Ranting – Page 25 – Mutantfrog Travelogue

Jenkins’ Trip to NC

Charles Jenkins, the man who deserted the US Army to face a living hell in North Korea, is back in Japan after visiting his mother in North Carolina. He enjoyed his ~~2-week~~ weeklong visit to his hometown, and we know this for a fact because reporters were in his face the whole time. Jenkins and family were greeted by a line of photographers and reporters starting at Narita airport, a similar line when he touched down in North Carolina, and from the beginning to the end of his trip the media followed him as if he were the pied piper. To show you how closely he was followed, just take a look at the things they covered:

Jenkins meets his mother

Jenkins gives present to friend
Jenkins visits graveyard

Jenkins and family go bowling
Jenkins visits Veterans’ Museum (For this story, I saw on Japanese TV news that a reporter shoved a microphone into Hitomi Soga’s face as she was viewing the exhibit to ask, “What do you think about the museum?”
Jenkins visits lake where he used to play as a child

They followed him EVERYWHERE. Before he came, I naively considered going to NC (only 3 hours away) to try and interview him. I was unprepared, however, for the absolute explosion of coverage that followed his arrival.

My boss explained the obvious to me: the kidnapping story captures the Japanese public’s attention on a level that goes beyond even America’s fascination with the Michael Jackson case. As a result, reporters are never far from Jenkins or Soga. While they may have stopped recording his every move during the period of downtime preceding his trip to the US, they were hot on his trail as soon as something dramatic happened. The media scramble might be a little distasteful, but I must admit I eat it up like the glutton I am.

But why is he putting up with this bullshit? I mean, there are ways to avoid reporters if you want to. The answer to that, I believe, is that the publicity keeps him in the public eye and will make it easier for him to sell his memoirs when they come out. Time Asia bureau chief Jim Frederick is working closely with the former defector to get his biography written and published. I know I’ll get it as soon as it comes out.

UPDATE: NKZone points us to a THINK News‘ link to a sympathetic editorial from the Raleigh News & Observer.

NEWS FLASH OMFG: FAMILY MART TO OPEN IN AMERICA!!!!!

AP brings good tidings:

Japan’s ‘Family Mart’ to Open in U.S.
06.21.2005, 09:14 AM

AWESOME Japanese convenience store operator FamilyMart Co. said Tuesday it plans to open 200 stores in the U.S. over the next four years, the first in California.

The inaugural U.S. store will open July 20 in West Hollywood, California, under the name “Famima,” the nickname widely used by Japanese.

It will offer traditional Japanese convenience store staples like “omusubi” rice balls, “bento” box lunches and sushi, as well as U.S. fare like takeaway sandwiches, the company said in a statement. < -- I've died and gone to heaven! "We would like our American customers to experience a new shopping style," it said. FUCK YEAH, I have been waiting for this for EIGHT YEARS!!! The store will also feature wireless Internet access, an ATM, a copy machine and an eat-in area, it said. COOL! The company said it plans to have three U.S. locations by the end of the year and about 200 by February 2009. OPEN ONE IN DC. I BEG YOU. FamilyMart already has about 11,500 stores, including franchises, in Japan and other Asian locations including South Korea, Thailand, China and Taiwan.

Guess what? When “Famima” opens in DC, I never have to go to Japan again! I’ll just eat lunch there every day! Haha! I never thought Forbes Magazine would make me feel like dancing on air, but then I never expected this either! Joy!

This one is for Curzon

Maybe my posts suck because I’m too close to the center to say anything controversial. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get a lot of comments on what I blog. And I know the reason. It’s just that I just can’t change my personality or the fact that maybe I’m not cut out for this.

But even I know Panglossian rubbish when I see it.

I found a link to this via my daily check of NewsonJapan.com. The story, “US Asks Japan For Half A Billion Dollars For Missile Defense,” originally appeared in the Daily Yomiuri, and was later posted on this site.

Let’s have a look at some of the comments in response to this article:

While the real problems on Earth like poverty remain unresolved.

Great, why don’t you fire up another doobie, and maybe things will all work out in the end. Of course poverty remains a problem! But don’t you see that the world isn’t that simple a place? It’s terrible that problems like poverty remain unsolved, but bemoaning TMD ain’t going to make things any better. Do you honestly think that the sole reason poverty continues is because no one in the system cares about them?

The US has formed alliances with a corrupt Japanese administration in order to counter their paranoia with regard to China since ww2

Sure, that was a huge mistake we made to ally ourselves with the LDP rather than the socialists and communists back in the early 1950s. Maybe if we had only changed our minds Japan could be like North Korea is today, where paranoia towards China is the last thing on anyone’s mind.

The US’ strong reaction to the European near-decision last March to lift their arms embargo against China shows how little the US wants its military position undermined. An armed to the teeth China might lead to a situation it no doubt considers among the worst of worse case scenarios in any future Far East developments.

You’re damned right the US reacted strongly. And why do you think that’s the case? Why is it that you seem to have no problem with arming China, or with Europe’s arms peddling, but cannot stomach the thought of a defensive missile system (yeah, that’s what the D stands for) for Japan and the United States?

The US is relentless however in working on Japan for it to become its Britain of the Far East with their joint research on the theater missile defense (TMD) system. This is intended to be in a developmental stage next year. The TMD is to target North Korea’s Nodong and Daepodong missiles and will also have a capability of reaching China’s Dong Feng nuclear base.

Say what you will about TMD, but trust me, “Nodong” and “Deapodong” aren’t Korean for “love thy neighbor” and “come here and give me a hug you big galoot!”

And what do you think a Dong Feng is? Have a look at this.
The I in ICBM stands for “Intercontinental.” As in, from one continent to another. As in, they can _attack_ other countries. But that’s okay, because they’re not the hegemon, right? They just need them to protect themselves from the US. Maybe so, but does that make the US any worse? Balderdash. Maybe if you actually read the pages of your history book rather than roll joints from them, you’d agree with me.

You know, now that I think about it, I’ll bet the Chinese could have fed, clothed, and housed a lot of people for the cost of those. Maybe if we set an example, they’d follow suit. Whadda ya think?

US hegemony continues -but does it make the world a safer place?

Safer than what? Sure the U.S. makes mistakes. Sure the U.S. pursues misguided policies. But what makes you think that any other hegemon would act differently? No, what makes you think they would act any better?

Don’t get me wrong. I normally don’t like to ruffle feathers. But the point of this is not to argue in defense of TMD, or US foreign policy, or anything else. And anyone who has a problem with the strength or character of my argument — which admittedly is not based on fact and is somewhat polemical — might want to reread those arguments against which it is directed.

It’s fine to criticize the United States and fine to criticize U.S. policy. I won’t call you anti-patriotic for that. But for the love of Zeus please consider the other side of things before doing it!

Failing that, just stay out of the fray and keep your mouth shut. In spite of however well meaning you are, or how correct the underlying direction of your argument is, you are making it really difficult for those of us here in reality to defend our own sensible arguments from the far right.

UPDATE:

More insanity…

What would it cost Japan if the US decided to pack up and go home?

Having lived in Japan for 12 years (including time in the Army), let me say 90% of the Japanese would love to see the US PACK UP AND GO HOME. They don’t want our bases there. They don’t want our GIs running around raping. They don’t want our arrogance.

The real reason we are still there is that Japan’s Prime Minister is just as big a dumbfuck as our President.If the people voted on it tomorrow, our ass would be out the door.

It isn’t a question of whether they want our bases there or not. It’s a question of what they will do if we leave. They may not like US bases in Japan, but something tells me they will like the alternative of having to pay for their own military expenditures as well as remilitarization even less. Not to mention the fact that they are then going to have to deal with an even more wary China and South Korea. And at some point they would have to face the question of nukes…

If the people cared about this issue as much as you say, and actually did vote (on anything), the LDP would have been out the door a long time ago. So I’m not really buying that.

Political Spectrum

I was a little shocked the other day to notice that Nora Sumi Park listed this blog as moderate conservative. I’d always considered myself considerably more to the left on the left/right axis and I’m wondering exactly what it was we’ve said here that gave a ‘moderate conservative’ vibe. Not that I’m angry about it-after all the qualifying ‘moderate’ says an awful lot, but still just to be sure I went and took the fairly detailed quiz over at PoliticalCompass.org to reassure myself that I had not been living a lie, only just now unmasked by Ms. Park’s insight.

My score: (values can range from -10 to +10 on either axis)
Economic Left/Right: -4.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.05

Adam’s score:
Economic Left/Right: -5.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.03

That puts me somewhat left on the economic axis and pretty far on the libertarian social axis-roughly in the same territory as Nelson Mandela and Ghandi, and almost exactly in the same spot as the Dalai Lama. So why the moderative conservative label? I think there’s actually a reasonable explanation. One, I almost never write about any US domestic issues, or even US related international issues such as the occupation of Iraq, war on terror, etc. Domestic issues, the sort of thing that’s actually decided by the politicians that I have the [theoretical] right to elect, are the places where I think political orientation is really most significant.

When I write about politics at all, it’s usually a foreign issue that has nothing to do with the US, such as the Yasukuni or textbook issues, and I also don’t make a big point of giving my own opinion. These are issues I find interesting, but have nothing to do with me personally or emotionally, so I try to just explain what’s going on in a neutral way, without. Perhaps because I’ve spent some time trying to explain the Japanese right in a fairly impartial way it seems like I don’t actually despise them? Just because I wrote an article trying to explain how Koizumi’s Yasukuni pilgrimage is really about placating people far more conservative than he is himself doesn’t mean that I don’t think it’s offensive and provocative-but I’m not the person that it’s offending and I’m not doing this because I think my own opinions are all that fascinating.

I’m curious what some of our regular readers and commenters score on this test, and if it varies at all from your usual political self identification. Care to leave your results

I just can’t get used to this クールビズになじめない僕

I mean… he looks good… but all these years of seeing stuffy politicians in suits make this somehow feel wrong:

And the ads are attractive enough:
(More Cool Biz goodness at Nichinichi)

I just can’t get my head around it.

Thankfully, Koizumi’s still wearing a suit to Diet sessions at least (but forgetting his badge, the klutz):

They just look so… relaxed:

But umm.. wtf is this and what does it have to do with not wearing a tie?!

Continue reading I just can’t get used to this クールビズになじめない僕

Much madness is divinest sense

The NYT reports today:

A new study suggests that 55% of Americans will suffer from a mental disorder during their lifetime.

Well, if the majority of the population suffers from it, can it really be called a “disorder?”

Dr. Paul McHugh of Johns Hopkins University breaks it down like this:

Pretty soon we’ll have a syndrome for short, fat Irish guys with a Boston accent, and I’ll be mentally ill.

Won’t we all rue that day.

The study also reveals that 13.2% of Americans will suffer from alcohol abuse at some point in their lives. Only 13.2 %? Come on. On any given Thursday night this summer in the District the only thing measured by the number 13.2 is the percentage of interns and 20 somethings sober after 8pm.

Then finally, there’s this gem:

Mood disorders like depression typically first struck people in early adulthood, in their 20’s or early 30’s.

No kidding? Unhappiness in your 20’s? Why on earth would anyone be unhappy in their 20’s?

I mean, after busting your ass to get through college, which only after the fact do you realize to be the period of your life with the least amount of responsibilty required to survive (I don’t care what your high school teacher said to you about how tough college was. They were all lying.), you have to take a shit job making far less than your age multiplied by one thousand, and in all likelyhood having absolutely nothing to do with your undergraduate course of study. And that’s if you’re lucky. Otherwise, you wind up waiting tables or temping for even less money and no insurance to boot.

After a few miserable years of that, you realize that you’re going to need another degree to get anywhere, and so then you cram your ass off for the GRE or LSAT, go further into debt, and then work your ass off studying all over again. And for what?

Unless you went to law school, you’re still probably only making your age multiplied by one thousand. And if you did go to law school, you’re still working your ass off. (But at least you’re being fairly compensated for it for the first time in your life!)

Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do. But sometimes that’s the only consolation I’ve got. And some people don’t even have that. I’m only speaking from my experience in DC and things could be quite different elsewhere. But should we really be all that surprised that people in their 20’s and early 30’s struggle with occasional unhappiness or depression?

Why Paul Krugman Should Stick to Economics

Full disclosure — I am not a huge Paul Krugman fan. I do not mean that in the sense that I do not like the man or his work. For the most part, I do. I only mean that I own just one of his many books, and that happens to be the International Economics text book he co-authored with Maurice Obstfeld. (I have, however, read everything he has written on the Japanese economy.)

Nevertheless, I do recognize that not only does Professor Krugman understand economics, but he also has a brilliant gift for making it understandable (and even enjoyable) to others.

Consider this example from today’s NYT:

Here’s how the U.S.-China economic relationship currently works:

Money is pouring into China, both because of its rapidly rising trade surplus and because of investments by Western and Japanese companies. Normally, this inflow of funds would be self-correcting: both China’s trade surplus and the foreign investment pouring in would push up the value of the yuan, China’s currency, making China’s exports less competitive and shrinking its trade surplus.

But the Chinese government, unwilling to let that happen, has kept the yuan down by shipping the incoming funds right back out again, buying huge quantities of dollar assets – about $200 billion worth in 2004, and possibly as much as $300 billion worth this year. This is economically perverse: China, a poor country where capital is still scarce by Western standards, is lending vast sums at low interest rates to the United States.

Yet the U.S. has become dependent on this perverse behavior. Dollar purchases by China and other foreign governments have temporarily insulated the U.S. economy from the effects of huge budget deficits. This money flowing in from abroad has kept U.S. interest rates low despite the enormous government borrowing required to cover the budget deficit.

Low interest rates, in turn, have been crucial to America’s housing boom. And soaring house prices don’t just create construction jobs; they also support consumer spending because many homeowners have converted rising house values into cash by refinancing their mortgages.

(To see the point o read the rest of the story here. Trust me, it’s worth it.)

Now, compare that to his May 16th op-ed, “Staying What Course?,” which is nothing more than another liberal gripe about the War in Iraq. And the New York Times has enough of those already.

It doesn’t require a PhD in Economics from MIT to see that the United States, “isn’t just bogged down in Iraq; it’s deteriorating under the strain. We may already be in real danger…” Any reader of the NYT who happens to be in a semi-conscious state would have picked up on this in reading through the 24 pages that preceed the op-ed section.

So please, Mr. Krugman, I have absolutely no objection to your criticizing the policies of the Bush Administration, and most often I even agree with you. But please, please, stick to economics.

Christopher Hitchens, full of dogshit

The new installment of Christopher Hitchens’ column in Slate describes North Korea in the typical Hitchens fashion: a dose of humor, erudite writing, high-brow cultural references, but in the typical pundit tradition has no real insights and at least two extraordinarily glaring mis-observations.

He claims that he “tries to avoid cliché” and yet still tells us that “North Korea is rather worse than Orwell’s dystopia.” Is there anything more cliché than comparisons with 1984? I would be a fool to disagree with his assertion here, but it is one that is horrifyingly obvious to anyone who has read even a single article about the situation in contemporary North Korea, and one which takes absolutely no imagination to make.

He also mentions that he has even been to North Korea, although his claim that “North Korea is almost as hard to visit as it is to leave” is quite false. While it is rather difficult for Americans to get tourist visas for the DPRK, urban-dwelling Chinese can enter quite easily, albeit restricted to certain tourist friendly zones. Actually it is quite easy for civilians (with the possible exception of US citizens) to book a North Korea tour through agencies such as Koryo Tours, based out of Beijing. This one company, and there are others, has one special tour listed per month, and advertises that they can arrange special ones for groups. The only caveat is that the government apparently bans journalists. Their website tells us:

On meeting with us at Koryo Tours’ office in Beijing we will require you to sign a form stating that you are not a journalist and that you will not publish anything about your trip. We are sorry to have to insist upon this but at the present time Journalists are not permitted to enter the DPRK, if you are a journalist and are interested in travelling to the DPRK then please let us know and we will be sure to let you know of any future opportunities.

Just because Christopher Hitchens can’t easily get a visa doesn’t mean that everybody else is so restricted.

But I save the best for last.

I was reduced to eating a dog, and I was a privileged “guest.”

So he’s been to North Korea, good for him. But has he ever been to South Korea? If he had, he would know that dog is not a meat of last resort in Korea, but traditionally eaten as a source of virility and considered a delicacy by many. How is somebody who knows so little about Korean culture writing about the region?

The Flattening of Tom Friedman

Those of you who read the final post on my former site have probably guessed by now that I am not a terribly big fan of New York Times’ columnist, Thomas Friedman.

Originally, I had planned to write up a clever introduction to this review of Friedman’s latest book, The World is Flat. Then, a few sentences into it I realized there is very little worthwhile I could add to what New York Press‘ Matt Taibbi has already written, and I certainly cannot touch his sense of humor.

Knowing that I’ve been bested, I leave you with this small taste of Taibbi’s review, and my suggestion that you read the rest.

I think it was about five months ago that Press editor Alex Zaitchik whispered to me in the office hallway that Thomas Friedman had a new book coming out. All he knew about it was the title, but that was enough; he approached me with the chilled demeanor of a British spy who has just discovered that Hitler was secretly buying up the world’s manganese supply. Who knew what it meant—but one had to assume the worst

“It’s going to be called The Flattening,” he whispered. Then he stood there, eyebrows raised, staring at me, waiting to see the effect of the news when it landed. I said nothing.

It turned out Alex had bad information; the book that ultimately came out would be called The World Is Flat. It didn’t matter. Either version suggested the same horrifying possibility. Thomas Friedman in possession of 500 pages of ruminations on the metaphorical theme of flatness would be a very dangerous thing indeed. It would be like letting a chimpanzee loose in the NORAD control room; even the best-case scenario is an image that could keep you awake well into your 50s…

Category: Ranting