Category Archives: International

Fukushima, International

Foreign Companies Evacuating from Northern Japan

Reuters reporting that several foreign companies, operating in Japan,  have started evacuating employees to the southern part of Japan.

Companies with evacuations underway are; German technology companies SAP and Infineon, German tire and auto parts maker Continental, and French car maker Peugeot.

Boeing has suspended business travel in Japan.

Companies standing by with evacuation plans are;  Volvo and several European banks.

IBM and CISCO Systems say their operations have not been affected and have no plans to evacuate.

 

International

Ring of Fire Seismic Events part 2 Volcanoes

Using Global Volcanism Program (GVP) website, monthly reports, I totaled the number of volcanic events, around the Pacific Ring of Fire, for the year 2010.  Then I averaged the number of events over the whole year.  The monthly average number of volcanic events, for 2010, came to 5.3.  Keep in mind that at least 90% of the world’s volcanic events took place on the Ring of Fire, in 2010.

The GVP weekly activity reports include “ongoing” activity, so I threw those out and counted the “new” activity only.  It is clear there is an increase.

For the reporting month of January 2011, I counted 16 new activity reports for the Ring of Fire.  For February it is 13.  The first week of March is 2 (I expect March will end up with a high number, due to what’s happening in Japan).

Maybe the GVP has differences in what they post for monthly vs weekly, but, the most monthly activity in 2010, was in February with 9 (remember I did an average for the whole year).  You can see, comparing February 2010 to February 2011, there is an increase of 4.

Is this cause for alarm? Maybe not. I went back to February 2001, and there was much more volcanic activity then (I counted 24).  Another issue is how the GVP gets it information. The website states that information comes from “…hundreds of correspondents, scientists, and other volcano observers that contribute information.”  GVP does list activity reports that they have determined to be “false”.

Business/Economics, International

Japanese Stock Markets Crashing, Implications for World Markets

Trading in Japan’s stock markets fell for a second day.  This is due to announcements that not only are Japan’s industries going to be shut down for longer than thought, but that Japanese consumers are pulling back on spending big time (especially now that they can’t get out because of the radiation).

For those of use dealing with high fuel prices, the fact that Japan’s industry is shut down, and Japan’s consumers are holding back, is resulting in dropping oil prices.  The situation in Japan means demand for oil there could drop enough to counter the predicted increase in world demand for oil.

Another reason for the drop in oil prices is that investors are shifting to liquid assets, meaning CASH.  This is an indicator that investors feel it is not worth putting their money into stocks or commodities, due to what looks like a looming world economic collapse.

Fukushima, International, U.S.

Japan Nuclear Crisis a Creeping Disaster

“It looks like the situation is creeping towards a radiological disaster,” said John Large, a nuclear consultant.  He also says that he believes Japan will experience a worst case scenario.  Partly due to officials not being honest about the situation.

Another problem is that the weekly weather forecast is predicting the winds will shift southward, which would blow radiation clouds onto Japan.  Currently the winds are blowing eastward.

Retail pharmacies in Japan report they have run out of anti-radiation Iodide pills.

Richard Thornburgh, who was Governor of Pennsylvania during the Three Mile Island incident, says “You can’t assure against every kind of natural disaster.”  He also admitted that officials are helpless in the face of natural disasters.

International

Arrogant Russian Politican says Japanese should move to Russia

Vladimir Zhirinovsky has offered an invitation to the People of Japan, to move to unpopulated areas of Russia.

He says they will never half to worry about living on an unstable island again.

His also let slip his real reason for wanting Japanese to move to Russia: “Russia will even benefit if such hardworking people join us.”

Zhirinovsky also invited Muammar Gaddafi to move to Moscow.