Tag Archives: wall street

Fukushima

Government Hypocrisy: Japan drags feet on Fukushima Daiichi, yet scrambles to shoot down Korean communications satellite, even cancels flower festival!

It has been proven by independent investigations in Japan, that government and corporate leaders not only dragged their feet in responding to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, they’re still dragging their feet!

Yet, when North Korea announced they were going to launch a harmless communications satellite, Japanese leaders went into overdrive!

Earlier in the month Japanese defense officials said they were moving U.S. supplied Patriot missiles into position to shoot down the satellite.  U.S. officials came out and said they were going to back up Japan in defending itself against the satellite (note that U.S. and other western media keep referring to the satellite as a “ballistic missile”).

Now Chief Cabinet Secretary, Osamu Fujimura, announced they have canceled the annual Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden flower viewing in Tokyo.  He blames it on North Korea’s planned launch of a communications satellite!

Japanese officials scrambling over a communications satellite launch, even shutting down a flower show?  Where was the concern when Fukushima Daiichi was blowing up?  Where is the concern now that it’s obvious Fukushima Daiichi is still spewing massive amounts of radiation?  But oh no, we can’t have any North Korean communication satellites being launched, better cancel that flower show!

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: One Year Later it’s revealed that another Japanese nuclear plant is in trouble, massive leaks!

Fukushima Daiichi was not the only nuclear plant in Japan shut down as a direct result of the March 11, 2011 disasters.

The Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPCo) revealed that their Tokai nuclear plant has leaked more than 20 tons of radioactive water since October 2011!

The radioactive water has been leaking into one of the buildings.  The current leak was detected after water used to hose down employees was testing positive for high levels of radiation. Somehow the radioactive water got into the rinse water for employees.

JAPCo says they don’t know where the radioactive water is coming from! They have yet to pump out the building where it has been flooded with the contaminated water.  Gee this sounds familiar?  TEPCo? Fukushima Daiichi?

But wait, there’s lots more tales of incompetence regarding the Tokai nuclear power plant.

It turns out that Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency discovered leaks last year!  After an inspection the government agency warned JAPCo that the building housing reactor 2 was filling with radioactive water.

On top of that, JAPCo’s own employees said an alarm went off at 10:20 on October 26, 2011.  Water was pouring from a pipe at the bottom of the reactor’s pressure vessel.  JAPCo blew it off saying it was a minor leak easily fixed.  That minor leak ended up being 22.4 tons (according to media source Japan Today)!

Since then another 2.2 tons of radioactive water went ‘missing’.  That’s how much contaminated water disappeared between the October 2011 leak and March 16, 2012.  Then on Saturday, March 17, workers discovered their rinse water was now radioactive.

On closer inspection they realized that 1.2 tons of radioactive water somehow got into their rinse water tanks!  Upon inspection of reactor 2 building, they found it is flooded with contaminated water (just like the buildings at Fukushima Daiichi).

Can’t blame GE on this one, the Tokai nuclear plant is Japan’s first nuke power factory, and it was built by the British.

Immediately after the March 11, 2011 Mega Quake and tsunami, it was being reported that the Tokai nuke plant survived the tsunami because the sea wall had been raised.  It was also reported that Tokai didn’t rely on cooling systems like at Fukushima Daiichi.  Both reports have proven to been a little misleading.

On March 13, 2011, Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported that one of three seawater cooling pumps quit working.  Tokai was lucky in that the other two pumps were still working, as well as their diesel generators.

Regarding the raised sea wall.  It was still overrun by the tsunami, one reason being that there were cable holes in the new wall that still needed to be plugged.

Tokai failed a recent stress test because its electrical systems are unable to survive future earthquakes.

But to make matters more confusing, Japanese media is not being very specific when reporting on the Tokai nuclear power plant.  You see there are two nuclear reactors one called Tokai I, the other called Tokai II.

In 1998 Tokai I (reactor 1) was shut down and was supposed to have been dismantled by 2011, yet the way Japanese media is talking the dismantling is still on going.

Tokai II (reactor 2) was still operational when the 2011 tsunami hit.  It is the one that is currently flooding with radioactive water from a mystery source!

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Hewlett Packard going down, HP to cut even more jobs in Boise?

“We didn’t make the investments we should have during the past few years to stay ahead of customer expectations and market trends. As a result, we see eroding revenue and profits today.”-Meg Whitman, CEO of HP, February interview

There’s rumors that Hewlett Packard is considering merging its computer production, with its printer production.  Boise, Idaho, is home to a huge HP compound that includes  printer manufacturing.

Analysts say they don’t know what good will come from such a merger, but agree that people are going to lose their jobs: “HP has some massive structural fixes that they need to make, and this doesn’t come close. I don’t see how this changes anything apart from probably giving you an excuse to cut some heads and cut some costs.”-Rob Cihra, Evercore Partners

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

World War 3: Germany sells more Dolphin Submarines to Israel

March 20, 2012, Germany’s Defense Minister, Thomas de Maiziere, announced that Germany will sell Israel at least one more Dolphin submarine.

The Dolphin submarine is made specially for Israel, and is a smaller version of the 209 class sub.  It can carry SLCM (submarine launched cruise missiles) which can be armed with nuclear warheads.  Oh, but I don’t hear any Western powers complaining about that!

Not only is Germany selling more of these submarines to Israel, but according to an unnamed source in the German government, they’re covering one third of the cost (about $178 million) and providing easy loans to Israel in order to pay for the rest!

Israel has three of the 2,800 mile range submarines, with two on order not counting this latest announcement.

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Nissan to bring Datsun back to life

Up until the mid 1980s Nissans were sold in the U.S. under the Datsun name.  Now Nissan is reviving that brand, but not for the United States.

Nissan says Datsun vehicles became known as cheap but reliable cars.  They are reviving the brand name for the Indonesian, Indian and Russian car markets.

Datsun started in 1931 as DAT motors. Its smaller cars were called DAT-son, as in son of DAT.  In 1933, Nissan took over the company and changed the name to Datsun, because the Japanese Emperor is considered a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, and because ‘son’ means loss in Japanese.

The cars will be made in factories in those countries.  Indonesia is now the number one car market in South East Asia, 890,000 vehicles were sold there in 2011!

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Oil & Gas Prices: More Hypocrisy; the U.S. exempts EU & Japan from Iran oil sanctions

In a move that is hypocritical, the United States has exempted 10 European Union countries, and Japan, from U.S. imposed Iran oil sanctions.

It also brings up the question: What was the point?

I already showed how, under the Bush jr administration, U.S. corporations were exempted from future sanctions against Iran, back in 2000!

The countries now granted exemptions from the U.S. oil sanctions are Belgium, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Japan.

Again: What was the point of the U.S. imposed sanctions against Iran, if the U.S. is going to grant exemptions to other countries, and, a Republican created law in 2000 already exempts U.S. corporations from having to obey any sanctions anyway?

Business/Economics, International

Oil & Gas Prices: Russian Gasoline exports making big money, Russia imposes big fuel tax! How would you like to pay as little as $2.00 per gallon?

For the first time Russian export gasoline (petrol) sales are making more money that domestic sales.

Last week Russian export premium gasoline hit $1,050 per ton.  Domestically sold premium gas was at $970 per ton.  Russian fuel exports have also increased in volume.

Most of Russia’s exported refined fuels go to Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) members, but export customers also include Virgin Islands and Netherlands.

Interestingly, the surge in fuel exports comes even after Russia imposed a 90% customs tax!  Analysts say even with such an outrageous tax, Russian fuel exports are still profitable because of how high the price of oil is.

According to Russian media, the price of premium gasoline, in the CIS countries, varies from $4.00 per gallon in some parts of Russia, to as little as $2.00 per gallon in parts of Kazakhstan!  ($1.00 per liter in Russia, 50 cents per liter in Kazakhstan)

International, U.S.

World War 3: Russia supports UN resolution on Syria, but only if….

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said Russia will support a resolution on Syria proposed by Kofi Annan, but only if two conditions are met.

One: The details of the resolution are made public.

Two: That it is not an “Ultimatum”, but an on going process of dialog to “…end to violence on all sides…”

International, U.S.

World War 3: Afghans torch NATO convoy, violence against women increases, Karzai shuts down 58 private security companies

In Farah Province it seems the “Taliban” have started the Spring Offensive early.

A convoy of U.S./NATO/ISAF fuel tankers has been destroyed, and several people killed.  Also, in a separate incident two militants were detained and accused of plotting to launch an attack on Afghan forces.

The fuel convoy was being escorted by a private security company, two of the security guards were killed.

Speaking of private security companies, the media hasn’t talked about the Afghan President’s mission to shut them down. Turns out that Hamid Karzai ordered an end to privately run security companies.  So far 58 companies have been shut down.  Another 40 have been given an extra three months to get out a town!

In Kandahar yet more attacks.  Afghan National Security (ANS) forces say several of their troops were killed and wounded in the past 24 hours.  They claim it was the result of military operations against anti-government militants.  Although the ANS listed the types of weapons they confiscated, they did not mention any casualties on the militant side.

Afghan police claim that violence against women is on the increase.  In the latest case a Baghlan Province woman was found with her head shaved, made to sit in the snow, was beaten with cables, and was forced into prostitution by her husband.

Afghan officials are praising their increased efforts to end violence against women, but the woman in the latest case says she had been tortured for the past three years of marriage, and had asked for help from the police several times!!!

Because the Afghan officials are finally doing something about violence against women, it might seem like there’s an increase in the violence.  But like the woman said, in her case it had been going on for three years, and she told the authorities several times.

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

World War 3: Obama issues National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order. The closest thing to Martial Law yet! Controls food supply! Preps for Total War!

Very quietly, on March 16, 2012, Nobel prize winning U.S. President Barack Obama issued a new Executive Order: National Defense Resources Preparedness.

If you think the military industrial complex is big now, guess what!

The bulk of the Order focuses on creating a full blown Total War military industry.  Obama stresses the need to “improve the efficiency and responsiveness of the domestic industrial base to support national defense requirements” and “to foster cooperation between the defense and commercial sectors for research and development and for acquisition of materials, services, components, and equipment to enhance industrial base efficiency and responsiveness.”

The Order establishes the officials who will lead the Defense Production Act Committee, and orders the Secretary of Commerce to co-operate with the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Homeland Security!

It also orders six Departments to begin prioritizing and allocating resources respective to food, health care, transportation, resources for industries, and even water supply (assigned to the Department of Defense)!

“The Secretary of each agency delegated authority under subsection (a) of this section (resource departments) shall plan for and issue regulations to prioritize and allocate resources and establish standards and procedures by which the authority shall be used to promote the national defense, under both emergency and non-emergency conditions.”

The Order even gets into the details of providing loans to companies involved with providing for National Defense!

It makes the Secretary of Defense the go to man for funding, as he is now acting  Defense Production Act Fund Manager.

The Order places the Secretary of Homeland Security in charge of the National Defense Executive Reserve (NDER), including the “…establishment, recruitment, training, monitoring, and activation of NDER units…”

The Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Defense, will “…collect and maintain data necessary to make a continuing appraisal of the Nation’s workforce…”  and develop “…policies regulating the induction and deferment of persons for duty in the armed services…”

“Executive Order 12919 of June 3, 1994, and sections 401(3) (4) of Executive Order 12656 of November 18, 1988, are revoked.”

Executive Order 12919 deals with national defense industrial resource policies and programs.   Executive Order 12656 deals with emergency preparedness responsibilities.

The major differences between this National Defense Resources Preparedness, and those made in the past, is the use of the term “non-emergencies”, several times in the order.  Also, the desire to control food & water supplies as well as health care and transportation.

From Section 201: “…to promote the national defense over performance of any other contracts or orders, and to allocate materials, services, and facilities as deemed necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense…”

This is for real people! This is basically an order that puts the United States in a Total War stance. “Total war is the practice of war where nearly all the resources of a society are employed to defeat an opponent.”–Silvapages