Wednesday February 15, 2012

Xeno23's past comments

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    Xeno23

    I expect there's a direct correlation between building extreme skyscrapers and an increase in folks quoting the bible on the tower of babel...

    Posted in: Will Tokyo Sky Tree's completion bring down 'skyscraper curse' on Japan?

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    Xeno23

    If you're caught in a riptide, there are two ways to escape it: 1. swim parallel to the shore away from the riptide channel and you should be able to find a spot where you can swim back to shore; riptide channels are usually pretty narrow. 2. float on your back and ride the current out until it is spent, then move away from the riptide channel and swim back to shore. The problem with this is that riptides can sometimes reach quite far out.

    Learn to swim. Teach your kids.

    Posted in: Woman drowns while trying to rescue child at Chiba beach

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    Xeno23

    Neither. Both. Depends. Are comic books / manga art? Obscenity as defined by who? I had an Art professor who said anything anyone calls Art is Art; that doesn't mean it's good or bad, high or low; just that it is. Stifling Art always leads to loss of freedom.

    Obscenity is typically defined by a well-intended special interest who either think they know better than the rest of society, or think they can speak for the rest of society; how often do they ask? Banning stuff always drives it underground, into precisely the realms we probably don't want them to go; it usually makes things worse.

    Protect the innocent, of course; but we've never been very good at that - ever. I'm not sure we know how without gumming up other things, like freedom and reason. Anyway, sexualization of minors? Uh, off-hand, I'd say we've been doing it pretty much for as long as we've been around; think about that.

    Posted in: Sexual images of minors in manga: Art or obscenity?

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    Xeno23

    The questions "why are Jmen scared to death of foreign women" and "why do many western men ... make a bee-line for Jwomen" are the same question. Which I won't go into here ^_^

    It's always revealing having an outsider comment to a native audience. I recall a series of articles in an American periodical about an expat returned to The States after 20 years abroad; who felt like a foreigner, and commented from that perspective. It was very enlightening.

    Advice columns seem more beneficial as a spur to discussion than as actual guides; do we agree with the advice, or not, and why? What do the topics say about our interests? Fun for water cooler debates. And the bi-lingual bit is a nice touch for learning English.

    Anyway, Western women in kimono; at the very least a fashion police felony. Should be banned.

    Posted in: 'Ask Caroline' series for Japanese women launched

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    Xeno23

    International suits over unsanctioned foreign commercial (or otherwise) incursions into national waters, or designated protection zones are correct protocols; the identity and nature of the litigants is simply a point of legal detail. Support is irrelevant; it's a matter of law.

    If the law is unclear or ill-defined, then it's still a matter of law and has to be resolved on that basis; however support could prove relevant if the process of definition is subject to some kind of ballot. Whether I personally support something going on between Japan, Australia and The Hague, or not, is about as moot a point as moot points can get.

    Posted in: Do you support Australia's plan to launch legal action against Japan over its whaling program in Antarctic waters?

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    Xeno23

    I grew up with Tombow (dragonfly) pencils in school; they're making pens now? What wonders the future holds!

    Posted in: Handy ballpoint pen

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    Xeno23

    I say let 'em all in. There should only be 2 questions: are you willing to pay taxes, and follow the rules as well as the next guy? If the answer is "yes" then the response is "Great! Here's your citizenship".

    Posted in: Why U.S. immigration policy needs tweaking

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    Xeno23

    See, if the US got out, then Japan would be forced to hurry up its giant flying robots program, which is really all I'm waiting for...

    Posted in: Does Japan need to host any U.S. bases at all?

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    Xeno23

    Sure there's life after death; just not for the dead guy! Life goes on perfectly fine whenever someone dies. By definition, death is the end of life, so it's at least grammatically impossible ^_^ Does human consciousness and personality survive physical death? We're nowhere near determining that yet. It's a question science could likely answer, but here's the problem: there are a vast array of issues more pressing that require our attention. To outright say "no" is as biased a response as to say "yes". Neither believing, nor disbelieving will alter whatever the reality of the issue proves to be. One cannot make it so by believing if the notion is false, and one cannot unmake it so, if the notion is true. Now, I've got better stuff to do than talk about a silly question we've not been able to answer in a hundred thousand years, so I'm off to take a nap.

    Posted in: Do you believe in life after death?

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    Xeno23

    Aside from ecological stewardship, which is, of course, the rational approach and shouldn't need any further explanation, this will cause a huge ousawagi, so it'll be vastly entertaining...

    Posted in: Do you support a ban on the trade of bluefin tuna?

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    Xeno23

    I was there; Expo 70 was awesome. Shaped my vision of the future for years to come; still does, I guess. I also remember how happy everyone was; an ebullient spirit of international friendliness, goodwill and hope that was decidedly manic, but wonderfully blissful - it was like Disneyland for the whole world. Another big deal to us: KFC was introduced to Japan there, had a kiosk at the international food plaza; we made our dad take us twice. Can't deny it, among the happiest four days of my life, that.

    Article Unavailable

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    Xeno23

    Just some thoughts; no answers. Let's really think about "dumbing down".

    It's arguable that there are three main aspects to what education provides: operational ability (maths calculation, grammar), knowledge interoperability (data inventory muxing), and mental agility (reasoning, logical connection pathing). When these are firing on all cylinders, you get a sum that's more than it's parts; a synergy. The key thing is achieving that synergy.

    The primary capacity could be said to be mental agility. If operational ability and knowledge interoperability can be supplied by other means, and still support / are driven by mental agility, it likely doesn't matter if those two are inherent to the system (ingrained in your head), or available to the system (via computers), unless you no longer have access to those external sources.

    If Johnny or Taro can't pull geography facts from their gray matter storage, but can get the answers they need from the Internet and produce a desired result; fine. By one accounting, sure, they're don't have the same raw capacity as Mary or Yoshiko who know where Kazakhstan is in their heads, but if the result is the same. Big frickin' deal.

    What we really need to understand is if new, and to us older set possibly difficult to recognize mechanisms are providing mental agility growth. Who knows, maybe it's hand-eye-brain coordination from computer gaming; maybe the complex structure of manga formatting, maybe handling vast amounts of input from copious media sources. This might not be apparent to older paradigm folks, but that doesn't mean it don't exist.

    Not knowing stuff isn't the same as dumb. In the eyes of some of these youngsters, we older types may be dumb. Granted, failings in our educational systems world-wide are leading to alarming degrees of developmental problems in all three critical capabilities, and that's a problem. But we don't really know where the new paradigm kids will take humanity; it could be a good place - just one hard for us to appreciate right now.

    There's always talk of standards, but the real question there is are said standards really keeping pace with new paradigms, or are they fossils? An outdated standard only holds progress back.

    Not to excuse the truly idiotic, as often exhibited on YouTube during the US Presidential races...

    Posted in: The dumbing down of Japanese students

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    Xeno23

    Justification? Everyone always has "justification". If what was meant was: is there ever any consensual moral reason for war, then it can only be to rid the world of something worse. War is often a failure of politics / diplomacy, even though, paraphrasing Clausewitz, war IS politics... with teeth, er, fangs.

    Looking at human history, one can only come to two conclusions: either we like it, or it's hardwired into us; otherwise we would've stopped engaging in it a long time ago.

    Posted in: Are there any circumstances that justify war?

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    Xeno23

    Wait, what? Did I just step out of a time machine into 1970?

    Article Unavailable

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    Xeno23

    The thing about TKD is that it looks cool, but as far as actual street fighting goes, in the few actual violent encounters I've had (in the US), I never used it, because it's too damaging if you land a hit; I was always worried about law suits. My instructors always taught for quick incapacitating, but that almost always meant serious mayhem. I might get out of a situation of a moment, only to get smacked with a ridiculous and costly law suit later? I don't think so.

    Krav Maga is like that too; it's for combat. You're putting your opponent down pretty much for good. You will seriously hurt the guy.

    Gracey style Jiu Jitsu is good against a single opponent, but if it's a bar fight, your guy is gonna have friends, and they will kick you in the head, or put a bar stool over your noggin.

    So, Aikido. The problem with Aikido is that it's difficult to master to any practical degree, and like a lot of Japanese forms, many schools teach form without tactical power. Also, if you're not adept at it, a good street fighter will punch your lights out.

    Perhaps the best "martial art" is track and field. Run away.

    Posted in: What is the most efficient martial art to learn for one's protection in the real world?

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    Xeno23

    Time and again Obama has done the wrong thing, where protocol is concerned, in England, in Italy, in France. These are relatively simple observances with rules that are well defined and not hard to remember, which an experienced team would know, or a deeply thinking team would find out. I'm not talking about making good will gestures; that's an entirely different matter. I'm talking about correct protocol.

    There are rules to bowing, they're fairly simple and well known; why doesn't his protocol team know them? There are only a few possible reasons: arrogance, ignorance, stupidity, or agenda. Period.

    You can still make exceptional good will gesture AND follow protocol at the same time. In fact, following correct protocol will likely generate MORE good will, because you're making the effort to acknowledge your host's cultural heritage.

    By the way, he didn't visit Hiroshima or Nagasaki, did he? To answer a previous poll question...

    Posted in: Should President Barack Obama have bowed to the emperor while he was in Japan?

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    Xeno23

    One thing is becoming clear, Obama's handlers (protocol team and media managers) are not very good - they might actually be classifiable as rather bad. So it would seem in a lot of areas, not just protocol, one of the major pre-election fears about him is proving true: Obama and many in his administration are naive, inexperienced, and kind of clueless.

    Posted in: Should President Barack Obama have bowed to the emperor while he was in Japan?

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    Xeno23

    I've never been able to make up my mind on the wisdom of an American president visiting these sites. On the one hand, it could put a lot of things to rest for the Japanese public, and is a positive good will gesture. However, it sets a really bad precedent for American polity, and a gesture does nothing to alter the facts of history. I don't actually mind though, if an American president visited; not gonna get all hopped up about it.

    All that said, since Obama seems to retain high regard in Japan, I'm not sure he can avoid it; not going would be a blow to expectations of him. For those Japanese who've been waiting for a gesture like this, Obama is the most likely guy to do it in very long time. Congress and the American People would get pretty riled.

    Posted in: Should U.S. President Barack Obama visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki when he comes to Japan in November?

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    Xeno23

    No no, you people don't understand. This is the height of fashion on Mars this season! Please, some style sense, anyone?

    By the way, did anyone actually see the movie? The ugly truth is that we still make movies like the ugly truth. Oh well.

    Article Unavailable

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    Xeno23

    Japan should continue to operate in the world community where it can have a genuine impact, e.g., policing against maritime piracy, or working with reconstruction in war ravaged, depressed areas; maybe even mine clearing.

    If the refueling operation was practice for further global assists, fine. But I suspect they've had practice enough now. Time to go do something else.

    Posted in: Should Japan continue the SDF refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, which has been in place since 2001 in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan?

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