Marginalia Japonica-Americana: Monkeys, Corruption

"Macaques' monkey business causing concern": Know what? I think we should donate them to the US of A. The state of Virginia for one needs more of them. Hey, we gave those guys cherry blossoms…

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According to the Chicago Sun-Times, "City workers with political clout claim to be injured at a rate that far exceeds any occupation tracked by the U.S. Department of Labor".

Meanwhile, in Japan, a small but persistent story has been running about a Nara municipal employee who pulled down a full salary for five years while showing up for a grand total of eight days during those years. He claimed illness, while tootling around the neighborhood in a pricey import auto. Today, on Oct. 27, he was finally dismissed. More than a couple of dozen other city employees, including the mayor, will be receiving lesser punishment for the oversight. One of the articles briefly mentioned in passing that he was an official of the Buraku Kaihou Doumei. The Socialist-affiliated Bukaidou, as it is commonly called, is one of the two pressure groups (Zenkairen is linked to the Communist Party) that claim to represent the interests of the former burakumin, the Japanese social analogue to the untouchable caste. One implication of this incident is that there remain sufficient grounds for these individuals to extort special treatment from fearful local governments. The other is that the media still fears to wade too deeply into these waters. Perhaps I should stop right here as well.

This talk of Chicago reminds me of a conversation I had with a Chicago Tribune correspondent, back in the early 90s when they still had a Tokyo bureau. We were talking about the widespread dango, i.e. collusion among contractors for public works in Japan. Under prodding, he admitted, yes, he saw a lot of corruption every day in Chicago, but the difference was that the aldermen, the contractors, they went to jail. Unlike Japan, was the implication. Well, the governor of Fukushima Prefecture has been arrested on charges of accepting bribes for steering public works contracts in return for money. Am I supposed to be proud of any of this or what?

Depends on What the Meaning of the Phrase “Stay the Course" Is

After a short-lived attempt to redefine "stay the course", Tony Snow has abandoned the phrase altogether. It is never a good sign in politics when you are forced to parse words and phrases. (Remember Clinton and the infamous "is".)

At least the phrase had a better run than "mission accomplished". And the Republicans are showing a measure of life, even as everyone, including the Bush administration, seems to be accepting the fact that Jim Baker will once again come to the rescue after the mid-term elections to help them, change course. Imagine the disarray (yet again) among the Democrats and the despair over their long-term prospects if they fail to at least recapture the House.

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Did the secular belligerence of neo-conservatives and the apocalyptic yearnings of pre-millenarians converge with the post-millenarian convictions of George Bush to create the evanescent certitude that carried the Bush administration to this juncture?

But do I know that Bush is a post-millenarian? Do I even know what a post-millenarian is?

I'd like to tell you that the thought came to me in a blinding flash of light, which would put me somewhere between The Prophet and the crazy lady on the New York subway. But I was drinking heavily last night, which I think puts me much closer to the crazy lady's end of the spectrum. Or even off the scale altogether.

Anyway, what do you think?

Instant Analysis: Why the LDP Won the By-elections (or why the dpj lost).

It may only be the exit polls. But the LDP has come from behind in Osaka to sweep the two by-elections. This makes the prime minister look good in his first test. Komeito, the liberal wing of the LDP, will look to cash in., so pacifists rejoice.

Mr. Abe has Kim Jong-il to thank for in the same way that George W. Bush had Osama, but Mr. Abe had created his own luck by painstakingly laying down the groundwork for his electrifying trip to Beijing. Admittedly, the near-invisible Ichiro Ozawa has been more helpful than Al Gore and John Kerry put together by taking ineffectual potshots at Mr. Abe's foreign policy brief and doing little else.

But don't write off the DPJ yet. The US (housing bubble pop) and China (fixed assets investment crackdown) could still drag down the Japanese economy before next year's Upper House general election.

Marginalia Americana 4

Kazakhstan finally gets it right by inviting Borat to visit the country.

Borat is the latest creation of Sascha Baron Cohen, a British (Jewish) comedian whose latest creation Borat draws laughs at the expense of Kazakhstan's dignity, portraying it as an anti-semite, anti-feminist, all-around backwater state. The Kazakh government, understandably furious, had complained and threatened legal action against Cohen. Aided partly by the unsolicited, if not unanticipated, publicity this generated, he stars in the mockumentary Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (hence the Americana), soon to be released in US theaters from coast to coast.

The Kazakh government has finally come to its senses and decided to be a good sport. Somebody really understands public relations there, unusual for governments anywhere.

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The Student’s Guide to Freakonomics paraphrases John Kenneth Galbraith: "[A]ccording to ... Galbraith, conventional wisdom must be simple, convenient, comfortable and comforting, though not necessarily true." This would also be a good definition for "truthiness".

From the News: Amusing Myself

Chris Rock's Mom Claims Discrimination
"Cracker Barrel has in the past faced numerous lawsuits and a federal inquiry over complaints of refusing to serve black customers, discriminating against minority workers and firing gay employees. The company has taken steps to rebuild its folksy image and reach out to minorities."

Cracker Barrel… Hmm, maybe they should start there.

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Afghan kidnappers 'want convert'
"The kidnappers will free Mr Torsello, a Muslim convert, if Abdul Rahman returns from Italy where he was granted asylum earlier this year, the aid agency says. … Mr Rahman had escaped a possible death sentence for becoming a Christian."

So they kidnap a Muslim, an ex-Catholic no less, so they can whack the ex-Muslim, Christian convert in accordance with their fundamentalist interpretation of shari'a, just because he's an Italian? That in of itself sounds… blasphemous?

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Chuck Berry getting his licks at 80
"Early next year, he'll release a CD of new material, his first commercial release in more than 20 years."

Wait, so Chuck Berry produced most of his greatest hits in his thirties?

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Human species 'may split in two'
"The descendants of the genetic upper class would be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative and a far cry from the "underclass" humans who would have evolved into dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures."

So medium-height guys with little pot bellies and hemorrhoids are going to go extinct? Bummer. But:

"But in the nearer future, humans will evolve in 1,000 years into giants between 6ft and 7ft tall, he predicts, while life-spans will have extended to 120 years, Dr Curry claims.
"Physical appearance, driven by indicators of health, youth and fertility, will improve, he says, while men will exhibit symmetrical facial features, look athletic, and have squarer jaws, deeper voices and bigger penises.
"Women, on the other hand, will develop lighter, smooth, hairless skin, large clear eyes, pert breasts, glossy hair, and even features, he adds. Racial differences will be ironed out by interbreeding, producing a uniform race of coffee-coloured people."

I can't be sure about all of those physical features, mind you, but am I the only one who is reminded of The Rock and Angelina Jolie? Hey, I might be on to something!

Online Poetry Attracts Attention

Somebody linked to my blog, and very quickly at that; in fact, almost 12 hours before the post itself. Imagine my chagrin, then, when I found out that that somebody was the Angelina Jolie page for a website that collects all blog postings on a celebrities list, then links to them. It appears that my Pulitzer Prize entry caught the attention of the bot that does this for them.

This is, of course, the first time this has happened to this blog, and no other sites seem to be emulating the celebrity website. But it makes me wonder: If I wrote at the bottom of each post all the names on the list of celebrities at that website, wouldn't my blog attract a lot of eyeballs, and maybe some of them just might turn out to be interested in, say, the North Korean nuclear test?

So, as a test, I'm going to write down the following names, and see what happens: Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie, Anna Kournikova, and Jessica Alba. In case you're wondering why they are all women, it's because the list doesn't have any men on it. Honest. Sophia Johannsen and Drew Barrymore are also not on the list, in case you wanted to know. Pamela Anderson is, but, hey, you gotta draw the line somewhere, and besides, this is a test. (Would that there was a way to write invisible text… hmmm.)

Marginalia Americana 3.1: An Ode to The Rock and Angelina Jolie

One endearing feature of the original, New-Agey Star Trek is the racial diversity of its cast. That was surely a part of the creator's vision for a high-minded galactic civilization that had long since risen above Earth's racial, indeed interspecies, prejudices (hence Mr. Spock). Subsequent sci-fi films and TV serials have for the most part followed this assumption, if only because it is presumably hard to conceive that racial barriers will persist into future centuries, indeed millennia.

But if they are right, and color of skin, the shape of your epicanthic folds become as unimportant (or important) as the dimple in your chin, the color of your eyes, then is it not strange to assume that the defining racial features will remain unchanged and distinct, and mongoloids will be mongoloids, blacks will be blacks, and blondes are still a gentleman's best friends? Why so few… mongrels?

Better, then, is it not, to imagine
In the image of the Rock and Angelina Jolie
Our great-grandsons and great-granddaughters to the nth degree,
Tanned and ripped from the day of birth,
Full of sexual energy, filled with mirth
Yet never full of oneself; people we all hope to befriend,
If not to sleep with in the end?

Imagine.

Marginalia Americana 3

During the Vietnam War, many non-Americans served in the US military. They were US residents who chose it as the quickest way to earn US citizenship. How many of them are doing the same in Iraq? Iraq is far less dangerous, yet we do not hear about them this time. You would think a military that is being forced to lower its enlistment standards would go out of its way to recruit able-bodied, eager foreigners. Or has the war not gone on long enough to let media attention turn to such trivial matters?

How many Japanese, for that matter? Several Japanese went to Vietnam, and some had their 15 minutes' fame as they recounted their experiences.

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Huckleberry Finn was, is, and always will be The Great American Novel. Why does President Bush (this one) remind me of Tom Sawyer?

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Speaking of novels, Elmore Leonard never fails to please. He gives you exactly what you are expecting each and every time. Yet he is free of the clichés and tics that even good crime writers often acquire. In Leonard's hands, even minor cardboard-cutout characters come to life.

Marginalia Americana 2

First it's the Clintons with Bill's (what else?) Clinton Global Initiative and the Hillary fundraiser, now it's Al Gore and his Current TV. That Rupert Murdoch has been working the Democratic side of the spectrum recently may not come as surprise to people who have observed him over the years. Fox TV, both news and non-, show that Mr. Murdoch never shies away from anything, anywhere, or anybody that's good for business. He must be hoping that the less temperamental Mr. Gore will not mess things up like Mr. Clinton did on, of all places, Fox News.

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The Mark Foley text messaging scandal confirms several things:
1) A US congressman was drinking on the job. Either that, or alcoholic rehab is the hideout of choice for public figures when you have absolutely nothing to say, including "no comment", to an expectant media.
2) Emails are no longer the only way the Internet can come back to bite you. Watch out, IM users.
3) You can be an openly gay Republican congressman, as long as you stay in the closet. Hey, that's nothing to laugh at. Name one gay/lesbian Diet member if you disagree.

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"Guns don't kill people; people kill people." So why not let everyone have nuclear weapons? Mustard gas? Anthrax? Botox?

You know what I'm talking about, and no Marginalia Americana would be complete without it. But I just can't bring myself to write about it. So that's it for today.

Marginalia Japonica: The Media

(Cogressional Foley: at last)

Fully a week into the Foley scandal, the biggest hit on the Republicans as the November midterm elections approaches, began appearing in the Japanese media. So their correspondents do read the newspaper after all. Maybe they even tune into CNN from time to time.

フォーリー・スキャンダルは、11月の中間選挙が近づく中で共和党最大の打撃となっておりますが、表面化してから一週間、ようやく日本のメディアに登場してきました。こうしてみると、特派員達も、新聞を読んでいるのですね。たまには、CNNを見ることもあるのかもしれません。

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(Live from London?>

When I recently saw in an evening edition of a Japanese daily a summary of a news story from that same day’s Financial Times, I marveled at the speed with which its London bureau could work (it was attributed to its London bureau), given the huge difference in time zones. But only for an instant. I immediately realized that whoever did the article either took in the original off the FT website (where it could be posted before it went to print) or read the Japanese hard-copy version, which is available before the same-day edition goes to the newsstands in London.

Leaving aside the questionable practice of letting the FT do all the legwork, couldn’t all this have been much easier to do from a desk in Japan, at a reasonable hour in the morning, instead of the darkest hours before dawn in London? And much cheaper? Come to think of it, the morning hardcopy…

最近日刊紙の夕刊で、同日付のファイナンシャルタイムスに載った記事の要約（ロンドン支局発）を見かけました。ロンドン支局が、大きな時差があるにも関わらずこんなに速く仕事ができることに感心しました。だが、それもほんの一瞬でした。というのも、記事を書いた人が、FTのウェブサイトに（実物の発刊前にも）掲載される記事を拾ったか、ロンドンより前に（時差の関係で）日本で同日付が配達されたものを呼んだのに違いないのに気がついたからです。

FTに汚れ仕事を全部任せることの是非は別にして、夜明けも遠いロンドンで苦労するくらいなら、日本で、朝、ゆっくりと取り掛かった方がよかったのでは。その方がずっと安上がりだろうし。考えてみれば、朝刊の実物が．．．

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(Is the kisha club enough to serve the public interest on the prime minister's overseas visits?)

Is the Japanese custom of the domestic reporters’ club covering the prime minister’s visit being part of the itinerary a good idea? Is that why the Japanese news emanating from those summits always seem to come with the Japanese government’s trademark spin on it? Maybe it’s time to put reporters that can hound foreign delegations and kibitz around with the rest of the press on the beat. That, or put interpreters to good use. Come to think of it, say, two K per day plus all expenses paid … hmmm …

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総理官邸詰の記者団が総理外遊に同行という習慣は、今のままでいいのだろうか。だから、サミット発のニュースがいつも政府発のポイントで書かれているようにるのだろうか。ひょっとすると、外国の代表団に食い下がったりよそのプレスと付き合ったりできるような記者を参加させてもいいのではないか。それとも、通訳を上手く使うとか。待てよ、一日2千ドルプラス経費なら．．．　なるほど．．．

Who Should “Get a Cut” from an Organ Transplant? A Japanese Issue in More Ways than One

I am channel-surfing over a bowl of ramen, when I come across a BBC report on the exploding growth of the Chinese organ transplant industry using organs “donated” by executed criminals. A sting operation of sorts, the investigation team has gone in with a hidden video camera to negotiate a liver transplant. In the huge, gleaming hospital (last year, it doubled its capacity to accommodate all the foreign patients, including 600 liver transplants anually, at £50,000 a pop or more), the head of customer relations claims the condemned criminals donate their organs to society as compensation for the wrongs they have inflicted. (This and more I am taking in, in a combination of voiceover and subtitles.) I bet, I think, even as I am imagining ethically (to me) acceptable and more equitable ways of handling organ transplants in general and waxing metaphysical about the individual’s posthumous rights to his/her body and what society should have to say about its ultimate disposal.

My lunchtime reverie is interrupted, however, when an agent from the sales force arrives and delivers a more detailed pitch. He explains among other things that supply goes up when national party conventions and other such major events draw near. The reason for this is that the authorities want stability going into these affairs, so they crackdown on crime, thus resulting in more executions. (Justice in China is sometimes swift and brutal, it seems.) But no, this is not what has disturbed my rapture. Rather, I am no longer relying on the voiceover and subtitles; the agent is speaking perfect native Japanese.

It appears there are other ways than this near-fraud for us Japanese to get involved in the shadier parts of the organ transplant industry.

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(For the record, the people taped sitting and milling around in the capacious hospital waiting room (lobby?) looked largely Middle East in face and garb. But I could be wrong. Has anyone reading this seen the program?)