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.
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!
“That’s a significant number. We should expect more. We are about to hit our peak and we still have another month when the majority of cases are going to occur.”-Kristy Murray, infectious disease specialist Baylor College of Medicine
On 22 August 2012, the CDC announced a huge jump in cases. At least 40 deaths country wide, and more than 1,100 cases. The CDC must wait for state agencies to make official reports before compiling numbers, which is why it seems the CDC is behind the curve.
In Texas, more human infections, and deaths. On 21 August 2012, two people in the Houston area died. On the same day a death in Collin County, near Dallas, was reported. Another person died in Dallas County. As of 21 August Texas now has nearly 600 confirmed infections. The state of Texas has officially asked the CDC for help. The CDC is calling their help “Epi-Aid response”.
The CDC responded to questions about why their reporting of cases was so low until a couple of weeks ago. The CDC says one main reason (besides the normal lag time in states reporting in) is because West Nile has symptoms so similar to other infections that many cases are being misdiagnosed. The best way to diagnose West Nile infection is with a blood test done within 14 days of getting sick.
However, don’t think it’s a simple test that you can just pop in and take: “It’s not a test that you just want to come in and say, ‘I want to be tested for it,’ because it can be painful and costly.”-Chris Hable, East Texas Medical Center
Hable does have advise for differentiating between flu/cold symptoms and West Nile: “We’re talking about patients with high fever, confusion, stiff neck, not acting like themselves, weakness, numbness….those are the patients we need to see here in the emergency room.”
Illinois, Minnesota and New York reporting their first human deaths from West Nile.
California reporting their second human death, in Fresno County: “My concern is we still have a few more months to go in the West Nile virus season, and we’re already at seven cases.”-Edward Moreno, Fresno County Department of Public Health
The Ohio Department of Health issued a new warning, and county officials agree: “It’s not bad in Lake County, we’re just proactive, it’s bad in all of Ohio, it’s bad in 26 states in the United States, so people should be aware of it, not only because they live here in Lake County, but when they go to travel over the holiday weekend, they need to pay attention.”-Nancy Niehus, Lake County Health Department
Officials in Ohio point out that mosquito counts are low this year, but the type of mosquitoes that are out and about are the type that spread West Nile.
Oklahoma reports four more people infected.
Tennessee reporting at least five human cases.
Main reporting possible first two human cases: “One thing we do want to encourage people to do, is that if they see dead birds, to let us know.”-Anne Lictenwalner, Animal Health Lab at the University of Maine
Indiana and Massachusetts reporting dozens more mosquitoes testing positive for the virus.
Alabama reporting at least five new human cases, but also reporting horses infected. Equestrian veterinarian, Barbara Benhart, has seen almost two dozen horses infected in one day, and some didn’t survive: “I saw it on a Sunday and it did not survive Monday.”
As of 21 August, there are 77 reported cases of horse infections (according to the United States Geological Survey’s disease maps) in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.
There is no treatment for an infected horse, but there is a vaccine: “I, from day one, have been told you get your horses vaccinated, just like your dogs and cats. You have to, because you care about them, and for everybody else’s safety as well.”– Rachael Tucker, horse owner
A related disease is also showing up in humans as well as horses, eastern equine encephalitis (EEE): “I would say that EEE activity this year has been particularly intense.”-Anne Roach, Massachusetts Department of Health
The Humane Society of the United States is concerned for the safety of your pets, not only from contracting the virus, but from the pesticide spraying taking place in some parts of the country. They say keep pets indoors if possible, and cover outdoor food and water sources when spraying is taking place. After all, the pesticides can be just as deadly as the virus.
Famous last words: “West Nile Virus is the most overblown health threat since the ‘killer bees.’”-Howard Garrett, organic gardening guru
“…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.
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.