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!