#it rapidly developed after the us occupation of japan;

[mekatrio]

damn what a coincidence i was literally just researching lolicon phenomenon this week and now theres a kpop controversy abt it

[regarding-stories]

A guilty pleasure: "Chainsaw Man"

So, I started this show under the wrong impression it had lots of seasons. (Plus I had seen Pochita on shirts and was curious.) I got part-way into first episode, stopped, then took it up again. And then I finished an extremely solid first season rather quickly to my own surprise.

Chainsaw Man at its simplest is the story of a boy who can turn into a guy with a chainsaw as its head and chainsaw on his arms to fight devils that threaten mankind. However, that would sell the story quite short.

(Spoilers, obviously.)

Over the first few episodes we learn the origin of Denji who tries to desperately pay down his father's excessive debts to the Yakuza. As we met him, he lives alone in absolute poverty - having sold body parts to pay down some of the debt. He however befriended a small devil he calls Pochita, which is a mix of chainsaw and dog, and whom he ... uses ... to fight devils, an occupation that pays quite well, except almost all his earnings are taken by his Yakuza handler.

Denji doesn't go to school, doesn't know anybody his age (presumably 16), and his existence would generally be seen as miserable. The debt seems endless, he has no friends, and he can't even afford a proper meal. He dreams of jam on toast. His likely prospect is to die either fighting devils and fiends or to be offed by the Yakuza once they think he's no longer profitable.

Denji, however, made a pact with Pochita. He once saved the wounded Pochita and nursed him to health, and loves the little thing like a pet dog. He promised him his body should he die so that at least Pochita lives on. Outnumbered by zombie fiends created by a devil that killed his Yakuza creditor, he dies from his wounds. In this moment Pochita enters his body and replaces his dead heart, and only his chainsaw starter tail sticks out his chest. In a dream sequence he asks Denji to fulfill his dreams.

Denji turns into Chainsaw Man and slaughters all the fiends, then the devil who created them. His body has been restored, and without knowing he's almost immortal now. His ties to his past are broken, and he's found amid the carnage by Public Safety, an outfit stepping in to fight the most dangerous devils. And the local bigwig Makima recruits him.

And herein lie the seeds of a more complex story than anticipated.

More than one theme

I expected Chainsaw Man to be mostly a focused action anime. And no doubt it delivers solid action scenes. But the action scenes are more rare than you'd think and balanced out by a lot of character development, world-building, and social relationships, hooking me on the series very quickly.

Take for example Makima, his recruiter. She's immediately recognizable as a complex character. Manipulating his simple needs, she enlists him into her outfit and becomes his handler. He falls in love with her, given that she is a pretty woman that actually has been kind to him. But she has no qualms telling him that it's her way or ending up dead. She obviously has use for him, quickly guessing he's extremely powerful and her best bet at aiming high regarding the fight against the devils threatening Japan and the world.

The season reveals her as a powerful and absolutely ruthless witch, but also as deeply knowledgeable about human nature. One of the main themes that makes the series interesting is that Denji is an underdeveloped human rapidly making the experiences he was missing out on.

This leads to an actually very interesting scene. Denji, being the naive and uncultured teenage boy he is, thinks that grabbing an actual boob is the height of delight. Power is a devil and colleague, and after saving her beloved cat Meowsy (and herself), she pays Denji back by allowing three solid grabs of the goods. Except he realizes it doesn't make him happy. He goes in a downright funk, no longer sure what his motivations are, and takes his worries to Makima. She shows her mastery of understanding the relationship between sensations, emotions, and mental fantasies by completely wrapping Denji around her finger, titillating and teasing him until he can't process it anymore at all, then makes him commit to her goal - defeating the Gun Devil.

At this point I'm not even sure about what we can or cannot expect from Makima, her character is in fact one of the big mysteries of the story. But in a few skilled strokes and scenes it all transported the ideas behind Maslow's pyramid of needs (without ever mentioning it) and navigating it becomes Denji's personal character arc. We also learn how innocent and naive he is, and straightforward and pure - hidden by his completely bratty and immature demeanor.

Motivations and losses

We learn the motivations of the cast over time.

There's his senpai Aki, somebody who doesn't really show emotion. The Gun Devil incident claiming 1.2 million lives killed his family, and he will sacrifice his lifespan and anything to seek revenge for it. His fighting powers are enhanced by devil contracts.

We're not exactly sure what originally motivated Himeno, but she's Aki's senior partner in turn who has seen too many of her partners die over the years. Protecting and finally loving Aki is her motivation, and she dies doing it. Her letters to her family reveal how much she had been hoping for Aki to drop out of the death spiral that is Public Safety. Her contract with a devil that can manifest ghost arms was her main fighting style.

Power is a blood devil, basically a being obsessed with blood as sustenance and killing for it without scruples, that bonded with a cat. Getting that cat back from a powerful Bat Devil bonds her to Denji, and together with Denji she's a large part of the comic relief. (They're hilarious in their naive stupidity! Both of them technically didn't have "an ubringing.") She can form blood into weapons that obey her will.

Kobeni is a cowardly girl that possesses insane speed. She's extremely anxious and afraid and only "in it for the money" as it was either this or become sex worker. Apparently her family really did a number on her, seeing her just as a way to make money to support more "worthy" family members. It is said that becoming mentally unstable is actually a boon in devil hunting, and after Kobeni cracks, she becomes kind of badass.

Another facet of the story is that the cast expands and contracts over time as it is apparently not afraid to kill characters for appropriate dramatic impact. This leads us to the oddity that characters appear in the opening and closing credits who are no longer alive - usually a sign of their long-term significance. Nya, nya, you've been had.

A word of warning

Yes, the show is gory. But the entrails and other parts you will see over time are no better or worse than what happens in other shows. The action sequences are certainly extremely well-executed, choreographed, and at the forefront of anime effects at this point in time.

My word of warning is about another scene that is both sickening and very clever. I will not spell out what exactly happened at the party with coworkers, but let it suffice to say that it still actually physically revolts me whenever I think of it. They even pixelated it out. Doesn't help any.

So, prepare to have yourselves massively grossed out.

(Not that scene.)

But I said it's clever. Let's detour into a peculiarity of Japanese shows. The drinking age is 20. Whether it be through censorship or self-censorhip, Japanese shows make sure that adults don't give alcohol to "minors" or even adults (18-19 year olds) under the drinking age. Either the minors themselves will refuse or the adults change track when they learn somebody's age.

This can play out in a variety of ways - in shows like My Teenage Romantic SNAFU and Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki (actually, the scene is as of now only present in the books) the protagonists just plain out refuse their 20-year-old temptresses. In Rent-a-Girlfriend a 19-year-old college student reminds the other guests at a drinking party that she's under-age and therefore doesn't drink - but then gets as stupid as the rest, lampshaded by the main character.

So, Denji, being probably 16 (he isn't sure), isn't included in the drinking, and through contrived circumstances gets drunk anyway! I can't help but think the whole thing is actually flipping the bird at the rules while technically abiding by them...

Anyway - super gross scene, you've been warned, I wash my hands of this...

Otherwise, you would find a show firmly rooted in Japanese culture in many ways, with good world-building, great characters, clever action scenes that are not overdone, and a surprising lot of story, scene-setting, and ideas in general. It's pretty damn funny, too.

(Some would call it "good cringe...")

And now I can't decide if I hit the manga instead or wait the long, long, dark wait for a second season...

[skyfire85]

-547th Night Fighter Squadron ramp at Lingayed Field, Luzon. | Photo: USAAF Photographer

-P-61B Black Widow from the 547th Night Fighter Squadron landing on Lingayen airstrip. | Photo: USAAF Photographer

FLIGHTLINE: 20 -  547th Night Fighter Squadron / Northrop P-61 Black Widow

-Unit patch for the 547th Night Fighter Squadron. | Illustration: USAAF

The 547th Night Fighter Squadron was formed on March 1st 1944 at Hammer Field, California, and was the first such group formed in California as well as the first to be equipped with Northrop P-61 Black Widows. The 547th shipped out to Owi Airfield in what was then the Netherlands East Indies in August ‘44, and flew non-radar equipped P-38 night fighters until their P-61s arrived in September. The squadron was tasked with intercepting Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bombers, which had been forced into almost exclusively attacking at night due to US fighter coverage. The Bettys had been modified with superchargers, which allowed them to fly above the P-38s used by the USAAF, and thus the introduction of the P-61 proved to be a rude surprise to the Japanese planes, which did not take evasive maneuvers during the initial intercepts by the newer plane. After moving to Lingayen in 1945, the Black Widows of the 547th swept Japanese planes, which had been operating with impunity during the night, from the skies. The P-61s were later field modified to carry external stores, allowing them to carry drop tanks to increase their range, or bombs, napalm canisters, and rockets, allowing them to carry out night attacks on Japanese air fields or shipping. The squadron moved on to Ie Shima Airfield located near Okinawa in August of 1945 to begin night attacks in support of Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Home Islands. The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki removed the need for the invasion however, and the 547th was instead moved to Honshu as part of the occupation forces, remaining there until February of ‘46.

-Orthograph of the P-61. | Illustration: Northrop

The Northrop P-61 Black Widow was the first purpose-built night fighter in US service, as well as the first designed to use radar. Design work began in 1940 in response to a British request for an aircraft combining high-speed, high-altitude and long duration so as to intercept Nazi night bombers. A similar USAAC/F request soon developed, to which Northrop also submitted their proposal. The initial idea for what became the P-61 was massive, 45 feet long, with a 66ft wingspan and weighing almost twenty-three thousand pounds fully loaded. Armament was projected to be two turrets, one in the nose and another in the tail, each featuring four .50 cal Ma Deuce machine guns. The turrets were eventually moved to dorsal and ventral positions on the main gondola, but the ventral turret was later replaced by four 20mm cannon mounted in the belly, which increased firepower without the need for calculating and maintaining their convergence point, as is necessary for wing-mounted guns. The SCR-720 radar had a range of 5 miles in airborne intercept mode, and could also function as a navigational aid or as an airborne beacon/homing device. The radar could also work in concert with IFF units. The radar operator would handle the initial scanning and guidance, before handing over final intercept to the pilot. The turret proved to be difficult to install, and the decision was made to switch from the GE ring mount to a pedestal mount as used by B-17, -24, -25 and -29 bombers. This later proved to cause more issues as components were in short supply, and the larger bombers had priority. As a result, 308 A and B model P-61s, more than half of the entire run of 706 total aircraft, were produced without a turret. All in all, fourteen separate models of the P-61 were produced before the war ended, with the fifteenth, the P-61C, probably being the best version of the plane, with turbosupercharged R-2800-73 engines providing a top speed of 430mph and a ceiling in excess of 30,000 feet. Only 41 were completed out of a 500 planned P-61Cs, and none saw battle. After the war, one P-61B was utilized for tests of a captured German ejection seat, with volunteer Sgt. Lawrence Lambert successfully ejected from the plane at 302mph and 7,800 feet. Other aircraft were loaned to the Navy to be used as motherships for the Gorgon IV ramjet-powered missile program. Another P-61A was used in attempt to qualify the type for carrier operations, though the Widow was never flown from a carrier. A number of P-61s were used by NACA, the US Weather Bureau, the USAAF/USAF and Navy in the Thunderstorm Project from ‘46 to ‘49, with their size and onboard radar allowing the Widows to navigate into and through the worst parts of storms.

-P-61s lined up to take part in NOAA's Thunderstorm Project. | Photo: NOAA

One of the Black Widows used to test the Gorgon IV  air-to-surface missile. | Photo: US Navy

An intriguing side note to the Black Widow story is the F-15 (later RF-61) Reporter, a photo recon variant which was ordered to fill in for, and later replaced, the Hughes XF-11.

-An F-15A later used in “Operation Thunderstorm”Photo: NOAA Photographer

The first F-15 was based on the XP-61E, but the production models used the wings, engines and tail from the P-61C mated to an all-new central fuselage. The Reporter mounted six cameras, operated by the crew member in the second seat. Both seats featured controls, so either could fly the airplane on long missions. Thirty-six F-15s were completed out of an contracted run of 175, with the remainder canceled as the design was being rapidly outpaced by jet aircraft. All but 9 of the planes were shipped to Japan, and as part of the 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, was used, along with the F-13, a recon version of the B-29, to photograph and map the Japanese Home Islands. In addition, maps were made of the Korean peninsula, which proved invaluable for UN forces at the start of the Korean War. The Reporters were retired from USAF service by 1949, though some were drafted into the Thunderstorm Project along with their P-61 cousins. One F-15A was used by the Ames Aeronautical Lab to drop scale model aircraft until 1953, after which it was sold, and then sold again to a Mexican company for use in aerial survey work. It was returned to the US in 1964 and refitted for aerial firefighting.

-Photo: Unknown

On 6 September 1968, Ralph Ponte, one of three civilian pilots to hold a rating for the F-15, was flying a series of routine Phos-Chek drops on a fire raging near Hollister, California. In an effort to reduce his return time Ponte opted to reload at a small airfield nearer the fire. The runway was shorter than the one in Fresno, and despite Ponte reducing his load, hot air from the nearby fire reduced the surrounding air pressure and rendered the aircraft overweight. Even at full power the Reporter had not rotated after clearing the 3,500 ft (1,067 m) marker, and Ponte quickly decided to abort his takeoff. He made every effort to control the hurtling craft, but the Reporter careened off the runway and through a vegetable patch, before striking an embankment which tore off the landing gear. The aircraft then slid sideways, broke up, and caught fire. Ponte scrambled through the shattered canopy unhurt, while a firefighting TBM Avenger dropped its load of Phos-Chek on the plane’s two engines, possibly saving Ponte’s life. The F-15 was deemed to be too badly damaged to rebuild, and was soon scrapped, bringing an end to the career of one of Northrop’s most successful designs.

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

#i wonder what your thoughts on diaspora in hetalia are#cause its a pretty interesting topic (the post in question)

@urmomsstuntdouble a collection of things that I think about on a semi-regular basis below the cut (also thank you for the tags!)

Disclaimer: I think this turned into more of a discussion of immigration and immigrants, but I hope this strikes your fancy anyways 😅. Also this got SO LONG and I explained quite a bit of history (because idk whether anyone knows much about this), so the key thoughts will be bolded!

My thoughts are kinda complicated about this tbh; it’s weird, because if China really did exist as a personification in real life, we’d probably both be judging each other, just for different reasons 😅.

General Hetalia Cases

I think when discussing immigrants/diaspora, you have to think about why different immigrants left. @cupofkey kinda discussed that a while ago (if anyone hasn’t seen this superb post, GO READ IT NOW) about the Vietnamese diaspora, and I think there’s some of that in every country. How do the immigrants feel about the home country? Why did they leave: because of hard times, poverty? Political instability/revolution/war? Opportunities overseas? Are they doing well in their new home, or still struggling? Does their new country treat them like foreigners or outcasts, unworthy of even arriving, or doing anything besides menial labor, or have they been welcomed (rather unlikely)? Do they hate their home country (politically), or miss them? Would they ever go back, not just to visit family or the place of their birth, but to return permanently?

I think on the whole, hetalia nations would still maintain a connection to their immigrants, especially since most are still in touch with their culture, although they’ve crossed borders or changed nationalities. (However, the angst of not being as in touch with your culture as you think you should is so real; would our home countries be disappointed? Or do they sympathize, somehow?) In the end, we’re all the same that way. Plus, the alternative thought of them just disowning immigrants feels weird; I don’t even know how that would be possible. But I think that connection gets complicated by the reason people left, and their feelings for their place of origin; I’ll be using APH China and Chinese Americans as an example to discuss this hksdgsdf (sorry I don’t want to do more research than necessary and I have Thoughts about this)

**OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER that immigration/diaspora discussions are almost always case by case and will vary greatly based on things like country of origin/race/ethnicity, country immigrated to, initial socioeconomic status, time period, etc. And even among diaspora, people can and will have vastly different experiences, and it’s not good to generalize. These are just some thoughts with one example.**

1. Waves of Immigration 

Depending on when people arrive, they’ve got different push/pull factors drawing them to a country and it also factors into how the nation feels about them and vice versa... Chinese immigration to the US has mostly two major waves (you could also say there were 3, counting the post-WWII/Communist China wave, but I won’t talk about that): one in the mid 1800s and the other after the 1970s/1980s into modern day; the gap is because the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) that banned most immigration from China wasn’t repealed until 1943 (because of Japan’s attack on the US in WWII, the US needed China as an ally).

IMMIGRATION WAVE 1: MID 1800s

These immigrants were mostly from southern China (Canton area), and they came to the US because of hard times (Opium Wars + political instability because of things like the Taiping Rebellion) and economic opportunity in the West (eg. Gold Rush (San Francisco is literally “Old Gold Mountain” in Chinese today) + industrialization, railroads, expansion etc.). There was Much Discrimination against those immigrants, and many worked as hard laborers in a variety of occupations (on railroads, gold mine, farms (in the South esp), laundry businesses; there were merchants as well, but they were the minority); many were looking to get some money that they could send back to their families in China and planned to return, but over time, they settled down and stayed. I think for those immigrants, Yao would definitely be understanding, even if he might not be empathetic. After all, he’s not thriving at that time either, and although he thinks Alfred is inferior to him (in many ways), he understands why people would be drawn by economic promise and quick wealth, even if it might not be the best strategy for getting rich. It’s not like staying in China would be better lmao. However, I don’t think he would approve (?) how many of his immigrants stayed in the US when most viewed it as a temporary move; I think Yao is very surprised by how so many of them persisted to carve out a home there, despite the discrimination and limited opportunities. Perhaps he admires their resilience, the creation of Chinatowns and community and how they still come to a country that doesn’t even let them in (see the San Francisco Fire of 1906 and the boon for paper sons), but still wishes they would come back, however unlikely that hope is. Personally, Yao would never be able to stay in Alfred’s country, the beautiful country, if Alfred’s hypocrisy prevented his experience, his immigrant’s experience, from being anything close to beautiful. (You were founded by immigrants and foreigners, but now you spurn them: the poor sojourners who continue to flee to your shores, and refuse them respite from the disasters at home.) And anyways, Alfred is just the next scrappy young upstart, barely 70 years old but with a swagger like he rules the world; how could he have something over himself, the Middle Kingdom, who has stood the test of time? (Admittedly, he’s doing nowhere as well as Alfred—even he can see that, despite his pride, and despite the haze of opium in his brain. Leaving is the logical, objectively sound choice. Still, his pride hurts vaguely when he thinks how his immigrants keep choosing a country that keeps rejecting them, over and over again, instead of himself. But it is no matter. The injury to his ego is inconsequential and easily brushed aside; for they are still his people, and they deserve a good life, wherever they are. His distaste for Alfred flares up again: Arthur’s bastard child, who takes advantage of his trade (see the Open Door Notes, 1899-1900), but refuses his people.)

if anyone wants more context or is interested in the history I mentioned, I highly recommend this pdf (from the book A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki)

IMMIGRATION FROM 1949 TO 1980: according to Wikipedia, there was very little immigration from mainland China during this period due to the Cold War and China becoming Communist; most of the immigration was from Taiwan/ROC but counted in the quota for China. Since there’s a separate Hetalia personification for TWN, I’m not going to go over that. However, there were also many people from Mainland China who escaped to Hong Kong, still a British colony, during that period (I hope it’s clear why, but if anyone asks I’ll put it in a separate post); some stayed there, while others emigrated to the US; both trips were for more freedoms and a better life etc because China was really really messed up for a bit (also keep in mind the people emigrating all had the means to and were at least middle class, usually somewhat educated, etc.). I will not be talking about that group either because I don’t think it’s my place to, but please know they exist as well.

IMMIGRANT WAVE 2: 1980s ONWARD

A lot of people came from mainland China for education; there was also an. exodus of intellectuals following 1989 (which I Will Not get into). Many of these people sought job opportunities, like those that rapidly opened up in the computer industry, there are many students who come here to study abroad, who take SATs and TOEFLs to get into good US colleges or to conduct graduate research and get PhDs; some stay, others have gone back to like, advance China’s development (this sentiment of getting good students to go abroad and then go back to China to use their talents for Patriotic Purposes isn’t a new thing, stretches back to like the late 1800s). I don’t really have much to say about this group besides what’s below ↓. 

2. Immigrant Thoughts On Their Home Country

more complicated, because it varies by generation and time period and probably 203943 other things. Mainlanders that came over starting in the 1990s till now have relatively positive feelings towards China (imo, extrapolating from my life experiences); I think part of that is also because most* of these immigrants aren’t really escaping from something? They’re coming for an education/job opportunities (students studying abroad in the US (留学生 or liuxuesheng) for graduate school or university come to mind as one example), and they’re still very much connected to China politically and culturally, sometimes* more so than to the US. For these immigrants, I think Yao doesn’t worry too much about them? They’re pretty successful* overall*, and discrimination, although still A Large Problem™, isn’t the same from stuff that Yao (or his immigrants) remember from, say the mid 1800s (see above), or even during the paranoia about Communists after WWII and the subsequent Chinese Confession Program that made many people really scared of being deported. (Red China made Chinese Americans a target of the Communist panic, and the confession program was instated in order to make sure Communist spies couldn’t infiltrate the US. Those who immigrated illegally could confess that and gain citizenship; however you also had to weed out everyone you knew who also immigrated illegally.) I think Yao would see them as an extension of himself in a different land; they’re very much still part of him, and he gives them his well wishes.

However, I think that immigrants born in the US in modern day at least (1990s onwards) are definitely more ambivalent about China’s legacy + modern day Issues™, as much as we are connected via culture and heritage. Not quite sure how Yao would feel about that, because I’m not quite sure how much Yao is the state and how much he represents the people. However, I think there would be some mutual unease; does he see this as betrayal of some kind? Perhaps he doesn’t blame us for feeling as we do? Maybe he wonders what we feel about him; maybe he doesn’t want to know. Maybe he chooses the easier route: to focus on the bonds between him and his huayi instead of the grievances, and leave the rest unsaid. 

Additionally with first gen immigrants, there’s the conflicting feeling of being stuck between two worlds and value systems that oppose each other in many respects. Also there’s sometimes a feeling of not-quite-being-in-touch-with-your-culture (in other diaspora as well, ofc. here it’s often exemplified by forgetting or not knowing how to read and write Chinese proficiently, among other things 🙃); idk. does Yao see that as a bit of a disappointment? Would he wish us to try harder? Does he view it as inevitable, for those raised in the US; the environment is too different, and perhaps he won’t blame us for those differences, or shortcomings. Does Yao know, or care, about the racism? What about his immigrants who try to assimilate completely into American culture, who try to erase the Chinese part of their identity? Those that have tried it, but regretted it? Are they still his, when they have tried rejecting their connection to him, choosing to drop the “Chinese” from Chinese American? Does he consider racism when thinking about them? What about international adoptees? Does he claim them, when some have not been raised in a culturally Chinese environment, and when it’s still a sensitive subject on both sides of the ocean? I don’t have answers to many of these questions.

There are also immigrants who fled China because of war or persecution or upheaval, (one example is with regards to the Cultural Revolution), but I don’t feel qualified to discuss it here, and I don’t want to take it lightly.

But, despite everything I’ve discussed above, I’d like to think that however an immigrant feels about their home country or however long they’ve been there, all nation personifications would still wish them a better life (even Yao). I mean, it’s not always easy being an immigrant/part of a diaspora (especially when race becomes a factor). I really don’t think any of the hetalia characters would say “look at your struggles. What a mistake it was to immigrate somewhere where you still face so many challenges, although they might be different from the ones back home”. that’s just No. Also, I think that when you disregard sentimentality and their inherent connection to the people, countries would still be able to sympathize with people trying to strive for better, you know? People immigrate for a better life, whether it’s because it was getting rough when they left or because other places had more potential, and like. although nation-people can’t leave their own country, I think they understand the people who do, because it’s a chance to make a new life, and it would be unkind, counterproductive, limiting, to prevent someone from taking that opportunity if it came. And their children, and grandchildren; they are still connected to their origins even in a new country, by blood if nothing else, and nations are people too; they must have some sentimentality for their people born in a different land. I’d like to think that if Yao met a Chinese American kid running around San Francisco’s Chinatown, or bumped into an ABC high schooler in a well to do Massachusetts suburb, he’d stop and nod and maybe say hello, and wish them luck, wherever they go in the future. After all, they are the products of his immigrant’s hopes and dreams, and they are his too, as much as they live in Alfred’s land.

* (asterisks): this is a) from my experience and research; not everyone will have the same experiences! please keep this in mind and don’t generalize a very vast group of people. :)

Idk if that was too sentimental or rambly or something, but yeah, those are some of the things I consider when I think about nations and their diasporas. If you made it down here, thanks for reading! I greatly appreciate it. Also I hope I got all my facts correct, but if anyone spots anything incorrect, especially regarding the post 1980s immigration wave, please tell me! Tried doing my research but there are still a few things I’m unsure about rip. 

This might be deleted tomorrow because I’m feeling weird about it, but feel free to reblog! I’d also very much love some feedback too if any of y’all are feeling up to it

[theculturedmarxist]

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has run a fascinating long report this week offering a disturbing snapshot of the political climate rapidly emerging across Europe on the issue of antisemitism. The article documents a kind of cultural, political and intellectual reign of terror in Germany since the parliament passed a resolution last year equating support for non-violent boycotts of Israel – in solidarity with Palestinians oppressed by Israel – with antisemitism.

The article concerns Germany but anyone reading it will see very strong parallels with what is happening in other European countries, especially the UK and France.

The same European leaders who a few years ago marched in Paris shouting “Je suis Charlie” – upholding the inalienable free speech rights of white Europeans to offend Muslims by insulting and ridiculing their Prophet – are now queuing up to outlaw free speech when it is directed against Israel, a state that refuses to end its belligerent occupation of Palestinian land. European leaders have repeatedly shown they are all too ready to crush the free speech of Palestinians, and those in solidarity with them, to avoid offending sections of the Jewish community.

The situation reduces to this: European Muslims have no right to take offence at insults about a religion they identify with, but European Jews have every right to take offence at criticism of an aggressive Middle Eastern state they identify with. Seen another way, the perverse secular priorities of European mainstream culture now place the sanctity of a militarised state, Israel, above the sanctity of a religion with a billion followers.

Guilt by association

This isn’t even a double standard. I can’t find a word in the dictionary that conveys the scale and degree of hypocrisy and bad faith involved.

If the American Jewish scholar Norman Finkelstein wrote a follow-up to his impassioned book The Holocaust Industry – on the cynical use of the Holocaust to enrich and empower a Jewish organisational establishment at the expense of the Holocaust’s actual survivors – he might be tempted to title it The Antisemitism Industry.

In the current climate in Europe, one that rejects any critical thinking in relation to broad areas of public life, that observation alone would enough to have one denounced as an antisemite. Which is why the Haaretz article – far braver than anything you will read in a UK or US newspaper – makes no bones about what is happening in Germany. It calls it a “witch-hunt”. That is Haaretz’s way of saying that antisemitism has been politicised and weaponised – a self-evident conclusion that will currently get you expelled from the British Labour party, even if you are Jewish.

The Haaretz story highlights two important developments in the way antisemitism has been, in the words of intellectuals and cultural leaders cited by the newspaper, “instrumentalised” in Germany.

Jewish organisations and their allies in Germany, as Haaretz reports, are openly weaponising antisemitism not only to damage the reputation of Israel’s harsher critics, but also to force out of the public and cultural domain – through a kind of “antisemitism guilt by association” – anyone who dares to entertain criticism of Israel.

Cultural associations, festivals, universities, Jewish research centres, political think-tanks, museums and libraries are being forced to scrutinise the past of those they wish to invite in case some minor transgression against Israel can be exploited by local Jewish organisations. That has created a toxic, politically paranoid atmosphere that inevitably kills trust and creativity.

But the psychosis runs deeper still. Israel, and anything related to it, has become such a combustible subject – one that can ruin careers in an instant – that most political, academic and cultural figures in Germany now choose to avoid it entirely. Israel, as its supporters intended, is rapidly becoming untouchable.

A case study noted by Haaretz is Peter Schäfer, a respected professor of ancient Judaism and Christianity studies who was forced to resign as director of Berlin’s Jewish Museum last year. Schäfer’s crime, in the eyes of Germany’s Jewish establishment, was that he staged an exhibition on Jerusalem that recognised the city’s three religious traditions, including a Muslim one.

He was immediately accused of promoting “historical distortions” and denounced as “anti-Israel”. A reporter for Israel’s rightwing Jerusalem Post, which has been actively colluding with the Israeli government to smear critics of Israel, contacted Schäfer with a series of inciteful emails. The questions included “Did you learn the wrong lesson from the Holocaust?” and “Israeli experts told me you disseminate antisemitism – is that true?”

Schäfer observes:

The accusation of antisemitism is a club that allows one to deal a death blow, and political elements who have an interest in this are using it, without a doubt… The museum staff gradually entered a state of panic. Then of course we also started to do background checks. Increasingly it poisoned the atmosphere and our work.

Another prominent victim of these Jewish organisations tells Haaretz:

Sometimes one thinks, “To go to that conference?”, “To invite this colleague?” Afterward it means that for three weeks, I’ll have to cope with a shitstorm, whereas I need the time for other things that I get paid for as a lecturer. There is a type of “anticipatory obedience” or “prior self-censorship”.

Ringing off the hook

There is nothing unusual about what is happening in Germany. Jewish organisations are stirring up these “shitstorms” – designed to paralyse political and cultural life for anyone who engages in even the mildest criticism of Israel – at the highest levels of government. Don’t believe me? Here is Barack Obama explaining in his recent autobiography his efforts as US president to curb Israel’s expansion of its illegal settlements. Early on, he was warned to back off or face the wrath of the Israel lobby:

Members of both parties worried about crossing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Those who criticized Israeli policy too loudly risked being tagged as “anti-Israel” (and possibly anti-Semitic) and confronted with a well-funded opponent in the next election.

Corbyn, it seems, has found an unlikely ally in former US President Obama. In his new autobiography, he writes of the Israel lobby's power: 'Those who criticized Israeli policy too loudly risked being tagged as "anti-Israel" (and possibly anti-Semitic)' https://t.co/tKmy8q3Cws

— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) November 26, 2020

When Obama went ahead anyway in 2009 and proposed a modest freeze on Israel’s illegal settlements:

The White House phones started ringing off the hook, as members of my national security team fielded calls from reporters, leaders of American Jewish organizations, prominent supporters, and members of Congress, all wondering why we were picking on Israel … this sort of pressure continued for much of 2009.

He observes further:

The noise orchestrated by Netanyahu had the intended effect of gobbling up our time, putting us on the defensive, and reminding me that normal policy differences with an Israeli prime minister – even one who presided over a fragile coalition government – exacted a political cost that didn’t exist when I dealt with the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, or any of our other closest allies.

Doubtless, Obama dare not put down in writing his full thoughts about Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the US lobbyists who worked on his behalf. But Obama’s remarks do show that, even a US president, supposedly the single most powerful person on the planet, ended up blanching in the face of this kind of relentless assault. For lesser mortals, the price is likely to be far graver.

No free speech on Israel

It was this same mobilisation of Jewish organisational pressure – orchestrated, as Obama notes, by Israel and its partisans in the US and Europe – that ended up dominating Jeremy Corbyn’s five years as the leader of Britain’s leftwing Labour party, recasting a well-known anti-racism activist almost overnight as an antisemite.

It is the reason why his successor, Sir Keir Starmer, has outsourced part of Labour’s organisational oversight on Jewish and Israel-related matters to the very conservative Board of Deputies of British Jews, as given expression in Starmer’s signing up to the Board’s “10 Pledges”.

It is part of the reason why Starmer recently suspended Corbyn from the party, and then defied the membership’s demands that he be properly reinstated, after Corbyn expressed concerns about the way antisemitism allegations had been “overstated for political reasons” to damage him and Labour. (The rightwing Starmer, it should be noted, was also happy to use antisemitism as a pretext to eradicate the socialist agenda Corbyn had tried to revive in Labour.) It is why Starmer has imposed a blanket ban on constituency parties discussing Corbyn’s suspension. And it is why Labour’s shadow education secretary has joined the ruling Conservative party in threatening to strip universities of their funding if they allow free speech about Israel on campus.

Disturbing to learn from this article that Labour backs threatening funding to universities to bully them into adopting the IHRA re-definition of antisemitism – a definition that protects Israel from criticism and would ban most forms of solidarity with Palestinians on campus

— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) December 8, 2020

Two types of Jews

But the Haaretz article raises another issue critical to understanding how Israel and the Jewish establishment in Europe are politicising antisemitism to protect Israel from criticism. The potential Achilles’ heel of their campaign are Jewish dissidents, those who break with the supposed “Jewish community” line and create a space for others – whether Palestinians or other non-Jews – to criticise Israel. These Jewish dissenters risk serving as a reminder that trenchant criticism of Israel should not result in one being tarred an antisemite.

Leading Palestinians warn: 'The fight against antisemitism has been increasingly instrumentalised by the Israeli government and its supporters in an effort to delegitimise the Palestinian cause and silence defenders of Palestinian rights' https://t.co/Shu1Z7XYM1

— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) December 1, 2020

Israel and Jewish organisations, however, have made it their task to erode that idea by promoting a distinction – an antisemitic one, at that – between two types of Jews: good Jews (loyal to Israel), and bad Jews (disloyal to Israel).

Haaretz reports that officials in Germany, such as Felix Klein, the country’s antisemitism commissioner, and Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, are being allowed to define not only who is an antisemite, typically using support for Israel as the yardstick, but are also determining who are good Jews – those politically like them – and who are bad Jews – those who disagree with them.

Despite Germany’s horrific recent history of Jew hatred, the German government, local authorities, the media, universities and cultural institutions have been encouraged by figures like Klein and Schuster to hound German Jews, even Israeli Jews living and working in Germany, from the country’s public and cultural space.

When, for example, a group of Israeli Jewish academics in Berlin held a series of online discussions about Zionism last year on the website of their art school, an Israeli reporter soon broke the story of a “scandal” involving boycott supporters receiving funding from the German government. Hours later the art school had pulled down the site, while the German education ministry issued a statement clarifying that it had provided no funding. The Israeli embassy officially declared the discussions held by these Israelis as “antisemitic”, and a German foundation that documents antisemitism added the group to the list of antisemitic incidents it records.

Described as ‘kapos’

So repressive has the cultural and political atmosphere grown in Germany that there has been a small backlash among cultural leaders. Some have dared to publish a letter protesting against the role of Klein, the antisemitism commissioner. Haaretz reports:

The antisemitism czar, the letter charged, is working “in synergy with the Israeli government” in an effort “to discredit and silence opponents of Israel’s policies” and is abetting the “instrumentalization” that undermines the true struggle against antisemitism. 

Figures like Klein have been so focused on tackling criticism of Israel from the left, including the Jewish left, that they have barely noted the “acute danger Jews in Germany face due to the surge in far-right antisemitism”, the letter argues.

Again, the same picture can be seen across Europe. In the UK, the opposition Labour party, which should be a safe space for those leading the anti-racism struggle, is purging itself of Jews critical of Israel and using anti-semitism smears against prominent anti-racists, especially from other oppressed minorities.

Extraordinarily, Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, one of the founders of Jewish Voice for Labour, which supports Corbyn, recently found herself suspended by Starmer’s Labour. She had just appeared in a moving video in which she explained the ways antisemitism was being used by Jewish organisations to smear Jewish left-wingers like herself as “traitors” and “kapos” – an incendiary term of abuse, as Wimborne-Idrissi points out, that refers to “a Jewish inmate of a concentration camp who collaborated with the [Nazi] authorities, people who collaborated in the annihilation of their own people”.

In suspending her, Starmer effectively endorsed this campaign by the UK’s Jewish establishment of incitement against, and vilification of, leftwing Jews.

The aggressive purge of Jews from the Labour Party under the repressive rule of @Keir_Starmer marches on.

I haven't seen a sustained campaign of overt anti-Semitism quite like the effort of Labour centrists to create lists of Good Jews & Bad Jews and purge the latter. https://t.co/wVwnu47QJP

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 3, 2020

Earlier, Marc Wadsworth, a distinguished black anti-racism campaigner, found himself similarly suspended by Labour when he exposed the efforts of Ruth Smeeth, then a Labour MP and a former Jewish official in the Israel lobby group BICOM, to recruit the media to her campaign smearing political opponents on the left as antisemites.

In keeping with the rapid erosion of critical thinking in civil society organisations designed to uphold basic freedoms, Smeeth was recently appointed director of the prestigious free speech organisation Index on Censorship. There she can now work on suppressing criticism of Israel – and attack “bad Jews” – under cover of fighting censorship. In the new, inverted reality, censorship refers not to the smearing and silencing of a “bad Jew” like Wimborne-Idrissi, but to criticism of Israel over its human rights abuses, which supposedly “censors” the identification of “good Jews” with Israel – now often seen as the crime of “causing offence”.

Ok, we've now officially moved from Alice Through the Looking Glass into the Twilight Zone.

Ruth Smeeth, ex-Israel lobbyist for Bicom and a key player in outlawing solidarity for Palestinians in the Labour party, is the new CEO of free speech group Index on Censorship! https://t.co/UmHXbTQETS

— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) June 15, 2020

Boy who cried wolf

The Haaretz article helps to contextualise Europe’s current antisemitism “witch-hunt”, which targets anyone who criticises Israel or stands in solidarity with oppressed Palestinians, or associates with such people. It is an expansion of the earlier campaign by the Jewish establishment against “the wrong kind of Jew”, as identified by Finkelstein in The Holocaust Industry. But this time Jewish organisations are playing a much higher-stakes, and more dangerous, political game.

Haaretz rightly fears that the Jewish leadership in Europe is not only silencing ordinary Jews but degrading the meaning – the shock value – of antisemitism through the very act of politicising it. Jewish organisations risk alienating the European left, which has historically stood with them against Jew hatred from the right. European anti-racists suddenly find themselves equated with, and smeared as, fledgling neo-Nazis.

If those who support human rights and demand an end to the oppression of Palestinians find themselves labelled antisemitic, it will become ever harder to distinguish between bogus (weaponised) “antisemitism” on the left and real Jew hatred from the right. The antisemitism smearers – and their fellow travellers like Keir Starmer – are likely to end up suffering their very own “boy who cried wolf” syndrome.

Or as Haaretz notes:

The issue that is bothering the critics of the Bundestag [German parliament] resolution is whether the extension of the concept of antisemitism to encompass criticism of Israel is not actually adversely affecting the battle against antisemitism. The argument is that the ease with which the accusation is leveled could have the effect of eroding the concept itself. 

The Antisemitism Industry

It is worth noting the shared features of the new Antisemitism Industry and Finkelstein’s earlier discussions of the Holocaust Industry.

In his book, Finkelstein identifies the “wrong Jews” as people like his mother, who survived a Nazi death camp as the rest of her family perished. These surviving Jews, Finkelstein argues, were valued by the Holocaust Industry only in so far as they served as a promotional tool for the Jewish establishment to accumulate more wealth and cultural and political status. Otherwise, the victims were ignored because the actual Holocaust’s message – in contrast to the Jewish leadership’s representation of it – was universal: that we must oppose and fight all forms of racism because they lead to persecution and genocide.

Instead the Holocaust Industry promoted a particularist, self-interested lesson that the Holocaust proves Jews are uniquely oppressed and that they therefore deserve a unique solution: a state, Israel, that must be given unique leeway by western states to commit crimes in violation of international law. The Holocaust Industry – very much to be distinguished from the real events of the Holocaust – is deeply entwined in, and rationalised by, the perpetuation of the racialist, colonial project of Israel.

In the case of the Antisemitism Industry, the “wrong Jew” surfaces again. This time the witch-hunt targets Jewish leftwingers, Jews critical of Israel, Jews opposed to the occupation, and Jews who support a boycott of the illegal settlements or of Israel itself. Again, the problem with these “bad Jews” is that they allude to a universal lesson, one that says Palestinians have at least as much right to self-determination, to dignity and security, in their historic homeland as Jewish immigrants who fled European persecution.

Keir Starmer needs to listen to the 'proudly pro-Israel' Americans for Peace Now. They reject the IHRA definition for 'weaponising' antisemitism and allowing 'McCarthyite witch hunts' of Israel critics. Only those living in a 'black hole' could support it https://t.co/mNCj0LqCky

— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) December 6, 2020

In contrast to the “bad Jews”, the Antisemitism Industry demands that a particularist conclusion be drawn about Israel – just as a particularist conclusion was earlier drawn by the Holocaust Industry. It says that to deny Jews a state is to leave them defenceless against the eternal virus of antisemitism. In this conception, the Holocaust may be uniquely abhorrent but it is far from unique. Non-Jews, given the right circumstances, are only too capable of carrying out another Holocaust. Jews must therefore always be protected, always on guard, always have their weapons (or in Israel’s case, its nuclear bombs) to hand.

‘Get out of jail’ card

This view, of course, seeks to ignore, or marginalise, other victims of the Holocaust – Romanies, communists, gays – and other kinds of racism. It needs to create a hierarchy of racisms, a competition between them, in which hatred of Jews is at the pinnacle. This is how we arrived at an absurdity: that anti-Zionism – misrepresented as the rejection of a refuge for Jews, rather than the reality that it rejects an ethnic, colonial state oppressing Palestinians – is the same as antisemitism.

Extraordinarily, as the Haaretz article clarifies, German officials are oppressing “bad Jews”, at the instigation of Jewish organisations, to prevent, as they see it, the re-emergence of the far-right and neo-Nazis. The criticisms of Israel made by the “bad Jew” are thereby not just dismissed as ideologically unsound or delusions but become proof that these Jews are colluding with, or at least nourishing, the Jew haters.

In this way, Germany, the UK and much of Europe have come to justify the exclusion of the “wrong Jew” – those who uphold universal principles for the benefit of all – from the public space. Which, of course, is exactly what Israel wants, because, rooted as it is in an ideology of ethnic exclusivity as a “Jewish state”, it necessarily rejects universal ethics.

What we see here is an illustration of a principle at the heart of Israel’s state ideology of Zionism: Israel needs antisemitism. Israel would quite literally have to invent antisemitism if it did not exist.

This is not hyperbole. The idea that the “virus of antisemitism” lies semi-dormant in every non-Jew waiting for a chance to overwhelm its host is the essential rationale for Israel. If the Holocaust was an exceptional historical event, if antisemitism was an ancient racism that in its modern incarnation followed the patterns of prejudice and hatred familiar in all racisms, from anti-black bigotry to Islamophobia, Israel would be not only redundant but an abomination – because it has been set up to dispossess and abuse another group, the Palestinians.

Antisemitism is Israel’s “get out of jail” card. Antisemitism serves to absolve Israel of the racism it structurally embodies and that would be impossible to overlook were Israel deprived of the misdirection weaponised antisemitism provides.

An empty space

The Haaretz article provides a genuine service by not only reminding us that “bad Jews” exist but in coming to their defence – something that European media is no longer willing to do. To defend “bad Jews” like Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi is to be contaminated with the same taint of antisemitism that justified the ejection of these Jews from the public space.

Haaretz records the effort of a few brave cultural institutions in Germany to protest, to hold the line, against this new McCarthyism. Their stand may fail. If it does, you may never become aware of it.

The fraudulent 'Labour antisemitism' controversy has empowered the most thuggish elements in the organised British Jewish community.

Case in point: the Campaign Against Antisemitism effectively calls for Professor David Feldman to keep quiet or be sacked. https://t.co/QWvNg84c2E

— JamieSW (@jsternweiner) December 4, 2020

Once, the “bad Jews” have been smeared into silence, as Palestinians and those who stand in solidarity with them largely have been already; when social media has de-platformed critics of Israel as Jew haters; when the media and political parties enforce this silence so absolutely they no longer need to smear anyone as an antisemite because these “antisemites” have been disappeared; when the Jewish “community” speaks with one voice because its other voices have been eliminated; when the censorship is complete, you will not know it.

There will be no record of what was lost. There will be simply an empty space, a blank slate, where discussions of Israel’s crimes against Palestinians once existed. What you will hear instead is only what Israel and its partisans want you to hear. Your ignorance will be blissfully complete.

[imperfekti]

Tenipuri Party: Tezuka Kunimitsu profile translation

TN:

In the absence of an official English version, this translation is intended to help those who can’t read the material in the original language. Please support Tenipuri by getting your own copy of this book - it is worth it! There are various ways of purchasing it even for those not living in or visiting Japan.

The pictures I have included in this post do not show full pages.

On the translation: this time I’m aiming for a more direct, “Japanese-sounding” translation to share the mood of the content more as it is. This will probably cause some sentences to appear weird in English.

On Tezuka’s style of speech: his word choices and sentence structures are mostly polite and serious.

I’m still working on Japanese, so there might be mistakes. Please let me know if you spot any translation errors so I can fix them here!

Tezuka Kunimitsu

U-17 German representative player Seishun Gakuen Middle-school player

Beyond the imagined future - the released challenger!!

Message

“For the support every day, I’m grateful. For the sake of becoming a professional, and for the sake of my tennis, I intend to earnestly keep confronting myself. I think you are the same. In the future as well, together. Let’s go without carelessness.”

Extra prize: A voucher for two at a high-class mountaintop hotel “An undeserved honor. I’m focusing on tennis right now, but… If I can make the time, I will gratefully use it. For two, huh…”

Profile

[DATA] Middle-school 3rd year / October 7th (Libra) / Blood type O / 179 cm / 58 → 61 kg / Left-handed

Special techniques: Drop shot, zero shiki drop shot, Muga no kyouchi, Hyakuren jitoku no kiwami, Saiki kanpatsu no kiwami, Tenimuhou no kiwami, Tezuka zone, Tezuka phantom, Zero shiki serve

Playstyle: All-rounder

Family: Grandfather, father, mother

Father’s occupation: company employee (business) (grandfather is a judo instructor for the police)

Hobbies: Mountain climbing, camping, fishing

Favourite saying: The enemy is within yourself

Favourite color: Green or blue

Favourite food: unacha (a dish with eel carefully broiled in soy-based sauce), Räucheraal (TN: smoked eel)

Favourite book: German-Japanese-German dictionary (to carry with him)

Favourite music: Classical (Beethoven)

Preferred type of person: Trying not to think about it at the moment.

Preferred date spot: Zugspitze

Most wanted item: A mountain model kit

Things he’s bad at/with: Being idle, colourful cakes

Elementary school: Seishun Dai Daiichi Elementary School

Committee: Student council president

Strong subjects: World history

Weak subjects: None

Often visited place in school: The library

Uses allowance on: Books

Skill outside tennis: Woodworking, preparing fish for cooking

Routine during tournament: Keeping a diary in German, watching foreign comedy-dramas.

Favourite anniversary: 23rd August

Preferred travel destination: Macchu Picchu ruins and Huayna Picchu

Present for a special person: Writing a letter of gratitude

Scenes

Injuries, seizing the nationals… Tezuka Kunimitsu overcame numerous challenges that waited for him and seized glory. But he is not a man who would be satisfied with that. From now on too, I want to pay attention to the steep path of him who moved over to Germany.

(Quotes on pictures:)

“I will not lose.”

“Saiki kanpatsu no kiwami!?”

“And then Seigaku’s era will begin once again!”

“Now, let’s go without carelessness.”

Indeed, it should perhaps be called a “Tezuka zone”.

“Hyakuren jitoku no kiwami!?”

This boy’s tennis is certainly Ten’imuhou no kiwami!?

“No matter who I will end up fighting… I will win!”

The German representatives’ strained atmosphere connects to rapid development (*1)

Tezuka-senshu (*2) becoming a German representative was a shock. Did you not have worries about this decision?

If I said no, it would be a lie. However, as to what is important for me as someone aiming to become a professional, I judged it to be fighting as a German representative and based my decision on that.

Specifically, the currently important thing for Tezuka-senshu is…?

Most of all, it is actual experience of fighting at a higher level. At the German training centre, I have the fortunate chance to rally with top pros like Volk-senshu. Even in practice, they are always making hypotheses as to which shot they should hit, what kind of a play they should make in any kind of match circumstances when they are standing on the court. Having put myself in such a strained atmosphere, I can truly feel my level of experience rising rapidly.

Any bewilderment at facing your former comrades…?

Whoever will become my opponent will not be a problem. But, at first, I thought I was feeling sorry. However, at the time of fighting Japan in the exhibition match, I came to realise my heart was throbbing about competing against them. But just fighting as sworn friends, it is not to elevate ourselves. Rather, by putting a net in-between and confronting each other, the light can come from a new angle and hasten growth - that is what I believe right now.

Then, what is Tezuka-senshu’s current objective or dream?

Upon seizing the world, to hold up the flag of Germany that showed in me, a foreigner. If the opponent for that match were to be Japan, there would not be higher joy.

In a well-ordered and non-negligent environment, pleasant days go on

Have you already grown accustomed to life in Germany?

Yes. Everything proceeds very systematically, so in that sense, it sometimes feels like it is actually even more pleasant than in Japan.

What things for example are like that?

Everyone is already gathered around 15 minutes before the set meeting time. The notion of ecology is growing, so most customers carry eco bags for their shopping, and the separation of waste is enforced thoroughly. Everything is done logically, and it’s an environment without negligence.

I see. It suits the serious Tezuka-senshu perfectly. Then, how do you spend your days off?

Touring antiquarian bookshops is currently my biggest enjoyment. From Goethe to Ende, I have been able to acquire several original texts that I couldn’t in Japan. Also, when time and money allow, I try to go to classical concerts.

What about the German language?

The German language too is a very systematic and logical language. There are very few exceptions, as long as one memorises the basic grammar and idioms, it is quite effective to use. Of course I still lack study, and there are many points where I lack experience, but words are not the only means of communication. Rather, sometimes it is facial expressions that speak more eloquently.

Facial expressions…?

Yes. Facial expressions.

Message for Tezuka Kunimitsu

As expected… should I say. Congratulations. (Inui)

YEEES! CONGRATULATIONS!! (Kawamura)

You should still be able to grow one rank higher. Put effort into your training. (Volk)

I will definitely not forget the thing that you taught me. Let’s meet on the court. (Fuji)

I’m glad you seem to be doing well in Germany too. Eat your meals properly! (Ooishi)

Tezuka-buchou-senpai, congratulations. We are protecting Seigaku. (Kaidou)

I’ll win one day, both in popularity and tennis! (Momoshiro)

You’re not planning on ending it at this? I’m waiting for the next opportunity to fight you. (Atobe)

Congratulatioons. But I’ll overcome you soon. (Echizen)

Are you doing well Tezuka? Send something tasty from Germany! (Kikumaru)

This guy is in 4th place!? Gimme a break! You can go higher than that! (Siegfried)

Party talk

Q: Who would you like to inform about this time’s rank and feelings? A: My family. My grandfather too is always supporting me.

Q: You are being served a lot of food. A: Ooishi. I’m grateful, but it’s already enough. I’m eating sufficiently… I tasted Japanese unacha for the first time in a while.

Q: You can also take part in an improvisation skit competition. A: … No, thank you. I was able to enjoy it quite a lot just by watching.

Q: You got excited with Bismarck-san, though... A: … I was merely unilaterally lectured about how to flirt with women.

Q: Who did you come to the venue with today? A: With the German representative senpai. In addition to training, we measured the time and ran to the venue.

Q: Oh? Is there something the matter with Echizen-kun? A: No. I just thought he seems to have gained experience and grown somewhat.

History

Age 0 October 7 Birth

Age 5 Makes a mistake in dance moves in a kindergarten’s play

Age 10 June Climbs Switzerland's Matterhorn with his father

Age 11 Summer Meets Yukimura and Sanada after the Jr. Tournament, has a match Goes fishing with grandfather, catches a sea bream

Age 12 March Graduates from Seishun Dai Daiichi Elementary School

April Enters Seishun Gakuen Middle School Is hit on the elbow with a racket by a senpai in the tennis club Is told to become "Seigaku's pillar of support" by Yamato

Age 13 November Displays a sketch of mountain grass in the culture festival

January Goes to the first shrine visit of New Year with the club’s 1st year members, makes a vow of conquering the nationals

April Becomes a 2nd year Becomes the vice captain of the tennis club

June Participates in a bread eating race in an athletic festivals, places second

September Gets lots of recommendation letters and becomes the student council president

Age 14 Declines the Jr. Senbatsu invitation Around autumn Has an uncomfortable feeling in his arm

October On the field trip (Taiwan), buys tea utensils for souvenirs

November At the Allied music festival (*3) , participates in the class chorus as a musical conductor

February For the first time in his life, forgets something

April Becomes a 3rd year Becomes the captain of the tennis club

May Wins Tokyo preliminaries championship Is mistaken for a teacher at Kawamura Sushi Has a match with Ryoma on courts underneath the railway

June Wins prefecturals championship Declines offer from the special overseas JFH program Goes to the drawings for the Kantou tournament

July Is invited to Hyoutei’s opera appreciation party as the student council president but declines Start of Kantou tournament In the first round against Hyoutei, loses to Atobe in S1 Goes to Kyuushuu for rehabilitation

July 27 Wins Kantou tournament championship

August 14 Drawing for the nationals, returns from Kyuushuu

August 17 Start of nationals Faces Higa in the 2nd round, wins against Kite in S1

August 19 Quarterfinals against Hyoutei, wins against Kabaji in S2 Semifinals against Shitenhouji, wins against the Chitose-Zaizen pair in D2 Yakiniku battle, is one of the last members remaining

August 23 Finals against Rikkai, loses to Sanada in S3   Wins nationals championship Goes to the victory celebration at Kawamura Sushi

Age 15 (*4) September Is invited to Rikkai’s ocean festival, makes guest participation in a play

October 12 Climbs Kitadake with father

November Participates in U-17 camp Wins against Kaidou in the “friendly fire” matches Learns about a fishing mobile game from Marui and Kirihara In the court shuffle between 3rd and 5th court, wins against Yamato Abandons the match against Fuji midway, departs for Germany Aiming to become professional, participates in the German representative team

December Participates in the U-17 Pre-World Cup drawings U-17 Pre-World Cup starts In Vs Japan, wins against Irie-Atobe pair in the second match U-17 World Cup starts Is drawn into a fight about food by Siegfried, eats Japanese food together Wins against South Africa and Canada

Plan

(Pictured: two documents of mountain climbing plans, including itinerary, packing list and map.)

“This is from when me and father climbed during consecutive holidays. When climbing mountains, let’s make plans properly and climb without carelessness.”

Fashion

It seems he didn’t bring much clothing with him from Japan. I will give you something next time. (Volk)

With Kunimitsu’s hair style, clothes from any country would suit him. (QP)

Wearing clothes you received just like that. That’s like you. (Fuji)

Whether the person in question is aware of it or not, wearing a waistcloth is quite stylish. (Kite)

“I am not a person who is particular about clothes, but only when it comes to shoes, I make it so that I can play tennis in them.”

Room

Bedroom of the room I’m staying in in Germany There’s only bare minimums like the bed and desk that were part of the furnishings. But I’m thankful that letters and daily necessities have been delivered from Japan. Overall, I like the things made from wood and seeing the townscape from the window.

TN:

*1 張り詰めた, haritsumeta. Strained, stretched, tense. Not strained in the sense of anxious or having problems. It seems more like everyone is ambitious and focused.

*2 選手, senshu: player, athlete. I chose to leave this as it is since the interviewer uses it all the time as an honorific, and couldn’t figure out a natural expression in English.

*3 連合音楽会, rengou ongaku kai. This seems to be some kind of an annual music event that at least schools participate into.

*4 It seems like a mistake that age 15 is placed at September, not October.

[huzzatullah]

Agricultural economy Bangladesh

Inteoduction: Bangladesh is an agricultural country. Most of the illiterate people depends on agricultural. We can not pass our life without agricultural material. Exampul:Rice, suger, jute etc. Government should modifate the farmers because they grow many others fruits. We run or live our life to eat agricultural fruit and rice.

Agricultural economy: Agricultural economics is an applied to field of economis economic concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing  the production and distribution of foods and fiber. Agricultural  economis begaen as a branch of economics that  specifically deals with land usage it focused on maximizingthe while maintaining a good oil ecosystem. Throught the 20th centry the decipline expnded and the current shop of the discipline I much broather. Agrultural economics today include a variety of applied areas, having concidarable overlap with convertional economics. Agricultural economics have made substantial contribution to rechar in economics.

Bangladesh agricultural economy: Agriculture remains the most important sector of Bangladesh reconomy. Contributing 19.6 percent to the national GDP and providing employment for 63 percent of the population. Agricultural in Bangladesh is heavily dependent on weather, and the entire harvest  can be wiped out in a matter of hourse when cyclone hit the country. According to the word bank ,the total arable land in Bangladesh is61.2present in1980. Firms are usually very small due to  heavily increasing population, unweedly land owner sheep and inheritance reguations.  The three main crops rice,jute, and  tea have dominted agricultural exports decades, although the rice is grown almost entirely for domestic  are, while jut  and tea are the main export earns. In addition to these products , Bangladeshi farmers produce sugarcane, tobacco ,or cotton and various fruits and vegetables sweets potato, bananas pineapple.etc for the domestic market.

Rice : Rice is main food of angladesh. Our main food is rice.we eat rice everyone. We can not live without rice.our main food is rice. Rice is staple food in everyday dit I Bangladesh. The production of rice,which can be harvested 2 or 3  even three  times a year,reached 199 million metric ton in 1998-99. The . prodoction of eatic tons in reached about 2 million matric tons in 1998-99. Both crops play an important role in achieving self –sufficiency in food production. However, due to wheather conditions the production of rice and weat fluctuate greatly.forcing Bangladesh to import food from the international market or international aid. Bangladesh imported 1.6 million tons of wheat(mainly from united state) in 2000 in order to meet demand in the local market.

Jute :jute, often called the “goden fiber” of bangle, is the main export-earner of Bangladeshi agricultura. As Bangladesh remains he wrorld”s second –largest producer of jut(after idia)and the worlds largest exporter of fiber.Jut is traditionally used for the fiber of carpet baking. Burlap bags,cheap paper,and various others purposes. Its imorance for the Bangladeshi economy comes from in the fact that almost 3 millions farms are involved in jute production.in 1999 bangladeshi export earnings from jute amounted to us$55 million with the country producing 720,000 metric ton of jute. Although this is about one-third of jute production of the middle of the 1980s. the deline in jute production is attributed to declining word prices for this crop and farmers switching to other crops.

Tea:Bangladesh also produce tea leaves,mainly for export, although the export of this product contributes only 1percent of the country’s hard currency earnings. In 1998-99 the country produced 56000 metric ton of tea leavel, but it could produce twice that amount.The main obstacle to increasing production is failing price for tea in the international market and the management and regulation problems in the industry in the country.

Fish :Fish is another activity in the country,contributing 4.9percent to the GDP(1999-20000)and providing6 parcent of total export incam. The over all production was around 1.6 million metric tons(1999-20000. Bangladesh mainly export its shrip to international  market.

Importance of agricultural: Agricultural play crucial role in the life of economy. It is the backbone of economic system. Agriculture not only previous food and raw materials but also employment opportunitis to a very large population of population. The following facts clearly lighlight the  importance of agriculture in this country.

Source of livelihood: In india main corporation of working population is agriculture. about 50 parcent  of our population is directly engaged in agriculture. In advanced countris this ratio is very small being 5 per cent in U.k. 4 par cent in usa.16 per cent in Australia,14 per cent in france 21 per cent in japan and 32 per cent act in ussr. The high propotation in agriculture is due to the fct in non agricural activitis have not been developed to absorb the rapidly growing population.

Contribution of national incam: Agriculture is premier source of national income. According to national income committee and cso in 1960-61 per cent national income was contributed by agriculture and allied occupation. In 19 76-77 this sector alone contributed42.2 per cent while in 1981-82,its contribution   cent n to the true of 41.8 per cent. In 2001-contibuted around 32.4 per cent national incam.  This was future reduced to 28 per cent in1999-2000.  Contrary of this propotation of agriculture in uk is inly3,1 in usa it is 3parcent 2.5 per cent in Canada 9 per cent in japn,7.6 per cent in Australia. The mare consulation of all this I that more developed a country the smaller is the contribution of agriculture in national output.

Supply of food and fodder: agriculture sector also provides fodder for livestock(35.33crores).Cow and buffalo provide protective food in the form of milk and they also provide draught power for farm operaions .more ever it also meet the food requirement of the people. Import of food grains has been very small in recent year. Rather export avenues are being looked for.

Importance of international trade: it is the agricultural that feeds countrys trade. Agricultural product like tea sugar rice tobacco , constitute of main items of export of india. If the development praseocess of agriculture is smooth. export increase imports are reduce concidribity. Thus ,it helps to reduce the adverse balance of payments and save our forgain exchange. This mount can be well utilized to import other necessary inputs. Raw- materials, machinery and other infra structure which is otherwise useful for promotion of economic development of the country.

Market surplus: the dovelopment of agricultural sector leads to marketable surplus. As a company develops more and more people are to be engaged in miing, manufacturing and other non-agricultural sector. All these people depend upon the food production which they can meet from the marketable surplus expands. This can be sold to other countries. Here , it is worth mentioning that the development of japan, and other countries were made possible by the surplus of agriculture. There is no reason why this could not be done in our own case.

Source of raw material: Agriculture has been the source of raw matetrials to the leading industris like cotton and jute textiles, sugar tobacco, edible and non-edible oils etc. all these depends directly on agriculture.Aprt from this, many other like processing of fruits and vegetables, dal milling, rice husking, gur, making also depend on agriculture for their raw material. According to united nations survy,the industris with raw materials of agricultural origin accounted for 50 per cent of the value added and64 per cent of all jobs in the industrial sector.

Importance in transport:  Agriculture is the main support of railways and roadways which transport bulk of agricultural produce from farm to the mandies and fctories. Internal trade is mostly in agricultural products. Beside, the finance of government, also to the large extent, depends upon the prosperity of agricultural sector.

Contribution to Foreign exchange Resource: Agricultural sector constitutes an important place in the country’s export trade. According to an estimate, agricultural commodities like jute ,tobacco ,oilseeds ,spices raw cotton tea and coffee.

Vest Employment opportunity: The agricultural sector is significant as it provides greater employment opportunitis in the construction of irrogations projects, drainage system and other such activitis. With the fast growing population and high increses of unemployment and disguised unemployment in background countris,it is only agriculture sector which provides more employment chances to the labour force. In this way significant of agriculture emerges more and more.

Over all economic devolopement: in the source of economic devopement agriculture employs majority of people.this means raising the lavel of the nationl income and standard of living of the common man. The repaid rate of growth in agricultural sector give prograssip outlook and further motivation for development. As a result it helps to creat proper atmosphere for general economic development of the economy. Thus, economic development depends on the rate at which agriculture grows.

Source of saving: Improvement in agriculture can go a long way in increasing savings. It is seen that rich farmers have started saving especially after green revolution in the country. This surplus amount can be invested in agriculture sector for furthere, development of the sector. Saving potaintals are large in agriculture sector which can be properly tapped for the devolopement of the country.

Sourc of government income: In india , state governments grt sizeable reveue from the agriculture sector, land revenue, agricultural inco and me tax, irrigation tax and some other types of taxes are being livied on agriculture by the state government. Moreover, considerably revenue is earned by way of  mmmm

Basic of economic devolopement: Prof significant empsis on the improvement of agriculture for a balanced growth of an economy. The  development of agriculture provides nessary capital for the devolopement of other sectors like industry, transport and foreign trade. In fact a balanced devolpement of agriculture and industry is need of the day. From the above explanation, it may beconcluded that agriculture occupies an important place in the development of economy.It is in fact a pre condition for economic up liftment.

Problem of economy: Diseases have been inentifiease and lied one of the main factor for low productivity of the livestock sub- sector. About 30-50% of total value of livestock products is not every year due to diseases such as rinderpest, tryanosomiasis foot and month disise and liver fiuke.

Feed storage: Under nutrition and malnutrition are among the majore constrains of live stock production in Ethiopia, national stress has caused low growth rate, poor fertility and high mortality. High population growth and increasing density have lead to expantion of cultivated area the cost of grazing land on which smallholder livestock production depends. Permanent pastureland is believd to have decline by close to 60% over the lase three decdes. It shouls be note that areas where there is of animal  intencive cultivation,crop residues have become the min source feed.

Demand constrait:

Underdevelopment of roads and other infrastruscture has hindered live stock take off. It has been indicated that as incam declines for a variety of reasons, livestock products are the first to be selected or removed from the manue by the majority of consumers. Also during fasting seconds(which are  many) of charitians live stok  products are part of the daily manu. They are not eastly consomed which influances the demand of products negatively.

Inistutation and policy constrainsts: There are also institutionl and policy related problems such as lack of institution stability that could promot the sub-sector, lake of appropriate policies to promote and  production and productivity of the sub sector, Iack of appropite policys  to promote and increase production  and productivity of the sub-sector. Inadequate capital and recurrent budget allocations to the live stock sub-sector  have also contributed to its low productivity.

CON SULATION: This agricultural sector is vital importance for the region. It is undergoing transition to a market economy. With substantial change in social , ie productive and supply set-ups, as is the case with the other sector of the change have been accompanied by decline in agricultural production have affected also the national seed supply sectors of the region. The  region has had to face problems of food insecurity and some countries have need food aid for IDPs

[magicbillion]

Germany: the next BIG destination for Indian Talent

My tryst with Indo German Talent Mobility started when I was at National Skill Development Corporation, (NSDC) about a decade back.I was leading the discussions from NSDC withGIZ, the German Society for International Vocational Education and Training (VET) collaboration. We had protracted discussions, Seminars and Workshops on how we can collaborate for Talent Mobility and Dual VET. These interactions have resulted in much collaboration and understanding, and now GIZ even has staff within NSDC.

Historically, Germany and India have had exchanges of talent from the time industrial age has dawned, and especially after the Second World War - 70 years ago - when companies like Siemens and Mercedes came to India. They sent many Indian technicians to Germany, including one of my uncles, who went to Mercedes Germany to understand Truck Cab Design.

All the good features of an effective and efficient skill development system have been incorporated in the German Dual Vocational Education and Training (VET) System.

·        Firstly, the industry is very deeply involved in the entire process. It is they who provide a large part of the “on the job” training, which is so critical for technical learning to be imbibed by trainees.

·        Secondly, there is a structured curriculum, which is focused by trade, and based on practical learning for every trade.

·        And thirdly, the VET system has career progression built into it, allowing the youth to become more and more efficient in their trade.

Today, an interesting stage has been reached in the labour markets of both Germany and India. Germany with a population of 80 million,has a shortage of more than a millionin a large number of professions. In order to fill these shortcomings in the labour market,the country has amended its Labour Laws, and introduced the Skilled Immigration Act, which has kicked in from March 1, 2020.The new law expands the framework under which qualified professionals from non-EU countries can come to work in Germany. Also, the employment of qualified professionals from outside the EU with vocational, i.e. non-academic training, is no longer restricted to occupations experiencing a skills shortage. If someone has a vocational training qualification recognised in Germany, their residence permit allowing them to work in a specific occupation will also allow them to work in Germany in all occupations covered by their qualification.

This is a very potent Act, and can greatly facilitate the way in which youth from countries like India can participate in the German labour market.

India, having had more than two decades of very focused vocational education and training, has now got professionals who are proficient in their trades, and match global skill standards. India regularly wins medals at Worldskills Competitions, and bagged a whopping 23 of them in the last Championship.This will allow them to seamlessly get integrated into the German labour market.

Typically, for Indian candidates to be attractive in the German market, they need to be upskilled in two areas: (a) knowledge in German up to A2 level (preferably B1/B2 level) and (b) technical upskilling to German standards in sectors like manufacturing and construction.

This is where the company that I co-founded, Magic Billion,comes into play. Not only are we at the forefront of sending trained Indian candidates to overseas markets,but we also have a world class training infrastructure in Kolkata (India) for technical upskilling and a language training center in Noida (India).

 Our centers can also be usedby German employers to provide basic training and conducting assessments, after which selected Indian candidates can move to Germany.

Some Pictures of Magic Billion Training Centre at Kolkata India

I was recently in Germany (in January 2020, pre-Covid), and visited various Industry Associations (called IHKs). I met with the representatives of Potsdam, Magdeburg and Frankfurt Oder(pictures in this order below), all in the Bavarian Region, who all speak on behalf of employers in those regions.

Every single meeting was about German employers either seeking apprentices, semi-skilled or skilled workers in trades from welders, fitters, machinists, to service industry candidates in hospitality, and to high end IT professionals. Many models were suggested, from apprentices, to trained candidates, with options of language training in India or Germany.

There are various customized models that Magic Billion can offer German employers, and each of these models would be curated uniquely for every employer.

·        One model can be for IHKs and/or employers to indicate their requirement of apprentices by trade. Magic Billion can select suitable youth from 350 million Indians, get them interviewed by employers, and provide extensive German language and technical training in India, before they go to Germany. This way the youth can enjoy their apprenticeship to the fullest, and employers too would be happy to get youth who have similar language and technical skills to native candidates.

·        Another model can be for German employers to similarly indicate their requirements of trained workers in various sectors, like healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing or agriculture, and Magic Billion can help with sourcing, screening and selection of such candidates. There can be options for language and technical training in Magic Billion facilities before their dispatch to Germany.

·        For high end professionals like IT, Banking and Finance etc, Magic Billion can also help with sourcing, screening and selection of such candidates. Here again there can be options of language training, for the short term, or long term if the candidates are compensated for their time by their German employers.

Indians stand ready to support the German economy to grow. In 2018, the highest number of Blue Cards in Germany were issued to Indians –the then German ambassador in Delhi, Michael Steiner, said at a Global Skills Summit organised by FICCI, in 2013, that while India has the advantage of a young workforce, Germany is an ageing society that needs skilled workers. While this statement is true, there is a chasm of a skill and language gap that Indian youth need to fill before they can be inducted into the German Labour Market.

And this is where companies like Magic Billion come in. We are able to study the skill gap, understand the technical qualifications of both countries, and create skilling models for rapidly up skilling selected Indian youth to technical, linguistic and cultural standards as required by German employers. If we can do this with near 100% success rates for employers from 10 countries spread from Japan to US, we can definitely do the same in Germany.

[theangrypokemaniac]

There's a sneering attitude that the dub is inherently inferior solely for being a dub, and when I say 'dub' I mean the American one. No one attacks the South American interpretation, funnily enough, or the variety that exist globally.

Why not if foreign languages are so abhorrent?  Do you think it's kewl to hate America?

That's so original you know.

If the moan centres on the dub changing certain things, well that's a pointless stance, because it's impossible to do otherwise.

What's accepted in one country is not always permitted elsewhere, so either you make those alterations or it's never shown. I'd prefer seeing a slightly toned down version rather than have it never reach the West at all.

This is without considering the technical obstacles that a direct translation brings. The words do have to fit the mouth movements, and if they don't, truncation must follow.

America and Japan are different; the population of the former are not going to comprehend the references to the latter's history and culture, which necessitates some divergence from the original to give it mass appeal.

Anime is a branch of entertainment. It has to attract the public's good will to stay in business. If impenetrable, it'll fail, with all the resulting unemployment and finacial losses that brings.

Those in charge of dubbing understandably think they're on safer ground promoting familiarity rather than the strange, but that's not to say Pokémon was stripped of its identity. On the contrary, it was like nothing I'd ever encountered before.

I may have watched Western cartoons then, but the idea of doing so now is silly. I won't give time to any modern animation unless it's Japanese. Growing up on the dub has not produced an ephemeral fan less serious or 'true'.

The 4Kids dub had wit, humour, deep emotion, suggestive comments and flights of fancy. The voices fitted the characters well.

Unlike the current one, where everyone sounds on the verge of vomiting, but then they're clearly working with substandard material on a miserly budget. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear after all.

Dubs can be bad, but the very state of being a dub doesn't confer worthlessness automatically. Considering the work gone into them, attempting to gain your favour, it seems rude not to appreciate the time and energy spent in production.

Knowing a little about history, sub-only fanatics remind me of the kind of folk who opposed an English Bible, because it was too good for the oiks to read the word of God.

Of course it was alright for them, rich enough to be taught Latin, but not so much the ordinary man.

It amuses me how dozens dismiss the dub, but see no hypocrisy in using its evidence to further their ship or anti-ship arguments, so it can't be that revolting.

It's also bizarre that so many hold sacred the sub of a series currently in a frenzy to shed every aspect of its anime and Japanese origins, leaving a vague, rootless ghost, supposedly making it easier to slip down the gullet of the masses.

Pokémon I've seen referred to as a 'gateway drug', as in the anime that introduced a generation to the entire concept. This means the dub. You would not have got enough kids in the late Nineties to read a screen rather than watch it, and even today most would lose interest rapidly.

Where would you be without that dub? Unless you're Japanese, your first experience of Pokémon will have been a dub, and if not the American, the one where you live, which was only made because there was the funds available.

You may have then progressed to watching the sub, but only because that dub stirred love in your soul.

Where would the franchise be without that dub? You think Pokémon would've grown to be a world-wide obsession raking in billions by itself? No, it'd still be a solely Japanese phenomena, and most likely never lasted this long.

Its decades of supremacy rests on the quality of that dub. It sold games and merchandise to kids by the ton, giving an incentive to keep the series going. If you're not a fan from the first wave, then your favourite era would have never existed had it not been financially attractive carrying on.

The team who wrote the first film actually preferred the dub, moved to tears by its emotive use of music, therefore they aren't so precious as the fans.

Where would anime be without that dub? Pokémon brought it to the West. A handful slipped through previously, but made minor impression.

To those who would dismiss Pokémon entirely in favour of more 'worthy' output such as Studio Ghibli, I would say that Pokémon, first the games, then the programme they inspired, must have an integral quality to have caught on in Japan, which isn't exactly short on similar concepts.

To have gained popularity in a crowded market, and so fervently a dub became an option, can only have come about because it held a certain magic.

It was the dub that smashed a hole in the cultural barrier, setting free the tidal wave to engulf the world. In Pokémon's trail followed Digimon, Cardcaptors, Monster Rancher, Yu-Gi-Oh! et cetera.

Without Pokémon, I doubt they'd have been translated, and definitely never broadcast on mainstream television. That came about as channels desperately hunted down anything Japanese to serve as the next craze.

I really appreciated the effort made by 4Kids in converting every aspect of the series to suit American tastes, including changing text on signs, letters and books into English. I assumed this was standard practice until I watched others.

I could never be as involved in them as I was Pokémon because of that block. It was like being denied access to the deeper waters, fenced into the shallows, and implied a rushed dub, with little care shown but to chase the same crowd and money.

If personified, the dub 'n' sub wouldn't be one human being, but rather identical twins: the same to a casual observer, but easy to tell apart by the more attentive.

It's like the games: Red and Blue are versions of a single adventure, but not totally one. Take the dub and the sub the same way. They are parallel dimensions running on separate rails, and beyond reconciliation, and that's before we consider that, sub and dub alike, each generation has only a faint relation to its predecessor, working on its own whims.

Everyone has a favourite, or can like both, and there's nothing wrong in that, but so many are proud of the fact they hate the dub, as if it conveys a revered status of supremacy.

When Disney films are shown abroad, they too are translated, and I'm sure references and jokes are redesigned to make sense to the locals. It's no use selling yourself as a comedy then being surprised when the audience refuses to laugh, having no idea what you mean.

If people prefer that one, for being what introduced them to Disney as a whole, or as a fond memory of childhood, then so what?

I don't mind if their view of a character is minutely at odds with mine, having seen the original, because what they think is canon to their version, so can't be wrong.

I don't go round declaring every Disney dub to be pathetic by its nature, that viewers of them are of a lesser breed of fan for preferring their own tongue, even though more of the world's population understand English than they do Japanese.

If you enjoy one tailored to your country there's no crime in it, just as I like one at least comprehensible to mine. It's not even my culture, but I pick it up mostly.

The choice must be made on which to follow, and this blog runs on dub canon, as that has a claim on my heart. Just because I don't acknowledge what takes place in the sub doesn't mean I'm unaware of it, but it has no bearing on what I write.

The idea that the dub alters things willy-nilly without rhyme nor reason is also mistaken. Often it does it because the original does not make sense.

In the sub, I know Nanny and Pop-Pop are just a couple of old duffers taken at random and dropped in to a castle, supposedly as James's far away nannies.

Oh yeah, that's a cushy position. You doing a lot of child care from miles off?

Mind you, it used to describe 'em as 'caretakers' on Bulbapædia, as if Nan serves as housekeeper whilst Pop tends to the garden.

That's right. Ma and Pa finally got some work out of this pair of freeloaders.

They're not related, remember? No, no, absolutely not, no way. Of course their style reflects that. They just gave Pop a 'tache, thick eyebrows and a bigger nose, and Nan got a bun and lines in her hair, but there's certainly no connection. Oh no. Such a thing is ridiculous.

They're NOT family. No. Yet Hoenn James still panics they might learn he's joined Team Rocket, spending the whole episode trying to hide the truth.

Why? Who are servants to criticise the son of their employers? Why should their opinion be of any consequence to Hoenn James, especially when his parents, fiancée and butler are cognizant of reality?

Children of aristocrats are usually brought up by governesses, thus develop a stronger attachment to these figures rather than their parents, but that isn't the case here.

James lived with Ma and Pa, not the codgers minding the castle. He would have very little contact with distant employees compared to those who waited on him daily, so why seek out their approval?

Hoenn James apparently was permitted visits to Nan 'n' Pop, which is strange considering they're not relatives. Why them and not any other house-stters?

That's right, Ma and Pa sent their son to one of their properties without them, entrusting him to the care of two shrivelled pensioners of his size that he barely knew, and who could keel over at any minute. There are no other servants present. Apparently Nan and Pop clean an entire castle by themselves.

Oh, and they run a makeshift Pokémon sanctuary, but since it's not their home it has to be done with Ma and Pa's blessing, who also have to pay for it, but they're eevul aren't they?

The idea that somehow Nanny and Pop-Pop have not cottoned on to James's occupation by now is risible.

Servants gossip about their masters. I bet the entire household of his home know, and so in turn does the county. That Nan and Pop remain oblivious proves how isolated they are, for no one's thought to inform them.

When it came to dubbing it, they were made his grandparents, removing all the above nonsense. Of course he visits his nan and granddad, it's their gaff and their money funding the place, and it is likely his mother or father would keep James's job a secret, for fear the shock would finish 'em off.

It should do really. If they're not bothered by it that's a sign of where his rapscallion ways were inherited.

They aren't facially akin to Ma and Pa, but display the same additions, so if staff it's bloody lazy, as if nannies have to resemble your parents, but inventing a blood link excuses the slothful characterisation.

Every reference I've seen on Tumblr relating to the coffin-dodgers calls them Nanny and Pop-Pop. Apparently the dub decision is met with universal approval. It does have redeeming aspects then.

Now the sub writers, rather than ignore this development, took to it too. They aren't exactly bursting with ideas these days and are probably grateful for the lifelines offered.

Remembering James had parents, they forced a likeness between them and Nanny and Pop-Pop. How else do you explain the inexplicable ageing, even when Sinnoh Ma and Sinnoh Pa are younger than Ma and Pa?

I've also known for years that the sub has this woman as Jessie's foster mother, not Ma Jess, but that's stupid.

I can grasp the idea that Jessie and Ma might have endured extreme deprivation, considering that's what Team Rocket has brought to Jessie anyway, and that they may have lived at the bottom of Mew's mountain prior to Ma's death.

What I find difficult to take in is that social services (or as they're known where I live, the S.S.), however notoriously awful they are, would give a child to a mad bitch in a shack with no running water.

Come on, they have to at least pretend to be concerned for Jessie's welfare.

As Jessie is very young, bereavement can't have befallen her in the distant past, so how can she be happy this soon after becoming an orphan? How could the grieving period be a cherished memory?

If that woman's creaming off the money, why hasn't she fixed the place up by now? Where do the payments go, sniffing glue?

Then there's the depiction. If this is just some daft bint never to be mentioned again, why do they conceal her face? Who cares what she looks like when she's unimportant?

Here's another figure from Jessie's past. She isn't disguised, and why not when she too briefly appears and is then forgotten?

Who was she?

The only sort of characters they tended to hide were other members of Team Rocket:

During the early scenes featuring Giovanni, he was enveloped in shadow, adding both intrigue and a sense of menace.

Madame Boss also got this treatment, even though there was probably no intention to ever feature her in the anime. What's the use in keeping an appearance a mystery if it'll remain masked?

With that pattern, it implies this woman is in the same category, like Ma Jess.

When it came to animation, it definitely was intended to be a foster mother. Not her real one. No.

What did they do?

They gave her Jessie's skin tone and purple hair hanging down her back!

You know, like Ma Jess?

Any colour would've done. Any at all, and being anime I do mean any colour, but no. The choice was made to give her the looks of the exact person she's not meant to be!

Is it that surprising the dub simplified things?

I don't mind if you like the dub, sub, both, or any from around the world, but I'm tired of the smug condescension, as if we all agree the sub is the only one that counts, and that dub fans are grunting troglodytes, or not 'proper' aficionados.

None of us would be here were it not for the dub. Pokémon would not be here. I think it deserves some respect for how much of a difference it made, to my life and to yours.

[antoine-roquentin]

Yet, if the rule is to be applied, an obvious question is how to define mountain people. Just because people live in a mountainous area does not mean they are mountain people. I define mountain people as those who make their living in the mountains rather than in the valleys. For instance, Korea and Japan are mountainous, but are also rice cultivating societies—which means most of their people make their living in the valleys rather than the mountains. By contrast, mountain people make a living through raising livestock, mining, logging, smuggling, quasi-nomadic agriculture or other economic activities that take place in the mountains—not the valleys between them. Perhaps most important, most of these activities do not require them to defend a specific piece of terrain.

However the fact remains, there is no clear-cut, academic definition of mountain people. But, in the tradition of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, you will know them when you see them. It will be even clearer if you choose to fight them.

The next obvious question is why are mountain people so hard to conquer? There is no question the difficult terrain favors the defenders—particularly if the defenders choose to fight as insurgents. While the invader can fight his way into the territory, he most often cannot locate and destroy the insurgents. The rugged terrain, with its caves, forests, cuts and gullies connected by routes known only to locals provides sanctuary and relatively safe movement even when outsiders have complete air supremacy. The mountains provide almost unlimited hiding places for local forces.

Further handicapping the invader, supply routes are always limited and frequently have numerous chokepoints which provide excellent locations for insurgent ambushes. To maintain a force in a mountainous area, the invader must provide security for long, vulnerable supply lines. He cannot concede the tactical advantage of the high ground to the insurgents but rarely has enough troops to control all the high ground on his lines of supply. YouTube has hundreds of videos of U.S. and allied forces blazing away at Afghan mountains hoping to suppress unseen insurgents. The invaders are usually firing blindly because despite owning the best technology in the world, they cannot find the insurgents. A few insurgents sniping at outposts and ambushing the supply routes tie down hundreds of government troops.

When dealing with outsiders, mountain people use the terrain to neutralize the attacker’s numerical or technological superiority—and their toughness to wear the interlopers down. When pushed by the Russians and then their Chechen puppets, the Chechens rebels withdrew to the mountains in the mid-1990s and continued their fight. In the last two decades, various Pakistani terrorist groups have maintained themselves in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to continue their fights in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Kurdish PKK has used its base in the mountainous southeast and east of Turkey to fight the Turks for over thirty years. And for over one thousand years, relatively small Christian communities in Lebanon and Syria have held their mountainous villages against lowland Muslim populations.

Campaigns against mountain people often become wars of attrition. In Afghanistan, the Soviets “successfully” invaded the Panjshir Valley nine times . Each time they caused great damage to the Afghan defenders, their families and their property. Yet each time, the Soviets withdrew and left the Afghan insurgents in command of the valley. Soviet and Afghan government forces were never able to suppress the insurgents and could not sustain forces in the rugged terrain. For while the Panjshir is a called a valley, it is really a long narrow corridor with limited access flanked by high mountains. In short, it is really a mountain fastness. Other than by rapidly depopulating a mountainous region, as Stalin did with the Caucasus in 1944 , outsiders have required very long campaigns to integrate mountain people into their societies. The political will often failed and the outsiders withdrew, settling for a series of punishment raids to “discipline” and contain the mountain populations.

Even if an outside force does take control of a mountainous region, it will find it very difficult to maintain control. Unlike most lowland societies, mountain societies are physically fragmented , which leads to social fragmentation. While river valleys and plains provide natural lines of communication, which tend to unify a society, often by conquest, mountain ridges separate communities. In particularly rugged terrain, villages as little as ten miles apart by direct line can take a day or more to reach on foot. And during winter, they may not be able to visit each other at all. Just as important, mountain societies do not consistently produce the large surpluses necessary to support a bureaucratic government and thus have only infrequently been able to afford or need a central government to protect that surplus. In contrast, lowland societies have historically produced surpluses, have needed a government to protect those surpluses and developed the stratified social structures to do so. The presence of surpluses and lack of defensible terrain provided the incentive and the resources for strong men to unify these lowland regions. While most lowland societies become unified political entities, mountain societies usually remain fragmented. An invader must deal with each small political entity (family, clan, tribe, etc.) and with the long-term conflicts between them if the outsider hopes to control the mountain populations.

Yet terrain only explains part of the difficulty of “pacifying” mountain people—and the least significant part. Culture is a much greater problem. Mountain people tend to be clannish, inwardly focused, belligerent toward outsiders and tough. Constant infighting among clans and families insures their fighting skills and toughness are continually honed. Between 1991 and 2012, over ten thousand Albanians died in feuding—up to 20 percent of all males in Albania’s mountain communities. David B. Edward’s Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier highlights the role conflict between cousins plays in Afghan society. Edward describes how cousins compete to lead their generation of the family. These competitions are often violent. “The word in Pashto for ‘male father’s-side first cousin’ is tarbur, which is, at the same time, also one way of saying ‘enemy’ in Pashto.”

Internal feuds between families, clans and tribes are an inherent part of many mountain cultures. In the United States, feuds between mountain families are legendary in West Virginia , Kentucky , Tennessee , Alabama and Arkansas . In Iraq, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) actually invited Saddam Hussein’s army into Kurdistan to help drive their rivals, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, out of Kirkuk. This was in 1996, when the United States was providing security guarantees for Kurdistan after the 1991 war with Iraq. Since then , the KDP has both suppressed the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting for a Kurdish state in Turkey’s southeast, and allied with the PKK to fight the Islamic State. Separated by harsh terrain, mountain people often fight each other—until outsiders show up, and then they loosely cooperate to eject the outsider, before returning to their intramural conflicts.

And the conquerors frequently left. Historically, they have only stayed when the resources available in the conquered territory’s strategic value made it worth the expense of maintaining control. For instance, England held Scotland despite the high cost because control eliminated a serious threat to its rear during its fights with continental enemies. If an area didn’t have economic or strategic value, the occupying power came to understand it was cheaper to deal with any threat from the mountains by blocking it in rather than trying to change the mountain society via occupation. The choke points that keep outsiders out can also keep mountain people in.

Most importantly, many mountain people apparently do not want to be part of the neighboring lowland societies. They have been watching the lowlanders for decades if not centuries. If they wanted to be part of the lowland society, it is literally downhill. Those that choose to move to the flatlands do. But, for a wide variety of reasons, many have chosen not to.

[birdyocs]

Yuki

Biographical Information

Name: Yuki Sonozaki

Alias: Snow Queen

Personal Description

Birthday:

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Height:  5'3"

Hair Color: White

Eye Color: Gray

Blood Type:

Quirk: Cold Manipulation (original), Cryokinesis

Status

Birthplace: Near Shizuoka Prefecture

Family: Shoto Todoroki (Cousin)

Occupation: Student

Affiliation: U.A. High School

Fighting Style: All Rounder

Appearance

Yuki is a pale-skinned young woman with pale grey eyes and long white hair pulled into pigtails held with white ribbons and bangs and wavy fringe that frames her face. 

During school hours, she wears the regular female U.A. uniform, with thermal black tights and black flats.

Personality

The Sonozaki family were one of the great groups that ran the criminal underworld in Japan.  Traditionally the first-born child inherits the roll of the head of the family.  As such Yuki is heiress to the Sonozaki family.  In an effort take down her family Yuki went to U.A. to become a hero. 

Yuki has felt lonely throughout her life, which translated into a cold nature.  Constant military-ques training added a heavy strain, explaining her often difficult personality.  After warming up to people, she places a great deal of trust in her friends and confides in them when she feels the need, without abandoning her usual strict attitude.

She is irritable and confident in her abilities, though also acknowledges her deficiencies and the need to hone her skills further.  Her confidence in her skills and intellect often comes off as arrogance to others.  Yuki takes her failures very seriously and will train day and night until she feels she has overcome that failure and become stronger.

Yuki takes her time at U.A. very seriously, taking notes even when the topic is not related to the knowledge she seeks.  She equates such dedication in the classroom with dedication in the field.  Thus, she is annoyed at those who do not take things seriously, especially when it comes to becoming heroes.  Yuki remains calm and tactical during encounters and mentally coaches herself.  She is thoughtful and fights with precision and coordination.

After speaking with Aizawa, Yuki's attitude appears to change, as she takes time to reflect on how she acts to others.  She opens up to Bakugo, and gains an important friend and rival; though she does not halt future critisms.  Yuki's development carries into her whimsical and humorous side.

Abilities

As the heir to the Sonozaki name, Yuki was raised from youth to strive to be the best in all she did, and combat was no exception. As a testament to her skills, Yuki was on the top ranking of the U.A. Recommendation Entrance Exam.  Yuki can move quickly and is creative on the battlefield.

Excels in chemistry and math, in order to know the freezing temperatures of multiple elements/objects; as well as what point they become brittle vs stronger.   

(Original) Quirk: Cold Manipulation

Can create, shape and manipulate cold by reducing the kinetic energy of atoms and thus making things colder, ranging from subjective feeling of cool to absolute zero.

This quirk leaves her body at a very low temperature, which is why she is always wearing some form of thermal wear; from gloves, scarves, knit stockings, etc.

Super Move(s)

Cold Snap: Yuki rapidly drops the temperature around her to subzero.

Run on Water: Yuki can run across a surface of water by concentrating her powers to her feet at the point of contact to rapidly freeze the water giving her a temporary solid surface.

Freezing Touch:  When touching something she can instantly freeze it

Cryo-Freeze: Yuki instantly surrounds herself with a block of thick ice.  She can block large amounts of damage but cannot move or use any of her other abilities while encased.

Kidnapped by the League of Villains and experiments run by Daruma Ujiko; Yuki’s quirk changed.  Whether it is an empowered version of her original quirk or someone else’s is still up for debate.

Gained the ability to conjure and manipulate ice and snow.  With her abilities she can manifest, and shape various structures made of ice and snow, or cold phenomena from snow flurries to blizzards.  Most of her powers are unleashed via her hands.  She can create enchanted snowmen (both large and small), ice structures, deadly blizzards and more.  She can move ice structures at will.  Nearly her entire body is capable of conjuring ice and snow.  She has gained an immunity to the effects of cold weather.  Despite not having this new quirk for long she is capable of using her abilities for battle.

Interestingly enough, when Yuki is truly frightened or feels threatened, her powers will act on their own in accord in order to protect her.  When a rescue team is sent to free her from the lab where she was being kept she was able to unconsciously create ice clones of herself. 

As she gains more control of these new abilities she can conjure her quirk in more impressive and stronger forms, from controlling all the ice particles to create lifelike ice sculptures of people from memory to trying to cross a raging body of water by freezing the deadly waves.  While she could manipulate the flow of snowflakes, she is now capable of control over heavier forms of ice.

Super Move(s)

Ice Daggers: Very sharp icicles that she can throw expertly from a distance

Ice Claws: Yuki's ice claws are just as strong if not stronger than titanium, as they can easily cut and destroy objects.

Ice Punch: Yuki encases her hands with ice and punches her enemies thus freezing them in tandem with wounding them.

Ice Clones: Yuki has the ability to create ice clones of herself or others.

Ice Wall: Yuki generates an enormous ice wall.

Blizzard: Yuki summons gusts of wind and snow in a wide area.  Foes caught in the blizzard are slowed, those who linger too long are frozen solid.

Stats

Power: B

Speed: C

Technique: A

Intelligence: A

Cooperativeness: B

 Equipment

The design on Yuki's costume is based on a figure skaters’ outfit.  It's a blue long sleeved dress that gradates from a dark blue on the tip of the sleeves to and ice blue in the middle and back to the dark blue on the skirt.  She wears ice blue tights and white boots.  The entire costume is specially designed to help regulate her body temperature.  

Playlist

[creativepublishers61]

The Village

The village is a small settlement that is usually found in a rural environment. It is usually larger than a "hamlet" but smaller than a "city". a few geographers especially define a village as having among 500 and 2,500 inhabitants.

In most parts of the world, villages are human settlements clustered around a central point. A focal point is often a church, market, or public place A public space can be an open area (from time to time referred to as a village inexperienced), or a advanced square (from time to time known as a plaza or piazza).This type of village organization is called Nucleated Settlement.

Some villages are linear settlements. They do not cluster around a central public space, but around a line. This line can be natural, such as river bank or beach. (Fishing villages are often linear settlements.) Linear settlements can also be formed in the vicinity of a transportation route, such as a railway.

Planned villages are communities that do not develop around a single focal point. These have been outlined by urban planners, often to avoid land-use conflicts that are common in nucleated settlements.

Planned villages are sometimes called "new cities". For example, Tapioca in Finland was planned as an "ecological village" or "garden town" in the 1950s. The non-profit organizations that Tapiola planned were guided by the principle of providing local employment with all income levels and establishing life in harmony with nature and the natural world.

Villages often function as units of local government. In China and Japan, a village is a government administrative unit. An administrative unit is a unit of government that has its own leadership (like a city council) and provides services, such as mail delivery.

Villages of the past

In the past, rural villagers were usually engaged in basic activities like farming or fishing within the uk, a "pit village" is a agreement whose primary career is digging.In many underdeveloped countries, these primary activities are still the focus of rural life.

Initial activities provide basic products and services for residents and the people of the surrounding area. Thus, some villages act as trade centers. Villages around the Syrian city of Damascus, for example, have been centers of trade for thousands of years.

Many villages were surrounded through thick partitions or gates.For example, a cotton is a traditional building among the Hakka people of southern China. These walled, circular buildings are built around a large, open, central courtyard. Most of the villagers live on cotton - up to 600.

The Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century and early 19th century changed the life of the village forever. The Industrial Revolution, defined as the transition from animal-based labor to product-making machines, greatly increased productivity. As it happened, countless small villages became towns and cities.

In this process, called urbanization, nucleated settlements develop around the factory, not the church or community center. This trend started on the island of Great Britain and eventually spread around the world. Hampstead was an English village that expanded rapidly after the opening of the railroad in the 1860s, for example. Today, Hampstead is a major neighbor of London.

Today is village life

Agricultural villages have remained the mainstay of rural settlements throughout most of the world. (In most cases in North America and Australia, however, the most common form of rural settlement is isolated farms.)

Most of the villages in the developed countries are no longer leaning towards basic activities. Cultural change, globalization, and other factors have encouraged residents to seek other occupations or, in some cases, relocate. In the Soviet era, perhaps the most radical change in rural life took place in Russia. In the 1920s, Russia was an agricultural country, with more than 75 million people living in rural areas. Russia quickly became an industrial country, with the government supporting a production-based economy based in most cities. by way of the cease of the Soviet Union in 1989, fewer than 40 million Russians lived in villages.

Some urban dwellers have moved to villages and traveled to big cities and towns for jobs. This phenomenon is called "city flight" or "colonial colonization".Villages or suburbs not only grow, they gain political power. Conflicts between rural and suburban residents and urban dwellers over resources and priorities often define political debate in urban areas such as Delhi, India or Mexico City, Mexico.

The term "village" is sometimes used to refer to specific neighborhoods within a larger urban area. The village of Greenwich in New York City, for example, has enjoyed a reputation as an artistic enclave for over a century. nowadays, the "village" is an top middle elegance residential place.

[covid19updater]

COVID19 Updates: 08/19/2021

World:  The effectiveness of the #PfizerBioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 declines faster than that of the #AstraZeneca jab but after greater initial effectiveness, according to a new UK study published on Thursday 

Singapore:  Singapore to launch its first #COVID19 vaccinated travel lanes with Germany and Brunei; fully vaccinated travellers will not have to serve a stay-home notice LINK

UK:  The decision to not recommend children wear masks to primary schools - referred to in the Dept of Education Covid19 Response Plan - is based on HPSC 'Interim Guidance' from *AUGUST 2020* It is based on what was known about Covid & children in *JULY 2020* This is scandalous.

Mississippi:  More than 20,000 students in Mississippi are in quarantine after first week of school LINK

Australia:  Australia reports their most cases in a single day during the entire pandemic.

World:  ASTRAZENECA COVID-19 VACCINE 61% EFFECTIVE AT PREVENTING INFECTION 90 DAYS AFTER 2ND DOSE - OXFORD STUDY PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE 75% EFFECTIVE AT PREVENTING INFECTION 90 DAYS AFTER 2ND DOSE - OXFORD STUDY

Israel:  Israel: PM Bennett declines to confirm school year will open September 1

New Zealand:  Up to 100 may already be infected in New Zealand Covid outbreak, modelling says Authorities have warned more cases are expected, given the activity of those already diagnosed with the virus. LINK

Japan:  "Home recuperation" is writing sad stories in #Japan, with members in infected families dying at home. Hospitals have no treatment beds left. Kyoto and Tokyo now improvise "waiting stations". Walls are built low, so few staff can observe the entire space. LINK

Alabama:  ‘Critical Mass Level Zero’: Ambulances In Mobile, Alabama, Stop Taking People To Hospitals Amid Covid Surge. LINK

US:  All the school reopenings are particularly dangerous because infected kids end up exposing their vaccinated parents to extremely high viral loads continuously for several weeks. Their vaccinated parents act like selective filters for every new vaccine-resistant mutation.  This coupled system of unvaccinated infected kids and vaccinated parents continuously co-infecting each other  with very high viral loads will let the variants evolve rapidly under the selective pressure from the vaccines with the kids and parents acting like two Petri dishes.

World:  How SARS-CoV-2 Evades And Suppresses The Immune System (Part 5) LINK

Oregon:  Oregon ICU occupancy ‘reaching crisis levels’ LINK

Mississippi:  Today MS is reporting over 4000 additional cases. BYERS, state epi, says "It seems like everyday this gets higher -- we have far exceeded our previous peak in the winter months in 2020 and the holidays of 2021."

Australia:  NSW Customer Services Minister Victor Dominello diagnosed with Bell's palsy -Bell's palsy is a known side effect of the Pfizer COVID vaccine LINK

World:  Croatia and Austria have become the first countries to set vaccination 'expiry dates'. The new rules mean you are only considered immune from Covid-19 for 270 days after your 2nd vaccine. LINK

Florida:  A record 17,295 people are being treated for COVID-19 in Florida hospitals right now. Only 6.8% of our ICU beds are still available. We can't afford for any more people to be hospitalized. Get vaccinated. Mask indoors.

Mississippi:  EXPLOSION of #COVID19 in first 2 weeks of schools, Mississippi—2021 vs 2020: Student Cases 2021: 5,993 30x more vs 2020 Teacher/Staff Cases 2021: 1,496 6x more Students Quarantined 2021: 24,769 12x more

World:  Plastic anti-Covid barriers now common in public places have little effect on the virus, and in some cases could help it spread, research suggests. LINK

Israel:  Almost 60% of hospitalized patients w/Covid in Israel are fully, Science Mag reports, despite 78% of those 12 and older in Israel being fully. The experience of Israel thus makes clear that so-called “breakthrough” cases aren’t such rare events, as implied by term;

South Africa:  South Africa is seeing vaccine “apathy or fatigue,” Nomafrench Mbombo, a Western Cape Provincial Health Minister warned. Since mass vaccination of the  public began in May, only 11% of nationwide adult population has been fully vaxxed and many  sites standing empty, despite 100s of daily covid deaths;

Japan:  Japan hit record 23,917 new cases, critical care beds in Tokyo near capacity, less than week Tokyo hosts Paralympic Games. Osaka, Hyogo reported record cases Wed. Tokyo recorded 5,386 cases today. 80% of Tokyo’s ICU beds are occupied, rate is already 100% Kanagawa prefecture;

Mexico:  Mexico has recorded a record 28,953 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 3,152,205. It also reported 940 more deaths and the total confirmed death toll now stands at 250,469;

Mississippi:  GOP Sen. Roger Wicker tests positive in COVID-19 'breakthrough' case LINK

Maine:  Sen. Angus King also announces a positive COVID test despite being fully vaccinated.  Sen. King announced today he has tested positive for COVID-19. “Despite all my efforts, when I began feeling mildly feverish yesterday, I took a test this morning at my doctor’s suggestion, and it came back positive,” King said in a statement.

UK:  UK Covid vaccine booster scheme likely to start in September, Health Secretary Sajid Javid says LINK

World:  A team led by researchers at UCSD have discovered how glycans act as infection gateways for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. LINK

Colorado: Sen. Hickenlooper:  I've tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19. I feel good but will isolate per docs instructions. I’m grateful for the vaccine (& the scientists behind it!) for limiting my symptoms. If you haven’t gotten your shot—get it today! And a booster when it’s available too!.  John Hickenlooper is the third US senator to announce today that he has Covid.

Florida:  Hospital  in Tampa Florida cry for help—“Cases have exploded”—now ~2x last year’s all time #COVID19 peak. Current #DeltaVariant situation— “overwhelmed” “Our ICUs are full” “Don’t call 911 unless it’s a serious emergency” “Ambulance shortage”

World:  The global shortage of semiconductors will cut worldwide auto production by as many as 7.1 million vehicles this year, and pandemic-related supply disruptions will hobble the industry well into next year, IHS Markit said. LINK

World:  Vineet Menachery, of @TheMenacheryLab, was studying coronaviruses before the world made the acquaintance of SARS-CoV-2. Back then a meeting of coronavirus researchers didn't need a conference center-sized space, as it would now. This is his take on 3rd doses of vax at this point:  After an hour of looking, have not found convincing data that booster are needed for the majority. My worry, is that even with a booster, breakthrough will still happen, especially with #DeltaVariant . Some musings on the need for #COVID19 vaccine boosters

Tennessee:  BREAKING: For the 2nd straight day, Tennessee sets a stunning new daily record for #COVID19 cases among school-age children (ages 5-18). 1,850 in today's report, up from 1,495 the day before. Previous high of 1,478 was on Dec. 15th. It has NEVER been this bad.

Mississippi:  Only 7 ICU beds are available in Mississippi, and 96 patients need them, according to the state Dept. of Health. “We are clearly at the worst part of the pandemic that we’ve seen throughout, and it’s continuing to worsen,” a state health officer said. LINK

World:  CDC director: Annual COVID-19 dose after booster not anticipated LINK (Right...)

World:  "We can't guarantee - I doubt seriously, but I don't know for sure - that we're gonna be able to say we're going to no longer need boosts every 'x' number of months," says Dr. Anthony Fauci.

World:  “It’s not one and done or two and done but three and done,” Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development's Dr. @PeterHotez says about COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. “It’s not impossible that we’ll need annual boosters, I just don’t see us heading that way for now.”

Florida:  Half of Florida hospitals turning away patient transfers

Georgia:  Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order allowing businesses to ignore mask or vaccine mandates issued by local governments: “The executive order I signed today will insure that businesses cannot be forced to follow local government ordinances regarding COVID-19.” (IDIOT)

Texas:  Texas school districts must now notify teachers, staff and families of all students of a positive COVID-19 case in a classroom, the Texas Education Agency announced Thursday. LINK

Israel:  Israel says people over 40 and teachers will now be eligible to receive #COVID19 booster shots.

US:  Despite having high statewide vaccination rates, hospitals in Hawaii, Oregon and Washington are reaching capacity as COVID-19 cases spike LINK

Texas:  Rice University is shifting classes online for the first two weeks of the semester as Covid-19 cases increase in the Houston area and on campus LINK

Jamaica:  Updated COVID-19 Measures: Jamaica announces seven no-movement days (Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays) over the next two weeks starting this Sunday: Aug 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31 and Sep. 5. On these days, there is a 24-hour curfew.

Tennessee:  Fairview Middle School doesn’t even have enough staff to open the doors tomorrow, despite the demands of ⁦@GovBillLee⁩. The virus is in control. #COVID19

Louisiana: LSU:  Testing ordered for some Greek chapters after high COVID-19 levels detected in wastewater LINK

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Nearly a third of U.S. workers under 40 considered changing careers during the pandemic (Washington Post) When Orlando Saenz was laid off at the end of January, he was devastated. For nearly a decade, he had worked as an executive assistant at an Austin law firm, and it was hard to envision his next steps. But then it dawned on him: This setback could be the kick he needed to finally finish his associate’s degree and seek a better career. A few days later, Saenz, 40, enrolled in community college. He plans to get a paralegal license. The enhanced unemployment aid gave him the financial cushion to “treat school as my job,” he said, for a few months. “If you come out of the pandemic the same as you were, you’ve missed an opportunity to evolve and grow as a person,” Saenz said. “I just realized I needed to do better.” Saenz is not alone. Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. workers under 40 have thought about changing their occupation or field of work since the pandemic began, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll, conducted July 6 to 21. About 1 in 5 workers overall have considered a professional shift, a signal that the pandemic has been a turning point for many. Many people told The Post that the pandemic altered how they think about what is important in life and their careers. It has given them a heightened understanding that life is short and that now is the time to make the changes they have long dreamed of. The result is a great reassessment of work, as Americans fundamentally reimagine their relationships to their jobs.

Food stamp benefits to permanently expand by over 25% in October, USDA announces (USA Today) Needy families will get a permanent boost to their food stamps benefits in October under an expansion of the program announced Monday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will increase benefits for about 42 million program participants by more than 25% after finishing a review that determined existing benefits are too low to pay for a healthy diet. The increase kicks in on Oct. 1, when beneficiaries in what is officially known as the SNAP program will receive an average bump of about $36.24 per month, the agency announced Monday. While benefits have increased along with inflation, the USDA said this adjustment represents the first expansion of its purchasing power since it was first introduced in 1975.

First-ever water shortage declared on the Colorado River, triggering water cuts for some states in the West (Reuters) For the first time, federal officials declared a water shortage at the Lake Mead reservoir, a status that causes a slash to the annual apportionment of water to several states in the Southwest. In the year beginning in October, Arizona will lose 18 percent of its annual water apportionment, Nevada will lose 7 percent, and the apportionments to Mexico will decrease by 5 percent. Right now, 59.2 million Americans live in a place with drought, which encompasses 99 percent of the Western United States. Total water storage in the Colorado River system is at 40 percent capacity, down from 49 percent in 2020.

T-Mobile hacked (Motherboard) T-Mobile confirmed that hackers accessed the telecom’s systems on Monday. One hacker claimed that 100 million people had compromised data in the breach, and in a forum post offered 30 million people’s data for 6 bitcoin (about $270,000). Samples of the data contained “social security numbers, phone numbers, names, physical addresses, unique IMEI numbers, and driver license information.”

Tropical storm drenching earthquake-stricken Haiti (AP) Tropical Storm Grace swept over Haiti with drenching rains just two days after a powerful earthquake battered the impoverished Caribbean nation, adding to the misery of thousands who lost loved ones, suffered injuries or found themselves homeless and forcing overwhelmed hospitals and rescuers to act quickly. After nightfall, heavy rain and strong winds whipped at the country’s southwestern area, hit hardest by Saturday’s quake, and officials warned that rainfall could reach 15 inches (38 centimeters) in some areas before the storm moved on.

Japan to extend COVID-19 emergency lockdown as cases surge (Reuters) Japan was set on Tuesday to extend its state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions to Sept. 12 and widen curbs to seven more prefectures, as COVID-19 cases spike in the capital and nationwide, burdening the medical system. The state of emergency will cover slightly less than 60% of the population after the government adds the prefectures of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka.

American diplomats reckon with Afghanistan’s collapse (Foreign Policy) Current and former U.S. diplomats who served in Afghanistan have watched the events of the past week with horror as the Taliban stormed through the country and ultimately seized control of the capital, Kabul, on Sunday, undoing two decades of hard-won progress in the country. For many American officials, the collapse of the Afghan government and the hasty evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul are deeply personal. Around one-quarter of the U.S. diplomatic corps has served in Afghanistan or Iraq over the past 20 years. In interviews with a dozen people who held posts in Afghanistan, current and former diplomats conveyed feelings of deep anger, shock, and bitterness about the collapse of the government they spent decades trying to build. Several currently serving officials, who spoke to Foreign Policy on condition of anonymity, said the events had prompted thoughts about resigning from the foreign service. But mostly the diplomats said they felt an overwhelming sense of guilt and fear for the lives of the former Afghan colleagues and local staff whom the American government left behind. “We did such a disservice to the local staff who worked for us,” said Shaila Manyam, a former career foreign service officer who had served as spokesperson for the president’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2015. “They take on incredible risks working for us and we’ve screwed them too,” she said. Ryan Crocker, who served as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012, said the fate of Afghan women weighed heavily on him. “We encouraged them to step forward, and they did. In politics, the economy, the military,” he said. “The implicit part of that deal was, ‘You step forward, and we’ve got your backs.’ And now we don’t.”

Biden’s Betrayal of Afghans (The Atlantic) There’s plenty of blame to go around for the 20-year debacle in Afghanistan—enough to fill a library of books. Perhaps the effort to rebuild the country was doomed from the start. But our abandonment of the Afghans who helped us, counted on us, staked their lives on us, is a final, gratuitous shame that we could have avoided. The Biden administration failed to heed the warnings on Afghanistan, failed to act with urgency—and its failure has left tens of thousands of Afghans to a terrible fate. This betrayal will live in infamy. The burden of shame falls on President Joe Biden. For months, members of Congress and advocates in refugee, veteran, and human-rights organizations have been urging the Biden administration to evacuate America’s Afghan allies on an emergency basis. For months, dire warnings have appeared in the press. The administration’s answers were never adequate: We’re waiting for Congress to streamline the application process. Half the interpreters we’ve given visas don’t want to leave. We don’t want to panic the Afghan people and cause the government in Kabul to collapse. Evacuation to a U.S. territory like Guam could lead to legal problems, so we’re looking for third-country hosts in the region. Most of the interpreters are in Kabul, and Kabul won’t fall for at least six months. Some of these answers might have been sincere. All of them were irrelevant, self-deceiving, or flat-out false.

A war’s secret history (Washington Post) In the summer of 2011, Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell IV made a round of public appearances to boast that he had finally solved a problem that had kept U.S. troops bogged down in Afghanistan for a decade. “They’re probably the best-trained, the best-equipped and the best-led of any forces we’ve developed yet inside of Afghanistan,” he said. But according to documents obtained by the Washington Post, U.S. military officials privately harbored fundamental doubts for the duration of the war that the Afghan security forces could ever become competent or shed their dependency on U.S. money and firepower. “Thinking we could build the military that fast and that well was insane,” an unnamed former U.S. official told government interviewers in 2016. Over two decades, the U.S. government invested over $85 billion to train and equip the Afghans and pay their salaries. Today, all that’s left is arsenals of weapons, ammunition and supplies that have fallen into the hands of the enemy. Though it was obvious from the beginning that the Afghans were struggling to make the U.S.-designed system work, the Pentagon kept throwing money at the problem and assigning new generals to find a solution. Recruiting was hard enough, but was compounded by startling rates of desertion and attrition. Another biggest hardship was having to teach virtually every recruit how to read. Making everything harder was the Obama administration’s decision to rapidly expand the size of the Afghan security forces from 200,000 soldiers and police officers to 350,000. With recruits at a premium, Afghans were rushed through boot camp, even if they couldn’t shoot or perform other basic tasks. As the years passed, it became apparent that the strategy was failing. Yet U.S. military commanders kept insisting in public that everything was going according to plan.

Blaming Afghans? (The New Yorker) The Afghans now have suffered generation after generation of not just continuous warfare but humanitarian crises, one after the other, and Americans have to remember that this wasn’t a civil war that the Afghans started among themselves that the rest of the world got sucked into. This situation was triggered by an outside invasion, initially by the Soviet Union, during the Cold War, and since then the country has been a battleground for regional and global powers seeking their own security by trying to militarily intervene in Afghanistan, whether it be the United States after 2001, the C.I.A. in the nineteen-eighties, Pakistan through its support first for the mujahideen and later the Taliban, or Iran and its clients. To blame Afghans for not getting their act together in light of that history is just wrong.

Taliban allowing ‘safe passage’ from Kabul in US airlift (AP) The Taliban have agreed to allow “safe passage” from Afghanistan for civilians struggling to join a U.S.-directed airlift from the capital, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser said Tuesday, although a timetable for completing the evacuation of Americans, Afghan allies and others has yet to be worked out with the country’s new rulers. Jake Sullivan acknowledged reports that some civilians were encountering resistance—“being turned away or pushed back or even beaten”—as they tried to reach the Kabul international airport. But he said “very large numbers” were reaching the airport and the problem of the others was being taken up with the Taliban, whose stunningly swift takeover of the country on Sunday plunged the U.S. evacuation effort into chaos, confusion and violence. Pentagon officials said that after interruptions on Monday, the airlift was back on track and being accelerated despite weather problems, amid regular communication with Taliban leaders. Additional U.S. troops arrived and more were on the way, with a total of more than 6,000 expected to be involved in securing the airport in coming days.

[friendship-korea-japan]

9.3. Intangible assets with Japanese influences

Question 9: Korea's situation after Japan's withdrawal › 3. Intangible assets with Japanese influences

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9.3. Intangible assets with Japanese influences

  During the 69-year period from the commencement of commerce between Japan and Korea in 1876 until the Japanese withdrawal from Korea in 1945, Japan had left intangible and invisible assets behind in Korea. In the following, I will provide a list of some such examples.  

(1)    During the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the Yangban (traditional ruling class or gentry) used to regard it is a shame to be involved in labor. There was a change in that attitude and frame of mind after the abolishment of Gwageo or the national civil service examinations in 1892 and the disestablishment of class systems by the Kim Hong-jip administration in 1894, as well as by the policy of the Government-General of Chosen, which disallowed any class discrimination. The people no longer felt ashamed of engaging in labor, thus generating a new work culture in Korea. In the present-day Korea, there have been a lot of achievements made possible by the work of excellent human resources.

(2)    It had been a form of self-defense for the people engaged in farming and fishing to be lazy and pretend to be poor in the era of the Joseon Dynasty. But since they were no longer plundered by the Yangban or government bureaucrats even if they became affluent under Japanese rule, a new social consciousness and work culture emerged to encourage people to work proactively. This turned to be a driving force for new development in Korea.

(3)    Since the slaves that used to be traded as merchandise with no human rights or surnames were freed from class discrimination, they became entitled to obtain their favorite surname. Under Japanese rule, every Korean person was an equal member of society, in principle.

(4)    uring the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the regional administrators had authority in all areas including administrative, police, judiciary, taxation, and military affairs. They had absolute power in that region, allowing them to plunder the farming and fishing people as well as slaves, and to receive bribes from them as they pleased, conducting repetitive misappropriation. However, due to the separation of powers between administrative, police, judicial, and taxation under Japanese rule, the sources of all evil and corruption were eliminated.

(5)    During the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the king and government officials used to appoint regional administrators in exchange for heavy bribes, selling a wide variety of job titles. Under Japanese rule, however, it was prohibited to sell those official posts and titles. Therefore, the regional administrators no longer needed to engage in huge bribery. The government bureaucrats, dispatched to rural areas, no longer needed to collect money from the commoners as well in order to raise money for such bribery. As a result, plundering from commoners was eliminated.

(6)    The financial situation of the Korean Empire had been tight until the Korean government requested the dispatch of a financial advisor from Japan. Moreover, the imperial court was indulging in a luxurious lifestyle by depriving the nation of its finances. Since the financial advisor ordered separate control of the imperial and national finances, the king was no longer able to waste the money meant for national expenditures with his audacious and endless pleasure-seeking lifestyle.

(7)    While the population of the Korean Peninsula was supposed to be about 5 million since long ago, the actual number was revealed to be 13.12 million as of 1910 in the census. This brought about another revelation that 62% of the tax amount previously collected had been misappropriated by regional bureaucrats. After the Government-General figured out the population accurately, the regional bureaucrats were no longer able to conduct misappropriation. The full amount of the tax collected turned into the revenue of the national government, and thus the problem of the national finance shortage was improved.

(8)    The courtroom in the era of the Joseon Dynasty used to be a place where any alleged criminals were tortured until they made a confession. The tortures given to the alleged criminals were so cruel that we cannot describe the details here. It had been reported by Westerners that tortures and interrogations were performed simultaneously in court as a norm in Korea at that time. The judicial system was revised to a modern version as soon as the Japanese took control, and the court became a place that could offer anyone a fair trial. Whipping was finally abolished by the decree banning whipping in Korea (April 1, 1920).

(9)    There is a written record about prisons during the era of the Joseon Dynasty which says that many inmates, irrespective of gender, were pushed into a small cage where the space per person was only 0.47㎡. Under Japanese rule, the space per person and the treatment of inmates were improved to levels that were equal to their American or Japanese counterparts. The juvenile and female inmates were separated from others. Education was offered to the juveniles to help them adapt after release from prison. Even for adult inmates, vocational training was provided in order to focus on preventing subsequent offenses. The jail administration was transformed from a full commitment to the principle of punishment in the era of the Joseon Dynasty to the principle of prevention of repeat offense.

(10)    Gyeongguk Daejeon, which was supposed to be a basis for the Joseon Dynasty, was disregarded, but instead, the state was mostly governed by the king and the bureaucrats in an arbitrary manner before the system of law was introduced and consolidated by the Japanese. It is recorded in Section 2 (Establishment and review of regulations) of Chapter 1 (Review) in the “Year Book 1941 of Government-General of Chosen” that laws and regulations regarding the postal service, telegraph, industrial property rights, copyrights, and accounting were executed by the imperial decree since it was required to have legislative integration with the Japanese laws in these areas. On the other hand, laws and regulations in relation to civil law, the code of civil procedure, criminal law, commercial law, trials, prisons, education, local government systems, land expropriation, fee farms, rivers, ports, irrigation associations, forests, fishery, mining, companies, banks, loan societies, chambers of commerce, markets, railroads, roads, Buddhist temples, graveyards, taxation, national tax collection, customs, medical practice, medicine, dangerous substances, epidemic control, administrative institutions, maritime and water rescue, and businesses regulations, were introduced in line with then-Korean circumstances, and gradually revised. The government exercised its authority based on such laws and regulations. It was a transformation from the rule of men to the rule of law. This pushed forward Korea’s morphing into a modern state. Apparently, much of the system of law left its mark on Korea’s legal structure after the Japanese withdrawal.

(11)    During the era of the Joseon Dynasty, primary education for children was provided only through private teaching called “seodang”, to which female children had not been entitled. Under Japanese rule, on the other hand, elementary schools started admitting girls as well as boys. Also, by establishing 57 women’s high schools, girls were entitled to receive higher education. This gave an opportunity for girls that accounted for roughly half of the population, to study, creating an environment where girls can learn on an equal basis with boys. This opened up opportunities for women to emerge as a female president, ministers, and directors-general of South Korea as we have seen in recent cases. The women, who used to lock themselves in their houses, thus invisible outdoors during the day, started going out in the daytime in the era of Japanese rule, and around the same time, women’s liberation started to press forward.

(12)    A lot of Korean talent had grown during the era of Japanese rule. The first group of human resources developed during this period was those who ran factories and corporations. The following statement may be found on page 188, “Human resources” of “9: Legacy that Japan left behind on this land” of Chapter II: Grand transformation in the history of civilization in the book A Story of the Republic of Korea.

［As for human resources, which is worth more than anything, after the 1920s, the “pobusang” or chapman in the old regime had been replaced by merchants who owned stores and factories on fixed locations. The number of the merchants increased rapidly, and as of 1938, the increasing number of stores at fixed locations reached as many as 396,000. As of 1939, the number of Korean business/factory operators having more than five employees reached as many as 4,000. Lee Byung-chul of Samsung, Koo In-Hwoi of LG, and Chung Ju-yung of Hyundai, who are founders of enterprise groups representing today’s South Korea, were part of this most talented group of people.］

  The second group of talented human resources was of new graduates who were hired by the Government-General or schools. They did well as bureaucrats or schoolteachers. The number of these graduates reached as many as 170,000 according to A Story of the Republic of Korea. The third group of talented personnel consists of bankers, medical doctors, and lawyers. The fourth group included those who went to Japan to join a company or the military and learned the Japanese way of thinking and doing business. A lot of talented human resources in a variety of fields, such as those described above, were developed; they then remained in Korea. Many of them are engaged in a type of occupation that had not existed in the era of the Joseon Dynasty. These talented Korean people cultivated themselves based on the education provided under Japanese rule, during the course of working together with the Japanese, by going to Japan to study, or in the course of nurturing a path independently. There must have been some people who joined the Japanese military to develop themselves through strict discipline and to toughen their minds. One could argue that the existence of these human resources has led South Korea’s development after the withdrawal of the Japanese. This is also part of the intangible assets that Japan left behind in Korea.

(13)    An advisor, sent from Japan in accordance with the Japan-Korea Protocol signed on August 22, 1904, enacted tax laws in relation to the financial readjustment and compilation of budget in an attempt to secure an increase in annual revenue. The advisor also rectified any harmful effects due to the rigorous collection of taxes by traditional tax collection agencies as well as transferred the tax service and monopoly enterprises, previously performed under Gungnaebu’s control, to the government. Meanwhile, there was a budget shortfall of 2.07 million yen in 1905 (equivalent to approx. 41.4 billion yen in present value). In relation to that, a shortfall of approx. 207 billion yen in the period of five years (1905 – 1909) was made up for by the national budget of Japan (paid by Japanese taxpayers).

(14)    Moreover, at the beginning of the era of Japanese rule, the Government-General of Chosen was established, which started various activities as the government of Korea. However, there was a shortage of funding necessary for these activities. Therefore, a huge amount of funding in the name of “replenishment” or “public bonds” was poured in every year between 1910 and 1943 to cover the budget shortage and used for the reformation of Korea. According to the Government-General of Chosen Statistical Annual Report, a total of 466,107,052 yen for “replenishment” and a total of 1,593,638,633 yen for “public bonds”, both of which make for a grand total of 2,059,745,635 yen, were invested in Korea as subvention. Since the present value of the then 2 billion yen is almost 20,000 times more, the converted amount would be about 40 trillion yen.

  A colony is generally regarded as subject to exploitation, but in the case of Korea, on the contrary, a huge amount of money, which was made up of Japanese taxpayers’ money and funds collected from the Japanese, equivalent to approx. 40 trillion yen in present value, was poured in from the government of mainland Japan in order to implement various measures and policies for the improvement of Korea’s rough situation. This was also a part of the intangible assets that the Japanese left behind in Korea.

(15)    During the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the only academic discipline acknowledged was neo-Confucianism as part of the teaching of Confucianism. In response to that, Buddhism was oppressed, temples were pushed out deep into the mountains, and Buddha statues were destroyed or buried underground. Under Japanese rule, Japanese archeologists, along with the Government-General, excavated and displayed them in the museums they established. A founder of a museum in Korea was Duke Hirobumi Ito, who was later assassinated by a Korean national. At this point, the total number of showpieces displayed in the museum was 13,375, and they represented ancient Korean institutions, manners, religion, fine art, craftwork, as well as other historical references.

  On August 8, 1933, the Government-General enacted “Preservation ordinance for Korean treasures, historic remains, scenic spots, and natural monuments” to protect Korean cultural assets and natural monuments by strictly prohibiting them from being sold off overseas. At that time, in Korea, there was no concept of excavating relics previously disposed of or buried, and of cherishing and preserving them as cultural assets. There was no archaeology, nor any archaeological experts. The act of excavating and preserving cultural assets that nobody had even thought about during the era of the Joseon Dynasty or Korean Empire was an intangible asset that the Japanese left behind in Korea. There was no interest in this field among the Korean people at that time. The existence of the showpieces that were as many as 13, 375 was a sign that the excavated cultural assets of Korea had been treasured.

(16)    Teaching of Confucianism was all about knowledge from the era of the Joseon Dynasty to the beginning of the era of the Korean Empire. Since Korea opened the door and sent delegates to Japan, an effort to provide a Japan-like educational system started. However, for the Japan-level educational system to be put into place, they had to wait for the Governor-General’s heightening of enthusiasm for education and readiness for a large investment exceeding 14 trillion yen in present value. At the time of the Japanese withdrawal from Korea, anyone, both male and female, was able to go to school. There were no restrictions on learning due to one’s social status or gender, unlike in the era of the Joseon Dynasty. The Government-General reached out to remote areas of the Korean Peninsula to educate people in an effort to eliminate illiteracy. The importance of education was increasingly recognized by the Koreans, thus improving their educational and intellectual level. Formal education served as a “nursery bed” to cultivate Korean human resources.

(17)    The absence of a decent monetary system during the era of the Joseon Dynasty constituted a limiting factor for the development of commerce and economy. The monetary and financial system, which became the foundation for Korea’s development, was established under the instruction of a Japanese advisor invited by the Korean Empire. Korea became a modern state with the monetary/financial system put in place during the era of Japanese rule. Because of the orderly financial system, a market-based economy started to function. The market-based economy was an experience that the Korean people had for the very first time under Japanese rule, and something that was passed down to the present Korean regime.

(18)    Ever since the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876 was executed and both countries began exchanges, up until the Japanese annexation of Korea, the Eisei Sekija movement (which is to focus on the Cheng-Zhu school and reject modern Western civilization) gained steam in Korea. There were presumptuous ideas prevailing that Korea was the country with the most sophisticated civilization in the world. During this period, the Yangban and righteous armies were playing an active role in attempts to reject the Westerners and the Japanese as well as to deter Korea’s opening up to the world and modernization. After Japan took control of the Peninsula, there were no more major anti-foreigner movements, and Korea started looking outward. This became the basis for Korea to further develop as a country.

(19)    Up until the early era of Japanese rule, gangs of bandits had been rampant everywhere in Korea, making the people tremble with fear of being attacked in their home. Therefore, the Government-General deployed military police squad stations, consisting of both Japanese and Korean forces, at 499 locations to cover every nook and cranny throughout the state in order to suppress the bandits. As a result, the gangs of bandits were eliminated from the Korean Peninsula. This brought about peace of mind to the lives of the Korean people.

(20)    Kakugoro Inoue, one of Yukichi Fukuzawa’s disciples, advocated the need for newspapers. He became an advisor to the Korean government, and lobbied to establish the Office of Culture and Information. Inoue’s leadership and effort resulted in the publishment of the Hanseong sunbo (the Seasonal Journal Hanseong), Korea’s first newspaper. Pak Yung-hio and Yu Kil-chun were present at the scene in the beginning of this movement, but Pak was later exiled while Yu left Korea to study in the United States. The movable type printing presses (“movable type”) for Classical Chinese used at that time were brought into Korea by press operators such as Kozo Miwa.

  However, the printing machines were burned in an arson attack on the Office of Culture and Information during the Gapsin Coup led by Kim Ok-Gyun. The 39thHanseong sunbo became the final issue before the newspaper went out of existence in December 1884.

  At the time, all documents and books in Korea were written in Classical Chinese because Korean intellectuals of that era despised Hangeul as a non-authentic writing system. Thus, they continued to use only Chinese characters (Classical Chinese) in official documents that signified a sense of privilege of the literary elites.

  Yukichi Fukuzawa thought that in order to make Korea a civilized country, the people in Korea needed to know what was happening around the world and to learn the significance of civilization and enlightenment. So, he invented a movable type for Hangeul for the first time in the world, used his own money to make a Hangeul movable type, and promoted the publication of newspapers printed in both Chinese characters and Hangeul. In June 1885, Kim Yunsik who was appointed as president of the Office of Culture and Information requested Inoue to purchase a new printing machine and movable type for Hangeul for the republication of the newspaper. Fukuzawa’s disciple Inoue went back to Japan to buy a printing machine and movable type for Hangeul produced by Fukuzawa and brought them back to Korea. The 1st issue of Hanseong Jubo, the first newspaper in Korean history that was printed in Chinese characters in combination with Hangeul, was published in January 1886 through the collaborative effort of Kim Yunsik and Kakugoro Inoue.

  We might say that Hangeul that had been unused for about 440 years, was revived by Yukichi Fukuzawa and Kakugoro Inoue. However, the newspaper unfortunately went out of existence when the Office of Culture and Information was closed on July 7, 1888 due to deficit finance.

  Eight years later, Tongnip Sinmun (The Independent) printed in Hangeul was published in 1896 by the Independence Association. This newspaper, having the same purpose as Yukichi Fukuzawa advocated, was issued in Hangeul in order to invoke public awareness.

  Moreover, Chinese characters and Hangeul were combined in textbooks that were used in schools in the era of Japanese rule. Prior to the era of Japanese rule, education had been offered in the seodang solely in Classical Chinese. It was only after the Japanese took control that 6 years of school education in Hangeul became accessible to 1.9 million elementary school children, significantly improving the Korean literacy rate to form a foundation for cultural and industrial development, which would then be accelerated later on.

  However, for some reason, these important facts as described above are not taught to young people, but instead, they are completely excluded in the textbooks used in present-day South Korea.

(21)    Up until the end of the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the people apparently depended on priestesses and shamans when they became ill as there were no doctors, hospitals, or knowledge about illnesses. The healthcare system was put into place for the first time in the era of Japanese rule. According to South Korea that falsifies history, in a period of 15 years between 1929 and 1943, there were 237 graduates from Keijo Imperial University Medical School, equipped with cutting-edge knowledge and skills. With that outcome along with efforts made by the Government-General, the healthcare environment was put into place, and people started visiting doctors and nearby hospitals. That was when the people became no longer dependent on priestesses and shamans.

(22)    Korea was a nation of Confucianism up until and throughout the era of the Joseon Dynasty. The hierarchy is one of the fundamental ideas of Confucianism. In that hierarchy, China, motherland of Confucianism, and Korea were regarded as Great China and Little China, respectively, while Japan with no knowledge of Confucianism was despised as barbarian.

  It was once considered that the prevailing idea of Sojunghwa in Korea had completely disappeared through the era of Japanese rule, however, it still remains on the basic level. For example, the Japanese emperor is notated in Korea as “Nichiou” with an implication of being a lower rank than “Ten-nou”. The continuing use of the term “Nichiou” even in the present day is apparently driven by the anti-Japanese sentiment of the people in Korea who cannot accept the emperor of Japan, which they disdained, being referred to as “imperial”.

  This use of the term is extremely discourteous to Japan. It is not certain whether they are unconsciously using the term or intentionally using the term because it is degrading to Japan.

(23)    Based on the Confucianism teaching of it being “a disgrace to do any sort of damage to your body, considering it is a gift from your parents”, the people used to practice the custom of not having a haircut throughout one’s life. When King Gojong issued an ordinance prohibiting topknots, the Japanese and the Kim Hong-jip administration at the time became the focus of criticism. So, the king withdrew the order and had the public kill the prime minister Kim who was pushing for modernizing reforms. Despite the fierce backlash over the ordinance prohibiting topknots, more and more people were naturally having a haircut and most people had their topknots cut and removed by the end of the era of Japanese rule. It may not be fair to say this was also one of the legacies left by the Japanese, but it surely had some Japanese influence.

(24)    Sunjong issued imperial instructions 3 years after his inauguration as Emperor and took a bold step toward annexation with Japan. The emperor of the Korean Empire officially announced imperial instructions upon proclamation of the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. A Japanese translation of the imperial instructions, included in Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty/Veritable Records of Sunjong, written in Korean is cited from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia as follows.

  [The emperor said, “It is with profound regret that the government decree for restoration has not been embodied by now, but instead, our nation has become extremely exhausted from never ending hardships. I am deeply concerned day and night having no hope for finding a course of action for recovery.

It is extremely deplorable that there is no way to get the situation under control. I cannot find any option other than to entrust this important duty to a third party to achieve the goals of the reformation. Therefore, I searched my soul and decided, without feeling any distress, that we entrust the sovereignty of our nation to the emperor of Japan, our reliable neighbor, so as to strengthen peace in Asia and to protect the Korean people’s livelihood.

I hope my subjects would understand the current state of our Empire, focus on their jobs without attempting to stage civil disturbances, be compliant with the civilized governance of the Japanese Empire, and enjoy their wellbeing. I made this decision not because I put my people behind me, but because I want to spare and revive their lives. I hope my people would heed my intent.”

August 29, 1910 <Official seal>]

  The imperial instructions, which were proclaimed by the emperor of the Korean Empire, depicted a sentiment similar to the heartbreaking grief that the last king of Silla felt when he submitted to Goryeo over the opposition of his princes and ministers. The depiction in the underlined paragraph expresses Sunjong’s lament that is exactly the same as the King of Silla’s when he submitted to Goryeo several centuries ago. Just as Goryeo was present in the neighborhood for Gyeongsun of Silla, Japan was present in the neighborhood for Sunjong of the Korean Empire. This is also believed to be invisible influence that Japan left behind in Korea.

  The photo shown is the letter of plenipotentiary appointment from the Emperor Sunjong to the prime minister Ye Wanyong with regard to consultations and execution of the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. The letter included the name and the official seal of the emperor.

(25)    The Japanese returners were allowed to bring only 1,000 yen with them when they left Korea so that all the monetary assets, including personal as well as corporate bank deposits, would become the properties of Korean individuals although they were unspecified. Despite the Japanese withdrawal from Korea, the Japanese currency had been widely used in Korea up until then, and all the assets of individuals and corporations were Japanese yen-denominated. Therefore, it was impossible that the value of the Japanese yen immediately became zero. Even after the Japanese withdrawal from Korea, the Japanese yen must have maintained its value in Korea until some sort of measures were taken. Even after some measures were taken, the value of the money should have still been retained, and they only needed to convert the Japanese yen to another currency. The enormous cash assets were obtained by some Korean citizens.

(26)    The Japanese left behind in Korea a capitalist economic system where anybody can freely engage in economic activities. This is demonstrated in the number of households per occupation in Korea as of 1939. The following statistics are included in Section 3: Household, Chapter 1: Review of the Year Book 1941 of Government-General of Chosen.

  [

Total number of households: Korean: 4,123,646, Japanese: 161,400 Agriculture:: Korean: 2,925,988, Japanese: 7,047 Fisheries:: Korean: 64,355, Japanese: 2,233 Mining:: Korean: 71,532, Japanese: 5,966 Industrial:: Korean: 122,341, Japanese: 26,478 Commerce:: Korean: 302,704, Japanese: 30,725 Transportation:: Korean: 46,696, Japanese: 9,146 Public servants/Freelance:: Korean: 141,572, Japanese: 66,007 Other businesses:: Korean: 346,148, Japanese: 6,731 Unemployed:: Korean: 102,249, Japanese: 7,068

  ]

  In addition, there were 11,478 foreign households, the details of which are omitted here. It may be said that all these occupations, except for agriculture, fisheries, and merchant which is a part of commerce, newly emerged during the era of Japanese rule. The small chores carried out in farmhouses as a sideline during the winter could not be considered as independent occupation, apparently. Going through the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, a new economic system had already been established by 1939. This is manifest in the following figures representing the Korean economy in 1939. The multiplying factor is a comparison with 1910.

Paid-in capital: 60.9 times as much as in 1910, 1,211,870,000 yen (24 trillion yen in present value)

Total trade: 40.1 times as much as in 1910, 2,395,240,000 yen (48 trillion yen in present value)

Bank loans: 36.8 times as much as in 1910, 1,506,440,000 yen (30 trillion yen in present value)

  Since no Korean citizen was forced to go into any specific occupation, one could argue that this was a capitalist economic system, in which anybody can freely participate in according to one’s ability. As the Korean population that participated in this capitalist economic system was many times bigger than that of the Japanese, it seems unlikely that this economic system would have suddenly disappeared after the Japanese withdrawal.

  Since the present South Korea has not turned into a socialist or communist country, it is assumed that this capitalist economic system has basically been taken over. Needless to say, there were company managers, administrators, engineers, technicians, office clerks, and workers included in the Korean households listed above per occupation.

    The affairs mentioned above are intangible assets that were left behind in Korea with significant Japanese influence during the 69-year period between 1876 when Japan started exchanges with Korea and 1945 when the Japanese withdrew from Korea.

  Thus, seeing the tangible assets (1) through (21), etc., that Japan has left behind in Korea, as well as the intangible influences (1) through (26), where did the “enslaved condition of the Korean people” as mentioned in the Cairo Declaration exist? All the Korean people were free and active. This was not a state of slavery. To put it another way, the recognition of the three leaders of the United States, Britain and China who issued the Cairo Declaration was based on a false perception of Korea.

  Here is an off-topic digression. Duke Hirobumi Ito built a museum in South Korea and was later assassinated by a Korean citizen. The assassin is acclaimed as a hero in South Korea, but let me introduce the assassinated Duke’s view of Korea.

  As the first episode, according to Ijin gunzo, written by Inazo Nitobe, Duke Ito once said to Nitobe, “You know, the Korean people are superior. Looking at their national history, the advancements made by this country during a certain period in the past were much greater than that of Japan. There is no reason why these superior people cannot manage such a trifle nation by themselves. We (the Japanese and the Korean) are comparable to each other in our abilities.” As just described, Duke Ito highly appreciated the Korean people. He was opposed to the annexation, and advocated solidarity between Japan, China, and Korea. The assassination of Ito, who was opposed to annexation, ironically accelerated the path to the Japanese annexation of Korea at the initiative of Aritomo Yamagata.

  As the second episode, in Duke Ito’s memo dated November 1905 which was recently discovered, there was a note saying “until Korea gains national strength”. In relation to this, Yukio Ito, Professor of Kyoto University, commented, “This is evidence to support the argument that Hirobumi Ito had negative thoughts about the Japanese annexation of Korea, and advocated that Korea should remain a protectorate only until it gains national strength.” In reality, Duke Ito was assassinated, unfortunately.

[atomicdinosaurdonut]

Automotive Active Safety System Market | Synopsis and Highlights, Key Findings, Major Companies Analysis and Forecast to 2023

Market Synopsis:

Automotive active safety systems are designed to increase vehicle safety and thus to enhance the driving experience. These systems alert the driver about the upcoming issues that may turn into fatal accidents. Including active safety features such as automated lighting, automatic braking, adaptive cruise control, connection to smartphones, incorporate traffic warnings, these systems alert the drivers about other cars or dangers proceeding, keep the driver in the correct lane, and instruct them about the blind spots.

The futuristic automotive technology is increasing the role of collision avoidance and mitigating the risk of an accident. This will increase the demand for an active safety system in automotive.  Owing to the vital role these active protection systems play in security and safety of automobiles these are garnering massive Market prominence, worldwide. Resultantly, the global Automotive Active Safety System Market is growing pervasively at a rapid pace.

Acknowledging the exponential accruals the Market is garnering currently, Market Research Future (MRFR) in its recently published study report asserts that the global Automotive Active Safety System Market is expected to reach exponential heights by 2023; registering a phenomenal CAGR throughout the review period (2017 to 2023).

Factors such as growing production of vehicles and the increase in stringent government regulations for safety are some of the key driving factors substantiating the Market growth. The growing production of passenger and commercial vehicles are generating a huge demand for active safety system which is driving the Market growth consecutively. The increased emphasis on safety of the drivers is encouraging many OEMs to develop parts that provide high strength and guide the driver using the latest safety technologies.

On the other hand, factors such as high capital investment required are obstructing the Market growth.  Nevertheless, augmenting demand for the safety technologies and the increasing number of automotive unit sale worldwide is expected to support the Market growth, increasing the uptake of active safety system in the vehicles.

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   Automotive Active Safety System Market – Segments

MRFR has segmented the analysis into four key dynamics; for better understanding:-

 By Products                                        : Tyre-Pressure Monitoring System, Lane Departure Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control, Night Vision System, Driver Monitoring, Anti-Lock Braking System, and Blind Spot Detection system among others.

By Occupant Types          : Driver, Passenger, Child, and Pedestrian

By Vehicle Types                             : Passenger Car and Commercial Vehicle

By Regions                                          :  North America, Europe, APAC and Rest-of-the-World.

 Automotive Active Safety System Market – Regional Analysis

The North American region is estimated to remain the largest Market for automotive active safety systems.  Substantial technological advancements and their uptake drive the Market growth in the region.  Factors such as increasing production of vehicles and the growing demand for safety features in automobiles drive the regional market. Well-established automotive industry in this region creates opportunities for the automotive active safety Market to grow significantly during the forecast period.

The European region is another lucrative Market for automotive active safety market. Europe has been the global automotive hub for research and innovation. Undoubtedly, the resurging economy is playing a vital role in the growth of the automotive active safety Market in the region.  The growing passenger cars markets in Germany, the UK, France, and Italy will majorly support the Market growth in the region.

European countries such as the U.K. and Germany backed by the enormous investments in automotive active safety Market and related technologies account for the significant growth contributors to the Market growth in the region.

The Asia Pacific region is rapidly emerging as a promising Market for automotive active safety systems.

The APAC automotive active safety Market is growing owing to the increase in the production of passenger and commercial vehicle in emerging nations such as India, China, and Japan. The vehicle production rate is growing rapidly in the APAC region due to the presence of a number of manufacturers.  

The increase in production of vehicles is resulting in increasing the use of safety technology for better safety of the drivers.  Advancements expected to happen in the safety technology will result in the growth of the active safety system Market in the region. Furthermore, the growth in the automotive active safety Market is driven by factors such as the increasing population and urbanization led by the improving economic conditions that are increasing the purchasing power of consumers.

 Automotive Active Safety System Market – Competitive Analysis

The Market for automotive active safety system appears to be highly competitive owing to the presence of numerous well-established players having the international and global presence. Mergers & acquisitions, innovation, and brand reinforcement remain the key trends for the leading players. Vendors strive to develop low-cost, compact systems, emphasizing on improved hardware.

Many automotive suppliers and OEMs are focusing on the development of active safety system to be at the front of the competition. Strong players in the Market raise the entry barriers for new entrants. Vendors providing these systems also offer after Market services to the end-users.

They deliver products through their distribution channels and dealers. Key manufacturers incorporate strategic alliances with local dealers and automotive manufacturers to expand their business in the countries where stringent regulations restrict them to export these systems.

Key Players

Fervent players driving the Market for the automotive active safety system include Continental (Germany), Bosch (Germany), Delphi Technologies (U.K.), Autoliv (Sweden), ZF Friedrichshafen (Germany), Hyundai Mobis (South Korea), DENSO (Japan), Valeo (France), Magna International (Canada), Infineon Technologies (Germany), FLIR Systems (U.S.), Ficosa International S.A. (Spain), Borg Warner Inc.(U.S.), PSA Peugeot Citroen (France), and CAx software (India).

Industry/Innovation/Related News:

November 07, 2018 – LeddarTech (Canada), a leading global provider of high performance, affordable solid-state LiDAR sensing technology for automotive, drones, collision avoidance and more and Towerjazz (Israel), a semiconductor manufacturing company announced the development of a next-generation automotive LiDARs. LeddarTech’s LiDAR solutions enable active safety systems and semi-autonomous capabilities in vehicles, paving the way toward fully autonomous driving.

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