News Stories

[Vexx]

Just in case this whaler talk all sounds lunatic:

http://www.gotfuturama.com/Informati...s/lyrics.dhtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hKbl4AeqpM

[Autumn Demon]

Company that caused the Supreme Court's 2005 eminent domain decision moves out of town.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Autumn Demon

Company that cause the Supreme Court's 2005 eminent domain decision moves out of town.

And that's why you should tar and feather any politicians that choose to get buggered by a corporation for sweet deals.

I'm watching Wal-mart bugger the little town next to me with sweetheart deals, tax breaks, costly road reinovations, and Wal-mart waffling about whether they actually plan on doing the project or not. Meanwhile, longtime family businesses and the downtown block are looking at being crushed if it actually does come in.

[ChainLegacy]

When Wal-Mart comes knocking on the politicians' doors, though, I don't see many of them refusing. Wal-Mart runs things they should have no control over.

And as that article shows you don't even have to be the king of low cost to buy US politicians. (Who knew? )

[Kusa-San]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8360738.stm

Originally Posted by BBC

Brazil and France have agreed a common position on fighting global warming before next month's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.

They will pursue the goal of reducing industrialised nations' emissions to 50% below 1990 levels by 2050.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced the move in Paris.

Hope they can isolate USA and China like that we can forced USA and China to do soemthing more ambitious ! When I think that 47% of the USA people don't belive in global warming....

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Kusa-San

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8360738.stm



Hope they can isolate USA and China like that we can forced USA and China to do soemthing more ambitious ! When I think that 47% of the USA people don't belive in global warming....

I think its a sign of the apocalypse that Britain and France agree on anything

But yeah... both China and the US have been utter laggards on the "hey, here's an idea - lets pick up after ourselves like our mama was supposed to have taught us". (and other countries as well.... but its a matter of scale)

[anti-random]

http://www.news.com.au/comments/0,23...56-421,00.html

Have you know anyone to be charged with stealing a freddo. Well i haven't but i guess you can for receiving the stolen freddo. Seriously, though, stealing is an offense but arresting the poor kid and holding him for 8 hours in a cell is appalling. I would of just made the kid apologize to the manager in front of all the customers and pay for the freddo.

[Shadow Kira01]

Okada visits U.S. Kadena Air Base to study base issue

Okada's move to study the Futemma-Kadena merger plan triggered a protest rally earlier this month in the town of Kadena, where many people are already frustrated with the noise of the U.S. planes.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Obama charms students in Shanghai

Shanghai (Nov 16): President Barack Obama pointedly nudged China today to stop censoring Internet access, offering an animated defence of a tool that helped him win the White House and suggesting that Beijing need not fear a little criticism.

The United States leader was speaking to an audience of around 300 young Chinese university students in a townhall-style meeting streamed live on the White House website, broadcast on a local Shanghai television station and carried as text on a major Chinese portal.

Besides Internet censorship, Mr Obama also talked about the US stance on arms sale to Taiwan, the war in Afghanistan and his Nobel Peace Prize in a lively question-and-answer session — his sole meeting with the Chinese public during a three-day visit to China as part of an Asian tour that has already taken him to Japan and Singapore over the weekend.

He then flew to Beijing where Mr Obama quickly drove to the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse for his third meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Trade, climate change and economic issues were expected to dominate their discussions. The two leaders had dinner in the government complex and were scheduled to meet again tomorrow.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

Excerpts from Q&A session

Spoiler for length:

Q: China advocates a harmonious world. We know that the United States develops a culture that features diversity. I want to know, what will your government do to build a diversified world with different cultures? What would you do to respect the different cultures and histories of other countries?

This is an excellent point. The United States, one of our strengths is that we are a very diverse culture. We have people coming from all around the world. And so there's no one definition of what an American looks like. In my own family, I have a father who was from Kenya; I have a mother who was from Kansas, in the Midwest of the United States; my sister is half-Indonesian; she's married to a Chinese person from Canada. So when you see family gatherings in the Obama household, it looks like the United Nations. (Laughter.)

And that is a great strength of the United States, because it means that we learn from different cultures and different foods and different ideas, and that has made us a much more dynamic society. Now, what is also true is that each country in this interconnected world has its own culture and its own history and its own traditions. And I think it's very important for the United States not to assume that what is good for us is automatically good for somebody else. And we have to have some modesty about our attitudes towards other countries.

I have to say, though, as I said in my opening remarks, that we do believe that there are certain fundamental principles that are common to all people, regardless of culture... Now, there may be some people who disagree with us, and we can have a dialogue about that. But we think it's important, nevertheless, to be true to our ideals and our values. And we — and when we do so, though, we will always do so with the humility and understanding that we are not perfect and that we still have much progress to make.

Q: In a country with 350 million Internet users and 60 million bloggers, do you know of the firewall? And second, 'should we be able to use Twitter freely' — is the question.

Well, first of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter. I noticed that young people — they're very busy with all these electronics. My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone. But I am a big believer in technology and I'm a big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information...

...I've always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I'm a big supporter of non-censorship. This is part of the tradition of the United States that I discussed before, and I recognise that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet — or unrestricted Internet access — is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged.

Now, I should tell you, I should be honest, as President of the United States, there are times where I wish information didn't flow so freely because then I wouldn't have to listen to people criticising me all the time... I have a lot of critics in the United States who can say all kinds of things about me; I actually think that that makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear. It forces me to examine what I'm doing on a day-to-day basis to see, am I really doing the very best that I could be doing for the people of the United States.

...Now, as I said before, there's always a downside to technology. It also means that terrorists are able to organise on the Internet in ways that they might not have been able to do before. Extremists can mobilise. And so there's some price that you pay for openness, there's no denying that. But I think that the good outweighs the bad so much that it's better to maintain that openness. And that's part of why I'm so glad that the Internet was part of this forum.

Q: (I've) paid great attention to your Afghanistan policies, and (I) would like to know whether terrorism is still the greatest security concern for the United States? And how do you assess the military actions in Afghanistan, or whether it will turn into another Iraqi war?

I think that's an excellent question. Well, first of all, I do continue to believe that the greatest threat to United States' security are the terrorist networks like Al-Qaeda. And the reason is, is because even though they are small in number, what they have shown is, is that they have no conscience when it comes to the destruction of innocent civilians. And because of technology today, if an organisation like that got a weapon of mass destruction on its hands — a nuclear or a chemical or a biological weapon — and they used it in a city, whether it's in Shanghai or New York, just a few individuals could potentially kill tens of thousands of people, maybe hundreds of thousands. So it really does pose an extraordinary threat.

Now, the reason we originally went into Afghanistan was because Al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan, being hosted by the Taliban. They have now moved over the border of Afghanistan and they are in Pakistan now, but they continue to have networks with other extremist organisations in that region. And I do believe that it is important for us to stabilise Afghanistan so that the people of Afghanistan can protect themselves, but they can also be a partner in reducing the power of these extremist networks...

But it's a difficult task. It's not easy. And ultimately I think in trying to defeat these terrorist extremists, it's important to understand it's not just a military exercise. We also have to think about what motivates young people to become terrorists, why would they become suicide bombers. And although there are obviously a lot of different reasons, including I think the perversion of religion, in thinking that somehow these kinds of violent acts are appropriate, part of what's happened in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan is these young people have no education, they have no opportunities, and so they see no way for them to move forward in life, and that leads them into thinking that this is their only option.

And so part of what we want to do in Afghanistan is to find ways that we can train teachers and create schools and improve agriculture so that people have a greater sense of hope. That won't change the ideas of a Osama bin Laden who are very ideologically fixed on trying to strike at the West, but it will change the pool of young people who they can recruit from. And that is at least as important, if not more important over time, as whatever military actions that we can take.

References:
- Full transcript of Shanghai session
- Video of session (86min)

[Knight Hawk]

Barack Obama criticised for 'treasonous' bow to Japanese emperor

At over six feet tall, the US president was photographed bending to nearly a 90 degree angle when he greeted the relatively diminutive Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace on Saturday.

Right-wing websites criticised the US president for showing deference to the Japanese emperor, with the Drudge Report running a banner headline reading: “Obama bows before Japan’s emperor”.

[Sinestra]

Well his bow was completely wrong also it broke the no touching protocol but its obvious he was just trying to show respect. Other than that its business as usual, It wouldn't be the start of a new week if the GOP wasn't hammering Obama about something he did the day before.

Love how the right broke out with their WWII speech about how his bow was an insult to all those who fought against the Japanese in WWII. sigh have they found a new planet that can support life yet? cause im ready to go.

[Kyuusai]

Originally Posted by Knight Hawk

Barack Obama criticised for 'treasonous' bow to Japanese emperor

I'd considered posting this shortly after it occurred, but ultimately I thought even mentioning it at all was making too much of a non-issue... but oh, what a firestorm in the press.

If the President had been trying to communicate any subservience, sure, it'd be a big deal. But he obviously was just trying to be respectful.

Treasonous? Get real. It was a terrible breach of etiquette, from several standpoints (Heads of state do not bow to each other, not from either standpoint... No touching when bowing...), but the Japanese, in general, are quite used to looking past gaijin gaffs to see the actual intentions.

The Obama Presidential family seems to be plagued by stately social faux pas. Unless they are refusing to heed the advice of their etiquette advisors, I can't blame them for it. My only question is why the people responsible haven't been sacked.

Admittedly, as some one who sees President Obama as the second coming of Jimmy Carter (and who doesn't consider that a positive description...), I do kind of get the giggles when things like this happen, but ultimately the man is the elected president of my nation. For the sake of him in the office of president and my nation in the international eye, I am livid with the poor jobs of the people who are supposed to be responsible for watching out for the President's tact.

[Shadow Kira01]

Ozawa not retracting controversial remarks on Christianity

‘‘I stated that the basic philosophy of religion and the view of life are different (between East and West),’’ Ozawa said at a press conference Monday afternoon, explaining that in his view the East considers humans as part of the nature while the West believes that nature exists for humans.

The controversy erupted Tuesday after Ozawa met with Japan Buddhist Federation President Yukei Matsunaga and praised Buddhism. He also said then that ‘‘European and U.S. societies with a (historical) background of Christianity are bogged down,’’ and that Islam is ‘‘better than Christianity but it is also exclusive.’’

[Kyuusai]

Originally Posted by Shadow Kira01

Ozawa not retracting controversial remarks on Christianity

And here he lets loose what this is about: East versus West. It has ZERO to do with religion. (And it's pretty funny to call Christianity, itself, Western. Most of its claimed practitioners, yes. The religion itself?). I'm really curious as to what definition of "exclusive" he was using, though. He's wrong any way it's taken, though using some of those claimed practitioners as examples it certainly wouldn't seem that way at times.

Unfortunately, these clashes have been going on for a long, long time, and religion has just been the excuse used by either side to perpetuate the culture war. Many Christian missionaries felt the need to indoctrinate converts in their western ways, and many converts were even more enthusiastic about adopting them, or, worse, trying to convert their fellow countrymen by force. Add in some political upheaval that will naturally be sparked by outside influences in such a top-down government and social system and the fear (perceived or real) of proselytization being used to prepare for foreign conquest... Well, they may have boiled folks in Kyuushuu for being Christian, but I think it's pretty clear there was more to it than mere religious differences.

But it wasn't just Christianity. Buddhism, Confucianism, and, to an extent, varying flavors of Shinto have similar historical examples. And none of them were really about religion.

No, Mr. Ozawa is simply a man who has a mindset that his East and the outside West are utterly divided, and blaming the religion is an easy, blanket explanation to justify his prejudice.

[Vexx]

I figured it was an overly shorthand description of "Western European culture" (in which the Imperial Roman Christianity played a huge role) versus the various Eastern philosophies (which have a rather different sense of priorities). It wouldn't be the first time a Japanese official was "too brief".

The sense of "nationalistic superiority" is common to a number of countries (including the US) so it can't be ruled out that he was simply putting foot in mouth in that way

The "boiling of Christians" had much more to do with the politics of control - Christianity was viewed as a form of subversive warfare by the incoming foreign powers (undermining the loyalty of the people). My world history professor in university really pushed the idea of cultural forces coupled with its manipulation by ruling forces. He taught the history from a Western European perspective but regularly flipped the POV for context -- it would be interesting to see him teach the course now that we are much more familiar with, for example, medieval Chinese events of interaction with the world. Sadly, he's long expired. To me, "Imperial Roman" Christianity is a far different animal than the personal Christianity many folks actually practice these days.

[Shadow Kira01]

Obama, Hu see eye to eye on N. Korea, climate change, trade

On North Korea, Obama and Hu said they agreed to continue working toward denuclearizing that country by restarting the stalled six-party talks at an early date.

''We agreed on the importance of resuming the six-party talks as soon as possible,'' Obama said, adding North Korea will be able to join the international community as a full member once it abandons its nuclear weapons ambitions.

Turning to global warming, the U.S. and Chinese presidents agreed to make a final push for a successful conclusion of a key U.N.-sponsored climate change conference taking place in Copenhagen in December.

''As the two largest consumers and producers of energy, there can be no solution to this challenge without the efforts of both China and the United States,'' Obama said.

[Zwei]

Drunk woman nearly hit by a train.

Seriously, what is up with train "accidents" nowadays; is this some sort of message?

[Shadow Kira01]

Obama hinted at agreeing to move Futemma site offshore: sources

Hatoyama also explained the difficulty of the relocation issue, saying his Democratic Party of Japan pledged during a general election in August to relocate the Futemma base out of Okinawa Prefecture, or even abroad.

The DPJ, which swept to power after a decisive election victory in August, has promoted the idea of moving Futemma out of Okinawa, or out of Japan altogether, in an effort to reduce the burden on base-hosting communities.

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by Cyrus17

Hehe, true. At least dumb enough to watch too much TV (and take it seriously).

Well, guess when wars are waged, and propaganda campaigns are conducted, cases like this or the one in Germany (Murder of Marwa El-Sherbini) are inevitable.

The murder of Marwa El-Sherbini is an arguable by-product of "german"/"russian" propaganda (in my oppinion propaganda can be in a certain language but not bound to an entire society if the society itself does not promote hate against others - only a tiny minority of german society promotes ideas like Wiens). As a neonazi Alex Wiens is basically dumb as bread with an ideology that is against everything that appears different to him - so his hate would not only project on arabs/muslims it would also project on a every non-white person.
The only difference is the reaction of the society to this and the place where it happened. Since hate crimes against foreigners in germany are not unknown of it was the place (court) where the crime happened that got most of the attention first. This is not meant to be a justification but an explanation.

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Zwei

Drunk woman nearly hit by a train.

Seriously, what is up with train "accidents" nowadays; is this some sort of message?

Two days ago, one of my workmates came in late because someone got run over by a train one stop before his. It's really getting popular and it's scary imho. That begs the question then. If someone falls over to the rails, would you try to save that person if there was still time before the train?