yuan, as a international currency.
It also comes as BRICS countries prepare to sign […] Continue Reading…
“If you don’t think this is a big issue, think again!”-Andrew Potter, CIBC World Markets
Canada has pumped out so much oil, that it’s losing money. Plus it has to compete with the flood of oil coming out of North Dakota. The result is that Canadian heavy and light oil is now selling for about […] Continue Reading…
“Even now the market is well supplied. New fields are being discovered. There are new areas where sources are being developed. The sources of supply are spreading and this will change the politics of oil.”-Aldo Flores- Quiroga, IEF Secretary General
One more authoritarian voice joins in to say there is not a lack of oil, […] Continue Reading…
The following statements are from John Boehner’s interview with the Wall Street Journal:
“My problem is not with our 89 freshmen, my problem is with a few senior members who—they always want more. They always want more than what you can produce….[Nancy Pelosi] went through the same problem with her side.”
“We got 435 members. It’s […] Continue Reading…
“What is torture for? It’s really a way of getting false confessions. That’s what it does. That’s what it’s for.”-Daniel Ellsberg, former RAND Corporation employee turned anti-government activist
The UN special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, has formally accused the U.S. government of torturing one of their own citizens!!!
After 14 months of investigation, Mendez concluded that the […] Continue Reading…
A ghostly reminder of the March 11, 2011, Mega Quake and tsunami that hit north eastern Honshu, Japan, made its way back home.
The boat belonged to a fisherman from Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture. Otsuchi is one of the coastal towns devastated by the tsunami. The fisherman did not survive the monster tidal surge, but […] Continue Reading…
Sales of Japanese beer, and beer based drinks, hit all time lows in February, 2012.
Japanese brewers shipped less than 360,000 kiloliters (95,101,938 U.S. liquid gallons), that’s the lowest amount in February since such record keeping was started in 1992.
Nippon beer makers blame the cold weather! They say demand dropped in the areas of Japan […] Continue Reading…
The London based charity Reprieve, and the law firm Leigh Day & Company, are suing the British Foreign Secretary William Hague. They say they have evidence that the United Kingdom, specifically the Foreign Office, has been directing U.S. terror drone (UAV) attacks in Pakistan.
They claim that Britain’s signals intelligence agency (GCHQ/SIGNIT) are “secondary parties […] Continue Reading…