Tag Archives: taxes

Business/Economics, Fukushima

Global Economic War: Japanese industry moving to China

Since the 11 March 2011 disasters, Japanese industries moving to China has increased 65%.  That’s according to the Chinese Commerce Ministry.

There are two big factors why Japanese industries are moving to a mortal enemy’s territory: Money and Electrical Power.

Since the March disasters, including the ongoing Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, about half of Japan’s nuclear power plants are shut down.  The problem is that Japan built it’s current industries around nuclear power.  There just isn’t enough alternative electricity sources to power Japan’s factories.

Also since March, the Japanese yen has been going up in value.  This makes it more expensive to build things in Japan; Japan has no significant resources so it must import everything.

Japanese media are finally getting concerned about the growing unemployment there, mainly because so many factories have shut down and moved out of the country.

I wounder how this will affect the plans to create a TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership), especially since one of its goals is to block out China.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Occupy Idaho: Bank sues Mayor for business loan, Mayor says her business is not in trouble

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem was shocked to learn that her jewelry store is being sued for more than $80,000.

Panhandle State Bank says the lawsuit is over a $75,000 loan made back in 2005.  Bloem says she was in the process of renegotiating the loan, and never had any indication the bank was going to sue.  She says her jewelry store is not in financial trouble, even though the bank says she failed to pay off the loan.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

United Police States of America: Doing time in California prisons will now cost you $142 per day

“We believe that 25% of the people who go through our jail systems can afford to pay for their jail stay.  If we just grab 25% of those, that would save the county or the city $6.7 million.”-Jeff Stone, County Supervisor

Riverside County, in California, has decided to charge prisoners $142.42 per day. The county says it’s an effort to “save” money, but it looks more like a way for the county to make a profit. When they say they could save $6.7 million, that’s actually how much money they’d take in from prisoners.

The problem is that once they start making big money from charging prisoners, the county government will get addicted to that form of revenue and start making up reasons to put people in prison. Don’t laugh, it’s happened before, and is going on right now with Corporate America operated for profit prisons.

The ACLU is concerned: “Programs like this certainly do raise very serious Constitutional questions.  We’re seeing it increasingly in jurisdictions around the country.”-Will Matthews, American Civil Liberties Union

Attorney’s for the county said there is nothing illegal about charging prisoners for their stay.  But they warned officials that not all prisoners can afford to pay for their keep: “In order to be reimbursed, the court must determine that the defendant has the ability to pay all or a portion of these costs. Many defendants who are incarcerated lack the financial means, after the payments of fines and penalties, to reimburse these costs.”-Pamela Walls, county attorney

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho tax revenues for October fall short

The Idaho Division of Financial Management reported that October tax revenues were $1.6 million short of what was needed.

State officials were hoping for $210.6 million.  So far for the fiscal year 2012, overall tax revenues are $10.8 million below what’s hoped for!  Amazingly officials still think they’ll finish the 2012 fiscal year with a surplus!?

The biggest drop was seen in sales tax revenues, to the tune of $4.1 million!  So far Idaho sales tax revenues are short by $14 million!  Sales taxes are a good way to gauge how well your economy is doing, and it doesn’t look too good.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Occupy Wall Street, Class War: Latest study says Big Corporations do not pay their fare share of taxes

Not only are many of the biggest corporations reporting big profits, they’re paying small taxes.  The official tax rate for corporations is supposed to be 35%, but the latest study shows the average effective tax paid is about 18.5%.

Some corporations pay no taxes, and a handful actually have negative taxes!

280 companies in the Fortune 500, that were profitable for all three years between 2008 and 2010, were studied.

111 companies paid effective tax rates of less than 17.5% over the three-year period.  98 paid a rate between 17.5% and 30%.

The average rate is 18.5%.  But wait, there’s more.  Some companies paid zero taxes!  30 actually owed less than nothing over the three years!

Two of those corporations are Pepco Holdings and General Electric.  Over the 2008 to 2010 period Pepco made $882 million in profits, but had a tax rate of -57.6% (yes, put a negative sign in front of that)!   But here’s a bigger shocker: GE earned $10.5 billion, with a tax rate of –45.3%!   How do you make big corporate profits, and then effectively have the government owe you money?

Lobbyists hired by Corporate America convince your elected lawmakers to create more corporate tax breaks.

The study was done by Citizens for Tax Justice, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: TEPCo retracts Fukushima melt down claim!

On 02 November 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company said Reactor 2 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was in melt down, again. Now they changed their mind!

TEPCo now says the level of xenon radiation they detected is too low to be from spontaneous fission.  Can these guys get anything right?

 

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Fukushima Reactor 2 going Critical, TEPCo pouring Boric Acid into reactor!

02 November 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that melt down has re-started in Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2.

TEPCo detected radioactive xenon-133 and xenon-135, in the reactor’s containment vessel on 02 November.  They are produced during nuclear fission.  TEPCo poured a boric acid solution into Reactor 2 to suppress the nuclear fission (melt down).

Analysts are speculating that the other reactors at Fukushima Daiichi could also go critical.  Professor Okamoto Koji, of the University of Tokyo Graduate School, says the presence of xenon in the reactors leaves open the possibility that localized and temporary fission could still occur.

TEPCo claims that using the boric acid has cooled down the reactor.

 

 

 

 

Kit Bashing, Reviews

Kit Bashing: Heller, Fujimi & Hobbycraft F-86 Sabre kits compared

Don’t throw out that 40 year old Heller kit just because it has raised surface detail.  You can always use the wheels, landing gear doors and speed brake doors.

fuselages

The fuselage of the Heller kit has a better shape, but it doesn’t come with the fuel dump (fixed easily), and the area where the elevators attach is the wrong shape (it’s too straight).  The vertical tail/rudders on the Fujimi and Hobbycraft kits are bigger in area, and taller than the Heller kit.  Fujimi and Hobbycraft have subtle recessed surface details.

f-30 wings

The F-30 wings are about the same size in all three kits.  With Hobbycraft (now issued by Academy?) you get the added benefit of separately molded slats.

f-40 wing

Surprisingly Fujimi does not make a distinction on its packaging regarding the type of wings their kits come with.  In their “JASDF” issue you get an F-86F-40 with the extended span, slated wing.  In their “Mig Mad Marine” issue you get the F-86F-30 with the in Korean War theater hard fenced wing conversion.  Fujimi’s boxes just say “F-86F” (at least on the kits I have).

intake trunks

The old Heller kit has the best detailed main wheels. The Fujimi main wheel tires are the biggest in diameter, followed by Hobbycraft.  Photos indicate that the Fujimi tires might be the correct diameter, but the Heller wheel definitely has the best detail.  All three kits have similar nose wheels.  The real F-86 used at least three types of nose wheels: Two types of spoked wheels, and a solid wheel.  Most of the pictures I’ve seen of the solid nose wheel is of South Korean and West German Sabres.

intake trunks

The Heller and Hobbycraft kits have a short intake trunk.  The Hobbycraft kit has the nose wheel bay and cockpit floor molded onto the trunk.  The Fujimi intake trunking also has the nose wheel bay and cockpit floor molded on, but is much deeper and actually goes somewhere.

fan blades

That somewhere is an incorrectly faced engine.  The fan blades should be set back more (there should be a section of venturi before the blades), and the nose cone should be larger, but who’s gonna really notice once it’s assembled?

doors

The wheel bay doors, and speed brake doors are much better, and accurately detailed on the old Heller kit.

nose gear doors

Hobbycraft has screwed up its nose gear door.  They’ve put the locator stubs on the wrong side.  Their instructions give a vague indication of placement on the correct side of the wheel bay, but if your not paying attention and simply go with the locator stubs you’ll end up with the door on the wrong side (it should be on the pilot’s left side).

elevators

All three kits have issues with their elevators.  The Hobbycraft kit has the shortest, with the least angle of sweep, and rounded tips.  The Fujimi and Heller elevators have the same angle of sweep, but with different shaped tips.  The Heller elevator is the longest of the three.  From three view drawings of F-86F-30s it doesn’t look like any of the three kit makers got it right, although Heller’s looks the closest to being correct.  The Fujimi and Hobbycraft elevators look more like earlier F-86A/E elevators (according to three view drawings).

Other notes: The cockpit details on the Heller kit are worthless.  Fujimi has a nice looking instrument panel (not necessarily accurate, but it looks good), and it looks like Hobbycraft has copied the Fujimi panel.  The detail on the side consoles, in all three kits, is spurious at best.  All three kits have similar looking seats.  All three kits have canopies that can be posed open.  The Heller and Hobbycraft kits come with external fuel tanks, while the Fujimi kit comes with Sidewinder missiles as well as external fuel tanks.

You can improve the Fujimi and Hobbycraft kits with some of the parts from the Heller kit, but you’d still need aftermarket photo etch, or resin parts to improve the wheel bays and cockpits (or scratch build your own).

A note on references: In one book I have (no names/titles mentioned) there is a color photo of a South Korean F-86, with the -40 extended slat wing (and solid nose wheel).  At the back of the book is a color profile of the same aircraft, except it shows the -30 hard fenced wing.  It’s just an example to show that you can’t trust a profile, instead use photos of the real thing.

Part 2: F-86 Saber Fujimi vs Heller, or, Nobody is Perfect!

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: More radiation in Yokohama, this time school lunches!

Shiitake mushrooms used in school lunches have tested positive for 350 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium.  That’s below the government limit of 500 becquerels, but Yokohama school officials are getting rid of them anyway.

Yokohama is about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

At a Ibaraki Prefecture mushroom farm, 830 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium were found on the mushrooms there.  The farm is about 170 km (106 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Earlier in the week mushrooms in Chiba Prefecture were found to be contaminated with cesium, higher then the government safe limits.  Clearly, after almost seven months, radiation is still spreading from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Radioactive Strontium found on Yokohama roof tops!

Yokohama City officials are testing their soil for strontium, after a private testing firm said they found high levels of strontium on some roof tops.

The company said they detected 195 becquerels of strontium per kilogram, more than six times the government safety limit.  Yokohama has already suffered cesium levels at 80 times the government limits.

Yokohama is about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.