Straight Talking: Francis Fukuyama

Francis Fukuyama

March 26, 2007 8:30 AM

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/francis_fukuyama/2007/03/the_trouble_with_japanese_nati.html

Barely half a year into his premiership, Japan’s Shinzo Abe is provoking anger across Asia and mixed feelings in his country’s key ally, the United States. But will the Bush administration use its influence to nudge Abe away from inflammatory behaviour?

Abe’s predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, was a mold-breaking leader, reviving Japan’s economy, reforming the postal savings system, and smashing the long-ruling Liberal Democratic party’s faction system. But Koizumi also legitimised a new Japanese nationalism, antagonising China and South Korea by his annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. If anything, Abe is even more committed to building an assertive and unapologetic Japan.

Anyone who believes that the Yasukuni controversy is an obscure historical matter that Chinese and Koreans use to badger Japan for political advantage has probably never spent much time there. The problem is not the 12 Class-A war criminals interred at the shrine; the real problem is the Yushukan military museum next door.

Walking past the Mitsubishi Zero, tanks, and machine guns on display in the museum, one finds a history of the Pacific war that restores “the Truth of Modern Japanese History.” It follows the nationalist narrative: Japan, a victim of the European colonial powers, sought only to protect the rest of Asia from them. Japan’s colonial occupation of Korea, for example, is described as a “partnership”; one looks in vain for any account of the victims of Japanese militarism in Nanjing or Manila.

One might be able to defend the museum as one viewpoint among many in a pluralist democracy. But there is no other museum in Japan that gives an alternative view of Japan’s 20th century history. Successive Japanese governments have hidden behind the Yushukan museum’s operation by a private religious organisation to deny responsibility for the views expressed there.

That is an unconvincing stance. In fact, unlike Germany, Japan has never come to terms with its own responsibility for the Pacific war. Although socialist prime minister Tomiichi Murayama officially apologized to China in 1995 for the war, Japan has never had a genuine internal debate over its degree of responsibility, and has never made a determined effort to propagate an alternative account to that of Yushukan.

My exposure to the Japanese right came in the early 1990’s, when I was on a couple of panels in Japan with Watanabe Soichi, who was selected by my Japanese publisher (unbeknownst to me) to translate my book The End of History and the Last Man into Japanese. Watanabe, a professor at Sophia University, was a collaborator of Shintaro Ishihara, the nationalist politician who wrote The Japan That Can Say No and is now the governor of Tokyo.

In the course of a couple of encounters, I heard him explain in front of large public audiences how the people of Manchuria had tears in their eyes when the occupying Kwantung Army left China, so grateful were they to Japan. According to Watanabe, the Pacific war boiled down to race, as the US was determined to keep a non-white people down. Watanabe is thus the equivalent of a Holocaust denier, but, unlike his German counterparts, he easily draws large and sympathetic audiences. (I am regularly sent books by Japanese writers that “explain” how the Nanjing Massacre was a big fraud.)

Moreover, there have been several disturbing recent incidents in which physical intimidation has been used by nationalists against critics of Koizumi’s Yasukuni visits, such as the firebombing of former prime ministerial candidate Kato Koichi’s home. (On the other hand, the publisher of the normally conservative Yomiuri Shimbun attacked Koizumi’s Yasukuni visits and published a fascinating series of articles on responsibility for the war.)

This leaves the US in a difficult position. A number of American strategists are eager to ring China with a Nato-like defensive barrier, building outward from the US-Japan security treaty. Since the final days of the cold war, the US has been pushing Japan to rearm, and has officially supported a proposed revision of Article 9 of the postwar constitution, which bans Japan from having a military or waging war.

But America should be careful about what it wishes for. The legitimacy of the entire American military position in the far east is built around the US exercising Japan’s sovereign function of self-defence. Japan’s unilateral revision of Article 9, viewed against the backdrop of its new nationalism, would isolate Japan from virtually the whole of Asia.

Revising Article 9 has long been part of Abe’s agenda, but whether he pushes ahead with it will depend in large part on the kind of advice he gets from close friends in the US. President Bush was unwilling to say anything about Japan’s new nationalism to his “good friend Junichiro” out of gratitude for Japanese support in Iraq. Now that Japan has withdrawn its small contingent of troops, perhaps Bush will speak plainly to Abe.

Why right-wing Japanese nationalism is a danger in East Asia. Originally promoted by Koizumi as a way to shore up support from the right-wing factions of the LDP and from voters to push through his domestic reforms, right-wing nationalism has become a growing problem as Japan attempts to exert more influence on the world stage alongside their Chinese and Korean neighbours and from increasing American pressure to rearm to function as their regional policeman in Asia.

It’s also interesting to note how the Americans are reluctant to strongly criticise Abe or Koizumi on their nationalist actions in the past and it would not be surprising if Bush votes down HR 121 when it reaches his desk in the Oval Office. After all, Bush needs all the support he needs in his Mid-East adventures and another partner to contain a rising China and the problematic North Korea.

In any event, I really need to visit that Yushukan museum when I get a chance to vacation in East Asia just to finally understand what the fuss is all about and to form my true views instead of listening to second-hand accounts from pundits and politicians. Besides, it will give me a Taiwanese view of World War II on top of conventional right-wing Japanese thoughts.

Lunch at Rutgers

It’s been a year since I talked to Sinan or saw him in person.  It was good to hear from him after calling him up on Thursday to learn that he is working towards his Masters in Global Issues in Rutgers grad school while at the same time showing an interest in finance.  He seems apprehensive about lacking the qualifications despite gaining an interest after working at Bear Sterns over one summer, so I provided him with information and resources where he can obtain basic concepts and free Department of Treasury publications to understand the market, particularly FOREX, in greater detail.  Since I graduated its been problematic organising spring break gatherings from our Gov school group.

Today was lunch at Rutgers with Bill.  So far all is well with his main goal to graduate with honours.  Things are going well with his family and his girlfriend is moving in with him in America from Spain.  The only concerns at this time are commitment issues and finding a good job which is still an ongoing struggle in this shitty job market.  It’s unfortunate that many college kids don’t realise how hard it can be to get work from a decent corporation in this day and age.  I told him about my current situation and assured him that all is relatively stable with my family though my current concerns have more to deal with summer vacation and that stupid student loan.

It was funny having lunch in the Rutgers Student Center since little has changed in a year.  The only changes I noticed was they added a Sushi section in Szchuan Express and the workers are ruder.  For some reason, a $4 meal seems expensive to college students when it really isn’t that much for me since I know consider anything above $6 to be expensive.  At lunch, I ran into Ed Ng and saw Will McGowan while I was walking to the center.

Also started looking into Credit Unions, which are great for loans, as a side interest.  Now I need to make sure I can make trades on Wachovia once my brokerage account is ready.  Went home and finally watched “Flags of Our Fathers”, a film about the horrors of war and the exploitation of war veterans.

Grand Theft Auto IV trailer!

It looks like the fourth Grand Theft Auto installment will take place in New York City and Liberty City, not London as originally believed. The main character appears to be either an immigrant working for the Russian mafia or some Eastern European who is looking to start a new in New York City. Although some people think that this is the GTAIV version of Liberty City, I would like to point out that it if in fact New York City with some Rockstar flavour since the teaser trailer has references to:

1. The Statue of Liberty

2. The MetLife building now called the GetALife building

3. The Chrysler and Empire State Building

4. A modified Times Square

5. Brooklyn Bridge

6. The Grand Central Station (Dome shot)

It’s clear that the new city is indeed New York City and we are going to see countless complaints from city officials and activists about the current game. The graphics may not look that great since it is an early build of the game, but both the 360 and PS3 will have exclusive content in the form of different add-on missions they call “episodic content”. GTA 4 will come out on the Xbox360 and Playstation 3 on 16 October 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_4 

In-game content

Vehicles

In the first trailer released, there are a number of vehicles shown. These include road vehicles such as convertible sports cars, pickup vans, police cars, trucks, and at least two kinds of taxi, as well as other vehicle types such as boats, trains and cable cars. It is currently unknown which vehicles are controllable.

NPCs

The trailer also shows numerous types of NPC (non-player characters) including people of various builds, gender, race, age and profession. NPCs can also interact with objects such as shopping bags, carrier bags, books and magazines. As usual for the GTA series, no children are seen in the game.

Brands

A variety of familiar fictional brands from earlier GTA games appear in the trailer, including Sprunk, Kronos, The Liberty Tree, Cluckin’ Bell, MeTV, Logger Beer, Bank of Liberty and Burger Shot. New to the series and shown in the trailer are Fleeca, Whiz (mobile phones), Liberteen, Max Renda (makeup), E Cola (soda) and Bean Machine (coffee house). America’s Next Top Hooker (parody of America’s Next Top Model) and I Slept With Your Mom (stage show) are also advertised on billboards in the trailer.

Interestingly enough, GTA IV will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Grand Theft Auto franchise.

Is it really over with Abe-gate?

On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finally made a blanket apology to the sexually exploited women in the Greater East Asian War according to the BBC. He made such remarks in response to a question by an opposition MP:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6495115.stm

Mr Abe told parliament: “I apologise here and now as prime minister.”

This appears to be part of a concerted bid to reduce the fall-out of earlier comments, a BBC correspondent says.

Mr Abe said, during a debate in parliament’s upper house, that he stood by an official 1993 statement in which Japan acknowledged the imperial army set up and ran brothels for its troops during the war.

“As I frequently say, I feel sympathy for the people who underwent hardships, and I apologise for the fact that they were placed in this situation at the time,” he said.

So approximately one month after he made a complete ass of himself, of his party and on behalf of the Japanese people, Shinzo-kun makes a blanket apology saying that he feels bad that comfort women were mistreated as the Prime Minister of Japan. Gee whiz, why did it take him so long to do damage-control over gaffes he made a month earlier if he had a good idea of what his words hold as one of the members of the G8 and as the regional power of East Asia?

It’s also notable that this comes after Abe’s Cabinet officially denied the IJA had any responsibility in recruiting and enslave women during WW2:

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/401843

“There were military nurses and embedded journalists but no ‘embedded comfort women.’ It is true that there were ‘comfort women.’ I believe some parents may have sold their daughters. But it does not mean the Japanese army was involved,” Shimomura said in a program on Radio Nippon. Shimomura was referring to the controversial issue of whether the Japanese military was directly involved in forcing women, especially those from other Asian countries, into sexual servitude. Such women are euphemistically called “comfort women” in Japan.

To be fair, it will be safe to say that the government of Japan represented by Shinzo Abe apologises for the wartime government’s exploitation of women and for allowing Shinzo-kun to act like an asshole in public. Finally, this entire incident and potential scandal is over with until Abe decides to say something completely stupid 6 months down the line or when his successors denies another set of wartime transgressions or takes back whatever apologies his predecessors made.

It’s even more pathetic when one realises how this entire controversy started in the first place. The background of this entire controversy on comfort women started when a group of former sex slaves, women’s groups, Asian-American activists and historians wanted to raise awareness of comfort women among mainstream America with the help of Congressmen Mike Honda through a nonbinding resolution condemning Japan for exploiting women in WW2.

It’s a valid point to say that it is insulting and even patronising for a foreign country to condemn another countries for crimes that didn’t affect them, but the goal of the groups was to simply raise awareness of comfort women since the Japanese government is reluctant discuss the issue. As HR 121 was gaining momentum in Congress, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso publicly stated that he disagreed with how the comfort women issue was handled in the United States Congress, to which he has a valid concern. Then, somehow Shinzo-kun decides to voice the same concerns about the nonbinding resolution but also adds that there was no proof that those women were ever exploited, directly slapping the faces of those survivors and creating the perception that Japan officially denies wrongdoing by the WW2 government.

This was about the time the shit started to hit the fan in East Asia. The Americans gave a mild complaint to the Prime Minister since Japan lends money to America and the US needs Japan to act as their regional policeman. On the other hand, the Chinese government found themselves in a difficult position to rebuild bilateral ties with Japan while the South Koreans were going crazy with one man storming the walls of the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Feminist groups from East Asia and the rest of the world continued to aggressively condemn Abe for his remarks while supporters of HR 121 found justification to push forward.

While this was occurring, Abe told the opposition Diet Members that he would not apologise for his remarks while at the same time sticking to the stance in the 1993 Kono Statement, which stated the IJA directly enslaved women as sex slaves. Not long after, his Cabinet issued a statement supporting the Prime Minister in his denial, making it an official denial from the Japanese government. In spite of all the criticism and evidence, many Japanese nationalists and their Japanophile supporters claimed that there was a racially motivated smear campaign against Abe with claims that his response to HR 121 was mistranslated by racist journalists or pointed out obscure anecdotes of women that were allegedly volunteer comfort women and paid what they were promised by the IJA to justify Abe’s claims.

Well, when all is said and done, Abe finally gave a blanket apology, however it is interpreted, to the controversy he escalated himself. As a result of his actions, Shinzo-kun’s approval ratings are at an all time low from voters who were disgusted by his actions to the right-wing that are angry he took back his initial stance. It also doesn’t help that his actions alienated the pro-business faction by making it difficult for their constituents to prosper from improved regional ties and offending the right-wing factions, who wanted him to stand his ground with his revisionist views.

Now I wonder if Abe is going to be smart when the 70th Anniversary of the Rape of Nanjing comes around by keeping his mouth shut and touting the official stance or go off about how it was anti-Japanese wartime propaganda when asked about the issue? One needs to realise that his actions are making it hard for people to buy Japanese products, for Japanese businesses to make money from East Asian markets, and creating an unsafe environment along with misconceptions of Japanese who wish to travel abroad.

It looks like the end

There was not much going on at work today other than the usual.  When I got home from the gym my niece used MSN to message me some news about her trip to China.  It’s not really good news because I learned that my estranged father is ill and is in the hospital in China.  Then, I learned from my niece that the reason my mother divorced my father was mainly driven by his infidelity with that bitch according to her mother (my sister).  It’s not surprise since we all hate that bitch and it just answers a question that has been looming for years; it really was a variety of issues but that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Then it also turned out that the father actually has most of his finances intact and it’s one of the reasons why that bitch still hangs around him.  It’s all about the money in the end but I somehow had a crazy idea that she may have poisoned him.  We’ll see if this is really an emergency or just an unfortunate trip for individuals who are of old age and suffering from treatable diabetes.  My niece is still upset that her mother lied to her about graduating college and other fun stuff but I assured her she did it to make sure she doesn’t think less of her, which isn’t exactly a good reason.  She made it seem like a big deal I graduated but I really had other things on my mind that time.  Besides, it seems like the norm and just the next step in the long scheme of things or so I am told.  The world is a very sick place, you either adapt or let others try to sink you.

There are doubters about what I have just written but that’s ok.  They either think I’m completely crazy to make up such a crazed tale or they simply lack the sophistication they pride themselves in having.  In any case, I rather just restrict my discussions with these people on small talk, such as games, comics, randomness, and the like.

これは俺のPS3ですか？

Kore wa ore no shojo desu – That is my girl
これは俺の少女です

Kore wa anata no tomato desu ka? – Is That your tomato
これはあなたのトマトですか？

sumimasen　hajimemashite – Sorry, Welcome
すみません　はじめまして

Prison Break Season 2, Episode 21

Everyone is in Panama and Kellerman helps Sara in court.

Sara is currently on trial for helping the brothers escape from Fox River. The only defence she has against a conviction is the tape Michael and Lincoln sent to the mass media. However, this piece of evidence is not enough to sway the judge and jury from putting Sara in prison. Meanwhile, Kellerman is in a hotel planning a military suicide dressed in his army ranger uniform and present with his medals of honour and a suicide note to his sister Kristine. The gun fails to go off in the last minute and he calls his sister for help around the same time Sara’s defence tells her to accept the sentence of 12 years with 9 years for good behaviour. Kellerman’s sister arrives and she sees his brother trying to tell her that he has nothing and he did things that he regrets. She tells him she is there for him and the episode ends with Kellerman coming forward to testify on Sara’s behalf.

T-Bag is hiding out in a hotel in Panama and is reluctant to meet the prostitute he met in a building. He goes outside of his room and sees Company men monitoring his every move. Michael spots T-Bag from the hotel balcony and also notices the men watching him and has flashbacks of all the crimes T-Bag did in Season 1. Scofield then hires a kid to light some firecrackers to make sure if they were armed. He then goes across the street and bumps into Sucre, who looks scared. Bellick then shows up and pulls a gun on Michael with Sucre begging Scofield to help him get T-Bag’s money since Bellick has Maricruz. Bellick threatens Michael and he eventually agrees to help Bellick and Sucre in return for T-Bag as long as they follow his plan. Meanwhile, Lincoln finds Michael’s Blackberry in the boat and Mahone gives his wife a call telling her that everything will be over soon.

Bellicks goes into the hotel and sets off the fire alarm, causing T-Bag to leave with the money. The Company men follow him with the Michael, Sucre and Bellick not far behind. Mahone, spots Michael in the crowd but is attacked by Lincoln before he could move with Lincoln gaining the upper hand. The trio follow T-Bag all the way to his meeting place with the two men guarding the entrance. Bellick is sent to distract the two men so Sucre and Michael take them down by surprise, which they later learn were Company men based on their lack of government identification. They then enter the building, and the find T-Bag in the back of the building just as the Panamanian police arrive. When asked about the money, T-Bag tells them that it is in the closet to which Bellick orders Sucre to get it, which has a dead prostitute from last episode instead of the money.

T-Bag then runs out the backdoor with the trio chasing after him. However, T-Bag manages to shoot Bellick, but he orders Sucre and Michael to catch him. Michael gets to him first then orders Sucre to find them a getaway car so they can turn T-Bag in to the US embassy. While they wait for Sucre’s getaway car, T-Bag tries to negotiate a deal telling Michael he has information that could help him in return for letting him walk, which is refused. While they are driving to the US embassy, Sucre and Michael get into an argument about Bellick since Sucre needs him to save Maricruz and the argument ends with T-Bag stabbing Sucre with a screwdriver he found in the car. The car swerves off the road with T-Bag taking his money and running into the woods. Michael tends to Sucre until a bystander comes by to help them by first calling the paramedics and then tending to Sucre, when Sucre asks Scofield to get T-Bag.

Michael chases T-Bag all the way down to an empty shack where T-Bag tries to negotiate another deal. Michael and T-Bag fight in the shack until he overpowers T-Bag. As he has a knife pointing at T-Bag’s neck, T-Bag laughs and reminds Michael that he is the type of person who doesn’t kill. Michael responds by stabbing the knife through T-Bag’s left arm and leaves him to get caught by the Panamanian police. As Michael returns to the Christina Rose with the money, he first calls the local operator to find out where Sucre is being treated and then gets a call from Lincoln who then gives the phone to Mahone. Once getting the phone, we learned Mahone caught Lincoln off-guard to regain control of the situation and that he wants Michael to hand over to him the Christina Rose and the money in return for his brother’s life.

Next week’s Season Finale shows T-Bag in prison talking to a Company guy, Bellick in prison, Sucre running from the police, and Agent Kim seemingly shooting Lincoln.

The Playstation 3 is a liability to Blu-Ray

According to Sony, their blu-ray DVD players are winning the format war against Toshiba’s HD-DVD format. They assert these claims with sales data that shows blu-ray films outselling their HD-DVD counterparts on a 3 to 1 ratio and with the growing installed Playstation 3 user base.

Some of this data can be unscientifically backed up with amazon.com sales data from http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/ which shows that HD-DVD initially had the lead on blu-ray prior to the launch of the Playstation 3. However, the blu-ray sales started to pick up after PS3 sales began to stabilise and it increased even more with the release of “Casino Royale” on blu-ray. So far, Universal studios has an exclusive commitment to HD-DVD with Paramount and Warner Bros showing more bias towards the HD-DVD camp despite being nonexclusive studios.

Although many porn studios have selected HD-DVD as their format of choice, this does not mean Toshiba has won the format war. In the past, pornographic studios may have decided the original videotape wars, but the bulk of pornography is now downloaded through high-speed internet services according to analysts. They also added the one reason why Sony was reluctant to allow pornographers, who initially wanted to make porn for blu-ray, to press their films was Sony’s fear of offending Disney (an exclusive studio) which was a corporation reluctant to be associated with anything that would tarnish their image. Despite this setback, a few pornographic studios in Japan and America have managed to get a few films pressed for blu-ray under the condition of Nondisclosure Agreements.

Others would point out that Microsoft supports HD-DVD, which means it is the end of blu-ray. Again, this is not exactly true, as the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox360 does not appear to be a strong seller with many developers reluctant to port their games to a higher capacity HD-DVD as many developers did for PS2 DVD-ROMs. It is also interesting that Microsoft’s own Public Relations and developers have gone on record saying they would add a blu-ray external drive if they win the format war, and made gaffes that ironically referred to HD-DVD as the “new betamax”.

Despite these apparent setbacks for the HD-DVD camp, Sony could lose this format war because of their Playstation 3. We all know for a fact that the Playstation 3, a system for “hardcore” gamers, is being crushed by the Nintendo Wii and unable to differentiate itself from the 360. It’s sad to say that the Playstation 3 is now the current loser in this generation’s console war and it is being beaten by a slightly modified GameCube console with a motion-sensing and rumble remote despite having such powerful features such as Cell processor that can cure cancer, wi-fi, and HD resolution.

It’s one thing to lose to a relatively inferior piece of hardware but it is a huge problem when Sony could not help their developers harness the full potential of the PS3 to even surpass the Microsoft Xbox360 in terms of graphics and gameplay:

Although the video quality is low, its really very hard to see any major difference between the PS3 and 360 versions. Although some PS3 fanboys would make the claim that their version had more colours, the differences are really not noticeable. This makes consumers wonder why in the world they should pay an extra $100USD for a PS3 version that plays exactly like their 360 counterpart. It is also a large problem for Sony since many of the traditionally loyal developers are willing to cancel their exclusive agreements in favour of generating more revenues by going multi-platform. Phil Harrison of SCEI has acknowledged that the developers move to go multi-platform made sense because they cannot really make much revenue by simply making games for one system, which implies that Sony has not only failed in meeting their developers’ needs but they have a system that will not sell well either.

Then one has to look at it from a developer’s point of view. Why would a developer even try to develop games for PS3 using PS3 development kits that is extremely difficult to program and without any support from Sony unlike Microsoft? The difficulty in programming the PS3 often forces developers to simply port over an existing program/game from the Xbox360 as a way of creating shortcuts to get around the programming issues around the PS3. This also explains why PS3 exclusive games have done very little to differentiate themselves compared to their counterparts on the 360. The fact that there are extra costs pressing games on blu-ray compared to DVD also hurts the developers’ bottom line and these costs are carried over to consumers in the form of PS3’s $60USD games versus the 360’s $50 games.

Another place to see problems in Sony’s troubled Playstation 3 is in their approach to advertising the product. In Japan, Sony has started positioning their PS3 as an entertainment hub in addition to being a gaming system:

This commercial emphasises the non-gaming features of the PS3, which were originally included as value-added benefits for owning a PS3 gaming system. It also doesn’t help that these ads seem to be targeted towards older consumers and non-gamers, which could alienate the Playstation’s core fanbase by associating it as a digital hub instead of its primary design as a console. Moreover, the most interesting part about these ads is Sony’s attempt to attract non-gamers to buy the PS3 similar to how Nintendo is using their unique gameplay on the Wii to attract non-gamers, except Sony has little to show by promoting their extra features as their primary benefits for having a PS3. It’s also interesting how Sony didn’t make any ads that talked about the benefits of using the Playstation 3 to view blu-ray films and it’s ability to surf the Internet.

In Europe and other PAL markets, Sony decided to implement a “This is Living” ad campaign to generate buzz for the PS3. Based on last weekend’s data, it appears that their ad campaign for the PAL markets was a miserable failure since the ads did nothing to talk about the benefits of having a PS3 versus a Nintendo Wii or Xbox360, which have been in the market for nearly a year; and all the “This is Living” ads were loaded with foreign symbolism that confused the casual consumer.

These ads did more to confuse and alienate potential buyers and did very little to generate excitement and sales for Sony. You really have to wonder what the Playstation 3 has to do with a girl taking a shit in the toilet or a Japanese man boiling eggs with his brain. At least the North American ads showed the power of the Playstation 3 by having it quickly solve a Rubik’s cube before destroying it to show its raw processing power.

With all this negative attention associated with the PS3, one has to wonder what this will eventually do for the blu-ray format. First, Sony was able to gain a slight foothold in their format war by making blu-ray available on the PS3 at the expense of angering developers with added development costs, and turning off consumers by raising the retail price. Additionally, all the retarded business decisions Sony’s management have made in regards to the PS3 such as officially praising the Wii as a “Wonderful product” to treating all consumers as if they were automatically going to buy the PS3 regardless of price or associated issues only increased the negative perception surrounding it. Blu-ray is currently winning the next generation DVD format war against HD-DVD, but we all have to wonder how much longer will this success last before its association with the PS3 works against Sony and its blu-ray format…

So there it is

I found out I could have deducted the Spring 2006 semester tuition off my 1040 after I had filed my 1040 and received my refund.  It was a pain in the ass filing my 1040x earlier tonight, but I managed to get it done.  So now it looks like I am getting all my wages withheld refunded back to me with Bush getting none of it to barely pay off the interest on our national debt.  Speaking of debt, I just went slightly overbudget on my monthly credit card budget this months thanks partly to medical expenses.  Fortunately, I usually keep more than enough cash at the bank for such situations.

My younger niece IMed me earlier today to inquire if I would be going to Asia this summer.  She told me that her mother, aunt and cousin were going there sometime next week and they plan to give me a surprise by having the estranged father visit me there.  She told me that he has been living in Hong Kong or China for sometime now.  I find it sad that my sisters would try to pull this shit on me and it is also sad that he doesn’t get it.  Every time I trusted them I end up screwed over at the end at someone’s benefit.  It was already low enough for him to impersonate my older niece just to talk to me and at one point try to buy me off by offering to wipe out all the loans that he caused in the first place.

My niece said that he regrets the past and that he still loves me, which sounds like the bad father rants I have heard on talk shows and from troubled families.  I have already given him more than enough chances and he blew each and every one.  So I try to let her know what it’s like by asking her how she would feel if her father used the same rant to get back with her…she told me that she wants him to fuck off…interesting.   It was also interesting to learn that his father’s mother is dying and a few of her friends are in the wannabe-Bloods.  One sister is unethical, the other one lacks self-worth, while the older brother is simply maladjusted and fears being a bad father to his son…

My Uncle has cancer and has received complications from chemotherapy and a head injury sustained while going to the lavatory at the nursing home.  My American cousin and his church buddies make occasional prayers at their church, but it really does not do much good in the end.  Talking to a minister can help, keeping him in good company can help, but praying to an idol in a room does not help.  It hurts to breathe and it hurts to live for him.  I just don’t know what to say anymore.

The Comfort Woman Denial from the Japanese Government will not die

According to recent reports from East Asian news agencies, the demand for a proper acknowledgment of sexual exploitation in WW2 by the Imperial Japanese Army continues around various countries and regions.

The ROK government has urged for a sincere apology with intense protests surrounding the Japanese embassy in Seoul (though one man managed to scale their walls):

The Chinese have cut their trip to rebuild bilateral ties with Japan short in response to Abe’s controversial remarks and the joint Sino-Japanese history project has come to an end with nothing worked out as well.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to Japan has been shortened in response to Tokyo’s saying there was no proof that women who worked in wartime brothels were coerced, Yonhap news agency said yesterday.

Historians from China and Japan have given up cowriting a single history of Sino-Japanese relations in a joint study project sponsored by the two governments because of the apparent huge gaps in their views and time constraints, Japanese participants said Tuesday.

It’s one thing to make idiotic remarks as a private citizen or a low-ranking official, but Abe’s remarks have much weight as Prime Minister since he Constitutionally represents the Japanese people in their views. If 2ch really was a true indicator of mainstream Japanese opinion as many profess, then Abe has done his job well and his party will gain some seats in the upcoming election. However, the perception of Japanese abroad will only worsen, especially in more isolated parts of the world, and it places business interests that depend of stable relations in East Asia in an extremely difficult position to prosper.

It’s also counterproductive to regional ties when the Japanese government through their Cabinet makes an official denial of the wartime exploitation of comfort women:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government said yesterday it did not believe there was proof Japan forced women into World War II brothels, reiterating remarks that caused an uproar earlier this month.

“The government did not find evidence showing forced recruitment by Japanese military authorities or bureaucrats,” Abe’s Cabinet said in a policy statement in parliament responding to a question by an opposition lawmaker.

That’s just beautiful since we finally get a real clarification on where the Japanese government officially stands in their Prime Minister’s controversial remarks. With that being said, they might as well deny the Rape of Nanjing, the Pearl Harbour bombings, the wartime occupation, and the cruel treatment of WW2 POWs. After all, the United States is willing to let them say these things as long as they remain under their sphere of influence in the areas of defence and act as their proxy regional policeman in East Asia. Then Japanese nationalists also make it a point that non-Japanese cannot understand them since they have unique psychology and that it is none of their business to question their views on history since they are not Japanese.

The only good thing that comes out of this is that Taiwan Province actually takes a common stand against Abe for his remarks as a former colony that also had comfort women and actually enjoyed Japanese colonisation:

Taiwan demands Japanese apology, compensation for comfort women

Taipei (dpa) – Taiwan on Thursday demanded that Japan make a formal apology and state compensation to the former comfort women, women who served as prositutes in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.
Taiwanese vice Foreign Minister Yang Tzu-pao summoned Koichi Ito, an official from Japan’s representative office in Taipei, to make the demand.

“The Japanese government must face up to the historical evidence. To the comfort women who suffered immense psychological and physical trauma, Japan must make a sincere and formal apology and a state compensation,” a Foreign Ministry news release quoted Yang as saying.

Ito quoted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as saying earlier this month, that in 1993, after Japan had investigated the issue of comfort women, former chief cabinet secretary Koono Yohe apologized to these women, and Japan’s stance remained unchanged.

Ito said foreign media misreported Abe’s speech in parliament, resulting in the misunderstanding. But Yang reiterated Taiwan’s stand that it hoped Japan will face up to historical facts and make a formal apology and state compensation to the comfort women.

During World War II, Japan recruited some 200,000 mostly Asian women to serve as prostitutes in the Japanese Imperial Army.

Japan claimed these women voluntarily provided sexual services, but surviving comfort women in China, Taiwan, South and North Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and the Netherlands have refuted Tokyo’s claim, saying they had been tricked and forced to join the Japanese army.

They should also be careful how they criticise Japan or else their Self-Defence Forces will never come to Taiwan Province’s aid when China invades because Taiwan has no protection if the United States invade Iran.