Global Standard

Disinformation by a member of DPP （民進党）

2007-01-17T09:01:00.000+10:00

On Tuesday, January 2007, Chou Yung-Hang (周永鴻) who is the deputy director of the Democratic Progressive Party's department of youth development published an opinion piece titled "Opposition obstructs democracy" in Taipei Times (publish by Liberty Times group/自由時報). Chou Yung-Hang blame the opposition parties for Taiwan being label as a "flawed democracy" by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Index of Democracy. His evidence of this was Taiwan scored particularly low in the "[democratic] political culture" category of the Index because the pan-blue camp (Kuomintang (KMT or 國民黨) and its collaborators) opposition parties. he wrote

"The EIU has adopted a simple and direct definition of political culture: "A successful democratic political culture means that the losing parties and their supporters accept the judgment of the voters and allow for the peaceful transfer of power.""

after establishing what constitute sound democratic political culture Chou Yung-Hang moves in to smear the opposition,

"Judging by this simple definition, we can easily see that the KMT's obstructionism -- be it in the legislature or the streets, in Taiwan or in China -- is the manifestation of a party unwilling to accept the fact that the DPP is in power."

Is he trying to imply that opposition parties criticizing the government in the legislative is undemocratic? or protesting in street demonstrations against the government are undemocratic? This kind of disinformation is specially cynical when the president's family is indited for embezzlement and somehow we should not be criticizing...

Moving on to problems with his use of Index of Democracy.

First in his quote, ht mistakenly wrote use the word "means" which was really "implies" in source he cited. At best this is sloppiness on his part and on the editor of Taipei Times's opinion editor who should have prove read this article. To some people this is nothing to cry about, but professional journalist should know the difference between the two words.

Second, He fail to report that the definition he cited is misleading, considering the the model questions used by EIU to determine democratic political culture might have very little to do with oppositions attitude towards transfer of power.

here are all eight questions in the model used to determine democratic political culture

(Question 36 is the first of the questions under democratic political culture)

"36. Is there a sufficient degree of societal consensus and cohesion to underpin a stable, functioning democracy?

37. Perceptions of leadership; proportion of the population that desires a strong leader who bypasses parliament and elections.

38. Perceptions of military rule; proportion of the population that would prefer military.

39. Perceptions of rule by experts or technocratic government; proportion of the population that would prefer rule by experts or technocrats.

40. Perception of democracy and public order; proportion of the population that believes that democracies are not good at maintaining public order.

41. Perception of democracy and the economic system; proportion of the population that believes that democracy benefits
economic performance.

42. Degree of popular support for democracy.

43. There is a strong tradition of the separation of church and state."

As the reader can see "transfer of power" is not explicitly mention in democratic political culture session of the model, but it did appeared in the "Electoral process and pluralism" session as cited below,

"8. Following elections, are the constitutional mechanisms for the orderly transfer of power from one government to another clear, established and accepted?"

This report is at best sloppy, at worst dishonest partisan propaganda design to smear governments critics, exactly the kind of things that undermine Taiwan's democratic political culture. Both Chou Yung-Hong and Taipei Times's opinion editor should be shameful for publishing this class A disinformation.

Review on the incoherent "America: Freedom to Fascism"

2007-01-17T09:00:00.000+10:00

"America: Freedom to Fascism" a documentary by Arron Russo is about political elites' manipulation of the public. The film addresses numerous important issues, but ultimately wrap together incoherently unable to deliver a clear overarching picture. Kind of reminded me of essays that I wrote the night before the due date. Its really bad, its amatureish, its so bad i felt asleep three times watching it.

The film used almost half of the film trying to establish that America don't have a statuary law that require Americans to pay federal income tax, and it did so by showing different people saying the same thing and arguing the same point. Ok, i get it, move on, tell me why this is a problem. I mean having no statuary law against an act doesn't always make that act alright. Murder is still wrong even if there is no law against it. The film showed many case of people convicted for not paying for federal tax, those precedence makes it a law under the common law logic until they are overturned. In fact, before the film ever made clear on the Five Ws(Who, What, When, Where, Why and hoW), it moves to attack the Federal Reserve Bank.

It argues, Federal Reserve Bank is evil organization on the lose with the ability to print money, while acknowledging that elected government appoints its Board of Governors of Federal Reserve. It argues, the government, Federal Reserve Bank and credit companies manipulate the public into borrowing so some how it can enslave the public and make money that way. this obviously contradict the point about federals banks ability to print money. why steal when you can just print it your self.

this flow of incoherent theories just goes on and on. the film move from the federal bank, to credit companies leaders, to miss treatment of citizens by national guards in New Orleans, to lost of privacy by the possibility of implanted identification system, to scandals over fixing elections and vulnerability of electronic voting machines, to arguing American is fighting in Iraq because of federal bank it to, ended with a conspiracy to create a world government.

This documentary is a mess, its trying to tell a story with too many pieces of puzzles not able to fit together to create a picture, either because those puzzles where not from the same picture, or too many pieces are missing or both. The likely scenarios is both in this film. To make sense of all these points that its making and why were they all to put into a single documentary more answers is needed. Who are the conspirators behind this? Why are they doing this and for what purpose?

A documentary don't really have to give answers to be great, Micheal Moores' Bowling For Columbine did not give out an answer, but it lead the audience towards an answer by testing a series of hypothesis in a coherent way.

Having been very critical, many individual issues in the film are worthy of the attention of the public. Are the conduct of the Internal Revenue Service action appropriate? Is the American government providing sufficient oversight into the workings of federal bank, Are our house whole debt too high? and is the integrity of our voting system undermined?

These are important questions, the film offer no convincing answers but it server the public by raising awareness. and its free on google video and i guess its worth watching.

Want to know more?

Check out the official blog
America: Freedom to Fascism blog

About the military-industrial complex running American and pushing it towards war.
Why We Fight (google video), Eugene Jarecki

Talks about military-industrial complex and the end of the American republic
Militarism and the American Empire, with Chalmers Johnson

Hunter S. Thompson with Mick O’Regan on censorship and Bush administration.
Patriot Games - American journalism post 9/11 (transcript)

☆The use of fear by neoconservatives and al queda to manipulate the public
The Power of Nightmares, All four episodes on google video

I found out about this documentary on The Documentary Blog
America: Freedom To Fascism Full Movie on Google Video

Why Google spends so much on people

2007-01-17T08:54:00.000+10:00

This is a comment that i am going to post in response to the fallowing question and other comments from CNN about Google being selected as the best companies to work for 2007.

No. 1 Best Company to Work For
What do you think of our No. 1 company on the Best Companies to Work For list as an employer? Should they be No. 1? Have you worked for the company? Would you like to? What do you think is most important when considering where to work -- pay, benefits, company culture, bosses, location? Tell us what you think. The best replies will be published here, and possibly in a future story on CNNMoney.com.

In this globalising economy, where plentiful capital chases few promising companies and yesterdays technology quickly outsourced, the only way a global company can survive with the luxury of living in a developed state is to rely almost exclusively on human resources and its ability generate cutting edge technology, capitol/existing-technology competitive advantages are too easily copied by countries where they can also afford to work cheaper then you. Competitive advantage base on people and the tacit knowledge they hold are properly the most difficult elemental for anyone to imitate.

The fact that Google only has 31% women in their workforce i believe properly reflect more about the society in which Google operates , rather then a policy choice. I am not suggesting that female are less capable doing what Google want their employees to do, what i am saying is that our society socialized females into a less competent demography in some task.

Lastly, i am suspecting Google culture is one where they not there to work or make money, they are they to make the world a better place, because by organizing the worlds information and make it accessible universally they are eliminating properly the most significant source of worlds problem - uneven distribution of knowledge. Google employees may not think this way but they are in fact on a quest save the human race.

Want to know more?

☆Stressing the importance of these kind of services that Google are proposing to do
Google’s destructive innovation: world’s largest content searchable digital library

urging Google not to diversify in the task they do too much.
Google’s future is looking good

Knowledge Society and ICT

ターネーションと情報革命

Saddam Hussien and Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal

2007-01-08T04:48:00.000+10:00

The end of trial and execution of Saddam Hussein is a chance lost for justice and closure for the people of Iraq, consequents of which is demonstrated by Japan whom half century later, still haunted by the confusion over its war past that was never effectively resolved by the illegitimate Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal.

So, what are the possible consequence of an unfair trial even if its for the infamous Saddam Hussien? Looking to Japan for lessons . Externally, Japan is in an on going feud with its neighbors over history interpretation, war compensation, (in)sincereness of apologies, status of war crimes and Yasukuni Shrine. Internally, confusion over war past has continued to divide Japanese society, frequently exploited by politicians elites as a "wedge issue" to drum up emotions and divert attention from their incompetencies.

As Japan's older generation slowly fade away with society's memory of war and younger generations confused over the issue, lessons of the Second World War that cost millions of life may be soon be forgotten.

Iraq's future is at state, and consequences dire.

One may argue, slow justice is not what Iraq can afford at its present state.

Even if the the trial is prolonged, the process of a legitimate fair trial could have been a chance to prove to the people that Iraq is changing, rule of laws can be counted upon, winner don't all, power is limited by justice, despot politics is over and the new government is just and worth supporting.

Although unjust trials don't necessarily make Saddam innocent, but it may made him martyr in the eyes of some, just like Japan's war criminal whom are still honored by Prime Ministers annul visit to Yasukuni Shrine.

Want to know more?

☆Questioning the legal validity and capacity of the trial.
Failed Justice in Iraq: The Trial of Saddam Hussein, John Pace

Blog converge of the trial
Grotian Moment: the Saddam Hussien trial blog

News and articles from legal professional and academic on the trial
Saddam Hussien Trial , Jurist

☆A nuanced look at Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal's impact on Japan's society and popular culture, a must read for the interested
Goodbye Godzilla, Hello Kitty, Norihito Kato

Japan's trouble with its past.
Japan’s War Guilt Revisited, Orville Schell

A major Japanese news paper went back 60 years to find justice
WAR RESPONSIBILITY--delving into the past (1) / Manchuria start of slide into war

Youtube political

2007-01-08T04:45:00.002+10:00

Below is a list of Youtube videos complied by Passport (blog arm of the Foreign Policy) that have political consequents or "Youtube Effect"

* China kills Tibetan monks Murder in the mountains: Chinese soldiers shot down Tibetan monks, women, and children in cold blood, but a climber caught them on tape.

* China can't censor everything: A Sky News reporter risks detention, even harm to report on the simmering discontent brewing in China over land grabs. But the victims haven't been waiting around for him to discover their misery. His report builds on footage shot by ordinary Chinese of clashes between peasants and government hired thugs, and of ordinary people being forcibly evicted from their houses.

* Real or staged, we'll never know: This harrowing video, purportedly of U.S. troops crying and praying during a firefight with Iraqi insurgents, may be a fake. But that didn't stop 86,000 people from viewing it in the first 10 days after it was posted.

* Egyptian police slap detaineeInside Egypt's jails: An Egyptian police officer slaps around a detainee, to the delight of his colleagues. He didn't think anyone was watching.

* Two U.S. humvees attacked in Baquba: A typical video posted by Iraqi insurgents of a roadside bomb attack on a U.S. convoy.

and here is the Moises Naim editorial about Youtube Effect and these videos.
a free registration with Foreign Policy may be required to read the article.

Want to know more?

Potential negative impact of internet
Internet as a nursery for extreme views

Questioning Blogsphere's self-correcting mechanisms
The Self-Correcting Blogosphere

The effect of blog journalism on traditional media
Weblog Journalism: Between Infiltration and Integration

Saddam Hussein kills Americans even after death!!

2007-01-08T04:45:00.001+10:00

According to a policeperson, a 10 year boys death may have been caused by the television coverage of Saddam Hussein's execution.

US boy may have copied Saddam hanging

Houston - A 10-year-old American boy who hanged himself may have been inspired to do it by television coverage of Saddam Hussein's execution, police said on Thursday.

Read the rest.

This accusation is a little silly.

Apologies to Barack Obama

2007-01-08T04:41:00.002+10:00

CNN and Wolf Blitzer apologized to Barack Obama on Tuesday over mistaking Obama for Osama.
Seriously, Fox News and other commercial news networks need to stop suggesting that somehow a persons name is a legitimate indication of ones character. This kind of behavior lower United States's standing in the world and damages its chances in the battle of heart and mind over radical Islamist.

Media Matters made a list of instants.

* During MSNBC's special election coverage on November 7, co-anchor Chris Matthews remarked that Obama's "middle name is Hussein" and suggested that it would "be interesting down the road."

* On November 27, MSNBC host Tucker Carlson referred to radio host Bill Press as "a true member of the Barack Hussein Obama fan club."

* During the November 28 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, Republican strategist Ed Rogers referred to "Barack Hussein Obama."

* On the December 5 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, senior political correspondent Carl Cameron told viewers: "Though he's written two books about himself already, most people know very little about Barack Hussein Obama Junior's uncommonly privileged life."

* On the December 11 edition of CNN's Situation Room, correspondent Jeanne Moos noted that "[o]nly one little consonant differentiates" Obama and Osama. She then added, "[A]s if that similarity weren't enough. How about sharing the name of a former dictator? You know his middle name, Hussein."

* On the December 11 edition of The Situation Room, CNN senior political analyst Jeff Greenfield compared the similarity of Obama's "business casual" clothing to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "jacket-and-no-tie look." Greenfield concluded the segment by saying: "Now, it is one thing to have a last name that sounds like Osama and a middle name, Hussein, that is probably less than helpful. But an outfit that reminds people of a charter member of the axis of evil, why, this could leave his presidential hopes hanging by a thread." He later explained on the CNN website that he was making "a joke."

* On December 13, Matthews teased another interview with Rogers by describing the strategist as "the one who just loves Barack Obama's middle name Hussein."

* On the December 14 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, Rush Limbaugh gave Obama a "nickname" -- "Barack Hussein Odumbo" (in reference to Obama's "big ears").

* On the December 14 edition of Hardball, NBC's Mike Viqueira announced "a man named Barack Obama, whose middle name, incidentally, is Hussein, running for president."

and appreanly some democrats are confused too...below is Ted Kennedy's Obama/Osama mix-up

More about the smear against Barack Obama in Daily Kos

What should she write about?

2007-01-08T04:41:00.001+10:00

I have been trying to persuade my girl friend to start writing a blog and writing it regularly. I do this to anyone who has any interest about the online world really, and i have manage to get a few of my friends to start writing. She has been thinking about it and even made an attempt to write a blog about her cute-ugly pug named Raimaru(雷丸）. That blog ended indefinitely after only 4 postings.

Quick info about her:
25 years old, born in Japan, Undergraduate degree on modern Asian studies from an Australian university, loves ballet, teach English to babies and kids, loves her pug, in a international relationship with me, loves food and punk music and tips about health.

Now, with me starting this new blog 5 days ago, she got excited about giving blogs another shot.
She now only have to decide that she should write about, and me being the self-centered-and-pretending-to-know-something-about-blogsphere boy friend that i am, naturally, i try to give her some (ill) advices.

to be continued...

Here are 2 bloggers i persuaded to start a blog, directly or indirectly.

天津裕人 - about a Japanese studying in Tianjin, China.

ai's diary - about a Japanese female entertainer struggling in the industry.

Einstein to give Snap some advice

2007-01-08T04:40:00.001+10:00

In all seriousness I like Snap, I use it on my Japanese blog (色色）, I would use it on this blog if Wordpress.com people let me.
However, Snap can be irritating, its a concern voiced by other bloggers and some members of the Wordpess.come community.

So here is a suggestion,

Add an additional trigger needed for snap preview to be activated.

For example, a setting that will only allow snap preview to be activated while holding down [rightmouseclick] and mouse-overing a link at the same time. This should eliminate unwanted previews over minefields of links

of course it does not have to be [rightmouseclick], it can be [shift], [control] or another common key.
or maybe even a double right click.

That fake Einstein picture can me made at www.hetemeel.com
and check out Snap's image search, the way it display image search results are pretty cool.

Taiwan Matters!: A passionate political blog from Taiwan's independent camp

2007-01-08T04:37:00.000+10:00

Taiwan Matters! a passionate blog written by a group of people from the independent/DPP/pan-green side of Taiwanese political spectrum.

A one sentence description of what is at stake:
Taiwan(ROC) an independent state not recognized by most significant powers in the world (including the US) is not happy with its legal status and endeavor for legal/de jure independence, which is oppose by China(PRC) diplomatically and military.
Find out more about it

After skimming through a few article these group of blogger seems to be proponent of Taiwanese independence and they seem to be very partisan. Nonetheless they seem to be very passionate about Taiwan, i mean they have written 23,118 quality words on the their less then one month old blog, very impressive.

Now, people of Taiwan Matters!
Me, my family, and my grandparents and all their families, were all born in, live and work in Taiwan. Taiwan is a matter that I care strongly about. I would like you to help my understand the case for fighting for Taiwanese de jura independence by answering the following questions.

What can the people of Taiwan realistically benefit from an independent declaration and at what possible cost?

by independent declaration i mean formally changing the constitution of the Republic of China, ie de jure independent.
Please keep in mind that people of Taiwan and its government already have de facto independent administrative power over Taiwan and has good relationship (economically, culturally) with most important states, albeit an unofficial one.

There is one more thing i would like you guys to consider,

In an increasing globalised world, does de jure independent really worth anything more then the superficial. and is true independence really possible?

p.s. zero-sum partisan game is good for no one but the ｐolitician, or am i stating the obvious.

オカンしつこい！！・Bugging mums

2007-01-08T04:36:00.000+10:00

僕は１２歳からオカン（離婚）と離れてずっと一人で海外で暮らしてて、最近実家に戻ってて、オカンに会う会うたびに怒られてる
「生活できない」「部屋汚い」「不健康」「運動しろう」ってシツコク言われる・・・もう２７歳ですけど．．．
オカンの事もちろん愛してるけど、シツコク俺の生活について口出しで干渉するのやめて欲しい。

このポストはミクシイのコミュニティーのトピックﾆ対する返事です。

I have been living overseas independently away from my mum (devoiced) ever since i was 12 years old. I recently just got back to living near my mum again, i cannot exaggerate the amount of bugging my mum has upon me.
i mean she would repetitively say things like "you dont even know how to live properly" "clean up you room" "unhealthy" and "go out and do some sports" I mean, i love my mum and all, but comon i am already 27...and she was capable of letting me leave home on my own at the age of 12.

This pose was my response to a question from a community topic on Mixi (a Japaneses social networking site).

Obama IS NOT Osama

2007-01-08T04:35:00.000+10:00

Got this CNN blooper(or i hope thats what it was) from people at the Crooks and Liars. After following trails of links through Our Descent Into Madness and Shakespeare's Sister.

Apparently the moment of confusion was shown during The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. Honest mistake or not, mistake cost people elected offices so...... not to mention that people on the Fox News are already taking issues with Barack Obama's name.

For the record,
I like Barack Obama, its about time for some fresh air in the White House.
and i much prefer BBC News

Here is the transcript

台湾的自殺率是世界第二/Taiwans suicide rate second highest in the world

2007-01-08T04:34:00.001+10:00

去年有4,282人自殺、平均毎兩個小時就有一個人自殺。
台湾的自殺率不只是世界第二、這十年来还増加了兩倍。
民進党的八年執政真的值得台湾人民的支持吗？

With 4,282 suicides last year, thats 1 suicide every 2 hours Taiwan has the second highest suicide rate in the world. The speed in which this suicide boom has increased is also shocking, the suicide rate in Taiwan doubled in the last ten years, 6 of which is under the administration of the current Democratic Progressive Party's government. Its about time DPP's supporters reexamine their champion on their appalling record.

Amazing feet guitarist/手の無いギタリスト

2007-01-08T04:31:00.000+10:00

これはすげー
しかし、どうやでそのギターを持って帰る？
Vid　A　Dayさんで見つけたギタリストも凄いけどな

WHY USING CONTROVERSY TO GAIN AUDIENCE IS EVIL AND DANGEROUS!!!

2007-01-08T04:29:00.000+10:00

New to Wordpress, surfing around FAQ, and look what i found!!

The following advice is apparently given to new bloggers under the question "How do I get more views and traffic?"

Have a passionate voice, be controversial

Blogging has traditionally been about strong voices, people enjoying reading folks who have strong opinions and back them up. A little controversy never hurt either.

Now, don't we have enough extreme views in America already? do we need more Bill O'Reilly and more people like Keith Olbermann and Stephen Colbert making more money off an phenomenon made significant by him?!?!?!!!

NO!! that is plenty un-American!! thats not the kind of America we live in.

we need to stand up against using controversies, extreme views or graphic picture of half naked girls just for the purpose of gaining more audience.

and NO!! audience of America should immediately turn away from and boycott any media source that use such tactics.

As warn by Dr. Peter Venkman in 1984, without uniting to fight against the evil of such barbaric journalisms with determination and resolve our civilization as we know it will cease to exist. Not to mention human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria!!!

Other bloggers had begin to voice their anger, now its your turn!!

here is a picture of my neighbor for all my blog readers out there. *wink* *wink*　

Counting Down with F.O.A.Iと年越し

2007-01-08T04:21:00.000+10:00

Happy new year folks.
i spend my the last hours of 2006 with my new friends from the band Free Of All Injury at a independent band live house event in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. here is the video i took with my crappy camera.
あけましておめでとう！！今年もよろしくお願いします、一年間早かった。ってか俺の今までの２７年間もあっという間に終わってしまった。昨日ロックバンドの友達のイベントでカントダウンした。ロックは特に好きの訳でもないけど、めっちゃ楽しかった。以下のビデオはカントダウンとバンドパフォーマンス。友達のバンドの名前はFree Of All Injury (F.O.A.I)

This will be their last performance for the foreseeable future, because 2 of the band members (vocal and guitarist) are leaving to serve their compulsory military service. Something i got lots to say about, because i am going too.
ちなみにFOAIはバンドメンバーの二人はもちょっとしたら徴兵されるから、バンドは解散する。昨日のパフォーマンスは最後らしい。
ってか俺も後一ヶ月くらい後に兵隊に入る、軍隊の種類も決まった～～陸軍です！！（泣）
the second video is their third song of the night. i don't have song titles, i forgot to ask them....i find out and add them later.
the song is in japanese sang by their half japanese half chinese vocal.
続きのビデオは昨日の三曲目の日本語曲で、ヴォーカの英淳は日本・台湾のハーフで日本語もネイティブ並。

about FOAI　について

Sadness of the Immortals

2007-01-08T04:20:00.001+10:00

Again another post about a movie I just saw, Interview With The Vampire. It was sad so very sad. Immortal vampires live life without end and without purpose.

Reproduction, it is for the purpose of creating a replacement in the event of ones death. For an immortal without death, there is no need to reproduce therefore there is no need for family, lover, no need for jobs to support the family, nor education needed to get a job etc. so in case of immortality there is really no need to do anything. And for an immortal who has eternality there isn’t anything significant that cannot be delayed indefinably. If life has no purpose then there is no better or worst, and no more need for right and wrong. Maybe this is why Louis is the rarest vampire of all because he alone still has feelings like the mortals, he feels right and wrong.

if you liked Interview With The Vampire, and you fine this post interesting, you will also like Ghost In The Shell. both these two very different film has life/mortality/purpose at their core.

The most romantic conversation in film

2007-01-08T04:19:00.001+10:00

Just when i was geting bored after watching Thomas Crown Affair, I ran into Before Sunset playing half way through. Wow. Just watching a little bit of it reminds me how much I love the charming couple in this beautiful beautiful film.

Before Sunset don’t feature any significant plot, message, or any twist and turns. the entire movie is simply about an American man and a French women wondering through Paris talking about their one night affair nine years ago in Vienna (which is the subject of another movie just as beautiful film, Before Sunrise).

So why do I love this seemingly substance-less film, well there is just something beautiful and incredibly romantic about two person so into each others that they lose track of where are, space, time, or whatever.

Diverse and tolerant Japan

2007-01-08T04:05:00.000+10:00

伊藤攘一の個人意見よりも、伊藤攘一がある教授さんから聞いた日本民族についてのセオリー（理論）。
Joi ito: Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan was more diverse and tolerating then it is now.

そのセオリーによると、明治前の日本はもっと多様的で寛容って話があった

JOI ITO WEBから：

Then we talked about Ishihara and plain old-fashioned racism. A university professor pointed out that it was a problem, and described his theory on what may be one of the causes. Japan imported single-race nationalism as a unifying concept from Germany during the Meiji period. The Japanese word, minzoku, which refers to its people comes from das volk. Japan forced a national dialect and basically centralized control and stamped out a great deal of diversity in order to empower the central government under this process. Before this, Japan was more diverse and more tolerant. Later, this would blow up as a working philosophy in Nazi Germany and Japan. However, as a strategy of combating the threat of communism in Japan, the US occupation and the Japanese government allowed these nationalists and the sense of racial purity to remain and fester in modern Japan in order to fight the more liberal emerging left-wing of Japan. Most people agreed that Japanese needed to increase immigration to deal with the population and aging problem, but that with this latent racism and intolerance for diversity immigration would not work well.

全文を読む

伊藤攘一についてちょっと一言、

この方はなんていうかな、visionaryでprogressiveで２１世紀の匂いする。　僕は個人的に大好きです。

ってか、俺と同じ匂いするって言いたいけど、でもそれは伊藤さんにかなり失礼かもしれない。

もう一つ、この人のブログは世界的に有名です
一番人気ある時は世界総合全言語ブログランキングの５０位以内は入ってた
今は１５１位まで下がってしまたけど

それでも

色色の34,508位と比べたら大分マシだと思うで（笑）

ってか笑えない（泣）

伊藤攘一の：

Wikipediaプロフィル（英語）
Wikipediaプロフィル（日本語）
日本語ブログ
英語ブログ

色色の連関記事：

ナショナリズムという妄想に代わりえる妄想を求めて (09/26)
日本は外国人に平等な待遇してますが？ (09/25)
日本は本当にODA大国ですか？ (09/24)
日本で生まれた韓国人★ (10/23)
国無き人間と国無き人間組織 (11/02)

It’s all self-interest

2005-11-07T10:32:00.000+10:00

Economist are often criticised for their use of self interest as the bases for their discipline, because as the critics like to say we humans don’t always act on self-interest, in fact we often act against our self-interest. One example many critics argue, if self-interest model is true then individuals should move to where they are pay the most and tax the least and we should see tax districts competing for talents by reducing tax. Since this is not true, tax districts are not always reducing tax and talents are not always on the move hunting for the best deal, therefore there is a problem with self-interest. Critics argue family ties, sense of belonging are sometime more important then material incentives

Let me say it up front – the critics are simple wrong. They don’t get economics or self-interest. Talents stay even if they are tax higher or pay less precisely because family ties and sense of belonging are considered to be self-interest and calculated accordingly. Emotional wealth felt by being with ones family and feeling belong to certain community is calculated along with monetary materialistic incentives, its all self-interest.

The problem with some economist’s use of self-interest is that their definition of “interest” is incompletely when only material interest in taken into consideration.　Part of the problem is that extra-material interest is hard to calculate. Hopefully advance in neuroscience will change this. I have already heard about interesting projects that combine economics with neuroscience.

It’s interesting to note that Daniel Kahneman, who won a Nobel in Economics a few years ago, was a psychologist. And Adam Smith – the father of modem economics was a philosopher. Monetary interest calculation is only one part of economics.

Untimely economics is about society, human and its interaction with each other and the reality. It’s more than math!!!!!

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This is my first entry in my Global Standard for a long long time, as I have said in previous entries, I having spending time on my Japanese blog, I think its about time I turn my attention back to GS or another English blog… another English blog did u say? Yeah I am kind of thinking about starting another one, I am not very happy with Blogger. Which is properly one of the reason why having spending so much time away from it.

note this Blogger webmasters!!!!

A blog platform without trackback and categories is just not good enough!!!!

All who oppose Globalization, read

2005-10-19T22:39:00.000+10:00

This is a paper written by Johan Norberg, its a good looking back at the old days of anti-globalization moverment.

The Noble Feat of Nike Nike.

It means victory. It also means a type of expensive gym shoe. In the minds of the anti-globalisation movement, it stands for both at once. Nike stands for the victory of a Western footwear company over the poor and dispossessed. Spongy, smelly, hungered after by kids across the world, Nike is the symbol of the unacceptable triumph of global capital. A Nike is a shoe that simultaneously kicks people out of jobs in the West, and tramples on the poor in the Third World. Sold for 100 times more than the wages of the peons who make them, Nike shoes are hate-objects more potent, in the eyes of the protesters at this week´s G8 riots, than McDonald´s hamburgers. If you want to be trendy these days, you don´t wear Nikes; you boycott them.

So I was interested to hear someone not only praising Nike sweatshops, but also claiming that Nike is an example of a good and responsible business. That someone was the ruling Communist party of Vietnam.

Today Nike has almost four times more workers in Vietnam than in the United States. I travelled to Ho Chi Minh to examine the effects of multinational corporations on poor countries. Nike being the most notorious multinational villain, and Vietnam being a dictatorship with a documented lack of free speech, the operation is supposed to be a classic of conscience-free capitalist oppression.

In truth the work does look tough, and the conditions grim, if we compare Vietnamese factories with what we have back home. But that´s not the comparison these workers make. They compare the work at Nike with the way they lived before, or the way their parents or neighbours still work. And the facts are revealing. The average pay at a Nike factory close to Ho Chi Minh is $54 a month, almost three times the minimum wage for a state-owned enterprise.

Ten years ago, when Nike was established in Vietnam, the workers had to walk to the factories, often for many miles. After three years on Nike wages, they could afford bicycles. Another three years later, they could afford scooters, so they all take the scooters to work (and if you go there, beware; they haven´t really decided on which side of the road to drive). Today, the first workers can afford to buy a car.

But when I talk to a young Vietnamese woman, Tsi-Chi, at the factory, it is not the wages she is most happy about. Sure, she makes five times more than she did, she earns more than her husband, and she can now afford to build an extension to her house. But the most important thing, she says, is that she doesn´t have to work outdoors on a farm any more. For me, a Swede with only three months of summer, this sounds bizarre. Surely working conditions under the blue sky must be superior to those in a sweatshop? But then I am naively Eurocentric. Farming means 10 to 14 hours a day in the burning sun or the intensive rain, in rice fields with water up to your ankles and insects in your face. Even a Swede would prefer working nine to five in a clean, air-conditioned factory.

Furthermore, the Nike job comes with a regular wage, with free or subsidised meals, free medical services and training and education. The most persistent demand Nike hears from the workers is for an expansion of the factories so that their relatives can be offered a job as well.

These facts make Nike sound more like Santa Claus than Scrooge. But corporations such as Nike don´t bring these benefits and wages because they are generous. It is not altruism that is at work here; it is globalisation. With their investments in poor countries, multinationals bring new machinery, better technology, new management skills and production ideas, a larger market and the education of their workers. That is exactly what raises productivity. And if you increase productivity - the amount a worker can produce - you can also increase his wage.

Nike is not the accidental good guy. On average, multinationals in the least developed countries pay twice as much as domestic companies in the same line of business. If you get to work for an American multinational in a low-income country, you get eight times the average income. If this is exploitation, then the problem in our world is that the poor countries aren´t sufficiently exploited.

The effect on local business is profound: ´Before I visit some foreign factory, especially like Nike, we have a question. Why do the foreign factories here work well and produce much more?´ That was what Mr Kiet, the owner of a local shoe factory who visited Nike to learn how he could be just as successful at attracting workers, told me: ´And I recognise that productivity does not only come from machinery but also from satisfaction of the worker. So for the future factory we should concentrate on our working conditions.´

If I was an antiglobalist, I would stop complaining about Nike´s bad wages. If there is a problem, it is that the wages are too high, so that they are almost luring doctors and teachers away from their important jobs.

But - happily - I don´t think even that is a realistic threat. With growing productivity it will also be possible to invest in education and healthcare for Vietnam. Since 1990, when the Vietnamese communists began to liberalise the economy, exports of coffee, rice, clothes and footwear have surged, the economy has doubled, and poverty has been halved. Nike and Coca-Cola triumphed where American bombs failed. They have made Vietnam capitalist.

I asked the young Nike worker Tsi-Chi what her hopes were for her son´s future. A generation ago, she would have had to put him to work on the farm from an early age. But Tsi-Chi told me she wants to give him a good education, so that he can become a doctor. That´s one of the most impressive developments since Vietnam´s economy was opened up. In ten years 2.2 million children have gone from child labour to education. It would be extremely interesting to hear an antiglobalist explain to Tsi-Chi why it is important for Westerners to boycott Nike, so that she loses her job, and has to go back into farming, and has to send her son to work.

The European Left used to listen to the Vietnamese communists when they brought only misery and starvation to their population. Shouldn´t they listen to the Vietnamese now, when they have found a way to improve people´s lives? The party officials have been convinced by Nike that ruthless multinational capitalists are better than the state at providing workers with high wages and a good and healthy workplace. How long will it take for our own anticapitalists to learn that lesson?

The Spectator, 7 June 2003

Interlude: Why and why why

2005-10-10T04:13:00.000+10:00

I have spend the last few weeks writing for my Japanese blog, so GS is kind of being ignored. Anyway here is a review of "Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy."

Link: http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/

I Was not too sure about the movie, it's dvd cover resembles too many other failed movie, specially B movies.

But since the Nytimes people recommended it, and I think they usually get it right.

Anyway this is about the Hitchhikers. I got to say that the whole movie reeks of secular intellectualism from the beginning of the film to the end of special features (thought I have not had a look at the movie with audio commentary). And I love it!! (I have no knowledge of the original series)

Sitting thought this movie for anyone who is a bureaucrat, religious and basically anyone who is not secular intellectually enough will feel like a smack on their faces.

The original writer, the script and the production team display so much loath for bureaucrat (in a generic sense), they made them into big, fat, ugly, uncreative, inhuman, dribbling aliens wearing expansive suits who destroyed earth. According to the Hitchhikers guide they are “not evil, but bad-tempered, bureaucratic, officious and callous. They wouldn’t even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers…without orders”. And why are they like that, because they inhabit on a planet that literally smack any one who thinks, or has any idea or imagination.

The films don’t really like the generally public either. They as a group elected a galactic president with half of a brain, who destroyed earth. And proved “that good looks and charm win over brilliance and the ability to govern." The film dislike them so much it had to kill every one on earth except a man who reads at a fancy dress party and think “all these people [at the party] are idiots” and a women who love him (a bit of self indulgence, no?). But then later, the film admits they are mostly just jealous because they don’t get party invitations.

Did I mention that Sam Rockwell who plays the galactic president said in the special feature that the president is modeled after Bill Clinton and a basket of music and movie stars?

To all my American readers who think in right and left, if you think this movie is an anti-left establishment, you are wrong. According to the film the religious right or the religious in general are mindless robots who follows a blind and sinister saintlike icon who lives in a house made of gold while its people lives less affluently. Is that a message to the pope?

All these satire, subtext and sideshows aside, Hitchhiker is about the one question that we human cannot stop thinking about_:

The answer to the ultimate question of life the universe and everything

More then anyone this question haunts secular intellectuals, for they do not have the luxury of God to explain their questions.

The answer Hitchhiker offer is, why bother, “the chances of finding out what’s actually going on are so absurdly remote anyway, that the only thing to do is say hang the sense of it and keep yourself busy. I’d much rather be happy than right any day.” Says one of the films character;

Why bother, when finding answers, solving problem, and doing something about something may not fix a problem that may fix it self without any attention given to it (a nod to chaos theory);

and why bother when no answer to any question is going to bring you happiness.

Hitchhiker says, enjoy life, find your true love and try to forget that happiness is nothing more than a chemical reaction in our brain and just be happy.

For me that is the difficult part, I too can’t take God as an answer and I can’t stop seeking answers to my questions, it’s my curse. If I ever have a chance to choose between being stupid and happy for now or smart and sad always, I would not know what to do... Of course that is a faults dichotomy, that sometimes seems too real.

By the way, says Hitchhiker, if you can try to learn from dolphins (my favorite creature after human) who because they are smarter than humans they know how respect “all the natural wonders that grow around you”

Maybe ultimatly the film is not speaking secular intellectualism but dissatisfied secular intellectualism turn hippy. That might explain the hippiness of title ”Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and the slogan “don’t panic“

I recommend hitchhiker for anyone who liked the philosophical side of The Matrix and I Heart Huckabee and anyone who think s/he is a secular intellectual.

Interlude: Old Boy

2005-09-21T16:44:00.000+10:00

Wow! I have not seen a movie like this since David Fincher’s Fight Club. Yes it is that good. I love it and so does the critics. Old Boy won Grand Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival, 2004.

This movie is pure coolness, which makes up both its strength and opens it up to criticism for not being able to transcend the genre that it perfected. Keep an eye out for a couple really long continuouse shots, particular the hall way fighting scene, they are just way cool.

If you like Fight Club or any of Quentin Tarantino’s film you will love this multi-award winning cult masterwork from director Chan-wook Park.

If you like films that is able to reflect and relate to current affairs and society, this movie is not for you.

neouto

Geography and the American Empire

2005-09-12T06:08:00.000+10:00

I wrote the following article in the second half of 2002. I argue geopolitical landscape in Eurasia is a stabilizing factor reinforcing the American led status quo and peace amount great powers of European union, Russia Chin and India. Without a doubt this paper is less relevant to the current fashion to focus on non-state actors such as Al Queda. Nevertheless it is still able to let light into how geography shapes the great power politic that still shadow over North East Asian and Trans-Atlantic relations. India is added into the mix in this version.

“First of all, Eurasia the biggest continent, most of the largest economies and military spenders but United States are not there or in close proximity, it also account for 75 percent of the world's population, 60 percent of its GNP, and 75 percent of its energy resources. The current geostrategic design in Eurasian consists of four emerging major political entities, European Union, Russia, Greater China and India. United state serves as a balancer similar to Britons role in the concert of Europe.

EU together with NATO stretches its sphere to influence till the Baltic states of Eastern Europe, Russian retain influence alone formal soviet republics, China excise it’s weight through out most of continental east Asia, India centers around South Asia and US continue to dominate in both Pacific and Atlantic oceans.”

Although the NATO is not as health as it was in the 2002, America can nevertheless assert its voice in the Eurasian heartland through some of the new pro American EU members like Poland and it’s new establish friendship in Central Asia and Ukraine.

“This is arguably a desirable landscape which reinforce the current status quo of international relations, for a number of reasons, firstly, no one single power have a decisive influence over the heartland, secondly the sphere of influence is split up in a way that all major powers are generally satisfy and relative comfortable with the space between major center of powers Berlin, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Delhi and Washington, thirdly the US is able to channel its influence via NATO, giving it share of power in Eurasia. Fourthly all of three Eurasian powers are land focused, where they cannot devote enough resource to challenge US maritime power in either Atlantic or Pacific. Fifthly because US is a non-Eurasian power, it’s incapable of excessively abusing its power in Eurasia, thus highlight its benign attitude towards Eurasian (American straggle in Iraq is a perfect demonstration of this incapability). Sixthly, because of US’s maritime projection capability it’s able to excises great power status in all three spheres of influence. Seventhly, all three power need to cooperate with US regards to international affairs outside of Eurasia, which gives US political leverage. Lastly, for the foreseeable future, emergence of alternative power to challenge any of the five powers is unlikely, provided that the five powers stays internally stable, therefore to maintain the status quo, all five powers are encourage to not undermine each other internally.

However the picture is not complete, Central Asia and the Middle East where 400 million people lives, in some twenty-five states. Almost all of them are ethnically and religiously diverse, practically none of them politically stable, its an area where no one power have decisive influence and where US lacks a significant cooperative ally. However this is not a region to be ignored, it holds massive petroleum reserves and it has the potential to destabilize Eurasia and the world. One other gray area is the Africa, where it’s just as diverse, unstable and capable of causing enough environmental problems to subsequently affect great powers, therefore it is also not a region to ignore.”

Obviously the last paragraph is very out of date. American invasion on Afghanistan and Iraq and gave it the opportunity to establish its presents in both the Middle East and Central Asia.

Maybe this paper is not so good after all…

Check out these two paper on geopolitic of East Asia and Eurasia

The Geography of Peace: East Asia in the Twenty-first Century by Rober S. ROSS in International Securituy, vol. 23 n. 4

A Geostrategy for Eurasia by Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI in Forign Affiers, Sep/Oct 1997

Neouto

Next Challenge for Japan

2005-09-12T04:58:00.000+10:00

key: Red = Koizumi led coalition / Blue = Oppositions
Source: Asahi.com

Now that Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has won, Japan Post privatization bill is secured and Japan’s future is looking brightest since the burst of economic bubble after Cold War.

Although the weaken Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has now lost its pressure on the governing LDP it has since the 1996 electoral reform, this does not necessary mean LDP will go back to its old pork barrel politics as it is infused with a group of new non-establishment politician, new constituency and a new mandate to carry out reform. However LDP’s reinvigoration also meant the prospect of a dual/multi-party politic is delayed.

What is next for Japan is to continue reform in education, finance and trade; foreign relation wise its needs a progressive policy toward its Chinese and Korean neighbor and finally it needs to find a Koizumi replacement and draw up a shopping list to spend its new fortune from selling Japan Post.

neouto

Basic glossory: Cheat Sheet: Japan’s Elections
Supplement view: With Koizumi at the Theatre
Related GS article: Sacrificial legacy of Koizumi Junichirou and Lee Teng Hui