2010年6月18日金曜日
The Amazing Power of Lilies
How do they do it? It is hot, it is wet, it is pouring rain--and still the lily stays clean and fresh and pure. Amazing.
2010年6月3日木曜日
Tale Wagging the Dog
People believe what they want to believe, and the US media apparently wants to believe that Japanese public support for the Hatoyama government plummetted because Mr. Hatoyama rejected US domination of Japanese foreign affairs policies.
How about reading the Japanese newspapers? How about talking to real people who live in Japan?
What Japanese people are rejecting is fiscal irresponsibility and a leader who backs down on public promises. You cannot run a country without treating the people's money with respect and still expect them to support you. You cannot do with promises what Lucy does with Charlie Brown's football: make people believe what you say you will do, then do the opposite.
It is very sad that a country that cannot go even ten years without engaging in multiple wars thinks it is in charge of a country that engages in peace for centuries at a time and is still in mourning for its last military adventure.
How about reading the Japanese newspapers? How about talking to real people who live in Japan?
What Japanese people are rejecting is fiscal irresponsibility and a leader who backs down on public promises. You cannot run a country without treating the people's money with respect and still expect them to support you. You cannot do with promises what Lucy does with Charlie Brown's football: make people believe what you say you will do, then do the opposite.
It is very sad that a country that cannot go even ten years without engaging in multiple wars thinks it is in charge of a country that engages in peace for centuries at a time and is still in mourning for its last military adventure.
2010年5月7日金曜日
Silence is Golden
Some things are so quiet everything else seems loud by comparison.
The crunch of the grass underfoot...
The sound of a bird singing in the distance...
Everyone says wind powered electric generators are noisy. But this one was so quiet, if I closed my eyes I wouldn't have known it was there. Could it be that people who say wind-powered electricity generation is noisy don't know where to shop for windmills?
This one was quieter than footsteps on the lawn. What's more, it supplies all the electricity the resort complex that built it can use, and the fees from selling the leftover electricity will pay for the windmill by its 15th birthday.
The crunch of the grass underfoot...
The sound of a bird singing in the distance...
Everyone says wind powered electric generators are noisy. But this one was so quiet, if I closed my eyes I wouldn't have known it was there. Could it be that people who say wind-powered electricity generation is noisy don't know where to shop for windmills?
This one was quieter than footsteps on the lawn. What's more, it supplies all the electricity the resort complex that built it can use, and the fees from selling the leftover electricity will pay for the windmill by its 15th birthday.
2010年4月26日月曜日
How Unanimous is Unanimous?
Very unanimous!
This is what happened in the weekend rally against the US bases in Okinawa:
"All of the major political parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party, saw themselves being represented for the first time at an antibase rally in Okinawa."
This is what happened in the weekend rally against the US bases in Okinawa:
"All of the major political parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party, saw themselves being represented for the first time at an antibase rally in Okinawa."
2010年4月20日火曜日
No Rainbows Here
When something is a good thing, everyone wants it, right? Okinawa doesn't want it, Guam doesn't want it, and now Tokunoshima says it doesn't want it, either. The "it" is a US military installation.
Over the weekend, 15,000 people--out of a total population of 25,000--protested the plan to spoil a beautiful environment by paving it over, polluting the sea, and bringing in noisy helicopters and military personnel who have proven their contempt for their host culture in Japan over and over again through off duty crimes ranging from rape, robbery, drunken driving that includes fatal hit and run accidents, to murder. This is not to say all the personnel are evil, but even one murderer is one too many to invite into your neighborhood.
If having this US military base were a good thing, Guam--a US protectorate--would want it. But they, too, have said no. As one US legislator put it in a very colorful metaphor, adding so many strangers to a small island like Guam might "unbalance it and tip it over".
Okinawa island agrees. So does Tokunoshima island. Your neighborhood would probably reject the proposal, too.
Isn't it time to rethink the very concept of overseas military installations?
Over the weekend, 15,000 people--out of a total population of 25,000--protested the plan to spoil a beautiful environment by paving it over, polluting the sea, and bringing in noisy helicopters and military personnel who have proven their contempt for their host culture in Japan over and over again through off duty crimes ranging from rape, robbery, drunken driving that includes fatal hit and run accidents, to murder. This is not to say all the personnel are evil, but even one murderer is one too many to invite into your neighborhood.
If having this US military base were a good thing, Guam--a US protectorate--would want it. But they, too, have said no. As one US legislator put it in a very colorful metaphor, adding so many strangers to a small island like Guam might "unbalance it and tip it over".
Okinawa island agrees. So does Tokunoshima island. Your neighborhood would probably reject the proposal, too.
Isn't it time to rethink the very concept of overseas military installations?
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