In the discussion in the wake of the floods in Pakistan, and the perceived lack of empathy from the outside word, one recurring theme is that the choice of a corrupt, inept government in Pakistan is not the the fault of the people. Until I hear otherwise, Pakistan is a democracy and therefore the government was elected by the people.
Now whether those people voted for the current government because they were able to make a rational choice between different candidates, or because candidate X gave them a chicken and some cash, it makes no difference. The people of Pakistan are responsible for the government they have.
Now some people will say that the people took the chickens and the goats and the cash because they are poor and they are uneducated, etc. Sorry, but that does not change anything. (These same people will take cash, a goat, a chicken to chant Death to America/Infidels as well… or to burn the Union Jack after David Cameron’s comments the other day). All we hear is that it is not the fault of the Pakistani people. This is where I call ‘bullshit”.
There is a word for beings that are uneducated, docile, can’t think for themselves, eat, reproduce, take up space, and only do what others tell them, etc. They are called cattle. So explain to me why I should lose sleep over cattle dying. Because at the end of the day, even if we work to save them, they will still be cattle. And they will still take money to vote for candidate X or burn country Y’s flag or whatever. And they will still blame their misfortune on others instead of themselves.
Back to Japan for the second time; exactly one year after the last time and feeling much better physically than the last time. (I got sick just before leaving Singapore then.) My visit this time around was not planned as much as it should or could have been. The last few months have really flown by.
So far (2 days in), I have done some of the things I enjoyed from last time, such as eating some delicious butter chicken curry, saag paneer and garlic nan bread at the Shinjuku branch of Siddique Group. I wish they would open branches in Canada.
I also hit a few Adidas stores and broke my credit card pretty good. The items on offer here in Japan are more varied and more exciting than what they have back home. Particularly, the clothing. Though the shoe selection is quite impressive as well.
I also hit the Kamo soccer shop in Shibuya again. The selection is amazing and covers 4 stories. I found the branch in Harajuku the next day; it covers 5 stories I believe.
I spent my first evening in Shibuya watching the Japan-Netherlands soccer match at Rhythm Café. I had a Japan jersey on, which as a foreigner, made me rather popular among people there. Unfortunately, Japan lost.
More to come in a later post.
Just reset the theme of this site to the standard WP one since I did such a hatchet job on the old HHD one in pink. Need to come back and fix this.
BTW, damn Facebook takes away all of the fun of blogging and having a bad attitude. 
Still trying to figure that one out.
The New York Times reports that Ikea is putting a hold on all new investment in the country as a result of ongoing problems with corruption.
Unfortunately, the Russians are probably too fucking stupid to understand why this is important. Keep waving and smiling on the decks of the Titanic. Dasvedanya !
Seems the Canadian government decided to finally address some of the issues that have a created a tragedy of the commons dynamic around Canadian citizenship. In an op-ed piece from last week in the Globe and Mail,
The writer, Natalie Brender, reports that,
“On April 17, a new law comes into effect changing the rules of citizenship. From that date on, when foreign-born Canadians have children born abroad, those children cannot inherit Canadian citizenship. Under the current rules, such children do receive citizenship and can retain it as adults – even if they’ve never stepped foot in this country – by showing knowledge of Canada and ability to speak English or French.
The new law stems from the 2006 removal of 15,000 Canadian citizens from war in Lebanon, many of whom subsequently returned there. At the time, Stephen Harper’s government condemned so-called citizens of convenience who use citizenship as insurance against turmoil in their home countries. The new law ensures that only one generation of emigrant Canadians will gain such “conveniences” in the future.
It seems this is not the only citizenship reform afoot. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has recently made comments suggesting that further steps be taken to make citizenship more difficult to obtain.
At an event in Alberta last month, Mr. Kenney was asked about “birth tourists,” who come to have their children in Canada so they can acquire citizenship. He said his department is considering how to prevent such people from abusing our generosity. He mentioned the estimated quarter of a million Canadian citizens living in Hong Kong and the 50,000 or more in Lebanon – and the current right of these citizens’ great-grandchildren to become Canadian citizens – as further evidence of abuse. In another recent speech, Mr. Kenney suggested there be tighter enforcement of the existing rule that immigrants be able to speak an official language before being granted citizenship.”
Who can argue with that?
Here at HHD, we are in favour of immigration, just not immigration in bad faith.
’nuff said.
Sitting down for some pizza. Going to watch some hockey. Maybe watch some Ulysses on Jaman and rank up on Call of Duty. Throw in some income tax returns and whipping freeto.be in to shape and you have yourself a weekend. ’nuff said.
On the topic of Russia, the NY Times reports, “The United Nations predicts that the country will fall to 116 million people by 2050, from 141 million now, an 18 percent decline, largely because of a low birthrate and poor health habits.”
What’s the bad news? There is none.
The Guardian reports that Moscow and Russia are experiencing hard times. The babushkas are even finding it hard. Hey, they voted for Putin, they can deal with the consequences.
Posted in Politics, World
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The Schadenfreude place to be exact.
In Friedman’s column today on the Great Reset (nod to Richard Florida), there is a great quote that goes to the heart of the matter of why things have to change.
“We created a way of raising standards of living that we can’t possibly pass on to our children,” said Joe Romm, a physicist and climate expert who writes the indispensable blog climateprogress.org. We have been getting rich by depleting all our natural stocks — water, hydrocarbons, forests, rivers, fish and arable land — and not by generating renewable flows.
“You can get this burst of wealth that we have created from this rapacious behavior,” added Romm. “But it has to collapse, unless adults stand up and say, ‘This is a Ponzi scheme. We have not generated real wealth, and we are destroying a livable climate …’ Real wealth is something you can pass on in a way that others can enjoy.”
[From Op-Ed Columnist - The Inflection Is Near? - NYTimes.com]
Posted in Society, World
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