| I'm alive.. and uhmm.. yeah, some people have actually said I should update Xanga.
Well there you go.
I assure you I'm much more lively on MSN.
ciao
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| About Sino-Japanese relations:
The issue at hand is NOT the textbooks.
China is the only regional power in Asia with geographically
expansionist aims and as Japan is the only balance to China's power;
China feels the need to attack Japan at every opportunity.
Many people simply fail to realise the nature of free-market economics
when it comes to these textbooks. They are privately published and
therefore the government has no right to change the material. N.B. I
think the remaining 1% of Japanese who have lived through the war and
for strange reasons maintained extreme nationalist views are WRONG.
BUT, the government cannot change the material. Also, the textbooks are
not used widely in Japan. The textbooks reach one or two schools in
Japan and pose no threat to a wave of radical nationalism and the
publishing companies will eventually run out of buisness. Over time,
when the WWII generation die out (sorry to put it so rashly and
unemotionally), the unfortunate rise of EXTREME pacifism will be the
only force in Japan. I would like to add that the government has no
right to deny these irrational hyper-nationalistic textbooks as much as
they have the right to ban all Communist and extreme left-leaning
textbooks! Remember, Communism has killed tens of millions more of
people than the already dangerous threat of jingoism.
Furthermore, China has forced itself into an ideological trap.
Communism has died and therefore the Chinese government needs a new
enemy (in a truly Orwellian fashion). Japan is a natural enemy as Japan
can oppose China, is a historical enemy, and limits the movement of
Chinese submarines that are kept in balance by the US navy. With Japan
as the chosen enemy (and not the Philippines for example with which
China has huge disputes over the Spratlys with), CHINA is the one
facing a wave of extreme nationalism. Indeed, China is currently in a
stage of Hyper-nationalism that Japan was experiencing in the 1930s.
Bear in mind, as with Japan in the 1930s, China is currently:
expansionist, aggressive, lacking transparency in their government,
ruled by shadowy parties (in this case the Politburo), and without a
doubt about their own ability to become the sole power in Asia. The
Chinese governenment is not weakening significantly, so this rise of
nationalism in China poses the single most dangerous threat in the
region.
Isn't it interesting that in "1984", George Orwell managed to see how
totalitarian regimes aren't bound to ideology but rather exploit it for
the sake of control?
As for Koizumi and Yasukuni Shrine... its simply unfortunate. I have
visited the museum (close to the shrine) and have seen that history is
indeed faulty within their small confines. However, Koizumi has the
right to go to the shrine as much as anyone has the right not to go. It
is unfortunate that convicted mass-murderers be enshrined together with
millions of Japanese farmers who were brainwashed into believing that
America was evil and needed to be destroyed. Of course the Chinese make
a HUGE fuss about every time Koizumi so much as looks at Yasukuni
shrine or does anything to upset China... the Chinese government has to
draw attention away from their own Human Rights Abuses: the
CONCENTRATION CAMPS they still run (Laogai), highest number of
executions in the world, and general suppression of basic human rights.
So yeah, the textbooks are IRRELEVANT. If Japanese publishers stopped
writing those textbooks... the Chinese government would complain about
every time the Japanese celebrated the Emperor's birthday or some other
excuse.
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WE WON BRAINBOWL!!!!!!!!!!!
I won't list personal achievements, for YIS in general, the following was achieved:
1) We won the competition for the first time ever
2) We beat St. Mary's for the first time ever
3) We had four All-Stars
4) We had two people tied for the most questions answered (possibly a record)
5) Every team member answered at least one question (possibly a record)
WOOT! It was a great day, with a fantastic result!
and good job to all the other teams!
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To all English HL students who feel the pain... this was done over the summer while doing the A Portrait etc. reading logs... it took about 5 minutes to do as well.. ah... the tension... hope you understand it  ! |
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