Hatoyama: move Futenma to Guam?

Despite heavy U.S. pressure, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama appears to have given up on resolving the controversial relocation of a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa before year's end and is now floating Guam as an option.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091205a2.html

Comment: Moving this portion of the Marine Air Wing to Guam, though in my opinion as a long term future solution, is ultimately the right move. However, in the short term, this would essentially mean moving all of the Marines currently in Okinawa to Guam and the Northern Marianas too. The Marine Corps mission means having helicopters near the troops. Guam is 2000 Km away and thus out of range for continuing training as well as, should the worst possible scenario take place, providing air support in actual combat.

This would mean the closure of many U.S. bases on Okinawa which, in the immediate, would please only the anti-U.S. fanatics. However, in their myopic shortsightedness, they do not see the harm this will cause the Okinawan people economically. In short, though idyllic, it will do far more harm than good for the people of Okinawa!

If the Marine bases on Okinawa were to suddenly close, thousands of Okinawan’s would lose their livelihoods. In addition to the rent monies that land owners receive, thousands of local people depend on the bases for their jobs. Secondarily to this are all of the local businesses whose main source of income is the U.S. service personnel and their families. Not only would many lose their jobs, many would be forced into bankruptcy. This is a recipe for disaster.

 

Okada visits; presses for Kadena-Futenma solution

Japan Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada spent two days visiting Okinawa, studying plans for building a new Marine airfield to replace the controversial Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in downtown Ginowan City.

http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=9931

One has to remember that Mr. Okada was once the former head of the DPJ until his party lost in a landside to former Prime Minister Koizumi’s Liberal Demagogue-Rat Party (LDP) a few years back. Back then, some attributed the landslide loss to Mr. Okada’s tunnel vision, a trait that he seems to still posses to this day.

Mr. Okada’s plan is a band-aid solution that the locals rightly see as giving them short shrift on the deal, something they’re used to getting from the former ruling party, the (LDP). As such, it’s likely that such a move could result in big wins for opposition parties in the next go round of elections. Unfortunately for all concerned, that could end up being the communists.

The general Okinawan position on the issue is sort of an, “oh well, it’s been real, it’s even been fun at times, and except for a handful of nimrods, we really don’t hate you but, it’s come time for all you American’s to pack up their toys and go home.” When it comes to the situation on Okinawa, one can liken the Americans to the bad party guest who’s normally fun to be around when they’re sober but, unfortunately gets too drunk and then refuses to leave even after everyone else has left and gone home. That’s sort of what Okinawan’s are like when they party which may in a small way explain why they’ve tolerated the American military presence here for as long as they have.

The hard line Okinawan position, represented by a growing minority of Okinawans, a majority if you are foolish enough to believe what you see and hear from the mainstream media, is for ALL of the AMERICANS here TO pack up their toys and LEAVE no later than YESTERDAY! This is just as, if not more, unrealistic as Mr. Okada’s plan. Similarly, the American plan of keeping so many bases in Okinawa in perpetuity is likewise unrealistic, maybe even immoral!

With all of the sides dug in deep and digging themselves in deeper, a much needed compromise is becoming more in doubt. For that to happen, all of the sides will have to give up something if we are to reach an agreement that is equitable. The U.S. must consider a more serious drawdown of forces, as well as a more significant consolidation of the bases in Okinawa. But this is a long term project that will take decades to accomplish. That is where the Okinawan’s must be willing to compromise.

Lastly, If America does agree, Japan as a sovereign nation must step up its own self defense. They already have a capable Navy and more must be done by Tokyo to wean them off of reliance on the U.S. for this all important national responsibility. That does not mean that the alliance will go away, nor does it mean that all of the bases on Okinawa will go away. Quite simply it means that Tokyo will have to do a better job of taking care of its own and stop playing both sides (Americans vs. Okinawans) against each other while they try to remain unscathed and above the fray. That position didn’t help the LDP in the last election and it won’t help the DPJ keep the helm either.

As far as filling in the bay to build the runways at Camp Schwab, in my opinion, that’s not such a good idea. In the interim, the handful of fixed wing assets still left at Futenma (A few C130 refueling tankers) could be moved to Kadena but, a sizeable heliport on the peninsula at Camp Schwab large enough to facilitate all of the rotary assets would allow for the Marines to continue their mission.

What is needed here is a long term plan for Japan to step up to its responsibilities to its people and as that happens, a withdrawal of most American forces to its own territories in Hawaii, Guam and the Mariana’s leaving only a small footprint in Japan. To make that happen, the political rhetoric has to tone down and the warring factions need to listen to, instead of shouting past each other.

 

Hatoyama, key ministers split on Futenma

Japan’s defense and foreign ministers seemingly are in agreement that Futenma Marine Corps Air Station—or its replacement to the north—should remain on Okinawa, while the Prime Minister continues to signal there’s no rush on deciding what to do about the controversial air station.

http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=9897

Comment: With a mayoral election looming in Nago City, where the replacement field is proposed to be built, they’re now resorting to making it look as though Governor Nakaima is waffling on the issue. It’s a political maneuver to make him look weak and nothing could be further from the truth! I agree with Mr. Okada that certain fixed wing operations could be shifted to Kadena and a smaller facility could be built to facilitate helicopter operations at Camp Schwab. Even then, this would be a short term solution and not the one size fits all that he apparently envisions.

I seriously doubt that the citizens who live in and around Kadena Air base could ever be convinced to go along with this plan. Short term in this situation would likely mean several decades! Eventually a larger, more significant, portion of U.S. military forces could be moved out of Okinawa to Guam, the Northern Marianas and even to Iwo Jima. The latter was recently thrown in as a last minute proposal. But even if such a grand long term plan were to be implemented, don’t think that all U.S. military operations will be moved completely out of Okinawa.

For the life of me, I can’t ever see Kadena Air Base closed, at least not in my lifetime, nor can I foresee training facilities like Camp’s Hansen and Schwab closed either. In regards to the latter, they would make excellent joint training facilities for U.S. and Japanese forces as well as a place to preposition material for contingency operations in the Far East theatre. As such, I can’t ever see them being closed down either.

 

Okada claims air base merger plan was his idea

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Thursday that the plan to integrate the functions of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station with U.S. Kadena Air Base was his idea.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20091030TDY01301.htm

Comment: And AlGore invented the internet! I could just have easily said that he stole my idea. I’ve written on this very subject extensively in previous posts. But for me to do so would be a lie, just as it is for Mr. Okada. I don’t know who it was who proposed this idea first but it happened many years ago. Both the U.S. Air Force and the people of Kadena town answered with an emphatic NO! Don’t expect any changes just because of Mr. Okada’s overinflated ego makes him think that because the “good-guys” like him are now in charge that he can win them over on the strength of his personality. What vanity!

Kadena plan a no-go: U.S.

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The United States said Thursday it can't support the idea of transferring U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa to nearby U.S. Kadena Air Base due to operational difficulties.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20091031a3.html

Comment: The real reason is the Air Force doesn’t like it is because the Marine Corps will steal their girlfriends away from them! Though not ideal, the move could work as a temporary solution till either the Nago replacement facility is built or a suitable replacement facility is found outside of Okinawa. The Marines can’t perform their mission on Okinawa without helicopter capabilities in Okinawa. Guess that means they’re either moving the air base to Nago or the Marines are leaving Okinawa. Who wants to take a bet on which way that will go?

How’s that “Hope and Change” working for you Okinawa? A lot of people here thought that an Obama presidency meant the U.S. military was soon to leave Okinawa altogether. Guess again! Mr. Obama railed against the Bush Administration for a host of different reasons, but once in power, they decided to stick with many of the very policies they so vehemently opposed. More than likely, in addition to all of this talk being just that, talk! This whole thing is just about making noise to appease the locals. My bet is after all the “smoke and mirrors,” a synonym for “Hope and Change” clears, the replacement facility will be built in Nago as planned!

Japan wants a SOFA change; right to keep criminal suspects

Japan and the United States may be gearing up for another bruising battle involving changes to the Status of Forces Agreement, as the new Prime Minister thinks his government should have the right to arbitrarily demand U.S. military personnel suspected of committing crimes in local communities be handed over to Japanese police.

http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=9891

Comment: The argument can be made that this certainly would go a long way in reducing the number of crimes committed by U.S. personnel stationed in Japan. Being non-SOFA myself and as such not afforded its extraterritorial protection, all I can say is abide by the law of the land that you’re in and more than likely you’ll have no trouble what-so-ever. That is especially true in a country like Japan that adheres to the rule of law. Lately it would seem that they adhere to it more than the U.S. does.

Sure there are concerns over questioning methods and protecting the rights of the accused. But that just strengthens my point! Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time. If more of these individuals who presently think that the SOFA agreement is a get-out-of-jail-free card had the fear of incarceration and jail time placed in the back of their heads that might deter some of the crime that takes place. Go ahead and put in a few safeguards for the rights of the accused, then turn the criminals over to the Japanese authorities expeditiously and watch the crime rate drop!

Quote of the Day:

“If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”—Sir Winston Churchill

 

Leveling Limbaugh

The NFL punts to left-wing political intimidation.

The National Football League, in which each Sunday men weighing 365 pounds slam headlong into men weighing 245 pounds, has decided it can't handle Rush Limbaugh, talk-show host, age 58. C'mon guys, show some guts.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704322004574475681181683914.html

Limbaugh Targeted By Obama Official

The plot thickens on the media’s character-lynching of Rush Limbaugh. Of the four stories run on ESPN.com about Limbaugh’s bid for the Rams (October 6, October 12, October 15, and another October 15) none of them mention that NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith served as counsel to Attorney General Eric Holder and was a member of Barack Obama’s transition team.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/10/limbaugh_targeted_by_obama_off.html

Comment: Regardless of what you may think of Mr. Limbaugh, the last paragraph in the second story above is very telling and the story within a story. Particularly this one line: “never in American history has someone had so much power to pummel his political opponents as President Obama.” This is the very essence of Fascism; the goal is not leveling the playing field but clearing the opposition from it!

As long as they aren’t a convicted criminal, it certainly shouldn’t matter to anyone who wants to buy a sports franchise. The key thing shouldn’t be who they are but whether they have the financial means and are committed to make the club a success. What you don’t want happening to your favorite sports franchise is to have them bought one day by an individual or group and sold the next like a stock or commodity.

Another untold story behind the story is that one of the chief complainants in this little episode is none other than Mr. DeMaurice Smith whose involvement is also documented in the story above. As the NFL Players Association Executive Director, he will be instrumental in negotiating the next player’s contract with the Owner’s Association. Not having an influential personality with an anti-union stance like Mr. Limbaugh in the way should make negotiations a little easier, don’t you think?!

The NFL already has some colorful owners, Dallas and Oakland comes readily to mind. The list of celebu-tards who own a piece of the Miami franchise grows almost daily but they haven’t been put to such scrutiny. In fact, their participation is celebrated. What is in my opinion damning for the NFL and more importantly for the media in this instance is the case made against Mr. Limbaugh where the scrutiny placed upon him is based on hearsay and innuendo. The media didn’t do their duty to check the facts.

 

Note: This is a news and opinion blog on the happenings in Okinawa Japan and the Far East. The opinions expressed here are my own. I don’t comment on every article linked here but, ask that for the sake of context please read the articles, in there entirety, first.

Okinawa in the News:

Okada acknowledges U.S. ties, but cites need for talks

TOKYO — Japan’s new foreign minister on Wednesday again stressed the need for renewed talks about a long-term plan to realign troops on Okinawa.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65252

Urasoe City anxious over Camp Kinser’s 2014 return

Camp Kinser’s a quiet, idyllic logistics base in Urasoe City, and it’s on the list of six bases the U.S. military would like to return to land owners in 2014.

http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=9840

Senior citizens getting more adept at stealing

The number of senior citizens arrested and prosecuted for stealing is up more than 10% over a year ago.

http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=9846

Comment: I would think given the economic downturn that the number of seniors doing this because they’re hungry is higher than the 17% number given. I would venture to say that a good portion of the 70% when asked were just too proud to say they were starving! Unfortunately this is an indication of shifting values in Okinawa and not for the better. This is a culture that has always prided itself on taking care of the elderly.

Hatoyama Cabinet confirms U.S. base relocation accord must be reviewed

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's coalition government said Friday it will stick to its initial pledge to review plans to relocate U.S. forces within Okinawa, backtracking on earlier comments.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20091010a5.html

Comment: It’s looking more and more like Japan got “Hope and Change,” the sequel! Just like all of Obama’s statements have an expiration date, so too it would seem does any statement coming from the Hatoyama cabinet.

DPJ's budget-waste watchdog: ¥3 trillion in fat just a start

The Democratic Party of Japan will pare wherever possible wasteful government spending and also attempt to enhance the quality of the annual budget, state minister Yoshito Sengoku said Friday in an interview.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20091010a2.html

Comment: This is one of the areas in which I agree with the DPJ. There is far too much government waste. I further agree with the policy to end “amakudari.” But it’s probably pretty safe for me to say that every politician and party at every election since the dawn of democracy has vowed to end such practices. When parties in charge change, as we saw in the last election, history has shown us that what we usually end up with is a new fox running the hen house.

The DPJ is also using words like “transparency” to describe how they will govern. My sincere hope is they actually practice it. Transparency is precisely what the new American administration promised but they surely haven’t delivered on it. Nor, for that matter, have they delivered on any of the other promises they made. A recent Saturday Night Live skit addressed this rather appropriately. Is this what we have to look forward to here in Japan?

http://mashable.com/2009/10/06/snl-obama-accomplishments/

If Japan is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 as targeted by the government, it would have to build one nuclear power plant every year, International Energy Agency Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said Friday.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20091010a6.html

Comment: This is a good example of the law of unintended consequences in action. People seem to forget that all actions/decisions have consequences. Going green means going nuclear if you want to maintain your present level of comfort and lifestyle. If you forget all about the problem of what to do with nuclear waste, it’s the cleanest and most reliable source of energy anywhere. If that gives you the willies, there is always option “B” which is akin to living in third world squalor.

This whole “going green” and Japan “nuking up” issue reminded me of a man off the street interview I saw recently where some housewife up in mainland Japan said she thought that we should all switch to all electric cars because they don’t pollute! That’s the problem with the whole “Going Green” scam. It’s the old shell game. You know the one where the huckster has three shells and you have to guess which one has the pea under it. By the time most people figure out there is no pea under any of them, it’s too late.

The problem with “all electric” or even hybrid cars for that matter that people can’t see is they do pollute and in some cases, much more! First of all, the electricity from which they derive their power has to be generated at a power plant. That means coal, gas, or nuclear fuel is burned to make the electricity that is put into the car batteries. That means that electric cars are not “carbon neutral!” The second thing is the toxic chemicals that are in those car batteries are not easily disposed of after they are fully spent and can no longer maintain a proper charge.

In addition to the heavy metals and toxic materials in those batteries, let’s not forget all those lightweight composite and synthetic materials that are used to make the car lighter and more efficient. Don’t forget all of that electronic stuff like your car navigator and the onboard computers. That is made with heavy metals too. These materials are extremely difficult to dispose of and in many cases, they are likewise extremely toxic. So you just can’t bury them in the ground or burn them. Leaving them in a junkyard could result in those metals leaching into the ground and poisoning the groundwater.  

Lastly, even with an “all electric” car, you just can’t get away from petroleum products. There are plastics used throughout the vehicle for a wide variety of different parts and just in case you didn’t know, plastics are made from petroleum. You’ll also need petroleum products for the different fluids to lubricate the moving parts of your “all electric” car. Then there is the synthetic materials that make your tires last longer and don’t forget that asphalt to pave the roads and your driveway are all made from petroleum derivatives.

Thank you “Greenies,” in addition to all of the other stuff that we already had, your zealous adherence to your faith in Gaia has given us a host of new and potentially more toxic poisons to worry about! Who’s going to save us from them?

The Democratic Party of Japan has finally revamped its internal leadership framework after arduous negotiations following its resounding victory in the Aug. 30 House of Representatives election.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20091010TDY03105.htm

Comment: I wonder what Mr. Hatoyama will think when he finds out that he’s really not running the show? I find it funny that in eight years of George W. Bush, the press made fun about what a dolt he was and how Vice President Cheney was the power behind the throne. Here we actually see it happening in Japan (and most likely in the U.S. too) and nary a peep out of the press about it. At least nothing in a negative sense!

Japan, China, S Korea discuss North Korea's nukes

Leaders of China, Japan and South Korea began talks Saturday in Beijing amid signs that pressure on North Korea to rejoin nuclear disarmament negotiations may be yielding results.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/japan-china-s-korea-discuss-north-korea-nukes

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- The leaders of South Korea and Japan stood united Friday in saying North Korea should not be offered aid until the communist regime takes concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20091009p2g00m0dm003000c.html

Scientist: Carbon Dioxide Doesn't Cause Global Warming

A noted geologist who coauthored the New York Times bestseller Sugar Busters has turned his attention to convincing Congress that carbon dioxide emissions are good for the Earth and don't cause global warming.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/10/07/scientist-carbon-dioxide-doesnt-cause-global-warming.html

Comment: Well Duh!

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) Police have turned a case over to prosecutors on an Ehime Prefecture man who allegedly threatened to shoot Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa for setting Japan's first local ordinance that bans smoking inside public facilities.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20091012b4.html

Comment: The above story is just a sign that things are getting stoopid on this side of the big pond too! The anti-Smoking Nazi’s have gone global and good intentioned though some of them may be, they are reaching farther and intruding more and more into people’s private lives. What should it matter to them if someone wants to smoke or not? In reality the only one being hurt is the smoker and it’s their choice as well as their responsibility for what happens to them as a result of their behavior.

I will readily admit that threatening bodily harm to anyone, regardless of whether that person is a public official or not, is something that the authorities should take seriously. Clearly the manner in which this man expressed his displeasure was over the line. Even if he isn’t prosecuted, this is Japan and he’ll likely lose his present job as well as his ability to find a new one as a result of this. There is an old Buddhist proverb that says “the nail that sticks up will be hammered down!”

Unfortunately that principle is not always practiced in equal measure across the board. When someone on the left makes idle threats against someone from the right side of the political isle, like making a movie about the assassination of a sitting President of the United States or wishing that the wife of a Supreme Court Justice would deliberately feed high fat food to give them a heart attack, this is too often excused by the press as a bad joke regardless if the person who said it was joking or not. But when the tables are turned, they don’t seem to be able to laugh quite so hard.

“Usually this prize is given to someone after a lifetime of achievement or at least after having some tangible achievements to their name. To give some idea, Theodore Roosevelt won it for having negotiated the end to the Russo-Japanese War. I have no doubt that there are worthy individuals and organizations who have toiled for much longer and achieved much more than Obama has been able to do in the past nine months. They have rewarded words over deeds and this is a bad precedent to set.”

~~~~~ Mr. Rick Blaine – Commenting to a blog thread in our Joke of the Week below.

“DingleBarry was given the Nobel prize for his excellence in handling the Skip Gates affair. Getting the professor and the cop together for a beer was pure genius and defused a potentially explosive situation. The prize money can be used to buy more beer to settle disputes in the future. All he is saying…… is give peace a chance.”

~~~~~ Mitch - Whose comment is immediately below Mr. Blaine’s in the afore mentioned thread.

“Shaken up the lines of cleavage”?? And this is worth the Nobel Prize? Did Regan and Thatcher get it for winning the cold war and liberating most of Eastern Europe??”

“Don’t make me laugh. I read that the closing date for nominations was 1 Feb – so go figure what Obama achieved in 11 days.”

~~~~~ Flightpath – Further down the thread.

“Never in the course of human events has one man done so little to have been rewarded so much!”

~~~~~ Me!

As usual, the real  joke of the week isn’t a joke but as always, the joke is on us!

Obama's won the Nobel Peace – WTF?!

Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace prize and I’m still reeling at the shock. Most of us are, I should think.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100013074/obamas-won-the-nobel-peace-wtf/

There was a time when the Nobel Peace Prize meant something. It went to men and women who earned their stature with lives of courage such as Andrei Sakharov who openly opposed the oppression of the former Soviet Union and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who gave his life for the cause of equality in which he believed.

Giving the prize to Barack Hussein Obama has rendered it a joke.

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/15598

Obama wins the Heisman Trophy after watching a college football game!

Japan entered a new political era last week after Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) head Yukio Hatoyama took over as prime minister. The long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is severely and possibly permanently crippled, and facing a leadership crisis.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20090924a3.html

Commentary: Excellent editorial above that takes an honest look at the challenges facing the new Hatoyama government. Mr. Morrison is absolutely correct in that the DPJ is a badly fractured party that was swept in to power by “Hope and Change,” the sequel! Already factions within the party, bolstered by the historic shift in power are flexing their muscles. The danger for them is if they overreach, they could possibly rip themselves apart and give the LDP a chance at being reborn. Look at the uproar with “Hope and Change” in the U.S.

Here on Okinawa the anti-base rhetoric is well on its way toward reaching fever pitch and will probably only grow stronger in the coming months. Within days of the election, victorious members of the DPJ, feeling their oats, practically stormed into the governor’s office and all but demanded that he sign on with them and call for the immediate halt of all U.S. base construction no later than yesterday, sooner if possible.

By that I’m not saying the anti-base movement doesn’t have legitimate beef’s against the U.S. military presence on Okinawa. They do. The problem with them is their approach which is visceral and acerbic. That is a problem with the political left worldwide. They think with their hearts and not their heads. Most are good intentioned people but we all know that the road to hell is paved with the afore mentioned intentions.

Furthermore, unlike the left whose emotionally based theology tells them that they need to destroy the political right and abolish them from the face of the earth, those on the right do not wish to destroy them. My personal thoughts are that there is a place for them in political discourse. Unfortunately that place is not in positions of leadership.

Why do I say that? Because presently their leadership across the globe is imperiling life as we know it. Discourse between the factions is no longer balanced. In the west, in the press has abandoned their constitutional duties and taken sides. As a result, society is step by step becoming less free and open. As of late, that transition has been happening at breakneck speed.

We haven’t quite reached that point in Japan but already signs are showing of a shift in that direction. The press on Okinawa is decidedly one sided when it comes to reporting on the U.S. military in Japan and revelations of Japan’s First Lady being an outright loon didn’t see the light of day until after the election.

My personal thoughts are that political discourse in the houses of government, no matter the particular topic, needs long in debate and to be slow to action. This is how we best assure the greatest good for the most people, protect the rights of the minority and prevent or at least minimize mistakes that cannot be easily undone. More importantly the press must recommit itself to fair and balanced reporting of the day’s events.

What has been happening in the U.S. regarding the speed of legislation is indeed frightening. The checks and balances installed by the founding fathers are gone as a result of the current one party dominance which is further aided by a compliant media. One great danger in democratic societies is single party dominance by those who do not have the rights of the minority in mind and the silencing of dissent. When this happens, Fascism is surely waiting in the wings for its cue to assert itself.

My sincere hope is that this doesn’t take place in Japan but I’m not silly enough to hold my breath on the matter. While they are not quite to where the U.S. and Europe are now, they are moving in that direction and they also have a history of making quantum shifts in ideology very quickly. Just remember that they made the shift from feudalism to a constitutional monarchy to fascism to democracy all within the last 150 years.

 

Note: This is a news and opinion blog on the happenings in Okinawa Japan and the Far East. The opinions expressed here are my own. I don’t comment on every article linked here but, ask that for the sake of context please read the articles, in there entirety, first.

Okinawa in the News:

U.S., DPJ firm in Futenma disagreement

U.S. State and Defense Department representatives are quietly but firmly reiterating that plans for a Futenma relocation will continue as scheduled, even as Democratic Party of Japan political leaders promise to shake things up.

http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=9767

Noise data tests conducted near Marines’ Camp Schwab

American Marine Corps helicopters conducted special flight surveys over Camp Schwab in northern Okinawa yesterday as part of a project requested by Okinawa’s governor.

http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=9769

Okinawa to be model for DPJ changes

Okinawa has been chosen by the Democratic Party of Japan as the prefecture model for implementing changes to its financial and other systems plans in the new government.

http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=9768

Comment: I actually think that this proposal by the DPJ is one that I could actually support. For one, I believe that the local government has a better feel for where money needs to be spent than does the national government. I don’t favor bloated, ineffectual, unresponsive centrally controlled government anymore than I support centrally controlled economies and the malaise they generate. The problem will be where the money was originally supposed to be spent and how vs. who has their hands on it and what they will eventually do with it.

The governor is correct in that Okinawa is a special place as a result of the many military bases here. Projects and money that was/is earmarked for projects concerning the defense of the nation should be controlled by the national government. Given the antimilitary bent of many of the local politicians who are in positions where they might find that they might suddenly have access to funds that were originally supposed to go to national government related projects, there is the opportunity for monkey business with the people’s money.

Japan in the News:

Hatoyama firm: MSDF tour to end

Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama, who is expected to be voted in as prime minister next week, indicated Thursday he remains firm on his plan to end the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, despite Washington's calls for its continuation.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090911a2.html

Comment: This of course will not set well with the U.S. but, the current U.S. administration, other than saying "screw you" to the Okinawan's isn’t doing much to help the situation either.

China, Taiwan, Korea in the News:

China Moves to Retaliate Against U.S. Tire Tariff

China unexpectedly increased pressure Sunday on the United States in a widening trade dispute, taking the first steps toward imposing tariffs on American exports of automotive products and chicken meat in retaliation for President Obama’s decision late Friday to levy tariffs on tires from China.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/business/global/14trade.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Comment: Don’t do it! This is the first step toward repeating the mistakes of the Smoot Hawley Act of the 1930’s that deepened the Great Depression. China probably thinks that they can withstand a protectionist trade war and if they pulled the “nuclear option” of forcing the U.S. to make good on their markers, it could be the beginning of the end for civilization as we know it. I don’t know who said this but they were right when they did; “borders where goods do not pass, armies will!”

Liberal Fascism in the News:

This category is dedicated to the coverage of a host of issues that demonstrate the long armed reach of intrusive “fascist” government policies from around the globe or anything else that limits individual liberty and freedom.

Conservative Grassroots Protest Obamacare, High Taxes, and Big Government

The numbers of conservative protesters at the March on D.C. on Saturday, September 12 wasn't entirely clear. But if numbers for the inauguration were around 2 million, eyeball estimates for the crowd would have been about half that.

http://townhall.com/columnists/JillianBandes/2009/09/12/conservative_grassroots_protest_obamacare,_high_taxes,_and_big_government?page=full&comments=true

Comment: I was surprised to find that this event made the Japan morning TV news. I was in the next room checking email and enjoying my morning coffee before heading off to work so I didn’t hear what the Japanese MSM commentary regarding the event entailed. Unlike the story attached above, it probably branded the participants of the event as rouges and scalawags, which has been the American MSM template. But it’s important to note that they, the Japanese media, didn’t ignore it. That in itself is a sign that hope and change is loosing its flavor on this side of the pond too. Are Japanese voters seeing what is happening in America and as a result, getting a dose of buyer’s remorse?

It will be interesting to see what Japan’s new leadership does as a result of this. Are they seeing that “Hope and Change” isn’t all its cracked up to be, and will as a result actually decide to follow through with their economic policies as promised vice just the lip service they likely gave it during the campaign? For Japan’s sake, and for their political future, they had better be able to read the tea leaves here. If they were just following the American Demagogue Rat Party model of promise everything and deliver nothing, they could be in for a big surprise. Are protests like this in Japan’s not too distant future? It’s going to be fun to watch.

Svensmark: “global warming stopped and a cooling is beginning” – “enjoy global warming while it lasts”

Indeed, global warming stopped and a cooling is beginning. No climate model has predicted a cooling of the Earth, on the contrary. This means that projections of future climate is unpredictable, writes Henrik Svensmark.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/09/10/svensmark-global-warming-stopped-and-a-cooling-is-beginning-enjoy-global-warming-while-it-lasts/

Quote of the Week:

"My favorite poem is the one
that starts 'Thirty days hath
September' because it actually
tells you something."
~~~~Groucho Marx

Joke of the Week:

Clunkers...

-I guess I must be on the wrong page. A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.
-A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.
-So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.
-They claim 700,000 vehicles were traded in so that's 224 million gallons a year.
-That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil or about ¼ of one day's consumption.
-At $75/bbl., 5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars.
-So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $350 million.
-How good a deal was that???

Once again, the joke is on all of us! 2010 is just around the corner; this time around let’s throw all the bums out!!!!

Bonus Joke:

A man is sitting in a bar in Arizona and far from home when Barack Obama comes on TV. The man looks at the TV and says, "Obama is a horse's behind."  Out of nowhere, a local jumps up and punches him in the face, knocking the guy off his bar stool, then stomps out.

He gets back up, rubbing his cheek and orders another beer.  Shortly after, Michelle Obama appears on the TV.  He looks at the TV and says, "She’s a horse's behind too!" Out of nowhere, another local punches him in the other side of the face, knocking him off his bar stool again.

He gets back up and looks at the bartender, "I take it this is Obama country?" "Nope." replies the bartender. This is "horse country."

Okinawa in the News:

When an alliance is not an alliance, a change of government throws up interesting possibilities
There has been considerable handwringing in the western press, especially among Americans, over the future of the U.S.-Japan military alliance under the new regime. Will Japan's new masters seek to undermine the security of Asian and American interests by steering a more independent course?

http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2041&Itemid=176

Comment: I found the above article to be honest and refreshing. Japan has some hard thinking to do as to how they will make the, so called, alliance work. Since 70+% of the U.S. military stationed in Japan are located on Okinawa, it’s going to make for some interesting reading over the next few months as the DPJ has its work cut out for it as now they actually have to implement policy instead of merely opposing it!

Anyone who follows this blog knows that I’ve never been a fan of the proposed new air facility at Camp Schwab to replace the one at Futenma. I would be in favor of something smaller in scale such as a large heliport with support facilities and fixed wing activities transferred to the massive U.S. Air Force base at Kadena. I’d also like to see some long term plans for a continual reduction of forces and facilities here on Okinawa.

What I am totally against is what the opposition wants. I started to say “what the opposition is planning” instead of “wants” but that would imply that they actually thought about how those actions would actually affect the local population. They, the opposition is mobilized and wired as a result of the recent change of events and will settle for nothing less than the complete withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Okinawa yesterday, sooner if they can get it.

Unfortunately what these people are proposing is nothing short of economic suicide. The local economy is teetering now and could not handle the shock of what so big and sudden a move like that would do. Though the current proposal is not ideal, it certainly was a move in the right direction. What is needed is a strategic plan for the removal of or a significant reduction of U.S. forces here over a period of years if not decades. The local economy needs time to adjust to the changes vice shock treatment as proposed by the opposition.

On the national level, Japan is now a mature nation state. If they want respect from other nations as well as from their friends, they must start to stand on their own and own up to their global responsibilities. By that I do not mean they have to rewrite their constitution in favor of one that lets them use their military aggressively. They could take the Swiss approach of arming themselves to the teeth and work through diplomacy while remaining relatively neutral in matters of conflict.

This will be a hard line to walk. The fun part will now be watching the DPJ try to walk it instead of always criticizing the opposition as they had always done in the past. Monday morning quarterbacking is easy, leadership is hard! Now we’ll see if they’re really up to it.

Japan in the News:

DPJ to create spending watchdog

Council will have power to shut down wasteful public projects

Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama plans to set up a powerful watchdog body to keep tabs on wasteful public works spending when he forms his government next week, party sources said Sunday.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090907a1.html

Comment: It would be nice for once to actually see a party and a politician keep this promise. This is the kind of promises we’ve all heard thousands of time before only to find out later that, in reality, it just meant a new fox was guarding the hen house. What is important for the politicians is they must follow through on such promises. What is even more important for the press, if they want to keep the people’s trust, they have to report the facts honestly.

Admittedly, there is still plenty of wasteful government spending to reign in. The DPJ must be reminded that they only got to where they are now by not being in charge and as such being seen as ineffective like the LDP. That is the luxury of being the opposition. They won’t have that luxury any more. They rode in on hope and change but as we can see from across the big pond is that hope and change isn’t selling too well right now.

Although the LDP deserves a lot of blame, one must not forget that Japan appears to be coming out of the economic doldrums rather quickly and relatively unscathed as compared to the U.S. and most of Europe. The LDP does deserve some credit for that, though it seems unlikely they will get it. The DPJ has put forth some good proposals that in previous posts even I admitted could work but, only if they really meant what they said and will actually follow through on them.

Duel of market ideologies past due in Japan's polls

The world has undergone drastic change in the first decade of the 21st century. There appears to be no end to terrorist activities and international disputes in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide attacks on the United States.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20090907ts.html

Comment: How obtuse can you get! I spent two full thirds of this article wondering where in the heck the author was going. It wasn’t till the final paragraphs where I finally ferreted out that the good professor argues for Keynesian economic policies and seems to want to blame the free market for all of the world’s present woes.

While the popular theory is that Keynesian economics brought us out of the “Great Depression” of the 1930’s, new looks back on that era have shown that such economic policies instead only deepened and prolonged the misery. Brits like Tony Blair who only toyed with it rather than hopping in with both feet like his Labor Party predecessors, as well as his successor, and was able to maintain a level of prosperity. But, even he couldn’t avoid the incremental leftward political creep of labor party politics and its eventual effects on the British economy that we see today.

In Japan, former Prime Minister Koizumi and his party and coalition members were elected in a landslide because people believed in Mr. Koizumi as well as his reforms. His reforms were not about making everything fair. Anyone with half a brain knows that no amount of government intrusion can make life fair. Koizumi’s reforms were about freeing the people and business from the long arm of interventionist government so that as many as who wanted to could try their best and hopefully succeed.

In my humble opinion, Mr. Koizumi’s problems were two-fold. First, he didn’t go far enough with his reforms and second, he ran out of time. Let us not forget that when he left office, it wasn’t because he was forced out. History will show that Mr. Koizumi was one of the longest serving Prime Ministers and remained in office for as long as the law allowed him to. To the bitter end, he remained and still remains one of the most popular Japanese politicians in recent history. The truth of the matter is that Koizumi’s policies lost favor not because not because they were flawed but because his successors weren’t up to the task of seeing them through to fruition.

In the U.S. Mr. Obama, in spite of his paper thin resume, got to the highest office of the land largely because of an outgoing lame duck president and a war that were made unpopular by endless Democratic Party demagoguery and the incessant drum beat of negative press. Furthermore, the press failed to do their constitutional duty of honestly telling the general public just who candidate Obama really was. Running against the weakest possible candidate that the opposition could have possibly produced only made his task all the easier.

One must remember that Mr. Obama didn’t fully close out the deal against candidate Hillary and until the super delegates committed. Before that moment, a convention floor fight looked inevitable. Furthermore, don’t forget that Mr. McCain almost caught up to him near the end of the campaign. Had the economy not tanked when it did, we might be arguing about President McCain’s mishandling of the issues instead. Admittedly, had McCain won, we’d probably still be in deep global economic doo-doo but I doubt that we’d be talking about deficits in the trillions of dollars for the foreseeable future and hyper inflation of the currency just around the corner.

For those that want to discuss Keynesian theory vs. Austrian School of economic theory, I welcome the debate. It’s high time we really had a healthy debate about economics as well as the myth of anthropogenic global warming, whether or not universal healthcare is a basic human right and a host of other issues. There is no consensus on or anything even close to a majority supporting any of these issues as the press and the political left would like you to believe! The truth is they (the left) don’t want to debate. They earnestly think they are right and everyone else is wrong so they only want to silence dissent.

If you happen to be one of those who still think that FDR’s Keynesian economic policies lifted us out of the “Great Depression” I welcome you to follow the link provided at the end of this paragraph and then when you’ve digested that, scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page and watch the Late Dr. Milton Freedman simply destroy the feel good socialist premises of “Lefty” talk show host and mainstream media elite wannabe Phil Donohue’s questions. It’s high time for a healthy debate, I say, let it begin! http://www.mackinac.org/archives/1998/sp1998-01.pdf

Japan sticks to greenhouse gas target

Yukio Hatoyama, Japan’s prime minister-elect, vowed on Monday to go ahead with plans for an aggressive cut in greenhouse gas emissions in spite of opposition from business groups.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/97701616-9ba0-11de-b214-00144feabdc0,_i_email=y.html

Comment: For all the good things they, the Democratic Party of Japan, (DPJ) talked about and promised during the campaign, this is one promise that I wish they wouldn’t keep. If enacted and aggressively pursued as they say, I’d bet the house that this will negate any positive gains made through the keeping of all the other positive economic promises. In fact, I’d still look for the Japanese economy to potentially tank as a result of this one promise! If that happens, look for a resurgence of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). I know, it’s a weird name for a conservative party but then again, this is Japan.

China, Taiwan, Korea in the News:

North Korea says in final phase of uranium enrichment

SEOUL, Sept 4, 2009 (AFP) – North Korea said Friday it has entered the final phase of uranium enrichment to make nuclear weapons and is also building more atomic bombs from spent reactor fuel rods.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090903/wl_asia_afp/nkoreanuclearweaponsun_20090903232647

Comment: They see the Obama administration as weak and they’re flexing their muscles. Look for rice shipments to North Korea to increase!

The world's largest economies have economic growth

China's government has turned around its economy far faster than most thought possible, to 7.9% in the second quarter.

http://www.examiner.com/x-20010-NY-Business-Investment-Examiner~y2009m8d29-The-economy-is-improving-quickly-than-expected-in-the-worlds-largest-economies

Comment: conspicuously absent from the list is the U.S.! How’s that “Hope and Change” working for you now! Interesting to note, all of the economies that are experiencing growth are those that until now have been moving rightward across the political spectrum toward more free and open markets. This has been especially true of China who still calls themselves communist but has evolved into a mature Fascist state. Those that are absent have been moving leftward toward command and control centrally planned economic policies. The correlation here is that rightward movement politically produces economic growth and leftward movement stifles it!

It will be interesting to watch both the Australian as well as the Japanese economies. Australia lurched leftward after the 2007 general election but only a more conservative leaning Australian Senate has put the kibosh on any uber-radical changes proposed in parliament. The growth they’ve experienced since then may be residual from its recent and more conservative past. Japan has ousted the conservative leaning “Liberal Democratic Party” (LDP) after more than 50 years in power. Only time will tell if the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) will stick with its centrist campaign promises or go forward with “Hope and Change, the Sequel!”

China alarmed by US money printing

The US Federal Reserve's policy of printing money to buy Treasury debt threatens to set off a serious decline of the dollar and compel China to redesign its foreign reserve policy, according to a top member of the Communist hierarchy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/6146957/China-alarmed-by-US-money-printing.html

Comment: Once again if you want to hear the truth you have to abandon the U.S. Administration’s propaganda machine commonly referred to as the Mainstream Media or (MSM). This report came from the UK Telegraph and reports on this subject are conspicuously absent in the American media. Speaking specifically on economic policy, it’s a crying shame that the west has to look to the Fascist Chinese dictatorship for some common sense.

Liberal Fascism in the News:

Democrats’ despicable duplicity

Democrats insisted on changing the law in Massachusetts to require an election to fill the office of Senator John Kerry, should he be elected president in 2004. 

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/14451

Comment:According to the MSM, it’s only duplicity when the conservatives do it!

News you can’t get in America

If you want news about what is happening back in America but don’t want to put up with the allegedly objective journalism of the left leaning MSM outlets, check out this outlet for a breath of fresh air: http://canadafreepress.com/

Quote of the Week:

What a profound short little paragraph that says it all
 
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what
they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." ~~~~ Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931

Special Bonus:

Perhaps I should preface that question with what is a name in the first place! A name is merely a label we give someone or something. For example, most people know me as Keith, the name given me by my parents. But I’m also known to some as brother and other’s who I’ve served with in the military know me as “Doc” and there are others who know me as “The Chief.”

We also know things by the name we give them. For example, Kool-Aid is a delicious drink served up to kids on a hot summer’s day. Thanks to the Reverend Jim Jones it’s known as a poison. He made up copious amounts of it, laced it with cyanide and coaxed some of his Jonestown followers to partake of it. Those that wouldn’t drink freely, he forced them to drink it. As a result of Reverend Jones, the name Kool-Aid also became the label for a corrupt, rotten or doomed philosophy.

So we know from a historical context that a name is label or identifier that we give to someone or something. We know that someone or something can be known by several names and we know that sometimes meanings of names can be changed and they can be changed for a host of different reasons. Sometimes the course is natural like the progression of a person from son to husband then father, grandfather and so on. In some cases the name change can be manipulated.

This is especially true in the political arena. Take any of the current political dramas unfolding before our very eyes. It just depends on your orientation or point of view whether a person is a freedom fighter or a terrorist. A look at the current global economic crisis and government’s response to it, is it a stimulus package or pork. Other popular terms that are often bandied about in the political arena include words like partisan, non-partisan bipartisan and post-partisan.

We know that in political terms, a partisan is someone who strictly adheres to a political ideology. They hold to it tenaciously and apply it across the board to a host of issues. We use terms like conservative and liberal to label or name the two ideological camps. Bipartisanship takes the term partisan and gives it an interesting twist. The idea behind this label is that there is some sort of middle ground where the two opposing sides can compromise and work together.

In reality, this never happens. What really happens is members who have identified themselves as being of one particular stripe or another don’t really adhere wholeheartedly to the principles of their particular affiliation. For example, in America during the 1980’s there was a thing once known as a conservative democrat. They belonged by affiliation to one particular stripe but their personal ideology, or lack there of, was in conflict with the party affiliation. They forsook their affiliation and voted along with the Reagan Tax cuts and military build up. They became known as the “Reagan Democrats!”

In more recent times, the opposite has happened. Now in the name of bipartisanship it is the right of the political spectrum that has left its roots. These days we have what is known as the Republican in Name Only or (RINO). What they in fact are is non-ideological republicans who for the sake of that magic word “bipartisanship” have caved in to the other side’s way of thinking. In short, the term bipartisanship, which many believe to mean both sides meeting in the middle, in fact really means that one side, or enough members of one stripe forsaking their ideological or party affiliation.

That leaves us with an interesting term that is all the rage these days, post-partisanship. The current American President describes himself as being a post-partisan politician. But just what does he mean by the word? By dissecting the word, what it should mean is the end of partisanship or that the practice of partisanship is over. So post-partisanship does not mean the same thing as being non-partisan. However, that is the impression that most people have when this word is so loosely and carelessly bandied about. But if the new president meant he was going to be non-partisan, he should have just said so from the get-go, shouldn’t he?

So if post-partisanship is not the same thing as being non-partisan but, in fact means the ending of partisanship. That leaves us with an interesting question. Just how do you end partisanship? Because our education system is so lacking, I feel it important that we first review. Partisan means strict adherence to a set of political principles, non-partisan means no adherence to any or all principles and bipartisan means the capitulation of enough of the members of one affiliation to bring a victory to the opposition. Then naturally post-partisanship must mean that the ideological war is over and one side has defeated the other.

But is the war really over just because one side says so? In the minds of many today, it is! This way of thinking, or lack of it, goes back to the free love philosophy of the 1960’s and manifested itself most clearly in the popular “Suppose they gave a war and nobody came” antiwar slogan of the time. Recently we’ve seen this way of thinking resurface in the “debate is over” argument when it comes to the question of manmade global warming. Now we’re seeing it rear its ugly head again in the manifestation of this new term called post-partisanship. In the latter, it merely means that the liberals have claimed victory over the conservatives.

To be sure, they did win the election. But did they do it honestly? In places like the uber-liberal enclaves of San Francisco and Boston, the answer is yes but in the conservative rural areas of the Midwest, south and west, the answer is a resounding no. In the latter, the democrats won by outwardly behaving and sounding more conservative than the supposedly conservative republican candidates they ran against.

But back to the, is the war really over because one side says so. Not hardly! Just ask the Japanese and the Germans following WWII, how did the war really end? Did it miraculously conclude merely because the U.S. and their allies declared victory or did it end because the other side was utterly defeated on the field of battle. Now compare that with the never ending war between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Ask yourself why that war never seems to end? It’s certainly not because the Israelis declared victory and walked off the battlefield. It seems to me we’ve tried that tactic several times and we seem doomed to repeat it again.

When I was in college, many of my professors were quick to warn that a correlation is not the same thing as causation. In statistical terminology, a correlation indicates the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two random variables. This is in contrast with the use of the term in colloquial “everyday” speech, where in it often implies a causal relationship. In short, we often use the term to imply that one thing leads to another.

This is especially true in the media. Everyday we’re bombarded with “alleged” new scientific breakthroughs that either imply or say right out that “A” causes “B.” Over time, many of these claims have been disproved and forgotten. For example, there was a time when eating Oat Bran was thought of as being extremely healthy for you. Later it was found out to be not quite so true. There have been a host of such claims throughout my lifetime.

We could go back even further in history and make such wrongheaded claims. For example, it would be easy to say that since they happened around the same time period, there was a correlation between the plague that ravaged Europe and the reformation of the church. Similarly, plagues ravaged Japan several hundred years previously around the same time as Buddhism was being introduced from China. Hence it would be easy for someone to say that there is a correlation between religion and the plague.

More correctly it could be implied that there is a correlation between trade and the plague. Europe’s plagues were in fact introduced by fleas which were brought in through rats that happened to be aboard trading ships coming from Asia. Japan’s plagues were similarly introduced from China. Does this necessarily mean that trade or religion is bad?

Given the power of today’s media, could you imagine just how different the world might be if they had the influence they do today on the world back then? On the negative side, we might still be experiencing plagues to this day. Perhaps our technology might not have advanced to where it is today and we might also still be largely regulated to the Eastern Hemisphere. We might even have a world where religion is outlawed. Depending on your upbringing and world view, that last one might be either a good or bad thing.

It all very much reminds me of the old Woody Allen comedy “Sleeper.” For those of you who never saw the movie, you didn’t miss that much. However, there is a point in one of the opening scenes where a group of scientists are contemplating thawing Mr. Allen out of his cryogenic state. In the scene they wonder aloud in amazement how people from his time (the 1960-70’s) actually thought that eating chocolate and smoking cigarettes were unhealthy for you. You see according to the movie, in the future these things will actually be seen as being good for you!

With that being said, I think it important for people to remember that science doesn’t always get it right the first time. That’s why I think it important not to run lemming like into the premise of “Global Warming!” Is there a correlation between CO2 and rising temperatures? Yes! Is there a correlation between the beginning of the industrial age and the current rise in CO2? Yes! Have CO2 levels rose and fallen in previous times? That too is a definite yes! What?!

What the media and the scientists aren’t saying so loudly, “if at all,” is that last one. So what caused the previous rise in CO2 levels? The truth is, at this point in time, we just don’t know for sure. Presently, there is just so much about our Earth and the weather that we really don’t know enough yet to make such bold claims. This is one way in which the power of the media can be destructive. In much the same way the mistake of equating correlation to causation, by equating opinion to fact, news reporting morphs itself from simply relating the day’s events into propaganda.

We know that there was a definite measured rise in “recorded” temperatures in the 1990’s. But how much of that is due to flawed measurement taking. Can some of that rise in temperatures be attributed to the "heat island effect?" For those of you who may be unaware, (that means anyone who listens to and believes wholeheartedly anything put out by the mainstream media). The heat island effect is due to the urbanization of areas that were previously agricultural. In short ask yourself, does paving everything over cause the temperatures to rise? If so, then let us reconsider the 1930’s? Temperatures back then were the hottest on record until the 90’s. If the heat island effect skewed the data of the 90’s, maybe the 1930’s were indeed warmer as some have proposed.

Now some have proposed covering large areas of Greenland with a reflective covering to prevent the glaciers there from melting. Do not clouds do the same thing? What causes clouds to form in the first place? We really do not know for sure. Some have proposed that it is a result of cosmic dust falling into the Earth's atmosphere. As the dust falls, it collects moisture and thus is important factor in cloud formation. More cosmic dust, more clouds, more clouds, more sunlight reflected back into space, more sunlight reflected back into space, means cooler temperatures.

Another point to ponder is that when the astronauts first landed on the moon, some scientists speculated that if cosmic dust falls at a constant rate, and if the moon was in fact hundreds of thousands if not millions of years old, then when the lunar landing vehicle touched down it would subsequently sink into the dust. History proves that just didn’t happen so why not? Some postulated that this was the result of solar flares and solar winds. In periods of high solar activity, i.e. sunspots and solar flares, solar winds sweep away amounts of cosmic dust and prevents it from falling into the atmosphere. Less dust, less cloud cover, less cloud cover, higher temperatures.

As the theory goes, solar activity was high during the 1990's and cloud cover was thus reduced. Currently there is very little solar activity i.e. sunspots and solar flares taking place. The thought is that now we are seeing increased cloud cover which results in a lowering of temperatures which is indeed what many in the scientific community are noting. Is there a correlation there? It sure looks that way! Does that mean our problem is solved? Maybe, maybe not!

The truth of the matter is we just don’t know enough right now! We need more data before we rush lemming like headlong into the unknown. Now is not the time to remake the world into Al Gore’s image. We have other more serious problems to deal with right now.

Well the big day has come and gone and America has a new president elect. Not my favorite choice to be sure. For that matter and as I have posted more than once, the opposition candidate didn’t really grab me either. B Hussein Obama will be America’s 44th President. In reflecting back on the campaign, I feel it safe to say it’s not so much that Obama and the liberals won but rather that McCain and thus the conservatives lost.

I think the cartoon “Mallard Fillmore” said it best when he mused in a recent installment that now McCain can stop pretending to be a conservative and Obama can stop pretending to be a moderate. Clearly after the primaries were over, both candidates moved to the right in order to garner votes. McCain moved right to try and recapture the Republican base and Obama to fool the “Joe Six-pack” conservatives and independents.

More accurately I think McCain lost the election, not just because he was the worst possible choice for his party but because he let the opposition dictate the course of the election. Though the election of the first black to the nation’s highest office is historic and nothing short of monumental. Many people like me who voted against the Junior Senator from Illinois did so not because we’re closet racists but because we disagree with the candidate on the many issues on the basis of principle. McCain failed to distinguish himself and his party from the opposition on issues, instead choosing to become the “Demagogue-Rat Lite” candidate.

No one can deny that the Demagogue-Rats had the unabashed support of the liberal mainstream media. They, having lost the two previous presidential contests were hell bent on reasserting their relevance. I feel it safe to say they did so at the cost of their very souls. They ignored the shortcomings of the liberal candidates wholesale and went all out to destroy the opposition. I think it safe to say that never before in the history of American politics has the media sought out to destroy a private citizen the way they did “Joe the Plumber” simply because he had the guts to question their candidate the way they and the opposition refused to.

Oh, it’s true that McCain picked up on the issue after the fact but the truth of the matter had been known from the outset of the campaign that Obama was a far left radical. The man “CHOSE” to associate with criminals and Marxist radicals the likes of Rezko, Wright, Ayers, etc. Obama’s defense of the associations just doesn’t wash. They are more than just people who live in his neighborhood or happened to have business dealings with.

As Robert Knight noted “When the media chooses to ignore important issues, it is up to the candidate to raise them. But McCain was so busy distancing himself from Bush that his own (change) theme was barely distinguishable from Obama’s.” Furthermore he had numerous issues handed to him on a silver platter that he either ignored or pounced on far too late.

Chief among these is the current financial mess. The left with the assistance of their propaganda arm “the liberal mainstream media” pounced on corporate greed and McCain wanting to be a populist followed suit. But the real culprits in the mess are members of the Demagogue-Rat party who refused to investigate the looming messes at Fannie May and Freddie Mack. McCain never seemed to understand that the media was undermining him at every turn and his choice on how to handle the crisis is proof alone that he was not the right man for the job.

So now B. Hussein Obama will be our next president. What will the results of an Obama presidency be? There is little doubt that he is a shrewd politician and just as he ruthlessly cleared the competition out of the way during the campaign, he’s more than likely to use the same tactics to deal with any problems he’ll face on the horizon. First of all, he’ll silence his critics. Just as he muzzled Hillary and silenced McCain, he’ll make it impossible for anyone to question his decisions or motives.

President Obama is an unabashed Socialist, if not an outright Marxist in his political orientation who will likely use the same bait and switch tactics to lay the blame for all the nation’s woes at the feet of his predecessor and the Capitalist system. He ran his campaign not so much against McCain as he did against his predecessor. As such, he will blame the outgoing administration for as much as he possibly can and for as long as he can. He should be able to get a few good years worth of press out of his allies in the media. As long as they are on his side, expect fawning press coverage no matter how much farther south the economy goes! I expect that will last at least through the mid-term elections if not beyond.

Those tax cuts he promised all through his campaign, forget about them. That was all smoke and mirrors. You can’t promise all the spending programs he has and not have a way to pay for it. As “Slick Willie” Clinton did only sixteen years before, expect an announcement sometime after the New Year that no tax break is coming! He’ll have the luxury of being able to blame it all on the Bush Administration. Add to that the “Bush Tax Cuts” expire in 2010. Don’t expect a renewal! All of our taxes are going to go up and sharply. The President Elect has a lot of people to pay off and it’s going to cost all of us plenty!

As taxes go up, expect productivity and the number of jobs to go down. Expect the stock market funk to continue on its wild ride for the foreseeable future and I expect it to go down more than it will go up. Furthermore, Obama's support for the unionization of businesses across the board without the use of secret ballot will add to the funk. As more and more small and medium sized businesses are forced to unionize, expect more and more of them to either go out of business and or move overseas to more favorable business climates. Prepare yourselves for a “quite probable” second Great Depression and soup kitchen America.

Lastly, the “Gaff Meister” and plagiarist extraordinaire, none other than the future Veep, Joe Biden has predicted that the Obama Administration will be tested by a terrorist attack or similar incident within the first six months of taking over. This prediction came only days after they had been briefed by the Bush administration on the potential threats the country faces. He’s also on the record as saying that they’re not going to be seen as handling it the right way, which probably means they’re going to appease the attackers! Somehow this too will be blamed on the Bush Administration. Perhaps the war stretched our military too thin to respond or something along those lines. His weak response will only embolden our enemies further.

My predictions for America’s immediate future are not based on having gazed into a crystal ball or by having consulted the stars or even a medium. They are based on common sense, a common sense that has for the moment, left the American people. Behold America; dark days are looming on the horizon. And that is not a racist pun! These are dark days with worldwide implications. As the American consumer pulls back out of necessity, so to will the global economic picture darken. Europe has been in an economic funk for a decade. Emerging economies in China and India are not yet ready to take up the slack. To put it simply, “We’re all in for a very bumpy four year ride!” Thanks for nothing John McCain!

I find it amazing sometimes how I start the week writing about one thing and end up posting something altogether different from when I started. This week was no different! I may still post that article later but with the election in the U.S. looming larger on the horizon with each and every passing day, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to point out the hypocrisy of the left.

In a previous post, I mentioned how it was reported here in the Japanese media that Sarah Palin is a gaffer and hurting the McCain campaign (click here). Of course the Junior Senator from Illinois running mate, noted plagiarist and serial gaffer Joe Biden, has thus far been given a total pass by the media. The recent Japanese media silence on the matter only confirms my beliefs.

But all that may have changed just recently when the hero of our story stepped on his own privates again in public! Our hero, Senator Biden, admitted at a fund raiser over the weekend that if he and the Junior Senator from Illinois are blessed with a November victory, and America is so cursed, America will very likely be hit by a generated outside threat! Our hero didn’t allude to exactly what kind of threat but noted that there were several possible scenarios.

The mainstream media did it’s best to ignore the story for as long as possible. The media here in Japan is still silent on the issue. If it weren’t for the alternative media, most Americans outside the venue of that speech would have never heard of this threat. If the Junior Senator from Illinois fawning press clippings thus far are to be believed, “the oceans will cease to rise, our planet will be healed and all the countries of the world will love America again!" Such a threat should be outside the realm of even the remotest of possibilities!

If such a possibility is outside the realm of the conceivable, where did our hero get his information? Well, we do happen to know that both campaigns transition teams did, only recently, receive the intelligence briefings from the Bush Administration. This is standard practice. With an election like this, too close to call, it only makes sense that the next administration, whom ever that may be, will have the latest information. But then the question has to be raised, why did he divulge the information?

What we also know about our hero is that he is a blow hard and apparently in addition to being a serial gaffer, he may also be a serial liar! Either that or he is just one of those people who no matter what and for whatever reason just cannot keep a secret. With the hero of our story, more likely than not, its probably all of the above!

After 30 plus years in the U.S. Senate, our hero is the consummate Washington insider. In addition to enriching themselves with multimillion dollar land deals ala Harry Reid and alternative campaign financing ala Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, we know that Senator’s deal in information. For members of the U.S. congress, in addition to sweetheart deals from lobbyists for Fanny May and Freddie Mack, information is the coin of the realm. We also know that Senator's, like Pat "Leaky" Lahey for example, like to leak information to stay in the news. Usually the jucier the better, at least it seems that way in most cases.

The really disturbing thing to me is that our hero, possibly the next Vice President of the United States, having received such intelligence, quite probably sensitive if not “Top Secret” in nature, would divulge or even hint at such a possibility in public, let alone private. Having served in the military and having once had access to such information, I can assure you that if I experienced a similar lapse in judgment while in uniform, I would most likely have been the unhappy recipient of an immediate Courts Martial. In many cases, divulging such information is not simply a lapse in judgement, it could even be considered treasonous! Is this the kind of man we want just one heart beat away from the presidency?

The attempted cover up by the press over his alleged "lapse in judgment" only solidifies the case of bias levied against the mainstream media. It was two full days before most outlets even mentioned the statements. One outlet in particular, NBC, went so far as to only air those parts of his lapse in judgment that sounded positive to our hero’s campaign efforts and totally ignored the damning statements until hounded by the McCain campaign to release the statements in their entirety and provide full disclosure.

I could go on and on with example after example to make my case against the mainstream media. The plain cold hard truth is that the vast majority of mainstream news outlets are in the bag for the junior Senator from Illinois. Why else would such lies about the real cause of recent the financial meltdown (talk about your October Surprise) be disseminated as fact and cover given to the real culprits, leaders of the Demagogue Rat party?

Fortunately there is hope out there. Searching far and wide, we were able to find one honest journalist left in the country. The man is a democrat and former supporter of the junior Senator from Illinois. Don’t take my word for it. I encourage you to read two of his articles posted (here) and (here). There is simply just too much at stake for you to pull that lever this November and be uninformed. This race is going to be a lot closer than what the mainstream media is telling us.

Less than two weeks out and this race is turning on a dime. Actually we should make that two of them. One dime was dropped by the junior Senator from Illinois when he accidentally got honest and revealed his economic plan for the country to a lowly plumber from Ohio whom we all have come to know as simply Joe the plumber. The other dime was dropped by his own running mate, our hero, who quite coincidentally also happens to be named Joe.

If you believe what you see and hear in the mainstream media, the election in the U.S. is over and the junior senator from Illinois has won it. From what I’ve seen on television, the press in Japan is pretty much excited about the prospect. After all, this will mark the moment when the sea levels begin to fall and the planet will miraculously start to heal.

In Okinawa, home to a major contingent of U.S. military personnel and a large number of U.S. bases, the interest is also quite high. Many who I’ve engaged with on the internet forums pertaining to the subject are convinced that this means the end of the “alleged” new bases, soon the U.S. military will leave their island paradise and all lands that have been appropriated for U.S. military use will be returned.

Before anyone gets too excited, let me remind you that the world’s economy has been brought to the brink by social engineering in the U.S. Congress. By creating policies and laws that made it virtually unlawful not to loan monies to people who otherwise couldn’t qualify, the Congress of the United States along with the Carter and Clinton Administrations have brought the Capitalist system to the brink of collapse. The recent bailout attempts, in countries around the world (not just in the U.S.) have compounded the problem by putting the very foxes who threatened the chickens in charge of the coop.

Furthermore, Obama and his minions intend to raise taxes in order to pay for more social engineering, not just in America but around the world. Common sense tells you that when people have less of their own money to spend, they will do their best to hold on to what little they’ve got. This means less money circulating in the economy purchasing goods and services. This means lower profits to businesses both large and small and at a minimum, means slower if not a complete halt in job growth.

The socialist solution will be to create make work projects to expand infrastructure. Just like the “New Deal” under FDR, in the “Raw Deal” of an Obama Administration, we’ll see the economy driven more by the government instead of the free market. But government has to have money in order to create such projects. In an economic down turn such as we are on the verge of, that probably means borrowing more money. If so, where will they borrow it from?

If the government prints more, that means inflation, if they borrow more, that means more debt (either foreign, national or both) or they can tax the people even more which means even less money in the domestic economy chasing goods and services than before. If the Obama team chooses the latter, and it’s a very good bet that this option is high on their list since that is what they say they will do, the economy will be further stifled. Can you say Jimmy Carter II? Is there anyone else out there as old as me who can remember the “misery index?” Heaven help us all!

So now you’re probably asking me, what the hell does all this have to do with the situation here on Okinawa? Lots! First of all, Okinawa isn’t even on the presidential radar screen. It’s a speck on the map that is only valuable to world security as a result of its strategic location. From this location, America can quickly respond to regional threats. For the Japanese, it serves as a buffer zone to protect the nation’s southern flank. Sadly, Okinawa is for the most part an afterthought to both the American’s and the Japanese!

So when it comes to changes on Okinawa as a result of an Obama victory, here’s my predictions of the probable outcomes.

-Regarding the reduction of U.S. troops here, no change.

-Regarding the proposed closure of the Marine Air Base at Futenma and the construction of the “alleged” new base at Camp Schwab, no change.

-Any other miscellaneous issue you can think of regarding the presence of U.S. forces in Japan, no change.

In short, for the people of Okinawa, don’t get your hopes up that an Obama presidency means the answer to your prayers. Senator Obama probably doesn’t even know where Okinawa is let alone the problems you face. He will be saddled with a lagging economy caused by the very policies he and his party espouse. With a great deal of luck, he may avoid turning a major market correction from a potential recession into a major economic depression. If you were betting on an Obama presidency as being your hope for salvation, you bet on the wrong horse and you made the mistake of listening to the talking heads in the media.

There’s still hope. The division in the electorate is a whole lot closer than the Democratic Party Propaganda Ministry officials, aka the mainstream media are telling you! The heavily skewed polls being released now are beginning to tighten just as they always do. Both Gore and Kerry were up at this point in past contests.
Even with all he has going for him in this election, the Junior Senator from Illinois hasn’t closed the deal. He fizzled toward the end of the primaries against Hillary and he’s showing signs of fizzling now. This election is going to be a lot closer than the media is telling us.

Lastly, should the undesirable thing happen and enough fraudulent ACORN generated votes put him over the top. We still have the teachings of great economic scholars like Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell to learn from and take that into the 2012 elections. Remember that it took a Carter to give us a Reagan.

Speaking for myself alone, I’m going to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Admittedly, McCain was not my choice for the party nomination. But like many of you, I’m going to hold my nose and mail in my absentee ballot today. An Obama presidency will be an abomination. Not just for the U.S. but for the world.