Texas is an American state best known for its gun-loving, big truck driving, cowboy, remember the Alamo culture. It is the last place I’d expect high speed rail infrastructure to actually get support in the USA. The good news here is that not only are Texans in favour of high
Continue readingTag: Japan
Things Are Good: Japan Ordered to Stop Whaling and Complies
Japan has long been criticized for its “scientific” whaling and now the UN has asked them to stop. Japan defended itself by saying that their ships who were slaughtering whales were doing so in the name of science – a defence nobody believed. In a lengthy ruling, the presiding judge
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: No, This Can’t Be Possible. Could Japan Actually Rescind Its Apology to Wartime ‘Comfort Women’?
One of several dark stains on the honour of Japan was its practice, during WWII, of impressing foreign women, mainly Korean, into sex slavery to serve Japanese soldiers. They were called ‘Comfort Women’ or, in Japanese, Kanji. Somewhere between 20,000 to 400,000 Korean, Chinese and Philippino women were subjected to
Continue readingLeDaro: Harsh weather strikes accross the Globe
Severe weather is making news from record snowfall in Japan to devastating floods in the U.K. Following video says it all:
Continue readingEclectic Lip: Back from Happy Hawaii
Synchronized phoning, coming soon to a summer Olympics near you… Trivia note: Swedish supergroup Abba’s “Why did it have to be me” was originally titled (and lyricized) as “Happy Hawaii”. But those of you who also secretly bought the 4-CD ABBA box set without admitting it to your friends, already
Continue readingU.S. feeds Japanese militarism
China, with its paltry aid to the Philippines and its announcement of a new air-defense zone over the East China sea, has not been making friends in its region these days. But the country to worry about in the Far East is not China. It is Japan. Countries such as
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Fukushima still spreading deadly radiation across northern hemisphere: one food can help protect you
Seaweed is a true super-food, high in essential nutrients, low carb, low calorie, and also, naturally high in iodine – and it helps protects the body from radiation. It is a staple in Japan and many other maritime regions. Considering the rising levels of radiation across North America due to the Fukushima
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Say sayonara to seafood – the oceans are no longer safe to eat from in the wake of Fukushima
It looks like sushi time is over – seafood is no longer safe to eat after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Fukushima continues to dump 300-400 tons of radioactive contaminated water into the Pacific every hour. Japanese experts estimate Fukushima’s fallout at 20-30 times as high as the Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Continue readingEclectic Lip: Passing Gas – EV’s now outnumber gas stations, in America
My latest piece is up on GreenCarReports, here. It’s where I sourced the photo from. 🙂 And yes, putting “Passing Gas” in the title was deliberate. Hey, it’s catchy! From what I can tell, electric vehicles also outnumber gas stations in Japan as well. Alas, Canadians are somewhat behind our
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Fukushima Keeps Staying The Worst
It’s always been /worse/. And it just keeps staying tragically the same. It’s remained a global crisis with hemispheric deadly consequences. Japan could still wind up largely uninhabitable (if it isn’t already). Canada could suffer directly a great deal. Steam and non-water vapour has been off-gassed since the beginning. The
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Learning to Live Within Your Own Skin – Japan’s Grand Experiment
The Japanese have become perhaps the greyest of the greying nations of the developed world. This is discussed in The World Today, the public journal of Chatham House, perhaps the world’s most venerable and certainly most prestigious think tank. Everybody knows that Japan is ground zero for global ageing. The
Continue reading350 or bust: Saturday At The Movies
I sure hope they used recycled paper!
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It’s Still Fossil Fuel
The Japanese have successfully tapped seabed methane clathrates, also known as “flammable ice.” Deposits of compressed and frozen methane are fairly common in northern waters. British Columbia has looked at exploiting them. The gas field is about 50km away from Japan’s main island, in the Nankai Trough. Researchers say it
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Sea Shepherd Piratical? Hardly.
Japanese whale “researchers” have persuaded a U.S. judge to declare the Sea Shepherd organization piratical. The ruling was issued on Wednesday by chief judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th US circuit court of appeals. In his 18-page opinion, he wrote: “You don’t need a peg leg or an eye patch.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Achieving a Steady State Economy for Canada
What if the way forward isn’t? What if it’s time for us to turn around, to go back? James Lovelock said the future of mankind, if there is to be one, will require that we accept, not sustainable growth, but sustainable retreat. We need to grow smaller. It’s not a
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Arms Race Update – India Warns Kashmiris to Prepare for Nuclear War
Indian officials are warning residents in their part of Kashmir to dig bomb shelters and gather a two week supply of food and water in preparation for a possible nuclear exchange. The notice, published Monday by the Kashmir police in the Greater Kashmir newspaper, advised people to build toilet-equipped basements
Continue readingEclectic Lip: Whatever foresight is, it’s not 20/20…
(originally written Jan 3, 2012. Part of my Great Upload of 2013.) Come December’s end, the nervy among us like to review what they got right in the past year. The nervier like to predict what’ll happen in the New Year. Ever the blithe contrarian, I figured I’d visit the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: For #IdleNoMore, support and prayer from Kobe, Japan (PHOTO)
From Kobe, Japan, an expression of support and solidarity for hunger striker Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence and the phenomenal #IdleNoMore grassroots movement for Aboriginal rights and sovereignty: This photo: Photo via Facebook And these words: Today , we gathered together to pray in Kobe Japan. We hope this prayer can reach to Chief Theresa
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: One Fish. One Point Seven Million Dollars. Adios, Blue Fin.
It’s a record. A 222kg blue fin tuna was sold for $1.7-million (155m yen) at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market. High bids traditionally mark the year’s first auction at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market. Even the buyer, sushi chain owner Kiyoshi Kimura, who also paid out the record price last year, said
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Japan, China & Those Islands: Dueling flotillas increase tensions
A potentially deadly game of tit-for-tatis taking place at the two islands that are the centre of the dispute between China and Japan, both of whom claim ownership of the islands. Smaller numbers of fishing boats were sent to the islands by China and then by Japan, but this week
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