News Stories

[SeijiSensei]

Yasukuni Redux

Abe himself isn't making the trip for this year's spring festival, apparently to avoid putting Obama in a tough position. He arrives in Tokyo on Wednesday.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

It's reflection of how the media need to police itself and to stop putting itself on an untouchable pedestal of freedom of the media. Free media entails responsible journalism, and the coverage of the ferry sinking shows that no media group should be above criticism.

Now that is starting a blame game.

People need to police their own emotions. The media reports, it is not responsible for how the reader feels because human emotion is supposed to be self-regulated.

That is freedom of information. A drinker cannot blame the free-flow tap from intoxicating him.

[MeoTwister5]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Now that is starting a blame game.

People need to police their own emotions. The media reports, it is not responsible for how the reader feels because human emotion is supposed to be self-regulated.

That is freedom of information. A drinker cannot blame the free-flow tap from intoxicating him.

Actually I was talking more of how it is both the tendency to report and sensationalize both unverified information regarding the tragedy and the focus on the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the affected parties. A drinker cannot blame the free flow tap but the bartender should be aware if he's spiking his drinks. The journalist then should be aware enough to ask themselves if they're making the situation worse for people.

[Marcus H.]

I'm surprised that Korea, particularly Arirang TV, is dealing with the news on the Sewol-ho Sinking with the same treatment as that of local media in the Philippines during Typhoon Haiyan.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Actually I was talking more of how it is both the tendency to report and sensationalize both unverified information regarding the tragedy and the focus on the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the affected parties. A drinker cannot blame the free flow tap but the bartender should be aware if he's spiking his drinks. The journalist then should be aware enough to ask themselves if they're making the situation worse for people.

The problem is that the bartender doesn't even know whether his drinks are spiked or not. It is the manufacturer.

However, with that bolded point, I agree with you. Though from a logical standpoint self-control is more of a personal thing than having someone to do it for you.

From a personal standpoint? I somewhat enjoy seeing people in that kind of emotional agony despite telling myself how wrong that is. Either I need a shrink, or I should work in the media since I'd make an excellent journalist since I can find passion in reporting things like that. [/caustic]

[SeijiSensei]

President Obama Pledges Support for Senkakus

The pledge came in response to written questions from the Yomiuri Shimbun.

“The policy of the United States is clear—the Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. And we oppose any unilateral attempts to undermine Japan’s administration of these islands,” the U.S leader stated ahead of his visit to Japan starting Wednesday.

Article 5 stipulates U.S. defense obligations to Japan, which apply to territories under the administration of Japan. Obama’s comment therefore means the United States will defend Japan in the event of a Chinese incursion on the islets, over which China also claims sovereignty.

Notice how the US announcement carefully skirts the sovereignty question and relies instead on the official diplomatic term "administration." Still, in terms of American responsibilities under Article 5, the difference is cosmetic. It does allow the US to say that it has not taken sides in the dispute over sovereignty however.

Update: It appears that President Obama's trip to Tokyo and his expression of support for Japan has moved the Senkakus issue onto a somewhat bigger stage in the US than before. Tomorrow's New York Times will carry these two opinion pieces taking rather opposing views on what US policy should be:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/op...ed-waters.html
-- Michael J. Green is senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and associate professor at Georgetown University.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/op...a-dispute.html
-- Wu Xinbo is director of the Center for American Studies, Fudan University, China.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Ferry survivor regrets not being able to save fellow passengers

Seoul (April 23, Wed): Survivors of the South Korean ferry disaster have spoken of the struggle to save the hundreds of passengers trapped below the tilting decks as cargo containers toppled into the sea.

In an interview with the BBC, lorry driver Choi Eun Su spoke of his regret at being unable to come to the rescue of passengers trapped on the vessel.

He had made the ferry journey hundreds of times. He had just had breakfast and gone up on the deck to smoke when disaster struck.

"All of a sudden the ship tilted and started to sink. Containers started to fall off into the sea, and I realised we were going to capsize," he said.

"I was clinging on to the handrail. I tried to save some of the students in the cafeteria. They were sliding around on their knees by the cashier's desk."

He added: "We were trying to pull them up with a fire hose, but it was very difficult to rescue them. We then decided to climb up, but I now regret it."

He said his friend managed to pull a six-year-old girl to safety after she was passed by her parents and other passengers, hand to hand.

He said the parents and passengers, who did not survive the ordeal, were "the bravest people of all".

All of the people he saw helping the girl were swept away by the water, he added.

Meanwhile, the South Korean authorities have arrested four more crew members from the ferry that sank last week, bringing the total number detained to 11.

Police have also raided offices of companies linked to the ferry's owners.

Search teams are continuing to recover bodies from the submerged hull of the passenger ferry.

BBC

From my own bulletins, the authorities confirmed last night that there are no air pockets in the submerged vessel. That means there's virtually no hope of finding further survivors.

The authorities have also confirmed that the cargo weight declared by the ship on its final voyage was more than three times the recommended maximum.

Prosecutors have started investigations on state ship inspectors who allegedly accepted bribes to by-pass safety regulations.

The entire nation is in mourning. Even our correspondent in South Korea looks visibly affected in her reports.

Mr Barack Obama is expected to visit a public memorial dedicated to the victims when he visits the country on Friday.

[TinyRedLeaf]

By and by, while most news agencies round the world, and especially those in Asia, are focusing on the "big issues" surrounding Mr Obama's tour of the region — China's increasing assertiveness, North Korea's provocative nuclear "tests" and the Trans-Pacific Partnership — most people are talking about just one thing so far: Sushi.

It kind of shows you how much news guys know ("just give me the facts") about what people really want ("just give me the fluff").

Obama: 'Some Good Sushi'

Tokyo (April 23, Wed): Prime Minister Shinzo Abe played host to President Barack Obama at a private dinner at Sukibayashi Jiro in Tokyo's Ginza area.

Sukibayashi Jiro's owner and sushi master, Jiro Ono, who turns 90 next year, is said to be the world's best sushi chef.

Air Force One landed in Japan before 6am Washington time today (10am GMT), which of course is dinner time in Tokyo (7pm local time).

The president and aides, including National Security Adviser Susan Rice, left the restaurant shortly after 10pm Tokyo time (2pm GMT).

"That's some good sushi right there," said Mr Obama, as he emerged from the hour-and-a-half dinner. "Terrific."

BLOOMBERG

Here are the five things you need to know about sushi restaurant Sukibayashi Jiro:

By Seow Bei Yi,
for The Straits Times


1. It has three Michelin stars

The store is bestowed with three Michelin stars, an honour that has been renewed every year since 2007. That's not surprising as sushi chef Jiro Ono has been making sushi since he was nine. He's considered a national treasure and is extolled as shokunin, or an artisan. He still goes to work by train, and does not like holidays. With such dedication comes a price: Dining here costs at least 30,000 yen (US$293) per person.

2. There's another branch

Ono's younger son, Takashi, runs the only outpost of Sukiyabashi Jiro in Roppongi. This is about 5km away from the original store at Ginza, where Ono works. The layout of the Roppongi outlet is an exact mirror image of the original. This is because Ono is left-handed and Takashi is right-handed.

3. It's tiny

The sushi bar has only 10 seats by its counter. Want to get in? Well, you'll have to book one month in advance. Book two months ahead, just to be sure. (And maybe four months ahead now, thanks to all the extra publicity it has received.)

4. You can have sushi, and sushi

There is only one item on the menu: A set consisting some 20 pieces of sushi.

5. Don't wear perfume

Customers are not encouraged to wear perfume to the store, as it may interfere with the taste of the raw fish.

[Fireminer]

Pah! Blissful ignorance! It's not like Obama and his neutral foreign policy toward Asia could change anything.

[RRW]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...P9ujQ_s5q0/pub

I never thought it will go worse

this level of incompetent simply beyond word

[Hiss13]

On a completely different note...
Supreme Court Upholds State's Ban On Affirmative Action In College Admissions

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by RRW

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...P9ujQ_s5q0/pub

I never thought it will go worse

this level of incompetent simply beyond word

When everything is run by corporate chaebols threatening SA workers, what do you expect?

[AnimeFan188]

Malaysia Airlines Workers Held Hostage By Angry Chinese Families:

"Angry relatives of passengers aboard the missing jet held Malaysia Airlines workers
hostage for almost 11 hours at a Beijing hotel.

The 200-strong group "expressed dissatisfaction" about the information being given
to them about the hunt for Flight MH370, according to a statement by the airline on
Friday."

See:

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/mis...amilies-n89596

[KiraYamatoFan]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

Malaysia Airlines Workers Held Hostage By Angry Chinese Families:

"Angry relatives of passengers aboard the missing jet held Malaysia Airlines workers
hostage for almost 11 hours at a Beijing hotel.

The 200-strong group "expressed dissatisfaction" about the information being given
to them about the hunt for Flight MH370, according to a statement by the airline on
Friday."

See:

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/mis...amilies-n89596

Disgusting. It's one thing being angry, but it's totally another to go full retard with such an illegal action. Do they think they are the only ones who ever lost someone dear in a plane crash? Even the relatives of the Air France Flight 447 crash victims were a lot more decent in their behavior than that despite almost a 2-year wait (yikes).

[SeijiSensei]

South Korean Leader Accepts Resignation of Premier Over Ferry Disaster

Mr. Chung is the highest-ranking government official to lose his job over the sinking, South Korea’s worst disaster since 1995, when a department store collapsed in Seoul, killing 501 people.

The prime minister is a largely ceremonial post in South Korea, with the executive power concentrated in the president, and is sometimes fired when the government needs to soothe public anger after a major scandal or policy failure.

[Sugetsu]

Originally Posted by Hiss13

On a completely different note...
Supreme Court Upholds State's Ban On Affirmative Action In College Admissions

OMG! Really? This supreme court justices are by far the worst this country ever had. First Citizens United and now this? Do they want to bring back the 1800s or something?

[monster]

Originally Posted by Sugetsu

OMG! Really? This supreme court justices are by far the worst this country ever had. First Citizens United and now this? Do they want to bring back the 1800s or something?

I think this was a fair ruling. If there is an issue of racial inequality, then find a solution that doesn't involve treating people differently based on their race.

[Hiss13]

Originally Posted by Sugetsu

OMG! Really? This supreme court justices are by far the worst this country ever had. First Citizens United and now this? Do they want to bring back the 1800s or something?

I actually agree with this ruling. Maybe it's because of the fact that I'm part of an ethnicity that actually faces the negative consequences of Affirmative Action--Asian Americans.

[AnimeFan188]

Japan Producing Huge, Lightly Guarded Stockpile of Plutonium:

"Already, Japan has 9.3 metric tons of plutonium stored at Rokkasho and nine
other sites in the island nation, along with around 35 tons of plutonium stored in
France and the United Kingdom. Altogether, Japan has the fifth-largest plutonium
stockpile of any nation, representing 9 percent of the world’s stocks under civilian
control. The figure includes 730 pounds of high-grade plutonium, the kind
preferred by weapons designers, that Japan has agreed to send to the United
States."

"Publicly, the United States has said little about Japan’s plans, which could enlarge
its already substantial hoard of plutonium. But since President Barack Obama was
first elected, Washington has been lobbying furiously behind the scenes, trying to
persuade Japan that terrorists might regard Rokkasho’s new stockpile of plutonium
as an irresistible target — and to convince Japanese officials they should better
protect this dangerous raw material."

See:

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/fuk...utonium-n49376

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by Sugetsu

OMG! Really? This supreme court justices are by far the worst this country ever had. First Citizens United and now this? Do they want to bring back the 1800s or something?

Uh, no. This is actually one of the few good decision this SCOTUS has handed down. Affirmative Action, at its core is at best a misguided effort to promote diversity, and at worse the very thing it is supposed to counter – discrimination based on race.

As both a Michigan resident and Asian American, while I’m not against the ideal behind AA per se, I’m very much against how AA was implemented. You can’t say you’re promoting diversity and equality by enforcing an inherently discriminatory policy.

Case in point, a week or two ago there was a African American high school girl who sued the University of Michigan alleging that her application to U-M, one of the top universities in the nation, was rejected due to racial discrimination, despite the fact that her GPA was only 3.5, and her ACT score merely 23. There are certainly not bad scores, but it’s also nowhere close to get into U-M, which rejects nearly 70% of all freshmen applications as it is. The argument is that the university’s student population should more closely mirror the state’s population, which while sounding nice, is little more than saying student should be admitted based on their race, instead of merit.

Which part of that is “equality”?

Also, think about this – going by that logic, there should actually be more white students admitted to U-M, as they are also “under-represented” in the student population, meanwhile 2/3rd of all future Asian applicants should automatically be denied acceptance based on – you guessed it, their race, because they constitute 12% of U-M’s student population while only 4% of the state’s.

Again, a policy that’s supposed to promote diversity and equality, would in reality end up discriminating against students based on nothing but their race.