Major (General) Dick
"I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way." -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace
Indeed, I could not agree more. Immorality like this, this, this, this and this has no place in government policy or action. What kind of immorality were you talking about, General?
"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts. I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way." -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace.
Just so I have this straight, let me check: imprisoning children indefinitely, abduction and torture (or as they call it rendition and robust interrogation), reading citizens' email and tapping their phones without judicial oversight, bombing civilians, lying to Congress, watching a major American city drown, letting poor kids die from something as simple as a tooth infection, drilling for oil in national parks, punishing the poor while giving more money to the rich -- these things are all okay. But two consenting adults of the same gender doing what consenting adults do is wrong.
Well, at least they aren't litterbugs
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Blonde hair, brown shirts
Not content with using schoolyard bullying tactics and eliminationist rhetoric against those on the left, Ann "the man" Coulter, is now using goons against other conservatives. Of course while the cable talking heads and major news outlets are dicussing Ann's latest calculated outrage, crap like this is being ignored by most.
"How can you have the mess we have in New Orleans, and not have had deep
investigations of the federal government, the state government, the city
government, and the failure of citizenship in the Ninth Ward, where 22,000
people were so uneducated and so unprepared, they literally couldn't get out of
the way of a hurricane"
Newt Gingrich at CPAC
Coulter knows what she's doing. She grabs the headlines with some hateful bile, her comments get discussed in the mainstream media, conservatives tut-tut about her "outrageous" languague while endorsing her point of view in more carefully couched terminology and presto! the formerly fringe opinion gets lots of mainstream airtime and ink and comes to be considered reasonable.
She also acts as a smokescreen for people like Gingrich. Not matter how offensive his carefully phrased nonsense is, all he has to do is point out that at least he didn't call John Edwards a faggot.
tip of the hat to Lindsey at Majikthise and as always, go read the Galloping Beaver and Orcinus
Presented without comment
I have kids to feed and house payments to make so I'm not going to talk about the Japanese media vis a vis Prime Minister Abe's comments on the WWII Comfort Women/Sex Slaves, but I think it is important that people see this editorial from the largest Japanese newspaper. It is about what I expected. The Galloping Beaver has a nice post on this issue.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Don't mention the war
"I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it"
Continued employment precludes my commenting at length in the manner I would like to, but suffice to say those of you reading the Times, the Post and the Globe and Mail will read much more about these controversies than anyone in Tokyo will.
Gov. Shintaro Ishihara pens script on Kamakazi pilots -- just google his name to see whether this is likely to be a good idea.
Abe says "comfort women" weren't coerced -- Yeah, those 14 year olds were just asking for it, the trollops.
Education minister claims too many human rights are like too much butter and could soil Japanese purity, proposes stressing patriotic education in school system.
War crimes still coming to light
Saturday, March 03, 2007
The hills are alive with the sound of merciless imperialistic hegemony
Accidentally, my eye! I always suspected those Swiss were up to something. For centuries they've tried to lull the world into a false sense of security with their fondue, chocolate, cuckoo clocks and watches -- and that damn Julie Andrews movie. And all the while they've been arming terrorists, militants and malcontents around the world with military weapons, acting as banker to the world's dictators and criminals, and worst of all, yodeling.
For centuries,they have provided an army of mercenaries as personal guards to shore up the regime of the world's most notorious religious fanatic, who claims to god's infallible voice on earth and who rules over a theocratic dictatorship. And yet, they never fought the Kaiser or Hitler - they didn't even join the UN until 2002, claiming it might compromise their precious so-called neutrality. Ha! tell that to the freedom loving people of Liechtenstien, you bloodthirsty rosti-eating, tyrolean-hat wearing bastards!
Through stealth and trickery, they've already tried to make Geneva the center of their one-world government. They've successfully infiltrated Canada using a restaurant chain as a front; "Taste it once, love it forever" -- nice way of describing the addictive mind-control drugs they put in that sauce. But now it's all out in the open:
Obviously nukes are the only way to deal with this threat, otherwise the next thing you know we'll all be forced to toot alpenhorns, eat musili and speak French, German and Italian. The horror.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Swiftboater on the rocks
Remember back in 2004, when "swiftboating" became shorthand for flinging enough total horseshit that some was bound to stick to a candidate? George W. Bush and his merry crew of slimeballs seem to have forgotten that while the American public has a short memory, John Kerry doesn't. The GOP saw fit to name Sam Fox as Ambassador to Belgium, a man who donated $50,000 to the lying character assassins at Swiftboat Veterans For Truth. What they also forgot is that ambassadors have to be confirmed by the Senate, of which Kerry is still a member.
Oooops.
The testimony is hilarious, with Fox trying to wheedle, flatter and squirm his way through with "the-dog-ate-my-homework" level excuses about giving them the money even though he thinks Kerry is hero because they asked for it and can't actually remember who asked him to do it. Think Jon Lovitz's Tommy Flannigan being cross-examined by Perry Mason.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Best. Lede. Ever.
The only thing missing is a politician and a domestic animal of some sort.
"A jazz musician was injured Friday after jumping from a burning motor home driven by a one-time roller skating stripper from Lodi."
Fresh meat
Welcome to the blogroll Kung Fu Monkey, to whom we have linked before and who has the definitive smackdown of FOX's "comedy" program, "The Half Hour News Hour" -- he links to the opening. I'm not saying I have high standards, but linking to that kinda stuff is where I draw the line.
Jake Gittes: I wouldn't extort a nickel from my worst enemy. That's where I draw the line.
Loach Jr.: Well, I'll tell you, Jake. I knew a whore once. For the right amount of money, she'd piss in a guy's face. But she wouldn't shit on his chest. You see, that's where she drew the line.
Jake Gittes: Well, Junior, all I can say is: I hope she wasn't too much of a disappointment to you.
Monday, February 26, 2007
The Age of Dumb
As ususal, we had CNN on in the newsroom today and I was, as usual, reminded just how crappy the "News Network of Record" usually is. Larry King was on, taking a break from his breathless "coverage" of Anna Nicole Smith and promotion of American Idol to lob softballs to Laura "the Joker" Bush, followed by a short interview with James Cameron about whether researchers (and I use that term in the loosest possible sense) had actually found the actual tomb of the actual Jesus.
This lead into a segment on "Mysteries of the Bible" with former MuchMusic VJ and senior CNN hair model John "JD" Roberts exploring the usual parade of long since debunked religious based scams - the shroud of Turin, the search for Noah's Ark etc etc - while a constant computer graphic scrolled the words "faith" "religion" and "Jesus" in a quasi-subliminal way in the sceen margin.
The sound was off so I can't say for sure that Roberts wasn't ridiculing the notion that Noah Ark was for real, but given the tenor of the discussion on Larry King, in which the only person he really seemed to challenge was the scientist who was rightfully contemptuous of the notion of "proving" it was Jesus and Mary Magdelene in the tomb through DNA testing, and the current fear in the media of offending any nutbar's oh-so-sacred religious sensibilities, I'll go out on a limb and guess that his was not the skeptical point of view. The King show transcript for the Jesus tomb James Cameron segment isn't available yet, but you can find his hard-hitting interview with the first lady here.
However, lest you think it is just something in the water in the USA, CNN brings us this gem from South Korea on how children are learning that Jews control the United States.
I guess my biggest complaint about CNN and the 24-hour cable news horrorshows in general is that they constantly pander to the lowest common denominator (yeah, yeah I know, it's TV -- what the hell did I expect) with mindless celebrity worship, fearmongering sensationalist crime stories, unspeakably shallow analysis of complex issues, the not so subtle reinforcement of the notion that having money makes you smart and important and the non-stop dumbing down of western culture. If the 24-hour cable news station were the irrelevant sideshow they seem to aspire to be, such a lack of serious news content would be one thing, but the problem is that they now set the public agenda in United States and to a lesser extent the Western world as a whole.
As Jon Stewart so famously said to Tucker Carlson and Paul Begalla "Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America"
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Standing up for Canada
Peter McKay is supposed to be hobnobbing with Condi Rice this weekend - do you think this family's case is likely to come up? Or will he be too busy trying to get to first base?
Monday, February 19, 2007
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Some updating going on in the blogroll and elsewhere. We bid a sorrowful adieu to three fantastic blogs: Michael Berube, Billmon's Whisky Bar and I am Eating My Husband's Soul. All three seem to have retired from the blogosphere and we are all the poorer for it. Prof. Berube, as a prominent academic and semiprofessional pundit, can still be read here and there, and we can only pray that Billmon will come back someday (or that the New York Times will come to its senses and use him to replace the odious David Brooks) ---I don't know what happened to the author of I am Eating My Husband's Soul, but I suspect legal trouble with the Denny's chain could conceivably been involved.
In their place, we bring you Indexed, where you can find math and chart comedy along the lines of the this:
A list of good Japan blogs is in the making and I'm also looking into adding a list of podcasts, so if you have suggestions, by all means leave them in the comments.
Additionally, we have joined Blogshares -- a sort of stock market game where blogs are substituted for companies. Dave Monroe of the must-read Dave's Snarky Northern Canadian Blog (see blogroll) has generously given me his holdings in The Woodshed, which I will be splitting with him as long as he doesn't mind me trying to acquire a few more shares in his joint. So click on the link and come and drive up the share price --- we'll all get rich I tell ya! Fabulously wealthy!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
And you just know they voted Republican
Some people really never get past the mental age of three and still think the universe revolves around them. Follow the link and scroll way down to read about people who think the notion that the Earth revolves around the sun, or that it moves at all is based on Jewish Kabbalistic propaganda and responsible for the French Revolution and Communism. No, really.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Friday, February 09, 2007
Come back Chevy, all is forgiven
the Woodshed salutes CNN announcer and smart ass Jack Cafferty .
Up next on Point/Counter Point, Lou Dobbs calls Paula Zahn an ignorant slut, Soledad O'Brian will have a commentary on "Sax and Violins on Television," Richard Quest will present the news for the hard of hearing and Father Guido Sarducci will have a report from the Vatican. That's the news, Goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow.
Vigilantes by any other name still stink
Given what has been going on in Arizona, I don't think it is a huge jump to think this could be the work of fellow travelers of the Minutemen. Gee, a bunch of bigots start spouting hate, prompting a bunch of other bigots to start waving guns around and another bunch of bigots start shooting people. What were the freakin' odds? The last line of the article in the second link is telling -- human smugglers shooting people out in the desert are unlikely to be wearing something as dramatic as berets. Anything that theatrical sounds to me like a bunch of uber-patriot military fetishists turned vigilante. Doubtless the freepers can explain to us how it was all the fault of the vicitims for seeking a better life in the first place instead of staying where they were and working for some mega-corporation's dirty little branch plant for a dollar a day.
In other news from Stupidville, 25 percent of Americans think Jesus will return this year. And that is according to an Associated Press poll, not a survey of members of the 700 club. If you are an American reading this, just remember that one of the next three people you meet is likely to think the rapture is going to occur in the next 10 months. So don't lend them any money.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
"Tokyo - city of violent degenerate foreigners"
This is a magazine which just came out in Japan, "Gaijin Hanzai Ura Fairu" the translated title of which is "Foreigners Underground Crime Files" (your translations may vary).
I'll rant later, first have a look at some of the contents. As is usual with these sort of incidents in Japan, Debito Arudou has done all the heavy lifting for us lazy foreign parasites.
Here is an image from one of the chapters, that I think indicates both the tone and quality of this charming piece of racist trash:
The text reads: "Oi Nigger!! Get your fuckin' hands off that Japanese lady's ass!!"
Other highlights:
Article about crimes by Iranians:
イラン人を捕まえ！！
Catch the Iranian!!
Article lamenting Tokyo’s demise into lawlessness:
不良外人暴力都市！！
City of Violent Degenerate Foreigners!!
Article about foreigners scamming Japanese for money:
毟られる日本人。『シャチョサン、ATMコッチデス』
Japanese getting conned. “Theesaway to ze ATM, Meester Managing Director”
Feature of foreign guys picking up Japanese women (What this has to do with ‘crime’ is unclear)
YELLOW CAB REAL STREET PHOTO
お前らそんなに外人がイイのかよ！！
You sluts really think foreign guys are so great, huh!!
そりゃあ日本人は小さいけど。。
We know Japanese guys are small, but..
On its own it is appalling, but what is more appalling still is the societal acceptance of such a magazine. It isn't sold at some seedy neofascist bookstore tucked away on a side street in the redlight district or anything like that. It originally went on sale at the Family Mart chain and other major convenience stores. It isn't some obscure little rag no one will ever see, it is mainstream media. Both Debito and Japan Probe are calling for a boycott of stores selling the magazine, which seems to working
Gaijin is a bit of a nasty word. Somewhere between gringo and nigger, it is still a common, if impolite term used to refer to foreigners in Japan. My "Foreign Resident Registration Card" is generally referred to by anyone outside a government office as my "gaijin card." Many Japanese and even newly arrived expats don't even recognize it as an offensive term and a lot of expats will use it to refer to themselves and their foreign friends.
Those who don't live here may not realize that Japan has its own aparthied system. Many bars, restaurants, clubs, public baths and other establishments do not allow non-Japanese on the excuse that our inability to speak language or understand the rules will cause problems. People of Korean descent in Japan - many of whom are second, third and even fourth generation residents born and raised here and most often descendants of slave laborers brought to Japan during its colonial occupation of the Korean Penninsula before and during WWII - cannot become citizens.
It is an article of common wisdom in Japan that foreigners, especially Koreans and Chinese, and increasingly Iranians and Africans, are responsible for most of the crime in the country, a bit of common wisdom that the facts simply do not support.
"Japan's crime rate is one of the world's lowest at 1,776 reported crimes per 100,000 people in 2005, according to the latest government statistics. The number of crimes among Japan's 2 million foreign residents in 2005 was 2,380 per 100,000.
Offenses by foreigners rose to a record high of 47,865 in 2005, from 47,128 a year earlier and 40,615 in 2003, according to police statistics. The number of non-Japanese arrested is also rising, to 21,178 in 2005 from 20,007 two years earlier.
The statistics don't break out visa-related offenses, which in 2003 accounted for 46 percent of crimes committed by foreigners. By their nature such breaches can't be committed by Japanese citizens.
Japan's overall crime rate in 2003 was 2,185 per 100,000 and 2,120 among foreigners. Excluding visa offences, the rate was 1,570 per 100,000 foreigners."
(source: Bloomberg News)
Big black buses decorated with Hinomaru and rising sun military flags, blaring loud martial music and slogans ("revere the emperor and expel the barbarians" is a favorite) are a fairly common sight in Tokyo. They are operated by ultra-nationalist groups, which are in turn funded by the Yakuza often as a way to launder money. Such groups are major supporters of the rightist conservative factions of the ruling LDP party and have been known to physically attack politicians and journalists who disagree with them. As a result, they are rarely mentioned in the mainstream press.
Rampant racism, sexism and militant nationalism are the 800 pound rhinos in the living room of Japanese politics. Everyone knows they are there, but feel it would be impolite to mention them.
Here is a more comprehensive account of this horrible racist magazine (with other discussions of the same issue here, here, here, here and here)
The scary part is that this is just the latest manifestation of a much larger problem. You will notice that none of sites linked to are Japanese newspapers or other media. That's because the Japanese media has yet to mention this magazine, which is put out by a sizable publisher, or the fact that a major convenience store chain was willing to carry it in its hundreds of stores nationwide. Not even the English-language press which caters to foreign and foreigner-friendly readers.
I am frustrated, ashamed and embarrassed by this. I've lived in this country for nearly ten years now, and most of the Japanese I've met are the nicest, kindest, most open-hearted and hospitable people you could ever hope to meet. I'm sure most (probably all, at least I hope so) of my native Japanese friends would be equally appalled by this collection of racist claptrap -- I once had a total stranger apologize to me for his fellow citizens after one of the hate-blaring black buses went past in the street. But there seems to be this societal blind spot when it comes to foreigners, especially non-European ones. The not-so-subtle encouragement of this attitude in the mainstream media here, both Japanese and English-language is reprehensible. All that is required for evil to succeed, is for good men to do nothing.
Yokoso Japan, indeed
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Simple solutions to complex problems: school board edition
Problem: Born-again Christian teacher recorded by student preaching to class, telling them Noah had dinosaurs on the ark, that evolution is wrong and that anyone who isn't a Christian is going to hell, specifically singling out a Muslim student.
Solution: Ban recording in classes
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