Tag Archives: economy

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.

 

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Nuclear waste estimates from Fukushima Daiichi revised…upward!

21 August 2012, the Environment Ministry of Japan has revised upward the estimated amount of radioactive waste in nine prefectures around Fukushima Daiichi.

As of now, there is 42,575 tons of waste, containing radioactive cesium levels of more than 8,000 becquerels per kilogram, in storage.  Officials originally estimated that only 50,000 tons of debris would be contaminated with that much radiation, but it’s now obvious there is much more.

A newly passed law makes the national government of Japan responsible for disposal of all nuclear waste.  Recently it was decided that four or five prefectures will be designated as permanent nuclear waste disposal sites.  However, there is great concern over the fact that Japan is crisscrossed by seismic faults.  Officials stated that any new waste site must not be built near a fault line.

Not surprisingly at least 75% of the contaminated waste is being collected in Fukushima Prefecture.

Fukushima

One Year Later: Fish contaminated with 380 times safe limit of radiation! More proof the GE designed disaster reactors are still spewing!

21 August 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) announced it has caught fish near the failed Fukushima Daiichi reactors that have as much as 38,000 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium!

TEPCo says they’ve caught 20 kinds of fish and shellfish from 5 locations along the Pacific coast, just 1 kilometer (0.62 mile) off Minamisoma City, from mid July to the beginning of August.

A type of trout was contaminated with the most cesium, 38,000 becquerels.  That’s 380 times the safe limit set by the Japanese government!  To top that, the last time TEPCo tested local fish the amount of contamination was 18.8 times the safe limit!

Fishing was allowed to resume about 50 kilometers northeast of Fukushima Daiichi, on a trial bases, but not for rock trout or other fish that are showing up highly contaminated in TEPCo’s surveys.

ONE YEAR LATER: DOGS & CATS STILL ABANDONED IN RADIATION ZONES, GOVERNMENT NOW SEARCHING FOR OWNERS. OTHER PETS FORCED INTO SHELTERS BECAUSE OWNERS CAN’T KEEP THEM.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

LIBOR: Japan orders investigation

17 August 2012, the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) ordered an investigation into TIBOR, or Tokyo Inter-Bank Offered Rate.

It’s a system similar to Britain’s LIBOR, and tries to regulate interest and currency rates.

18 financial institutions in Japan have been ordered to reveal their TIBOR operations. Specifically the FSA is looking for evidence that bank employees unfairly manipulated rates.  FSA is concerned about the credibility of the TIBOR system.

The Japanese Bankers Association gave an immediate response to the order, saying their were no TIBOR irregularities, despite the European and U.S. investigations into TIBOR.

Fukushima

One Year Later: Japan to create Temp Towns to house victims of Fukushima Daiichi

17 August 2012, people forced to flee their homes, because of the General Electric designed nuclear disaster reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, have been living in temporary prefab homes.  Now the Japanese government wants to know if they will accept living in ‘temporary’ towns as well.

A year ago the ignorant Japanese government told nuclear evacuees that they’d be returning home in a few weeks or months.  It’s finally become clear to the exalted leaders that radiation contamination could last years. Some areas will exceed 20 millisieverts per year for at least a decade!

The Japanese government admits they are now considering the wishes of the evacuees for the first time!  At least 15,000 people can never go back to their homes, and the government says it is willing to build new villages for the victims.

 

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!

Image

“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

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.

Fukushima

One Year Later: Dogs & cats still abandoned in radiation zones, government now searching for owners. Other pets forced into shelters because owners can’t keep them.

14 August 2012, the Japanese government is now trying to find owners of hundreds of abandoned pets in the 11 March 2011 disaster areas.  Last year the Environment Ministry was able to pick up 750 dogs and cats and place in shelters, 300 are still unclaimed.

Government officials believe there are still hundreds of abandoned pets still living in the radiation zones.

The prefectural government of Fukushima is asking people who are known to have lost their pets if they want them back, or not.  Fukushima officials say they have contacted at least 1,000 people so far.  Officials say they will try to find homes for pets that are no longer wanted, and they will continue to try and capture those pets still loose.

Some owners fear their pets are radioactive, others say they can not afford to take in their pets as they are living in temporary housing, and many owners are still unemployed.

NHK (nippon housou kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) recently ran a sad documentary about pets who are being kept in private shelters, until the owners can take them back. The owners are paying for the shelters.  However, in one sad example, the owners of one old dog were finally able to take their dog back only to learn that their dog died just days before they arrived at the shelter.

Visit American Humane Association  Visit globalanimal.org

ONE YEAR LATER: FRESH WATER FISH MORE RADIOACTIVE THAN SALT WATER FISH! MORE PROOF THAT YOU NEED LOTS OF SALT IN YOUR DIET!

GOVERNMENT INCOMPETENCE: MORE RADIOACTIVE BEEF SOLD TO PEOPLE, JAPANESE CATTLE FARMERS ARE NOW BEING TOLD NOT TO USE LOCAL FEED, FARMERS SAY ADVISE IS TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

Business/Economics, U.S.

Corporate Evil: 90% of Too Big to Fail banks’ lawsuits falsify credit card debt!

The following are quotes from U.S. state judges, attorneys and federal government officials regarding the Too Big to Fails’ lawsuits against debtors:

“I would say that roughly 90% of the credit card lawsuits are flawed and can’t prove the person owes the debt.”-Noach Dear, civil court judge Brooklyn, New York

“Our concerns center on the fact that debt collection lawsuits are a pure volume business. The documentation is very bare bones.”-Tom Pahl, Federal Trade Commission

“I do suspect flaws, but there is little I can do.”-Harry Walsh, superior court judge Ventura, California

“This is robo-signing redux.”-Peter Holland, Consumer Protection Clinic at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

The quotes came from a New York Times article