Edacashun is importent on the net

This started out as a rant about how Honda has an airbag recall which was mentioned several times on CNN yesterday and nowhere else that I could find.

But it turned into a diatribe about education. Please read the damn comments.

A couple three things stand out. First is how many see CONSPIRACY to destroy the reputations of Honda and Toyota and thus prop up US auto makers. And secondly, how many people posted comments with all the literacy, spelling, verb tenses, verb cases and grammar of hamsters.

I find it too fucking difficult to catalog all the errors. So I won't of course.

And what would comments be without many complaints about Obama?

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Note: Headline links to source.

Why Obama Is Ignoring Europe

I'm too fucking lazy to grab all the links, but it ain't only Europe.

Try Russia, China, Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Japan... ad nauseam.

Any instances where Obama has improved US relationships with foreign countries after Shrub's horrible administration he's pretty much pissed away by now.

There's an old (really) routine by Mort Sahl where he says the President is standing before a globe with all the trouble spots colored black. He continues, "So the President is standing in front of this black globe..."

Its all black out there, folks.

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Note: Headline links to source.

US marine jailed for abusing 14-year-old Japanese girl

A US military court in Japan today sentenced a US marine to four years in prison for sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in a case that prompted renewed anger at the huge American military presence on the island of Okinawa.

Ah, but wait until the military starts deploying the people convicted of sexual offenses.

I've visited this subject before.

Note: Headline links to source.

Japan studies plan to shoot down hijacked planes

For students of history, or those old enough to remember, the thought of Japan's shooting down any aircraft has to be, at least, disconcerting.

To be fair the headline is slightly misleading because only unnamed sources are claiming this plan is in the works.

The Defense Minister won't go on record with this although he admits all things must be considered.

Why do I detect the fucking "everything is on the table ploy"?

Japan is studying a contingency plan that would allow its air force to shoot down hijacked commercial aircraft during the Group of Eight summit in July, government sources said on Thursday.

Japanese officials are working on detailed plans to protect leaders of the G8 industrial nations, which are due to meet on the northern island of Hokkaido on July 7-9, the sources said.

Under one of the plans being considered, F-15 jet fighters from Japan's air force would scramble to force hijacked aircraft to land at a nearby airport.

"But if that attempt fails and the plane is thought to be heading towards the G8 site to attack the summit, we might have to shoot it down," one of the sources said. "That would be the worst-case scenario we are considering."

Again, to be fair, the Japanese will have armed police officers on all commercial flights as well as posting a "no fly zone" so the G8 should be extremely secure.

Via Reuters.

Japan must be part of 'war on terror': Fukuda

When I read this two things immediately come to mind. Being lazy ass, I couldn't wait around for more thoughts.

Firstly we have a country, Japan, with a pacifist constitution. It isn't much globally, but its something and I sincerely hope they stay pacific.

Secondly I wonder what's really operational here. The US takes in tons upon tons of filthy lucre from armament, munitions, warefare sales. Is Fukuda envious? Does he want Japan to start producing such things? It isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda Tuesday told a resurgent opposition that Japan must not be a "bystander" in the US-led "war on terror" as he fought to extend a naval mission in the Indian Ocean.

The opposition won control of one house of parliament in July elections and has vowed to defeat government proposals to extend the naval mission providing fuel and logistical support to US-led forces in Afghanistan.

The opposition has so far ignored a government compromise that would stop refuelling operations backing combat troops, restricting support to ships policing the Indian Ocean.

Terrorists are about as much a threat to most people as muggers or traffic accidents.

Where I live there are AK-47 and M16 toting, C-4 explosive wielding, hand grenade carrying terrorists. Am I afraid or brave?

Neither.

This is pure, unadulterated bullshit.

Wake up folks. The politicians are trying to turn you into sheep and you're falling for it.

Via Agence France-Parsse.

Japan trade surplus nearly quadruples

The Rising Sun is rising again, economically that is. This is what's possible when you manufacture goods rather than base your economy on service industries.

Japan’s trade surplus nearly quadrupled in August from a year earlier as strong exports to Europe and Asia offset a slowdown in shipments to the United States, data showed on Wednesday, but economists were watching for possible fallout from softer US growth.

The data did not change views that the Bank of Japan will hold off from raising rates for a while given uncertainty about the impact of trouble in the US subprime mortgage market on the real economy.

Economists saw few signs that the global credit squeeze was taking a toll on overseas demand for Japanese goods.

Via FT.com.

Japanese defence minister resigns over remarks on atomic bombing

Ah, if only Bush had the integrity and honor of this man.

Japanese Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma resigned Tuesday taking responsibility for his controversial remarks on the US atomic bombing.

Kyuma told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that his resignation was accepted, media reported.

During his speech Saturday in Chiba Prefecture, Kyuma had said that the US atomic bombing near the end of World War II 'could not be helped'.

Fumio Kyuma resigned after one probably ill conceived statement and Bush makes such motherfucking stupid statements daily.

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Chery aims to pick off Western car markets

And they ain't bad looking. Of course quality has to be a major consideration.

In case you're confused, we're talking Chery automobiles out of China.

Despite disagreements over finances and design that delayed rolling into the US market this year, China's Chery Automobile hasn't parked its plans to challenge Toyota or Hyundai. Access to state funds and a byway into the eastern European market have Chery and other Chinese car makers revving up for another run at Detroit and Japan [emphasis mine].

Uh, isn't Hyundai Korean?

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Possible H5N1 avian flu in Philippines via Japanese egret

This demonstrates the danger of H5N1 avian flu. Its carried by birds and birds fly. Duh. No country is safe from it.

The Philippines urged people on Tuesday not to touch migratory birds in case they are infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus, after an egret believed to have flown from Japan died two days after being captured by a farmer.

"You can watch, but don't capture or touch migratory birds," Theresa Mundita Lim, director of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, told Reuters by phone.

The Philippines, a known sanctuary for migratory birds, has remained free of the virus that has killed at least 166 people worldwide but the death of the egret, captured on Feb. 5 in a village in central Sorsogon province, has sparked concern.

"There is no evidence at this time that would prove that the egret died of avian influenza," Lim said, adding it was not wise to exhume the bird for testing.

"The egret has a leg band that indicated it came from Japan."

Village officials in Sorsogon, 350 km (220 miles) southeast of Manila, presented the dead bird to the mayor, who ordered its immediate burial for fear it had avian flu, a newspaper reported.

Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes urged the public not to touch migratory birds, to prevent any possible human infection.

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Protest boats hit Japanese whaler

I'll go on record to say I'm very much anti-whaling, but this shit is unacceptable.

A Japanese whaling ship and protest vessels have collided in the southern ocean, with the protesters saying they will next ram a Japanese factory ship.

The Robert Hunter and the Farley Mowat, both Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships, collided on Monday with Japanese whale spotter Kaiko Maru in the Ross Sea, south of New Zealand.

The Japanese vessel's propeller was damaged, forcing it to send a distress signal, said Hideki Moronuki, a Japanese fisheries spokesman.

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"They are terrorists and their activities are piracy," Moronuki told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.

The protesters blamed the whalers for the collision, which punched a hole in the Robert Hunter's hull. The damage was not bad enough to force it to head back to port.

"For all this talk about extremism down here, what is extreme is the killing of endangered species in a whale sanctuary," said Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd founder and captain of the Farley Mowa. [emphasis mine]

The story goes on to say the whaler first sideswiped the protesters, but basically says the protesters intended to damage the whaler from the start. Note the highlighted passage. Harassing and obstructing a ship is one thing, but playing bumper boats with one is wrong.

Of course in cases like this where passions are high things will happen, but how about a little more intelligent behavior?

Interestingly enough, I found the above picture on the site for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The protesters are lucky the other ship had no guns. Or doesn't that flag still mean what it has for hundred's of years? Just asking.

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NKorea nuclear talks appear to secure breakthrough

Who knew? It appears negotiating can work. Are you listening here, Bush?

Marathon talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive have appeared to secure a major breakthrough with a joint agreement on first steps towards disarmament, according to envoys.

However, the deal still needed final approval from the governments of each of the six nations involved -- host China, the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia -- and could yet fall apart, they warned.

Following 16 hours of gruelling negotiations here that finished at 2:00 am on Tuesday (1800 GMT Monday), envoys said China had circulated a draft joint statement outlining the initial actions Pyongyang would take to end its nuclear drive and the economic rewards it would receive in return.

US chief envoy Christopher Hill described the draft agreement as "excellent", and said he hoped China would be able to release a confirmed accord following one final round of meetings on Tuesday.

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Report: Cheney Snubbing Japan Official

So that's why Cheney never returns my emails. The bastard's snubbing me.

Vice President Dick Cheney will not meet with Japan's defense minister during his trip to the country next week, a decision Japanese media characterized as a snub over the official calling the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq a ``mistake.''

Kyodo news agency said Cheney has asked Japan not to schedule any talks with Defense Minister Jumio Kyuma, who criticized the decision to go to war last month because he said it was based on the erroneous assumption that Saddam Hussein's government had weapons of mass destruction.

Kyuma later backtracked, saying he meant that the decision to attack Iraq should have been thought through more cautiously. [emphasis mine]

In the first place, the highlighted words are dead-on accurate. Kyuma had no reason whatsoever to back away from them.

And technically I've not called the invasion of Iraq a "mistake". Illegal, a war crime, unnecessary, criminal, stupid, imperialistic, those words I have used.


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