On Friday, the mayor of Futaba, a ghost town of once upon a time 7,000 souls near Fukushima No. 1, told his staff that evacuees might not be able to return for 30 years. Or never, for the older generation. He spoke in Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, where the town’s government has settled. It was the first estimate of a timeframe. But it all depends on successful decontamination. And that has turned into a vicious corruption scandal.
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Argentina’s Bonds, Defaults, and Vultures
by Bianca Fernet • • Comments Off on Argentina’s Bonds, Defaults, and Vultures
As Cars Burn In France, The Industry Of Hope Booms
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on As Cars Burn In France, The Industry Of Hope Booms
New Year’s Eve is the main event: 1,193 vehicles were set on fire. But it’s a year-round passion, with over 40,000 vehicles going up in smoke. A tradition no one has the balls to explain. In a country whose unemployment is climbing with incessant brutality, and whose automakers are bogged down with uncompetitive products in a morose market. But there’s an industry that is booming. The lottery.
Blowing Up: The Transfer Of French Nuclear Technology To China
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Blowing Up: The Transfer Of French Nuclear Technology To China
Technology transfers, whether on a contractual basis or through theft, have long bedeviled companies that want to benefit from China’s cheap labor and 1.3 billion consumers. Automakers, aerospace companies, technology outfits…. it’s the price they have to pay. But when it seeped out that the largely state-owned nuclear industry in France was trying to sell its secrets to China to make a deal, oh là là!
French Artists (Théâtre Royal de Luxe) Strike Out Against Evil American Empire (Coca-Cola)
by Contributor • • Comments Off on French Artists (Théâtre Royal de Luxe) Strike Out Against Evil American Empire (Coca-Cola)
Théâtre Royal de Luxe, a street-theater company in France, decided to sue an evil American multinational giant, or so it seems. But there are complications: Royal de Luxe is at the confluence of political connections, government subsidies, Coca-Cola commercialism, perhaps even world domination—and certainly, awesome art.
Where The Heck Was The “Festive Spirit”?
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Where The Heck Was The “Festive Spirit”?
Shocked and appalled—that was the reaction to the shopping-season debacle in the US. It was triggered by MasterCard’s ugly report. But now there’s a new term to describe “consumer spending,” “consumer debt,” and ultimately “trade deficits” when they occur as a function of such uplifting concepts as “holiday season” and “Christmas” whose magic is boiled down to just one issue: how much did everyone spend?
Aussi Comedians Clark and Dawe on Santa Claus Getting Caught in a Bunch of Red Tape
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Aussi Comedians Clark and Dawe on Santa Claus Getting Caught in a Bunch of Red Tape
Santa Claus has gotten into a snarl-up with Australian immigration over his visitor visa, and he might not be able to deliver his goods…. “A Last Minute Technicality,” a video by Australian comedians Clark and Dawe, 2.5 minutes of hilarity and plenty of jabs at the modern political and bureaucratic world.
“Trench Warfare” Or “Civil War” Over Confiscatory Taxes In France
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “Trench Warfare” Or “Civil War” Over Confiscatory Taxes In France
“We’re engaging in trench warfare,” proclaimed Alain Afflelou, head honcho and founder of an eyewear company with 1,200 stores in France and other countries. He was talking about the tax fiasco that split France in two. He was done with his country. He’s moving to London. One of France’s so-called fiscal exiles. And now there are “unprecedented waves” of them.
The EU Bailout Oligarchy Issues A Report About Itself
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The EU Bailout Oligarchy Issues A Report About Itself
On Friday before Christmas when nobody was paying attention, when people were elbowing their way through department stores or heading out for vacation, the European Commission issued its report on bank bailouts in the European Union—a dry document with mind-boggling numbers that left out the most important fact.
The Biofuel Subsidy Scams
by Contributor • • Comments Off on The Biofuel Subsidy Scams
Corporate subsidies, in an era of fiscal-cliff attacks on Social Security and Medicare, have dodged attention despite their magnitude and absurdity. Take the renewable-fuels subsidy ecosystem—and a train of tankers filled with biodiesel that shuttled back and forth across the US-Canadian border, twelve times, without unloading its cargo. It generated millions of dollars in profits.