Friday, January 13, 2012

American Exceptionalism: How Murdering Children by Drone is Actually Saving Lives - When the US Government Does It!


If America ever passes out as a great nation, we ought to put on our tombstone:  America died from a delusion she had Moral Leadership. 
~ Will Rogers

I think America needs to order that tombstone to be made.



I think because I am an American, I meet and talk to a lot of Americans (of course). You know, birds of a feather and all that. I'm no Einstein, but all I can say is that there sure seem to be a lot of boneheaded Americans running around with some very twisted and weird ideas. I think that can be expected from the average Joe Blow, but you'd think that university grads might offer a bit more logical and clever insight... I am often really (unpleasantly) surprised at how dimwitted, sheltered, egoistic and naive my countrymen are. 


Of course, not all American university graduates are knuckleheads. But there are far too many of them that are. Maybe it's the schooling? As one of my favorite author's, Fred Reed wrote recently about US university education:


“Look, the US is in intellectual collapse. The average American university wouldn't qualify as a high-school in Japan. It's crazy. The whole world know it's crazy. But take out the Kims, Khans, Nguyens, Wangs, and Cohens, and what's left is Albania in 1750.”


Of course, the average American will have none of this when it comes to pointing out how low the mighty have fallen. Why? Well many of them will tell you; "Well, in spite of our problems, you've got to admit it: America is still the greatest country in the world."


Another writer, Mark Davis, adds:



"Self-glorification is a powerful narcotic. Every country has a state that promotes itself shamelessly, but since WW II Americans have been on a binge thanks to non-stop propaganda about how great that made "us". Many believe that 'It's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.' But the cognitive dissonance that is rising undermines this paradigm. It's hard to simultaneously believe that this is 'The best country in the world' and 'Everything is going in the crapper!' at the same time."

Now, hold that thought for a second... The one about cognitive dissonance. Americans are really bad when it comes to this. I think it's the schooling, or maybe it's the fluoride in the water. Or maybe it's too many fried and fatty foods (deep fried bacon covered hamburgers anyone?) I don't know. But there are A LOT of Americans who seem to have a problem in this area.


....


It's not often that I read something that really infuriates me. But usually, recently, if I do read it, it's something really cretinous written in the American media or said by some American who has a problem with cognitive dissonance. Incredibly, you see these people on American TV all the time so the general public hasn't a problem with parroting nonsense. Lately, I've been trying to ignore this trend, but last night I read something that was just simply unbelievable: It was, of course, an American guy regurgitating dim-witted detritus that he read in a newspaper. 


Japanese troops celebrating the fall of Singapore


I come from the most self-centered, conceited, ethno-centric nation in the world. And, no, I'm not talking about Japan. Japan may be Xenophobic, but no nation in the world can hold a candle to modern day American chauvinism, delusion and self-righteousness. Like I said, the Japanese may be Xenophobic but they are not bombing and killing brown skinned children on the other side of the world 24/7 like the USA is now doing in six Muslim countries... (As my friend Kevin Riley says, "Japan used to do that, but we grew out of it.")


Now, onto what made me so mad about how ignorant some Americans can be! (If, someday, they find out that the cause of this malady is 85% all of Americans suffer from dyslexia, then forgive me.) One of my friends (who lives in Japan) posted this picture on Facebook yesterday:



Underneath it, my friend wrote (now remember we're talking about someone who lives in the only country that has had atomic bombs dropped on it) :

To raise awareness of the horrific effects of war, I plan to place this photo of a dead child as my profile photo for the rest of January. He, and other innocents around him, were murdered in Pakistan by one of many US drone attacks internationally. According to one statistic, in Iraq alone, over 110,000 civilians were murdered by the US. Add to that deaths of innocent civilians in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and then add to that deaths authorized tacitly by the US through its sale of weapons, the toll of murders is mind boggling. And let's not get into the history of US aggression: Grenada and Vietnam are examples that come to mind.
Do you feel that the murder (and subsequent cover up by the US govt) of civilians is wrong and must stop now? If so, I encourage you to help raise awareness of these atrocities by making your profile picture that of this innocent child, for this month. Raising awareness can help save lives. You can help save a life.

Okay. So far, so good. Who wouldn't be against killing 2 year old kids? I mean, what's to complain about? That's what my friend posted. Pretty simple to understand. There were many comments and "likes." 


Except one. One commentator was an American male who completely misses the point. I couldn't believe how illogical his comments were. It would be okay if he were just your typical stupid Beavis & Butthead type, but I checked this guy's profile and he is a university educated man and the managing director of a company! 


Beavis and Butthead are not a problem. The problem is that 
there are 22 million American males with the same intelligence level.

I will write this guy's two comments below and let you read how absurd they are and mirrors of US government propaganda (there are still Americans who believe that stuff!?). It is astounding that a supposedly university educated American male can be so, well, so uninformed (I'm being polite, as you know). Before I pick his comments apart, here they are for you as written: 

"A depressing photo indeed, but hardly fair to label this as murder. The drone attacks have saved more lives than alternative courses of action. Muslims are not always labeled terrorist - this is the same type of misleading remark that people who are on the other side of the coin would make from their perspective. I find it more distressing that we don't make a bigger deal about the bombing that takes place in markets where innocent people are shopping and living their daily lives. There is more violence taking place between varying Muslim factions than are being killed in a military campaign. I was not in favor of going into Iraq from Day 1. But the regime in Afghanistan did protect the culprits from 9/11. Pakistan for a variety of reasons is trying to placate all sides and find it's own strategic advantages in Afghanistan. I find the photo sad but misleading as this is not a simple problem. The civilian casualties would be less if there were a more honorable government that truly cared about people more than power and money running Afghanistan..." 

He adds in his immediate follow up post:

"I looked this up a few minutes ago. "The reports make it clear that most civilians, by far, were killed by other Iraqis. Two of the worst days of the war came on Aug. 31, 2005, when a stampede on a bridge in Baghdad killed more than 950 people after several earlier attacks panicked a huge crowd, and on Aug. 14, 2007, when truck bombs killed more than 500 people in a rural area near the border with Syria." Excerpt from NYT...  the deaths are deplorable, but most of them do NOT come from U.S. military activities. If anything violence is likely to escalate after we leave."

This guy's comments are incredible. George Orwell, pick up the phone. America is calling you!..


His first line, "A depressing photo indeed, but hardly fair to label this as murder"? Hardly fair to label this murder!? Hardly fair to label this murder!? An innocent child is killed by a missile fired by a robot drone and this isn't 'murder'!? What is it then? Oh? I see. It's an accident? If someone (like you or me) intentionally fires some projectile into someone's house and it kills a child, it's most definitely called "murder." But if the US government does it, it's not? OK. In that case, it's called "bringing democracy to them" or "collateral damage"? 

I think it's hardly fair to call this "flattening a house" or "killing family"

I'm sure this is the typical American who would say that, "World War II? Oh, dropping atomic bombs on civilian cities like Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not murder... Because, of course, killing innocent people actually saved lives. Don't you know that?" 

All Americans seem to know this. Repeat after me: Killing actually saves lives. We need war to have peace. Slavery is freedom. Ignorance is strength.  

Yeah, sure. But this lady and her kid shouldn't have 
bombed Pearl Harbor in the first place.

The guy then goes on to write some more cockeyed litany, let's skip those (there's so much) and go to another one that really makes me want to slap my forehead with it's inanity and that is this one:

"I was not in favor of going into Iraq from Day 1. But the regime in Afghanistan did protect the culprits from 9/11."

Am I the only one who sees this glaring logical inconsistency? Let me get this straight: He was, "...not in favor of going into Iraq from Day 1"? Okay. I'm with him so far. Got it.... "But the regime in Afghanistan did protect the culprits from 9/11."??? 

Wait a minute (there goes that cognitive dissonance again!) clear-thinking people might ask "What's the connection between Iraq here and Afghanistan besides the letter 'a' in both names?" 


First off, that bit about the Afghan government protecting culprits of 9/11 is not true at all and US government propaganda. The government of Afghanistan said they would turn over Osama bin Laden to a third country if the USA would provide proof of his guilt, which the USA said they would do within 48 hours of the World Trade Center Attacks, but never did. And secondly, what does the regime in Afghanistan have to do with Iraq?

Oh, yeah. I forgot. We'll just conveniently forget that even president Bush admitted that 15 of the 19 supposed hijackers on 9/11 weren't Iraqi or Afghani, but from Saudi Arabia - a US ally. But, hey, what's the difference, right? Saudi, Iraqi, Afghani, all towel-heads and camel jockeys look the same, right? 

Japanese? Chinese? Korean? Asians?... Whatever! They all look the same, right? 

Damn! I'm pulling my hair out with this! This should be a total embarrassment to all Americans and the entire educational system of that country! How can American people be so benighted? It embarrasses even me!



This guy is so brainwashed; so wrong on every level and so full of propaganda that I don't know whether I want to strangle him or just slap him silly. It drives me crazy that people who think this way actually exist on this planet. I could feel the fire coming out of my ears. I posted back:


"The drone attacks have saved more lives than alternative courses of action"? That's total and complete nonsense. Why are US forces bombing people in countries that haven't threatened or attacked us? Get out of this imperialist "USA is world's police force" BS. What right does the USA have to be bombing these people? Or, do I infer, that you consider US lives more important than the lives of brown skinned kids in the middle east? The best course of action would be to kill no one and that is to LEAVE THOSE PEOPLE ALONE! Japan, Sweden, etc., etc. do not have terrorist attacks against them. Can't figure out why? Because we are not killing these people in their own backyards. Americans need to wake up and get out of this stupid mindset."
My friend who made the original post wrote to me and said that "...we probably can't convince (that person), so we need to plant the seed." 


My friend is a very diplomatic and nice person. I am not.


To all Americans who believe that we have a right and we are special in god's eyes; to all Americans who think that the United States has a duty to be the world's policeman, and to all other peoples who are apologists for American state-sponsored murder, I say:


"Realize this, about Americans from this American who escaped the madness; (about) my brothers and sisters back home; after 150 years of history of US imperialism, exceptionalism and indoctrination - as well as 40 ~ 50 years of conditioning in US government public schooling are not quick to change their beliefs and thinking because of a few exchanges with you or me on Facebook or other social media.

It does anger me greatly when Americans think we are "saving lives" by killing people. I know people don't read anymore but the the classic book, "1984" has a lot to say in it about that sort of Orwellian nonsense. That this gentleman fails to realize that when it comes out of his mouth is astounding... In today's America, "war is peace," etc… Americans should know all about this… Need an example? In Vietnam, an American major was famously quoted as saying, ""It became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it." 


US troops burning down Vietnamese villagers' homes in order to save them

Americans are in serious denial. The end of the US empire is coming soon (not soon enough) and people like this American guy will be suffering greatly because, like an alcoholic, they fail to acknowledge the sickness. Tough love is all they deserve, if that.

Why Americans can actually think we have the right to be bombing people in foreign countries or have our navy buzzing the coast of nations on the other side of the world shows the madness of the typical American… I wonder how much Americans would like it if the Chinese were buzzing the Gulf of Mexico or, if Russian drones were killing American children and then Russians claimed that "the drones actually saved lives because of we didn't use them, our soldiers would die"?

Americans who claim this sort of thing are idiots, or at best, liars and it should be pointed out for what it is (for their own good, at least). I do not take kindly to this sort of justification of killing children and think that when people do try to justify it, they should be put on the spot for it.

Killing children, no matter what the reason, is not necessary, cannot be justified and is simply murder.


To think that some Americans actually believe that "killing people by using drones actually saves lives" shows the depths of deprivation and lack of humanity that far too many in today's America show. There is no hope for those people and that country.


There are many Americans who have been waking up and realizing the truth in recent years. But, they haven't a good future in that nation and the awake ones know it.


It is too late.... America is over..." 


......


Later I calm down and unruffle my feathers... Now, dear reader, you know something that really infuriates me: US state sponsored murder of innocent children overseas 24/7 and American citizen's rationalization of it. 


But it's hardly fair to label it as murder, isn't it? And, you've got to admit it; America is still the greatest country in the world.

9 comments:

  1. Well, to be fair to the morons out there, they were basically just parroting a dumbed-down version of what Obama said in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize.

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  2. Hello Mike,

    Don't hold back. Tell us what you really feel. :) It was a good article, but a little over the top, IMHO. As the saying goes, one tends to catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

    America needs a tombstone? Why? It's epitaph has already been written... :P

    As to the American educational system and the study of other cultures. I think that it is similar to the Japanese educational system and the study of English: rather superficial, a feel-good measure, and overall a general waste of time, money, and talent.

    As to university degrees, why is it that in both the UK and the US from say 1700-1970, less than roughly 5-10% of the public had university degrees, and yet society probably functioned fairly well, and in all likelihood, probably better than today?

    Why is it that the UK government has manipulated test results to such a large degree, one can't tell from one year to the next, how well school pupils are doing, yet a country like Sri Lanka can?

    Why is it in the US, the College Board keeps on revising the SATs at an increasing rate, and the result is always an increase in test scores?

    My current hunch, is that the leaders don't want to admit to the fact that the public has been cheated in almost every way in regards to education. That in all likelihood someone with a grade 8 education from 1950, is probably better educated that a first year university student today. Plus, a grade 8 education was free for the pupil, but carries a huge burden for the current university student. I can only speak for myself, but I don't know what shocks myself more: how much the American people have been cheated, or how much they seem to enjoy it.

    I believe business and government love the scheme. It keeps a huge number of people out of the labour pool, so they aren't counted in unemployment figures for 4-8+ years, and simultaneously it keeps another large number of other people employed to mind them. Possibly the most important thing: it keeps a huge number of people in debt slavery.

    The affects carry on throughout much of society. How many people can start a business, when they have $100k+ in debt? How many people can do a social good, like join the Peace Corp when they have $100k in debt? How much do employers love it when someone comes to them with such a huge debt burden? How many people want to marry someone else, when they have a $100k+ noose around their neck, that they will also get roped into, with no way of escape, when they "tie the knot?"

    As to what Fred Reed says about the modern American university system is pretty much spot on. Unfortunately, I don't think things are going to change until society breaks down or radically changes. As to an intellectual collapse as such, it does not bode well for the public and empire, but as to the collapse of the so-called intellectual class in the US, who can be against that? What mayhem has been brought into the world because of the world's intellectual classes?

    As to national chauvinism, many countries seem to possess it. I haven't been to very many countries in the world, so I don't know how to rank them by experience, but I will say that it appears that it's not a uniquely American phenomena. That if anything, it appears that Anglo-Saxon countries seem more chauvinistic than many others. I think that Canadians are possibly more chauvinistic than Americans, for example.

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  3. (cont'd)


    I think that America was, and is probably, the greatest country in the world, that is, for immigrants. As to its native inhabitants, that is another story. I think that the notion of being the greatest country in the world is to a large degree a vestigial remnant of being a nation of immigrants who left their particular hellholes from the rest of the world in general, and Europe in particular. How much death and destruction did the average immigrant leave behind from Europe? How much murder and mayhem has the European continent both perpetuated and suffered in the last two centuries? How much was America able to avoid? I think many Americans were grateful of that.

    It seems strange, does it not, that in 1900, both America and Russia were considered cultural and social backwaters, but by 1950 they were the centres of the world? Is it likely that by 2020-2025 they will be backwaters again? Then again, what is wrong with being a backwater?

    Mike, if it isn't often that something really infuriates you, yet you seem to write about being infuriated quite often! As to the American media, it begs the question, what is said in the media that isn't stupid?

    If you friend wishes to save lives, I encourage them to do something else instead of just posting pictures on Facebook. I may go into more detail about this in the future.

    Yes, the Japanese people may not be killing people around the world, but they appear to be willing accomplices, do they not? All the kairetsus, and for that matter, the Japanese people with eyes and ears, know that many of their products are used to maim and murder. They generally range from being indifferent to happy about it. They even get the Japanese government to influence the American government, so that they can be the sole supplier of various products in weapon programs. Let's agree; the products aren't used to drop Hello Kitty dolls on brown people.

    As to Japan being the only country having atom bombs dropped on it, that is not entirely true. As an act of aggression, yes. But there have been many so-called tests, where various, mostly Aboriginal people around the world, have been subjected to atomic weapons. Look at the Soviet Union, Australia, South Africa, France, the US, China, et al. I'd wager that the people and environment around Bikini Atoll for example, are more devastated than any area in Japan.

    As an aside, what is it about the Japanese obsession with the atom bomb? Japan was the only country that had them used against them in wartime. Would they have preferred the battle of Okinawa, or Berlin for that matter, or fire bombing, writ large? The bombing was horrible, but any other option probably would have been just as bad.

    Which belligerent in WWII did not target civilians? For example, the British Allied forces targeted German civilians specifically in aerial bombardment. Most Germans I've met didn't, and don't like it, but also, most Germans I've met seem rather perplexed with this particular Japanese obsession.

    About the commenter on Facebook. I disagree with him, but he does have a few interesting points. First, the idea that the drone attack might have saved lives. I believe it is possible, versus say carpet bombing the area, albeit what would probably have saved more lives is if the US military weren't there to begin with. The law in particular, and some people in general like to say that it isn't murder because they never intended to kill the child, with intent being the primary factor. That at worst it is manslaughter, or more euphemistically "collateral damage." One can also argue how many camels and needles, it doesn't change the fact of the dead child.

    His comment about Muslims murdering each other never making the news, is somewhat right. The media is focused on First World countries, and on the US in particular. Plus, it is always more newsworthy when man bites dog, than the opposite.

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  4. (cont'd)


    He does however, have a point in the fact that there have been many Iraqis who have been murdering other Iraqis. These people aren't robots, and have a choice in the matter. How much the US is to blame when it is Iraqis killing Iraqis is another interesting point of debate.

    As to killing saving lives, and the "just war" principle, I think it is a belief of some Christian groups, the Catholic Church being one of them. Why else did the inventor of the neutron bomb get the "Medal of Peace" from the Pope?

    As to the truth of the Twin Towers and subsequently the "twin wars" I think that the truth of the matter has be obfuscated, and will remain hidden. I believe that the USG's reticence to bring up Saudi is for other reasons.

    If you are embarrassed of your home country and countrymen, I think you should stock up on concealer, because you will probably be turning a brighter shade of red in the future!

    What right do most groups use to hurt others? The right of might. I don't think the average American will get out of the "imperialist "USA is world's police force" BS" until it is taken to its logical conclusion: the eventual ethical, moral, religious, and economic bankruptcy of the nation.

    The reason that Japan, or Sweden for example, don't have terrorist attacks against them isn't necessarily because of their actions . The Swedish government for example, has backed various nasty characters, but because of the forgiveness of their victims the public has not been attacked. The Japanese & Swedish governments aren't killing people directly, but by proxy.

    The "just war" idea may be a fallacy of Christian doctrine, but alas, I think other Christian doctrines, like trying not to kill regular civilians is not.

    One of the chief problems on modern life is that people don't have the time, tools, or general ability, to examine all sorts of beliefs that they have been indoctrinated with since birth.

    I don't know how much can be blame can be put at the foot of the average American. All they do is pay taxes, and possibly vote for the "evil of two lessors" every couple of years. How can they really decide the fate of themselves or others? I believe that much blame though can be laid at the leadership, intellectual, and religious classes in the US.

    I believe that generally, yes, killing children is wrong. It is not universal though. What about all the recent wars in the last century, when there were and are, 5-10 year old children with weapons attacking people? What then?

    I believe actually, that most evil in the world is not done out of malevolence, but indifference.

    For example, both Bush and bin Laden, could have improved more lives, and saved more people at a fraction of the cost, by helping people in regards to disease and nutrition. But they were indifferent to the starving and sick. Because where is the power and glory in that?

    Cheers,
    Mr. Nobody

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  5. Yeah, I've been saying for a long while now that America is too damn egotistical for it's own good. Just for example, when the Japanese girls soccer team won the world cup there was this posted on many people's profiles; http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v442/RyuOni/Funny2.jpg I realize it's a little small, sorry- but basically they were all like "Yeah, yeah- so what you won the world cup, WORLD WAR 2 MUTHAF*CKAS!".

    Now to respond to the comments you got;
    "they were basically just parroting a dumbed-down version of what Obama said in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize." - Yes, because Obama was the one who took America into two uneeded, unwinnable wars on false premises with faulty evidence and continued to back it right up to the end...? Who was the one who killed Bin Laden? Who was the one that removed Gaddaffi? Who took america out of Iraq?
    Look, there's a lot I despise Obama for (SOPA, NDAA, etc.) but when it comes to the wars, he's not nearly as bad as Bush. I just wish he'd end it all right now, it can't be that hard.

    And to Mr. Nobody regarding the education system- I completely agree in that I think the government is dumbing down the tests as a means to give superficial good grades. You can't make people smarter by just saying they're smart, that's not the way it works! However, I do think everyone should be given a [free] education- it's continuously shown that the better educated a society is, the lower the crime rate is, the happier the people are, lower amounts of racist, sexist and homophobic behaviour etc. etc. Education is key, in my opinion and people shouldn't be cheated out of a real education just for the sake of test scores.

    I also agree that I think it is done to keep young people out of the unemployment demographic, and making bad education easy to get, but hard to pay off- the banks win, too, and I think that's disgusting.

    "As to the American media, it begs the question, what is said in the media that isn't stupid?" - It's mostly Fox News that is completely retarded, hugely biased and propagandistic. It shocks me that anyone watches it at all, yet there are those who depend on it. I get my news from Alternet, Raw Story, The Young Turks and Current. At least they call out the bullshit from both sides of the political spectrum.

    "Which belligerent in WWII did not target civilians?" - Again, I agree fully. I'm of the opinion that in war there are no "Good" and "Bad" forces, just those who Win that demonize those who Lost.

    "The Japanese & Swedish governments aren't killing people directly, but by proxy." - I don't think that's a fair assessment because with the development of communications technologies, it has made the earth a much smaller place to the point where we all have to make many bonds and allies in order to get what we want. It leaves countries in a place where they might not agree with what a country they're allied with is doing, but they can't cut off ties with them because they might depend on them for economic reasons.

    The reasons that America and the UK (and other allied countries) are being attacked by terrorists is because they're essentially walking in the front door of someone's house, slapping them in the face, raping their wife and kidnapping the kids (analogy for government, resources and economy, respectively). So when they get backlash, they cry foul play, when- in my opinion, they [america] gets exactly what it deserves. I just wish the focus of attacks was centred solely on the fighting armies and never civilians.

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  6. someone is always going to be the badass, bully of the world. when america fails to be it anymore, then another country will take its place.

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  7. Wow! Thanks everyone.
    Mr. Nobody, if you aren't writing a blog, you should be. I don't know what to say to you excepting that if you aren't writing a blog that's a big waste!
    Ryu, thanks. I know you write a blog "Monkeyman in Japan". May I recommend that everyone go check it out?
    I am flattered that you good folks take the time out to read and to comment. Thanks so much.
    I can't answer your questions, but they do make me think (deeper?) Reconsider?) about my positions and for that, I thank you!

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  8. Mr. Nobody,
    Get your own blog.

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  9. Ryu Oni wrote, "but when it comes to the wars, he's not nearly as bad as Bush."

    Man, that is lame, they are one and the same.

    Also, Who was the one who killed Bin Laden? According to websites such as The Daily Bell, that guy kicked the bucket years ago due to Marifans disease or some such, you need to get up to speed, especially after reading this bit:

    Ryu Oni wrote, "I do think everyone should be given a [free] education-"

    There ain't no such thing as free, everything free has strings attached or is part of a rip off your neighbors program. QWhat you're really saying here is, "I do think everyone should be able to forcibly take the money from their neighbors to pay for their education... even if it means it wipes out their retirement savings, just do it!"

    Finally, please show us some proof that, "it's continuously shown that the better educated a society is, the lower the crime rate is" For instance, the UK looks pretty educated to me and the crime rate isn't steady at the moment.

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Comments must be succinct & relevant to the story. Comments are checked frequently and abusive, rude or profane comments will be deleted. I’m just one of many bloggers who answer questions online and sometimes for the press. I usually handle questions about Japan, marketing or the economy, so in those areas I’m more likely to make sense and less likely to say something really stupid. If I post something here that you find helpful or interesting, that’s wonderful. This is my personal blog. If you don't like what you have read here then, just like when you go into a restaurant or bar that allows smoking, if you don't like it, there's something at the front that has hinges on it and it is called a "door."