warispeace comments

Posted in: Biden picks Emanuel for Japan ambassador; Burns for China See in context

Emanuel is public instrument of neoliberalism, an ideology and practice that has not only gutted the community health system in Japan, helping to create the present hospital crisis, but has led to ever growing wealth inequality and a huge working poor population in Japan. It is a complete disrespect for the working people here and for democracy that Biden would dump this outcast in our region of the world.

20 ( +26 / -6 )

Posted in: U.N. report: Earth warming likely to pass limit set by leaders See in context

@rainyday

It's clear you do not have a good understanding of the deep connection between energy use, human population growth and economic growth. If you track these historically on global level, you will see they align and they all rise exponentially when humans start using industrially fossil fuels, especially oil and gas. Take a large amount of fossil fuels out of the equation (which the science tells us we must) and the human population will naturally decline. For anyone with a knowledge of ecological principles, this is pretty easy to understand. Take an important energy source out of an ecosystem and the carrying capacity of that system decreases. So as we go off our addiction to fossil fuels, if we can, then we will both have to lower our standards of living (which are based on this form of fuel) and reduce our populations. If we were to all live at the material and energy consumption of Cubans, the planet might sustainably support the existing population, but those who have are not likely willing give up what they are use to. So the only way to maintain higher material/energy use is a lower population base, and you are completely wrong in your argument to think half the global population would just double their consumption. This would be impossible with lower use of fossil fuels.

You are great at trash-talking others' arguments and proposals, but where are yours? How do you see the world reducing the use of fossil fuels?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: U.N. report: Earth warming likely to pass limit set by leaders See in context

@rainyday

Now I realize that you are not advocating mass exterminations like that, but by framing the issue as one of “we need to get rid of humans” you are making the job of people who do want to do evil crap a lot easier. And for what? Our problems aren’t that we have too many people, its that our institutions do a crap job of distributing what we have. You could cut the population in half and it wouldn’t get us an inch closer to solving any of our problems if the distributive problems persist. The wealthy over-consumers will just react to that by doubling their rate of consumption and we’ll be stuck in the same place. Demographics offer zero solutions to our problems, its an inane argument at best, a dangerous one that can be distorted to justify about any atrocity one can imagine at worst.

I see that you are trying to frame my argument as "getting rid of humans", when I am actually arguing for a reduction by having fewer births, it is not eliminating or "exterminating" existing humans. (Nice embellishment, by the way).

Since demographics (too many people consuming too much fossil fuel energy, following an ideology of perpetual growth and unlimited accumulation on a finite planet) are part of the problem, then how can demographics not be part of efforts to addressing the climate emergency? Fossil fuels led to more humans, once we knew how to transfer that energy into food energy. If we actually reduce the use of fossil fuels, this will mean less food energy, regardless of how much we produce now. So either in a more encouraged or more chaotic and violent way, the human population will shrink. You seem to opt for a more violent outcome. Is this not the real atrocity?

By the way, human demographics are deeply tied to distribution. More humans over-consuming feed animals has meant less distribution of food energy for wild animals. Why do you not talk about this "extermination"? We live beyond the carrying capacity of the planet. Yes we should share, but we still have to reduce our material requirements and our numbers. There is no way to fudge this math.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Posted in: U.N. report: Earth warming likely to pass limit set by leaders See in context

@rainyday

Pretty much all our energy needs can be supplied by renewables now without negative impacts on standards of living.

Agreed if you are talking about the standard of living of most people in Cuba. On a national basis, Cuba is one of the few countries that takes a year to go beyond per capita global sustainable resource use. Japan, for example, reaches this every spring. After that, consumption today just diminishes the younger and future generations' life chances. On an individual basis, one can imagine that Jeff Bezos and the like reach this within the first five minutes of the new year.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Posted in: U.N. report: Earth warming likely to pass limit set by leaders See in context

@rainyday

I guess one way to limit thought is to use emotionally charged terms to label and dismiss an argument, rather than engaging with it. You may not like the fact that the world is overpopulated with people living way beyond the carrying capacity of the planet, but it is a fact and whether it takes a decade or more to change demographics, these will change either in a more planned or more violent way. The industrial food system, built on fossil fuels, has allowed the human populations to grow exponentially. By some calculations, it takes 10 calories of fossil fuel to produce, distribute and consume 1 calorie of food energy (many of these lacking enough nutrition). To go off fossil fuels quickly means we must drastically alter the industrial food system. A food system based on flow and not stock energy, especially that from the sun, will not be able to sustain the present global population. So are you suggesting that starvation, food wars, refugees dying at sea and infanticide are more ethical approaches than planned population reduction?

Please note I did not suggest that we need only reduce human population to address the climate and other ecological emergencies, and I called for a reduction of the greediest among us. We must try everything, with some action having a shorter time horizon and some longer. Going after banks and other capital funds to divest and targeting government subsidies for the fossil fuel industries are more immediate and necessary actions, but nothing should be off the table, whether you are emotionally comfortable with it or not. One could argue that the religious beliefs that promote and sanctify the excessive procreation of humans are unethical, as human life impacts the life chances and quality of other species on the planet, which we have an ethical obligation to share.

And really, did you have to pull out the Nazi card to try and gain an argumentative advantage?

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Posted in: U.N. report: Earth warming likely to pass limit set by leaders See in context

This should be the top news story, not many about Suga, who will likely be gone in a month or two.

Anyway, actions need to be taken.

1) Reduce humans, particularly in countries with excessive consumption habits.

2) Stop investments in fossil fuel development and end all subsidies for oil, gas, coal companies.

2) Stop the war machines, especially the US military, a huge CO2 emitter.

3) Greatly scale back the industrial meat industry.

-3 ( +5 / -8 )

Posted in: Japan has its best Olympic medal haul: 27 gold, 58 overall See in context

If Japan really wanted to increase the chance for future Olympic athletes and even medalists, then rather that sinking billions into the corporate Games, all of the money could have gone to building public sporting facilities and helping amateur sporting organizations. For example, now many sports fields are on river banks that get washed away with the increased flooding from the climate emergency and practice is disrupted. Wouldn't it have been better to make safe and sustainable sports grounds? The opportunity cost from these wasteful Olympics is huge.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Posted in: Measures that made Tokyo Olympics possible also left public disconnected See in context

A question to be asked is: why did Japanese government authorities and corporation, including media and advertising conglomerates so intent on "selling" these Games to the Japanese people? If the Games in themselves are such a worthwhile event, socially, economically, psychologically, even politically, would there be the need to create so many reasons to hold them, so many just to gain support, legitimacy and popularity among the voting and paying public? Shouldn't the Games sell themselves?

Each time some justification was pronounced and echoed, such as rejuvenating Tohoku, an economic injection for rural areas and for Tokyo, the legacy of new infrastructure, hope to overcome the suffering in the pandemic, an environmentally friendly Olympics, it was clear that the real motivation for the Tokyo 2020 was always about private interest and not public benefit. From the initial lie, that Tokyo 2020 would make money, despite the legacy of Olympic host nation and host city debt, to the ones that followed, these Games were always a disconnection, a contradiction from the tension created when the corporate-state must legitimize the transfer of public finances to private companies through corporate welfare schemes. All of the spinning, all of the justifications, all of the lies were efforts to contain this contradiction, that the many scandals, cost overruns and finally the pandemic kept liberating.

32 ( +34 / -2 )

Posted in: As pandemic Olympics come to a close, Japan asks: What did Games mean? See in context

If you ask what it means, Shakespeare said it best, through Macbeth.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

If you ask what it cost, then we need only look at our tax bills for years to come, as we pay for another huge corporate welfare scam.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Posted in: Hashimoto says Olympic organizers have to tighten anti-virus measures See in context

What a mess. All they need to do is follow the scientific and medical advice. Even once someone is vaccinated, it takes several week to develop a higher level of immunity, and the tests are not always accurate.

I just came to Canada, where there are strict protocols. First tested before flying, Then tested after landing, at the airport. Then 3 days in a designated hotel, where I could only leave the room for 15 minutes of fresh air. After, transferred by private vehicle to a safe place of isolation to quarantine for 14 days. During this time, I had to check in with an app every day to report my condition. A government agent showed up at my door to make sure I was there and not sick. I was also phoned by a local government agency. I had to take another test on day 8. And finally after 14 days was cleared to move around.

In Japan, Uganda team members arrive with an infected athlete, they send him or her home and just let the rest into the country without proper testing and procedures. Of course if one member was infected there was a high chance others would be.

It's easy to guess what will happen when thousands of people arrive from many places with high infection rate. We can already see the next wave rolling in.

23 ( +26 / -3 )

Posted in: Japan's population falls to 126.22 mil in 2020; drops out of top 10 in world See in context

Unlike the race to the bottom in wages and incomes, this is a race to the bottom the world needs as there are just too many humans driving the world past the ecological boundaries. Finally Japan in showing the kind of global leadership other nations need to follow.

1 ( +19 / -18 )

Posted in: China's 2022 Olympics a chance to press Beijing on human rights: Trudeau See in context

Why is it that all these western political leaders who rail on about China are so eager to take donations from corporations profiting off of China's lower labour costs and environmental standards? Some of these corporations will be Olympic sponsors for the corporate games. So why don't we hear Trudeau and his neoliberal crowd condemn them as well as the Chinese authorities?

They always play this duplicitous and cynical game, appearing progressive on social and political issues while supporting laws and policies that help further enrich the transnational companies and investors that control our lives.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan's April industrial output up 2.5%, exceeding pre-pandemic level See in context

So China is once again bailing out Japan's economy.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Mass vaccinations in Tokyo, Osaka get into full swing; Kobe opens large center See in context

We all know what "mass" means in Tokyo. People passing through Shinjuku station during rush-hour. The exodus overseas at New Year's or Obon holidays. The big crowds going for discount shopping... This just doesn't measure up.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Posted in: Suga dodges questions on whether Olympics can be held under state of emergency See in context

the government will "carry on with preparations while listening to a range of opinions."

Indeed, the small range from the global corporate side of the socio-economic spectrum.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan may provide AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan See in context

Good idea! The AstraZeneca vaccine is considered too dangerous for Japanese people, so just let people in Taiwan use it.

In fact, complication and deaths are rare, and Japanese authorities should assist Taiwan, since they can't figure out how to set up distribution channels here and lack the leadership to persuade the Japanese public to quickly get vaccinate, even if this were possible.

3 ( +11 / -8 )

Posted in: Record low number of pregnancies reported in Japan in 2020 See in context

When the world is overfilled with human, bent on destroying their host planet, in full awareness, why are people so concerned with low birthrates and population declines? Rather, these should be celebrated, especially in places with a huge ecological footprint.

For Japan, the overshoot day for 2021 is estimated to be May 6th. This means that people in Japan (including non-Japanese) will have used up their proportion of world resources at that time, based on sustainability limits. Of course, the world's population now uses much more than the yearly sustainable amount, which means we are borrowing heavily from the future, especially in the advanced industrial nations.

https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/country-overshoot-days/

8 ( +12 / -4 )

Posted in: North Korea's hacker army called 'world's leading bank robbers' See in context

And I thought the 'world's leading bank robbers' were the banks themselves. Oh, right, they are the 'world's leading central bank robbers'.

Rather than money or even cryptocurrency, isn't the most valuable commodity, today, personal information? If so, then there is a much higher level of thief that operates in the light of day.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Posted in: Tokyo Games cancelation likely to cost Japan ¥1.81 tril: Nomura See in context

Nomura Research Institute is part of Nomura Holdings, and we can see in the link below that Nomura Holdings is a very proud supporter of the Olympics. Should we drink this Kool-aid? And shouldn't this article, for fair and objective reporting, point out this connection?

zhttps://www.nomuraholdings.com/tokyo2020/

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan to boost financial incentives for clinics to give COVID-19 shots See in context

Typical neo-liberal governance. First out-source the country's medical services and gut the community health programmes, in the name of lower-cost efficiency, and then use greater amounts of tax funding to hire private services.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Posted in: Gov't considers new cash handout for needy households See in context

The ¥100,000 blanket tax return (so-called handout) took months to implement and was a huge time and cost burden on local governments. This time, local authorities are going to have to means test, which is an additional load, especially as more services are now remote. Then there is the question of what will happen to all the private data on the more precarious members of society.

Helping those in need directly is a good idea, but the implementation process needs thoughtfulness. The government has had more than a year to develop a plan. Have they?

16 ( +16 / -0 )

Posted in: Gov't to decide Friday on extending state of emergency See in context

Most people could accept the state of emergency decision for the first wave, as there was no other action to take. The next state of emergency was accepted, because we thought with the creation of vaccinations, in the near term there was a path out of the pandemic. Now, there is a growing frustration and anger, as the government's negligence in the vaccination process means we are in an extended emergency and could face months more before enough people receive the jab, with delays and further suffering caused by an Olympics few want.

Will this lead to further political apathy and resignation (仕方ない), or can this be a turning point to activate citizens to get involved and choose better representatives, who will hold authority figures in the bureaucracy to account?

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Posted in: Gov't considers using SDF doctors, nurses at Tokyo Olympics See in context

By considering using the "Self-Defense" Forces, is the government of Japan recognizing that the Olympics are a threat to the nation, which needs to be protected? If so, wouldn't the best strategic move be to cancel the event, rather than battle it?

40 ( +40 / -0 )

Posted in: 28 local Japanese governments considering mass vaccination sites See in context

just not--just now. (JT comments need the option to edit.)

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Posted in: 28 local Japanese governments considering mass vaccination sites See in context

Japan has long depended on imports, especially for food and energy. So we might think that there is a basic understanding that after you import, you need to distribute and sell, or you just have a pile of aging inventory. So now we hear that Japan has a huge stockpile of vaccines and we have the central and all these local governments just not considering how to get people vaccinated. This is beyond thoughtlessness; it is negligence, and those in authority positions should be held legally responsible for deaths.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Posted in: LDP lawmaker says being LGBT goes against preservation of species See in context

The preservation of the most selfish and self-righteous members of the human species is destroying the life chances of minorities and many other species. Man in the mirror time for Yana and the like.

2 ( +17 / -15 )

Posted in: Coates: Tokyo Olympics to go ahead even in state of emergency See in context

Day after day, we have news of these old guys from the Olympic gang, likely already double vaccinated, making dictatorial statements about proceeding with a possibly large spreader event. How did we get to this anti-democratic condition, where the needs of global capital preempts the safety of a local population?

33 ( +34 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan must radically speed defense build-up: Kishi See in context

So what this really mean, considering Abe's loosening of laws regulating the export of weapons, is that Japan's military industry and their political friends seek to profit by transferring our taxes through the corporate welfare scam. Using the hot-button issue of China is an easy way to get the public to go along with their own impoverishment.

-3 ( +9 / -12 )

Posted in: Japan may let pharmacists administer COVID-19 vaccines See in context

Japan used to be a country that would study practices around the world, adopt, adapt and advance. Now it is an inward looking, declining and aging nation-state, with the political and economic elite clinging to power.

This is an example. While other countries have been using pharmacists for months to help rapidly vaccinate their populations, Japan now starts to consider it, which means it will take month more of discussions and planning before operations begin.

Why not also use acupuncturists and veterinarians. Giving a jab is much easier than designing and building the bullet-train.

22 ( +25 / -3 )

Posted in: Gov't pledges to fix embarrassing vaccine booking system flaw See in context

This government is the embarrassing flaw that needs to be fixed.

35 ( +38 / -3 )

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