8 March 2010
The fact that Japan has its own Roh Moo Hyun now is both more and less troubling than Roh’s own presidency. On the one hand, Hatoyama wasn’t elected on a wave of anti-Americanism, but because voters were understandably tired of one-party rule. If Hatoyama doesn’t improve conditions in Japan, he may not hold power for long. On the other hand, we have much more air and naval power in Japan than in Korea, and whereas Korea is strategically expendable to America, Japan really isn’t.
I hold Barack Obama responsible for the fact that somewhere in Futenma, someone hates us.
The North Korean military tries to regain control over the border.
Via Curtis, some worthwhile reading from Andrei Lankov.
South Korean food aid to the North has hit a snag.
China: We are not assholes.
If you believe in peace, it might be worth a minute of your time to condemn the utter senselessness of the terrorists who murder Iraqis for defying them and voting in the Arab world’s only truly free elections. The terrorists may even be losing the support of the BBC:
The campaign of sectarian killing is beginning to seem like mindless nihilism, rather some sort of clear-cut political strategy. Having completely failed to derail the democratic process here, it is hard to see what the extremists can do now. Other than raise the level of violence even more, of course. [BBC, John Simpson]
Who would have thought this could happen four years ago? Thank goodness President Obama had the spine and the will to stand up to all those calls to pull the troops out.
Haha. That said, on BBC talk-radio (Radio5 Live) this was discussed, and the view was that in this country we’re disinclined from voting ‘cos of rain or apathy… in Iraq they still manage a turn-out of 60% – about that for our GEs – despite the risk of being blown to pieces.
Radio5 lacks a lot of the cultural baggage which has coloured Joshua’s view of BBC reporting.
I remember when the BBC was stodgy, British, and objective. I’d listen to them several times a day on short wave. I miss the old BBC.
I can’t bear to listen – betraying my love of radio – to its news output any longer, and much of its ‘topical’ comedy is now sniggering undergraduate (cf. frat boy) nonsense, but cultural output, especially on Radio3, remains exemplary and trans-Atlantic.
Everything which happened with Parliamentary expenses is there in the BBC, but won’t be publicized because court rulings have decreed that freedom of information doesn’t apply to the BBC. The upper management has developed a strong sense of entitlement, with the massive remuneration from various multimedia interests, mixed with derision of hoi polloi, although this is being scaled back.
One of the specials of Doctor Who demonstrated this when a London double-decker was transported to a foreign desert, rather than a Welsh quarry or even CGI.
World Service is still good, and is currently enduring the wrath of Bob Gedolf for suggesting that 90% of Band Aid funds were appropriated by rebel groups causing the civil war and localized man-made famine in 1984 (Soviet-backed, of course).
I thought the 20% of the Israeli population that’s Arab, mixed with their geography, sort of made the place part of the “Arab world.” I don’t mean that in any offensive way, and if that characterization is accepted, then that would be the other truly free elections (?) in the Arab world.
I can’t bear to listen – revealing my love of radio – to BBC news output any longer, and its ‘topical’ comedy and satire is the level of sniggering undergraduate (cf. frat boy) nonsense: the maturity of How I Met Your Mother, without the moments for me of being incapacitated with laugher.
Yet, the cultural output – notably the Radio3 – remains exemplary and trans-Atlantic.
The malaise definitely is from the sense of entitlement mixed with disdain of hoi polloi from the management. Everything which was revealed in the Parliamentary expenses is there also in the BBC, but won’t be discussed ‘cos court rulings have decreed that freedom of information doesn’t apply.
This has bankrolled of late by multimedia interests – with ridiculous displays, such as a larger reporting team for the Winter Olympics than there were British athletes – but this is about to be pruned drastically.
World Service remains good, and currently is enduring the wrath of Bob Geldolf for suggesting that 90% of Band Aid monies in 1984 went to fund rebel groups prosecuting the civil war which had resulted in the regional man-made famine (Soviet and Cuban backed, of course).
Also, I saw you mentioned Gulbidden Heymatyar elsewhere. A recent ruling by the Court of Session in Edinburgh rejected an attempt to claim asylum by one of his henchmen, with the very interesting conclusion that HIG members are not PoWs protected by the Geneva Convention!
Remarks of mine appear to be vanishing into the ether. Is there moderation?
Kushibo, that’s true but Arab World is a loose term which may indicate members of the former Arab League or Arabic-speaking majorities, and explicitly excludes Israel. I would suggest that Lebanon has free-ish elections.
I prefer not to use labels such this, as it suggests a cohesion in a collection of states which have been warring for the past half century, each trying to out-do the other in scale of massacres. Plus, as well as side-lining minorities such as Kurds or Armenians or Druze or Copts or Berber or even Jews, it suggests a homogeneity amongst ‘Arabs’ which really doesn’t exist – culturally, religiously and linguistically (to say there is a common language called Arabic is to say it is also spoken on Malta).
Right, so there may be a length limit. In response to Joshua:
I can’t bear to listen – revealing my love of radio – to BBC news output any longer, and its ‘topical’ comedy and satire is the level of sniggering undergraduate (cf. frat boy) nonsense: the maturity of How I Met Your Mother, without the moments for me of being incapacitated with laugher.
Yet, the cultural output – notably the Radio3 – remains exemplary and trans-Atlantic.
The malaise definitely is from the sense of entitlement mixed with disdain of hoi polloi from the management. Everything which was revealed in the Parliamentary expenses is there also in the BBC, but won’t be discussed ‘cos court rulings have decreed that freedom of information doesn’t apply.
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