White Cultural Superiority Complex

The title of this article could very easily have been the saying, "People in glass houses should not throw stones." That is a very old saying and everyone knows it, but people do it all the time. Especially when it comes to foreigners criticizing Japan.


This is a post that will piss off a very many people, though it is not intended that way. This is just an observation that someone like me can make.

OMD - ENOLA GAY

First off, the title of this post is very racy. Let me state for the record that I am half-white and half-Asian. To white people, I look 100% white. To Japanese, some can tell that I am half. To half-Japanese / Americans, we all can recognize each other within seconds. There's a sort of "brotherhood" to being half.


I have lived on both sides of the fence of being white or Asian. I have even sat on top of the fence as a half when it was expedient (of course, whenever it benefited me to be "Japanese" I became one, If it benefited me to be white, I did that).


I found this magical transition to be very useful when I was, say, a high school student in California in a school that was populated by Hispanics, Whites and a few Asians. Unfortunately, and with often violent results, the racial tensions were often ripe between the Hispanics and Whites. 


I do understand being proud of ones heritage and think that it is healthy to do so, but to the point of fisticuffs? Well, that's another question. I suppose it is a question of tribes and savagery.

Take a look at those

Sailors fighting in the dance hall

Oh man! Look at those cavemen go

It's the freakiest show

Take a look at the Lawman

Beating up the wrong guy

Oh man! Wonder if he'll ever know

He's in the best selling show

Is there life on Mars? 

- David Bowie "Life on Mars"

I played the field. I'd do anything to prevent myself from getting pounded or trodden upon by some savage regardless of the color of their skin. I was a wimpy white guy when it served me; I was a wimpy half-white half Hispanic when it served me; I was an extremely wimpy half-Japanese American when it served me well.


Being able to make these transitions like Spider-man was helpful in keeping a total woos kid like me from getting my ass kicked at school with regularity.


I did this for years. I still do it. This blog is a good case in point. I can attack Japan when I think something is wrong and I can attack the USA when there is something wrong. I think I have the right to do that.


Since this blog targets an native English speaking audience, it seems to also attract many people who have a dim view of Japan and her people. Many times it's because of a confused view of history. Though, I admit that Japan did a very many bad things in the past; I cannot say that Japan has done anything worse than the USA does.


In fact, no country in the world, today, is worse than the USA for being the Nazi Germany of the new century. Yes, I mean that the USA bombs, maims and kills brown-skinned little children and old men and women around the world everyday 24/7. 


Hitler wasn't as bad as that. Hitler only killed for 12 years. The USA has been bombing and attacking and invading countries on and off since 1840 or so.  The atrocities have  gotten much worse over these last 60 years. The USA averages bombing one country a year, every year, since 1945. 


But this blog is not about US atrocities. It is about what is going on in Japan. Specifically, what I mean is that, if I write an article or a blog post defending Japan's position - or attacking the views of someone who attacks Japan, invariably confused westerners will much too often write the nonsense knee jerk reaction "But the Japanese get what they deserve as they have never apologized for attacking China" (or some such nonsense or comment to that effect).


It also doesn't have to be a retort to an article that I've written. I also get many comments (that I always delete) from racists and fools who, for example, in response to the aftermath of the March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident write nonsense things like, "Japan gets what it deserves...." (using the absurd rationale of not apologizing for China, etc., above).  


I've gotten lots of those kind of nonsense comments from people with western names. I never get them from people of the so-called third world. Specifically speaking, I have never once, in my life, ever gotten these kinds of racist comments from people with names of the so-called "colored" persuasion... Nope. Never. Of course, it is racist of me to judge that a person whose name is, say, Sallamadin, is not white, just as it is racist for me to judge that a person named Williams is white....


But that is not the issue here.


I've never ever received a letter criticizing Japanese xenophobia from a person named  Muhammed or Sabahi or Ali. That's just a fact.


Don't even bring up American apologists for dropping the two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that I have to deal with at the end of every summer of every year... You see, Japanese old men, women and children deserved to be incinerated by the atomic bomb because of:


a) They attacked Pearl Harbor first
b) The Japanese attacked China
c) The Japanese were savages and the bombing was the only way to stop the war


Of course, all three reasons are not an excuse to commit genocide and wipe out innocent women and children.

Yeah, we could nuke this lady and her 2-year-old (and 200,000 just like them) because 

she personally invaded China and the Japanese kill dolphins, right?

Recently, in a post entitled,"Critical and Analytical Thinking are Lost Arts Amongst Many of Today's Adult Population


 In an article I wrote last year that was published in several international online sites, Japan's Bans the Cove and Other Atrocities I had suspicions on the motivations of that film's producers. The producers of that film claimed that their motivations were pure and sincere. They said something to the effect of "If the Japanese people could see the movie, then they'd rise up and stop the senseless killing of these dolphins." (I'm paraphrasing here.)

From being a person who works in Marketing, the mass media and is intimately familiar with hype, I smelled a rat. I wrote:

"...if the makers of The Cove were truly sincere about their motivations in protecting the whales and dolphins, and how, if they truly believed that if the Japanese saw the movie, they'd demand the end of this whaling and dolphin killing, then they'd make the entire movie free on Youtube. Other people with a message have made theirs free, why doesn't the makers of The Cove do the same? Trust that Youtube has hundreds of millions more viewers than the movie theaters in Japan ever could hope to have. But, you know what? The Cove is not available on Youtube; only trailers for sales promotion are available. There goes their credibility.

And don't tell me that they can't give the movie away for free because then they won't make any money; just look at Google. Google gives away almost everything for free and they are one of the biggest money making companies in the world.

So just keep that in mind when you think about this problem and are bursting veins in your neck screaming about how evil these Japanese fishermen are." 


This post brought out the usual peanut gallery of abuse. People (with western names) came up with their usual litany of profanity and other intelligent logical discourse... They also kept up with the "Japan never apologized for China bit too."


The "Japan never apologized for China" notion is completely false. In an article that appeared on Lew Rockwell.com in Feb. of 2006 entitled, "Japan, Atrocities, Apologies and Atonement" I showed proof of all post-war deals and reparations that Japan paid (the article is filled with links and documentation check it yourself and see) and those agreements were negotiated and signed - with the blessing of the victorious western powers - by the respective, then-recognized governments of the Asian nations  that Japan had victimized. At the end of the article I posed a question:


In the case of the Korean victims, deals made by the former military government of Korea with Japan let Japan off the hook for non-state claims from those who suffered. The South Korean government received money from Japan, yet didn't compensate its own suffering people, and then suppressed claims by its own nationals against Japan. Why is Japan the only defendant in cases that involve financial retribution and demands for compensation? Why does Japan have to take all the criticism? Why don't these people sue their own governments and the United States too?

When Chinese sue the Japanese government for damages over the Nanjing massacre, or chemical and biological warfare injuries suffered, why do they sue only the Japanese government? Remember, Chiang Kai-shek forgave and dismissed all personal claims against Japan in return for financial help to fight the communists. Why don't they sue their own government in Taiwan? Why not sue the US government that prevented claims of this sort being heard during the Tokyo war crimes trials? 


But I digress....


The point of this post is hypocritical westerners who are hopelessly trapped in what I call White Cultural Superiority Complex when the complain about Japan yet fail to see their own disgraceful actions. They want to criticize Japan for, say, killing a non-endangered species of dolphins as featured in the movie the Cove, but they fail to recognize and address war crimes and atrocities that are being committed by their very own governments at this very moment. Hypocrites! Many of these people are self-professed Christians too. The bible talks about them:


Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye. (NRSV, Matthew 7:1-5)  


Then, when I take them to task, they knee-jerk the nonsense about World War II and Japanese invasion of Asia.


Yes. The Japanese invasion of Asia was a very bad thing. Japan committed war crimes in the past. If your countries are a part of NATO, you are committing war crimes right now.

Right! And some jerks are worried about dolphins?

Are you kidding me?

But let's say your country is or was not a partner in crime over the bombing of Afghanistan or the invasion of Iraq... How about history, then?


Japan apologized in the 1950's for World War II. How about the west's genocide of native peoples, killing millions of them?  


Canada? It took them 200 years to apologize for:


"...one of the darkest chapters in its history, formally apologised on Wednesday for forcing 150,000 aboriginal children into grim residential schools, where many say they were sexually and physically abused." - Reuters


The Americans? Still hasn't apologized for killing an estimated 12 million native American Indians since the 15th century.... Maybe they get around to it in the next millennium. One of the most recent atrocities against native Americans was about 100 years ago in December of 1890 at Wounded Knee when US troops gunned down 150 men women and children.

But! But! We did give them a decent burial and, you can't 

deny that the Japanese do kill dolphins!

Australia? No apology for genocide against Aboriginal peoples wiping them out into near extinction.


New Zealand? Extermination of 85% of the Maori population and the so-called Land Wars.


Do I even need to mention any European country? No? I didn't think so.... I think I already mentioned something about NATO killing kids daily.


With all this past history and the wars and killing still going on today, people from these countries sure have the nerve to complain about Japan killing several hundred non-endangered species of dolphins, when they are bombing brown-skinned children in the Middle East?


It's much more difficult to look into the mirror and see just how grotesque and ugly one's face is. It's much easier to look over the fence and complain about your neighbors yard... For many westerners, I reckon looking in the mirror is far far too much to bear.


So, because dolphins are cute and more intelligent than dogs Japan is the target?


Pardon me if I scoff.


Note: Of course not all Caucasians are guilty of this error in thinking. Usually intelligent people with common sense do not - or can control themselves so they don't exhibit these behaviors. But, alas, even one person being a racist like this is one too many.


----


This article was inspired by a correspondence with Jen Freespirit S. I'm sorry that I initially took your queries as an attack on my views on the Cove. Hopefully, as I get older, I become more patient and wiser. Also good luck and chin up to Allison Sane.

LIttle Birdie is Right! Silver Rises $2.13 in 40 Hours!

I posted on this blog that my very old and dear friend Peter Chen (not his real name) who is now working in a very high position at an investment bank in Singapore sometimes calls me up and gives me great advice on stocks and precious metals. His advice is always spot on.


As I wrote on Silver Price Recovery Begins on May 9, 2011:


Just had a friend in China tell me on the phone that the rumor is that central bank of the Chinese Republic (PRC) is going to start buying heavily into physical silver - and demanding delivery - starting first thing tomorrow am. This rumor is going around financial circles in China, Shanghai and Hong Kong and it is also rumored that this will be a process that starts slowly beginning tomorrow May 9, 2011...


The resurgence of silver's price could be tomorrow.... At least that's what my little birdie tells me. ...


His advice was on target this time as silver sent from its opening price on May 9 at $35.62 to the current price, as of this moment, May 10, 2011, at $37.86. That's a $2.24 rise in just under 40 hours. Mighty impressive! 

As usual, with Peter's advice, it always comes at the last minute and I usually don't have the money to take him up on his advice. But, I don't mind giving it to you, my friends and readers.


I call Peter my "Little Birdie." He was right on the money.... Again! So, for now, I get to crow that my blog's  advice was spot on! This is fun ad it reminds me of one of my favorites TV shows in the early 1980's (I think it was) that was a total flop (even though I thought it was hilarious). It was called "Police Squad" and starred Leslie Nielsen.


This idea would later become a hit movie series called "Naked Gun." But as a TV show, it was a failure because people don't sit around watching TV like they do movies. With movies, people pay attention, with TV, they are talking with friends, or doing housework, etc. With a program like Police Squad, if you weren't paying attention, you'd miss the jokes.


So, in my case, my Little Birdie gives me advice. In Police Squad, Leslie Neilson (who played a detective named Frank, would often solve a crime and his partners would say, "How did you know it was him, Frank?" And Frank would answer, "Well, I had a little hunch back at the office."


Right then a hunchbacked old man would walk up and Frank would say,"And here's that hunchback now!" 

In order to help him solve crimes, Frank always had a little hunch back at the office. That hunchback would usually show up and take credit by the end of the program.

If any of you made money on silver this last day and 1/2 I am so happy for you.... I wish my Little Birdie would give me advice more often! (There is one more thing, he says to only buy physical silver never buy paper... ) 

The KFC Ad in China That They Don't Want Anyone to See

Mish Shedlock sent this to me and asked "Did they try to pull this one in Japan, too?"

Nope, Mish. They'd never do this in Japan. Not in a million years!


I think this commercial just shows how little respect the Chinese have for Obama and the American political system. Good on them.


Watch this:





The ad company who handles KFC in China says: "'It is no longer airing and will not be re-aired,' said a flack for Yum! Brands, the perpetually thrilled conglomerate that owns KFC."


Even if the Japanese think Obama is a clown and American politicians are all buffoons and fools, they'd never make fun of them in this way... Plus, Japanese politicians are all idiots also, so I suppose people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.


But I just love the underlying message: A politician has a giant sandwich land on his head, is instantaneously killed, and the crowd erupts into applause. Wonderful!


It reminds me of the old joke where an American meets a Russian and the American says, "Live in a free country, I can freely criticize president Kennedy." To which the Russian replies, "I live in a free country too. I can also freely criticize president Kennedy." 


Sadly, the Japanese are too polite to create such a parody. I think this shows a lot about the way the Chinese think and about Chinese society.


In a way, I have to say, "Good for them!" Why should we be reverent to the State? Especially one that has a Kleptocratic government that is a broken down embarrassment to the entire world like the USA? 

China to Send Troops to North Korea

Well, what did I tell you? The United States and South Korea have been playing with fire and antagonizing North Korea and getting us very close to a war. From today, the idiots who run the Japanese government will start military exercises with the United States in the East China Sea.

I've written many times that these military maneuvers can lead to no good outcome.


One might remember that, even though North Korea was making very bellicose comments about the maneuvers, they suddenly seemed to back down and went silent.


Well, now we know. It seems that the Chinese and the North Koreans have outflanked the USA (and South Korea and Japan) once again.


It has now been reported that China and North Korea are discussing the deployment of Chinese troops in North Korea for the first time in over 20 years. The report from Press TV:

China and North Korea are reportedly discussing details of a plan allowing Chinese army forces to be deployed in the communist country for the first time in about two decades.

Citing an anonymous official at the presidential Blue House, the South Korean Chosun Ilbonewspaper reported on Saturday that the troops “would protect Chinese port facilities” in the Rason special economic zone near the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

“North Korea and China have discussed the issue of stationing a small number of Chinese troops to protect China-invested port facilities,” the unnamed official told the newspaper.

“The presence of Chinese troops is apparently to guard facilities and protect Chinese nationals,” the official added.

US imperialist military fools! Now, do you think you can be whacking the North Korean hornet's nest without getting very severely stung?


The USA must stop antagonizing North Korea!


USA out of Japan. USA out of South Korea. USA out of Asia.    

USA Act of War Against Japan Before Pearl Harbor

Some good and intelligent readers bring up some salient points about World War II and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

Almost all older Japanese people know the following but they just shrug their shoulders and say, "The winner's write the textbooks."

It seems that the important point that is being discussed is, in a nutshell, did FDR push Japan into war and/or did the USA commit any acts of war against Japan prior to Dec. 7, 1941?

There were 8 plans to goad Japan into war. They were definitively laid out in the infamous McCollum Memo. Read about those here.

I will write more details on others but, for now, I have found one smoking gun here from Duane Schultz’s The Maverick War.

It reads:

"....a covert operation against a country with which we had peaceful diplomatic relations. The bombing missions were to be carried out by American mercenaries, men released from the army and navy and paid by the United States government through a private corporation. They were to fly American planes painted with Chinese insignia. What made the plan all the more bizarre was that the highest officials in the government, including President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, approved of it. On July 23, 1941, some five months before Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt formally authorized the strikes. They were to begin the following November."


Schultz is writing about the famed Flying Tigers. See Wikipedia here. It is absurd to think that, if these sorts of shenanigans were going on, that the US government could claim innocence. Consider the history of the USA; when could our federal government ever claim innocence in international skullduggery from the Spanish American war to Iraq and Afghanistan?

To think otherwise is just plain foolish.

Has it never occurred to you as strange why

Chinese forces would be flying USA P-40 Curtiss fighters with caucasian pilots

as early as spring 1941? 

There's even a Hollywood Screenplay about this that could be made into a movie:

The Preemptive Strike screenplay is based on the life experiences of General Claire Lee Chennault and his involvement in organizing "a guerilla air corps" known today as the American Volunteer Group or Flying Tigers. Contrary to popular culture, the AVG was to be more than a fighter group to defend China from the onslaught of Japanese invaders during the Sino-Japanese War which began on July 7, 1937. Chennault intended to bomb Japan with bombers that would be operated from Chekiang Province in southeastern China, only 700 miles from the Japanese home islands. Chennault's audacious plan became officially endorsed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt who signed Joint Army/Navy Board 355 ("the Joint Board Plan") on July 23, 1941, only two days before America imposed a total trade embargo on Japan. The Preemptive Strike story underscores Chennault's struggle to organize his guerilla air corps in the jungles of Burma (a British colony) and the frustrations he experienced when the bombers promised by FDR failed to arrive by early November, as scheduled in the Joint Board Plan.



There actually is documentation of these USA pilots flying missions for China in a sneak attack on Japan:


In December 1940, General George C. Marshall had managed to talk the administration out of this sneak attack on Japan on the grounds that the United States didn’t have the planes or crews to spare, and for fear that it "would provoke a Japanese counterattack on the United States at a time when we were woefully unprepared to go to war." But the plan was resurrected in the spring of 1941, and the raids would have been carried out in November of that year had not production and shipping bottlenecks delayed the arrival of Chennault’s bombers. On November 22, FDR’s special envoy to China informed him that he hoped that the bombers (twin-engine Lockheed Hudsons rather than the four-engine Boeing B-17s that Chennault had wanted) and their flight and ground crews would reach that country by the end of 1941, and 49 ground crewmen were at sea on their way there on December 7.


Lawrence Vance writes it best and I will quote his article at length:

There have been a slew of books written over the years on the subject of Roosevelt's duplicity and culpability regarding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I believe the most recent one is George Victor's The Pearl Harbor Myth: Rethinking the Unthinkable (Potomac Books, 2007). This is an exceptional book, not only because it is up-to-date and very well documented, but also because the author is an "admirer of Roosevelt" who maintains that "criticism and justification of Roosevelt's acts are outside the purpose of this book."
But before World War II had even ended, Roosevelt's nemesis John T. Flynn (1882—1964) wrote what is probably the first "revisionist" account of the Pearl Harbor attack: The Truth About Pearl Harbor. This appeared on the front page of the Chicago Daily Tribune on October 22, 1944, "with only a few deletions," under the headline of: "Records Bear Truth about Pearl Harbor." Flynn wrote a sequel in 1945 that was published in the same paper on September 2, 1945, under the three headlines of:

Exposes More Secrets of Pearl Harbor Scandal

Blame for Tragic Delays Fixed; Blunders Bared

John T. Flynn Charges Government Knew Jap Cabinet Intended to Break Relations

The editor's note preceding the article reads:

John T. Flynn, investigator and publicist, author of "The Truth About Pearl Harbor," has written a second sensational article on this catastrophe. He discloses new and startling information that was in the possession of the United States high command during the final days and hours before the great Pacific base was attacked by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941. In this inclusive treatise, he fixes the blame for the disaster squarely upon Franklin D. Roosevelt, then President of the United States.

This was published in booklet form as The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor. At the end of his essay in this latter work, Flynn summed up what he saw as the "pathetic tragedy of blunders":

1. By January l, 1941, Roosevelt had decided to go to war with Japan.
2. But he had solemnly pledged the people he would not take their sons to foreign wars unless attacked. Hence he dared not attack and so decided to provoke the Japanese to do so.
3. He kept all this a secret from the Army and Navy.
4. He felt the moment to provoke the attack had come by November. He ended negotiations abruptly November 26 by handing the Japanese an ultimatum which he knew they dared not comply with.
5. Immediately he knew his ruse would succeed, that the Japanese looked upon relations as ended and were preparing for the assault. He knew this from the intercepted messages.
6. He was certain the attack would be against British territory, at Singapore perhaps, and perhaps on the Philippines or Guam. If on the Philippines or Guam he would have his desired attack. But if only British territory were attacked could he safely start shooting? He decided he could and committed himself to the British government. But he never revealed this to his naval chief.
7. He did not order Short to change his alert and he did not order Kimmel to take his fleet out of Pearl Harbor, out where it could defend itself, because he wanted to create the appearance of being completely at peace and surprised when the Japs started shooting. Hence he ordered Kimmel and Short not to do anything to cause alarm or suspicion. He was completely sure the Japs would not strike at Pearl Harbor.
8. Thus he completely miscalculated. He disregarded the advice of men who always held that Pearl Harbor would be first attacked. He disregarded the warning implicit in the hour chosen for attack and called to Knox's attention. He disregarded the advice of his chiefs that we were unprepared.
9. When the attack came he was appalled and frightened. He dared not give the facts to the country. To save himself he maneuvered to lay the blame upon Kimmel and Short. To prevent them from proving their innocence he refused them a trial. When the case was investigated by two naval and army boards, he suppressed the reports. He threatened prosecution to any man who would tell the truth.

[Kimmel and Short were the Pearl Harbor Navy and Army commanders; Knox was the Secretary of the Navy.]
Flynn's works on Pearl Harbor were followed by George Morgenstern's Pearl Harbor: The Story of the Secret War (New York: Devin-Adair, 1947) and Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald's The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor: The Washington Contribution to the Japanese Attack (New York: Devin-Adair, 1954). In addition, the following books were also published about the same time that contain valuable chapters relating to Pearl Harbor and/or U.S. foreign policy in relation to Japan in the 1930s: Charles A. Beard's President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War 1941: A Study in Appearances and Realities (Yale University Press, 1948), William Henry Chamberlin's America's Second Crusade (Henry Regnery, 1950), Charles Callan Tansill's Back Door to War: The Roosevelt Foreign Policy 1933—1941 (Henry Regnery, 1952), and the edited work by Harry Elmer Barnes, with contributions by Morgenstern, Chamberlin, Tansill, et al., titled Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: A Critical Examination of the Foreign Policy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Its Aftermath (The Caxton Printers, 1953).
Nevertheless, the myth of Pearl Harbor was soon well established. Barnes lamented in 1966:

Despite this voluminous revisionist literature which has appeared since 1945 and its sensational content, there is still virtually no public knowledge of revisionist facts over twenty years after V-J Day. The "man on the street" is just as prone to accept Roosevelt's "day of infamy" legend today as he was on December 8, 1941.

He gives several reasons why this is the case: the country never really had time to cool off after the war like it did following World War I, the American public proved more susceptible to simple brainwashing through propaganda than Orwell could imagine, the conformity of intellectuals whereby individuality and independence all but disappeared, the moderation of the liberals and radicals who had been champions of revisionism after the First World War, the intense hatred of Hitler and Mussolini that blinds people to accept any facts that might diminish their guilt, the rise of the idea that the United States must do battle with any foreign country whose political ideology does not accord with ours, the excessive security measures adopted under the Cold War that have increased the public's fear and timidity, and the lack of major publishers willing to publish revisionist material.
This latter point is especially important because, says Barnes: "No matter how many revisionist books are produced, how high their quality, or how sensational their revelations, they will have no effect on the American public until this public learns of the existence, nature, and importance of revisionist literature."

The last sentence is what is operative here:

"No matter how many revisionist books are produced, how high their quality, or how sensational their revelations, they will have no effect on the American public until this public learns of the existence, nature, and importance of revisionist literature."

It is just too difficult for most Americans to lose the brainwashing that "We are the good guys" that we were taught in school.

Unfortunately, we weren't always the good guys. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Thanks to Lew Rockwell. Read it everyday to get the truth.

Which Trains Are Faster? Japan's or China's?

Interestingly, two articles came out today that talked about bullet trains in Japan and China. I cheer China's great technology in moving forward with Mag-Lev trains and high-speed rail.


I do, though, have a concern with quality in some cases. I'm not making a judgment here, just voicing a concern. I do remember a while back when that building in China went up super fast only to fall over a little while later.


What good is it if the quality and safety are not there? As far as I know, Japan has never had a major accident on a bullet train in history. That's a pretty fine record.


Here's the article about Japan's super-fast trains, the Shinkansen. From the Sydney Morning Herald (via News On Japan):


Japan Railways on Saturday unveiled an 80-kilometre extension to the northern tip of its bullet-train network that will take passengers from the previous terminus of Hachinohe to just outside Aomori City. The new track slices about 15 minutes off the trip from Tokyo, with the journey now clocking in about three hours and 20 minutes. From March next year, another 10 minutes will be cut from the journey when new trains known as Hayabusa (or "falcon") start travelling the line at top speeds of 300km/h. By 2013, they'll be rocketing along at 320km/h.

Now, here's the article that also appeared today about China's super fast trains. Wow! From Yahoo:

BEIJING – A Chinese passenger train hit a record speed of 302 miles per hour (486 kilometers per hour) Friday during a test run of a yet-to-be opened link between Beijing and Shanghai, state media said.

The Xinhua News Agency said it was the fastest speed recorded by an unmodified conventional commercial train. Other types of trains in other countries have traveled faster.

A specially modified French TGV train reached 357.2 mph (574.8 kph) during a 2007 test, while a Japanese magnetically levitated train sped to 361 mph (581 kph) in 2003.

US Military Antagonizing China and North Korea

On Wednesday Nov.24, I wrote about how we didn't get the true story about the North Korean army firing upon a South Korean Island.


Now it seems that the intrigue has deepened. 


Business Insider posts:


China has warned against military activity near its coastline ahead of U.S.-Korea naval exercises, according to Reuters.

China's Foreign Ministry said in an online posting that naval exercises risks starting a war: "We oppose any military act by any party conducted in China's exclusive economic zone without approval."

North Korea has also threatened to respond to military gestures with more attacks: "The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again war exercises targeted against the (North)."

Now things are beginning to make sense. Why in the world is the US Imperial military machine antagonizing North Korea and China?


Or  is this all, as many have suggested, a way to prop up a failing US dollar?

Complaints About the Sorry State of Japanese Politics

As was reported on this blog - before the mainstream Japanese media reported it - a video of the collision between a Japanese Coast Guard vessel and a Chinese fishing ship was leaked on the internet. You can read that blog here.

At that time, I complained that the Japanese government mishandled the situation and should have made this video public before the anti-Japanese protests began in China. Had the Chinese people know the truth about this event, they probably wouldn't have been out creating hatred for Japan...


Also, the Chinese government lying and telling the Chinese public that the Japanese Coast Guard ships rammed the Chinese ship, didn't help to ease tensions. 


Then after the video was leaked showing the truth, we have foolish people in Japan out demonstrating against China.

I wish for peace and goodwill between the Chinese and Japanese people. 


Their respective governments can go and jump in a lake for all I care.


A regular reader writes in:


The Japanese government is now preparing to arrest the Coast Guard employee who "felt that the public should know the truth" and posted the videos of the Chinese boat ramming the Japanese Coast Guard ship on You Tube.

The public, including me, feel that he should be left alone.

Like I've been saying all along, everyone should be focusing their attention on the idiot politicians and how they handled the incident.

I hope you write a good blog about it so the world will question the stupidity of the fools who are running this country.


I hate to disappoint, but I really haven't much to say about this excepting that it is par for the course. 


The only thing that I will say is that I believe that it was the Japanese government who had a duty to keep this incident from turning into a "foaming-at-the-mouth" event and having regular Chinese people shouting out anti-Japanese remarks at demonstrations (that the Chinese government prodded on for their own ulterior motives). 


The Japanese government had a duty to make the truth public. They didn't. The situation got out of hand and one lone guy decided to take it upon himself to tell the truth...


Now, instead of some idiot person higher up in the government taking the fall, they will put the blame on some lower soldier who took and oath to protect his people and his country.


What's wrong with this picture?


As George Orwell once wrote: "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." 


The truth of the matter should be obvious to anyone who is paying attention: The true villians in this mess are not the Japanese or Chinese people. Just like as in the United States; the true enemy of the people is the government. 


As Randolph Bourne wrote: in War is the Health of the State:


The Government, with no mandate from the people, without consultation of the people, conducts all the negotiations, the backing and filling, the menaces and explanations, which slowly bring it into collision with some other Government, and gently and irresistibly slides the country into war. 


Read more why it is the government, and their incompetency and motivations, that cause these problems in War is the Health of the State.