Beauty Contests and Sports Are Rigged? Say it Ain't So, Joe! (They Are)

Well, well, well... Lookie here. What do we have? Another rigged beauty contest? How timely and perfect for the Euros! (That's European soccer for some of you folks). How timely and perfect and a total reflection of our broken economy and society...

Artwork and photograph by Mike Rogers (please use freely!)

As I wrote in Quite Coincidental Results of Miss Universe Beauty Contests, Games and Sports After Japan Disasters

In the seminal George Orwell book, 1984, the protagonist Winston Smith is at his office working. He gets up from his desk and heads to the restroom. There he is greeted by his boss. His boss asks Winston if he saw the 'big game' last night. Winston answers in the negative. Then the boss says something like,

"Wow! That was an exciting finish to a very exciting game! That's the best script we've written in a long time!" 

I think most people can already get what I am implying here. What I want to say is not a negative comment, nor a positive one. I am merely making  an observation as to the way things are and run in this world.

It doesn't matter if it's sports, or elections, news or even beauty pageants; if big money is involved you can bet that a big factor of "entertainment" and "drama" is indelibly tied into the result.

Let me give you some recent examples:

Japan suffers the worst natural calamity in centuries.... That year Japan's Women's Soccer team wins the world championship for the first time in their history...

A year later, the winner of the Miss Universe Japan 2012 beauty contest comes from the prefecture that was worst hit by the earthquake and tsunami...

In 1995, Kobe was devastated by the Great Hanshin Earthquake... Quite coincidentally, I'm sure, the Kobe baseball team, the Orix Blue Wave, won the championship in 1995 and 1996.

I also added in: Sumo is Fixed Like All Other Pro Sports

Take the example of CBS who used to do the Superbowl every year. CBS sells commercial time on the Superbowl for tens of millions of dollars. CBS wants to sell 4 or 5 hours of this commercial time to a sponsor.

If the games are blowouts and 70% the viewers turn off their TVs before the first half ends, sponsors are very upset. When sponsors are upset, the TV stations are very upset. Why? Because, if games are boring and people tune out, if this happens too much and too often then sponsors won't want to spend big money next year because they fear the same thing will happen.

If the sponsors don't pay big money, then who doesn't make big money? The league and team owners.

If you are an American, you might remember the Denver Broncos getting to the Superbowl in the early 1980s. They got blown out two years in a row. The games were basically over 1/2 way through the second quarter. The viewers turned their sets off. There haven't been any blowouts since then. Is it any wonder why?

Like I said, pro sports are a big business. The leagues have a product to sell. That product is supposed to be an exciting sports event that last for 4 hours and is profitable to their mass media partners too. When the game is over after 45 minutes, there are some very unhappy sponsors and media partners.

The league cannot afford to have that.

Yes, and it's not just sexy Japanese girls and big time sports in Japan... Today we have girls involved with the Miss American contest claiming "the fix was in" at the recent Miss America contest. Fox News (hold your nose) reports in: EXCLUSIVE: Second Miss USA Contestant says she overheard list of Top 5 finalists before live announcement.

Another Miss USA contestant has come forward saying she heard Miss Florida Karina Brez reveal the list of finalists backstage before the pageant’s Top 15 were even announced.

“I saw Florida backstage and she was very, very flustered and upset. I thought it might be because she didn’t make the top 15 cut, but at that point she was able to reveal to me at least four of the five names who went on to be the top girls,” the contestant, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FOXNews.com exclusively. “She couldn’t remember the fifth because she was so upset. Several of the girls then started hearing through the grapevine about a list; a lot of people were upset.”

Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin first accused the Donald Trump-owned Miss USA pageant of rigging the competition last week. Monnin claimed Brez said she had seen a list of the top five finalists hours before last Sunday’s live telecast even started.

“Apparently the morning of June 3rd [Brez] saw a folder lying open to a page that said 'FINAL SHOW Telecast, June 3, 2012' and she saw the places for Top 5 already filled in,” Monnin wrote on her Facebook page.

I can only add to this farce that there really should be no surprise to anyone in this news and that anyone who is surprised and incredulous is living in fantasy-land. We live in a world where just about everything is fixed.

Our elections are fixed.

Our beauty contests are fixed.

Our sports are fixed.

Our economy and our stock market are fixed.

You can bet your bottom dollar that, as the money involved with any sort of event, contest or enterprise increases, so does the corruption.

The only people who don't believe so are dreaming.

'Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt' - Roman poet Juvenal (1st and 2nd century AD)

Yeah, but don't worry about it, folks. The new season of American Idol starts real soon.


NOTE: Are you a fan of the extremely popular American TV show, "House Hunters"? Well, you'll love this: "House Hunters:" Subjects say it's fake

Why Getty Images Cannot Sue You For Damages in Japanese Court and Win; Why Japan Doesn't Allow For Damages Claims in Court

The article about Getty Images and being threatened by their lawyer got lots of reaction and lots of reads and comments. Thank you.

Japanese businessman (use this image freely!)

There is something that some people wrote to me privately and asked about and that is the tactic that Getty Images uses to claim that monies are owed for "damages."


Folks, Japan doesn't allow for "damages" claims in court. Getty cannot sue you in court for millions of yen and win. 


Japanese courts only allow for claims consistent with a loss of income. Now I am no lawyer but I do  know for a fact and have confirmed this with several professional Japanese lawyers; Japanese law does not allow for damages claims.


In the USA, a woman can spill a cup of hot coffee on her lap while driving a car and sue McDonald's and win $2.8 million in court in punitive damages. That could never happen in Japan. A person can only sue for loss of income.


What that means is that Getty Images can only sue you in court for the regular licensing fees for unauthorized use of images. If, say, you use a Getty licensed image for a year and they find out, you are legally obligated to pay for the standard one year fee. They cannot arbitrarily claim a massive amount of damages and win in court against you.


In many cases in Japan, Getty has claimed that licensing an image was, say, $200... But with penalties and fees, they claim that a users owes $5000 for that image. They could never win this case in court.


That's why they use lawyers that sound like Yakuza to try to scare people. 

Flowers (use this image freely!)

Why doesn't Japan allow for damage claims in court? There is a historical reason for it and it's never going to change. Not, at least, in our lifetime it won't.


Here's why:


In World War II many Korean women were captured and used as sex slaves, called "comfort women," by the Japanese Imperial Army. After Japan surrendered, she made war reparations with the then government of South Korea. It was a part of the deal that this payment to Korea ended Japan's obligation and all responsibility for war damages.


Years later, many of these former comfort women became old and needed care. The former corrupt government of South Korea took these payments from Japan but did not distribute them to the victims and instead pocketed the money. In order to obtain payment, many of these former comfort women and their families sued the Japanese government. 


The official Japanese government line and law stated that all reparations had been made and no claims for damages were recognized by the post war government of Japan and her people. The United States supported Japan on this. 


It was a devastating blow for these poor victims of Japanese Imperial aggression and who were cheated by their own government's corruption.


This is why Japan cannot and will not ever allow for damages in court. It is why, after massive government coverups and scandals, that people were paid paltry sums for environmental damage caused at Minamata and other incidents that caused deaths and horrible birth defects. And it is why, today, Japanese courts are not tied up with long litigations concerning damages.


One can only sue for loss income. Damages are not recognized in Japanese courts.


Getty Images cannot win against you in a Japanese courts for "Damages." They can only sue for income not realized. 


Don't be scared if they come threatening you that they will. 


If Japan changed the law, and allowed damages, you can image how it would open her up for hundreds and hundreds of millions in damages claims from World War Two victims ranging from Australia to China and Korea and beyond. Like I said, this isn't going to happen.


Getty Images cannot sue you in court for damages and win.


NOTE: This came in from an anonymous reader:


"I can back up what Mike says about the comfort women. The English/Korean economist (University of Cambridge) Chang, Ha-Joon tells how South Korea used the funds for industrialization in his book, '23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism'. He talks about the Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) *
"Undeterred, the Korean government managed to persuade the Japanese government to channel a large chunk of the reparation payments it was paying for its colonial rule (1910–45) into the steel-mill project and to provide the machines and the technical advice necessary for the mill."

*Chang, Ha-Joon "23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism", "Thing (Chapter) 12,"Governments can pick winners", Paragraphs 4-9, Bloomsbury Publishing, USA, Jan 2011."

Destroying My Blog - I Don't Want to Be Dishonest Like Getty Images

The Internet was supposed to be this wonderful playground for us all to explore and make friends... But it isn't that at all. It's full of traps and minefields that one must be ever mindful of. If you blog, you must be particularly careful as, if your blog becomes popular (and that is the point of blogging, right?) then you will become a target.

Recently, I've destroyed my daily pages views numbers. A few weeks ago, I got a particularly nasty email from a lawyer representing Getty Images (insert booing here) who claims that they want to sue me for use of their images (well, no... That's not right. They want to sue me for use of one image). This is the trap.


Why is it a trap? Well, I guess I must be confused, but if you have something that you want protected, but you don't protect it, then you are negligent if someone else comes along, picks it up and borrows it. 


I certainly didn't steal it. They still have it to use as they wish.


Say you left a baseball bat on a baseball diamond and some kids came along and started using it... Then you come along and then you think you can claim that they owe you money for rental fee? Ha! 


If you go to Google image search and search for some particular picture (all blogs are nicer with pictures) then you will see lots of pictures that are watermarked, "Getty images" or the like. Many aren't. In fact, after I checked, you'll see the exact same images that have the Getty Watermark and some that don't.


Being stupid (or thinking like most people would think) then if they aren't watermarked, they aren't copyright protected. WRONG! You could get sued. As I was threatened with. I think that Getty's way of doing business is quite distasteful and disturbing (I can see them asking that you delete - but aggressively and threateningly - like Yakuza - screaming at you over the phone over court? And for one image on a freaking blog!???)

Two men playing Chinese Chess. This looks exactly like a Getty Image...

But it's not. I took it. Use it all you want!

So now there are no photos on this blog at all unless I or my wife or friends took them. No Getty Images at all... My company will never use Getty again and I will make sure our designers at the media and broadcasting section never do again either...


I think Getty is sneaky and dishonest... I do know that their way of doing business is very bad business and they are getting tons of complaints from people all over Japan. I don't like it. I especially don't like their lawyer (who talks with an Osaka Yakuza accent) screaming at my wife (who has no idea what they are talking about) over the phone. Sure, it's nice that someone is out protecting the rights of artists (well, hell, they're getting paid to do so)... But the tactics are deplorable.


Getty Images in Japan is run by a bunch of a*sholes... Poor public image will ultimately result in very bad business. You'll see, Getty. (Here is the horrifying story of someone who has dealt with this in Japan. Use Google translate: http://blog.livedoor.jp/kiku0319/archives/4314460.html)


That also means that if you see an image you like on this blog, then use it as you wish. Just call it my little war with Getty. Over time, I will have thousands of images (and I hope that you will do the same if you are a blogger) that people can use freely as they wish.

Businessmen at Tokyo intersection at lunchtime (use this photo free!)

Blogs need photos. It's no big deal to take your own as I do from now on. Please use any images on this blog as you wish.


This has also caused me to go through this entire blog and delete every single photo that I didn't take (and even some that I did because I wasn't sure)... That means the cheesecake photos of the sexy Japanese girls won't be appearing anymore.


And that brings me to the next part of this missive; I've written many times that this blog is an exercise and study in how the Internet and Google search works. I've pretty much figured most of it out until Google comes out with a new algorithm for its search engine.


And that's where I've destroyed my blog page views!


They say that 70% of all Internet users are guys. They also say that 70% of all Internet surfers surf porn. Well my research bears this out!


Before the hassle with the photo Nazi's at Getty Images (insert booing here) this blog consistently rated between 7,000 ~ 9,000 page views a day, every day. Now after deleting all the photos of sexy girls, as well as a few hundred others, where do we stand?


I'm down to about 2,000 a day... (But the number has been steadily rising these last 2 weeks.)


That's OK, though. This blog is about Japan, marketing and the media.... Guys sitting at their computer and looking at hot girls and masturbating are not exactly my target audience...


I mean, I don't look at this particular blog for that, I don't expect that my readers do either.


I've also found out how to turbo and "double" my page views simply by using a different format for the blog, but I find that sneaky and dishonest too. That's why I am now back to the old format (sort of) that I used for the first 1.5 years of this blog's existence.


Sexy Japanese girls photos and others do not exist on this blog site anymore. I do not use sneaky blog templates that double or triple my page views. I've bled lots of page views (readers?) because guys don't come here to masturbate to photos anymore.

Unless, of course, you like long, hard things like subway trains in tunnels (use this photo free!)

Making a blog and using tools to drive people outside of my target audience to this site is dishonest and sneaky.


I don't want to be dishonest and sneaky. I don't want to be like Getty Images. I don't need people masturbating to the images on this site.


If my writing can't make them feel good or feel like masturbating, then maybe my writing isn't good enough for 9,000 readers a day. That's OK. 


At least it's honest.

-----

Read the follow up to this article: Why Getty Images Cannot Sue You For Damages in Japanese Court and Win; Why Japan Doesn't Allow For Damages Claims in Court  

Trout Fishing Near Tokyo!? Yes! Unbelievably Beautiful Place too!

Trout Fishing at Yatarou Kiyokawa... Just thirty minutes from Atsugi! And how I spent my Sunday today.... Heaven! What can I add/say about heaven?


Here's some photos.... There's nothing to add!

There are at least three big waterfalls like this

(These photos were all taken by me or my wife, Yuka, today. 

Please use as you wish - Screw Getty images!)

The road up to the fishing place. Beautiful!

View from just above the waterfall pictured above

This was a medium sized one. We caught twenty five rainbow trout 

in 3 hours! Wow!

This kid and his dad caught five that I saw

First fish of the day and a big one!

Beautiful and clean. Hard to believe that this place is 1 hour by car from Tokyo

Just after cleaning. What a catch!

Plenty of places to barbecue right by the river too!

Freshly caught and freshly cooked!

The kids just dig this place!

Another keeper! Ji-chan (grandpa) is catching fish like crazy too!

View of the mountains

More photos and information here: Trout Fishing at Yatarou Kiyokawa


Yatarou Kiyokawa
Kiyokawa Mura, Susugaya 5012
Aiko Gun, Kanagawa Ken, Japan 243-0112

神奈川県愛甲郡清川村煤ケ谷5012

Tel: 046-288-1500


Here's a map: http://yahoo.jp/I5yFwm

Cool & Strange Japanese Music: If the Beatles Were From Okinawa & Sandii and the Sunsetz

Saturday morning... I'm spending the day relaxing but, since so many people like Akiko Kanazawa's version of Yellow Submarine, or the traditional Japanese music styled version of Smoke on the Water from Cool and Strange music Vol. 5...I thought you'd like this too.

Sandii of Sandii and the Sunsetz

Stop it right now! Take your eyes off that beautiful woman's, er, ummm, gloves. First up, Shang Shang Typhoon - Let it Be

I generally dislike cover songs (especially Beatles songs) as I find it is extremely rare to make them better than the original. But I do enjoy when an artist can do so and add originality and charm that makes the original, not better, but fresh again.

From Wikipedia:

Shang Shang Typhoon (上々颱風 Shan shan taifūn) is a Japanese band of the 1980s and 1990s. Led by Kōryū, the band also features female singers Satoko Nishikawa and Emi Shirasaki. The SST sound is a blend of Okinawan music, min'yo singing and other Japanese elements, with some rock, pop and reggae thrown in. The unique sound of the group is largely due to an original instrument devised by Kōryū that he calls "sangen"; a banjo strung with shamisen strings.

In 1990 Shang Shang Typhoon signed with the Epic/Sony label, but more recently they have recorded on independent labels.

Next a record I bought in Los Angeles at a used record store in 1982 or so. Didn't know who this was but I thought the jacket was cool. Then I listened to it and thought THIS IS A FRICKING GREAT RECORD!!!!!

Sandii and the Sunsetz - Battery (seems to me the 7 inch single had a title, "Love Battery")

Sandii is HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! I like the Devoesque scenes at the start.

I'm in love with Sandii! Here's more info about Sandii and the Sunsetz:

Though they garnered the most attention in the early 1980s under the name Sandii and The Sunsetz, this Japanese Pop band had already been recording together with similar lineups and under similar monikers for nearly a decade prior. Backed by band leader and guitarist Makoto Kubota, guitarist Kenichi Inoue, bassist King Champ Onzo and percussionist Hideo Inoura, and fronted by lead singer Sandii, born Sandy O'Neale, the band found moderate success throughout the 1980s

And finally, I leave you with this (as Toby Turner would say) "Epicousity!"

Japanese Pop Stars AKB48 Become Certified "Musicians" - Get Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame!

OK. That headline isn't exactly true. They didn't get a star in Hollywood. But, at this rate, don't be surprised if they do. AKB48 have done, in my opinion, the next best thing: They've been recognized as real "musicians" by Facebook and a heck of a lot of people.


If anything, the last description I ever thought would be used for AKB48 would be "musicians." But that's what they are classified as on Facebook. So, I guess that is like getting a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood... Well, sort of.


I suppose it must be a real honor for them to have this award bestowed upon them. After all, there are a many many young people who pick up and guitar and start a band in the hopes that they could someday be called, "musician" as opposed to just plain old "crappy" or "terrible."


I can think of lots of titles and descriptions I could use for a lot of these Japanese "Idol" groups and singers, but "musician" is just not one of them.


But there it is, plain as day on Facebook. And if Facebook says you are a musicians, then it must be true.

See? That just shows how much Facebook is F'ed up! It says that "18,658 people like this." What it should say is "18,658 people think they like this" or "There are at least 18,658 stupid people on the planet."

Oh, and I checked, yep. There's a whole bunch of these related AKB48 pages on Facebook.... They all say "musician." I'd have thought that there'd be a category for "Idol."

More Theft by the Government; UK Debt is Over 900% of GDP But Will Spend a Hal-Trillion Dollars on a Jubilee! Good Idea!

Kneel down before your masters, tax-slave.

The very rich Queen of England is worth $500 million dollars or more. 

On top of that, some Supporters want taxpayers to buy her a $95 million yacht!!! 

I'm often blasting the Japanese government and the US government for screwing the people over and wasting our money on taxation.


Let me make it perfectly clear: All taxation is theft.


But today I just have to blast the British Royal Family and how the government over there is just screwing the people over monstrously. This is short and won't take much explanation:


The Queen of England says that these are tough times and that we all have to pull together and cut spending and support austerity. Then she has a Royal Jubilee that cost at least $1.5 billion dollars!


This on top of the fact that Great Britain has the highest debt to GDP in the entire world - Even higher than Japan! Please refer to: Morgan Stanley Reports: Japan's Total Debt, Public, Private and Household, is More Than 600% of GDP. There you will see a chart that shows the total debt, households, government and financial in the UK is over 900% of GDP.


Yeah, but what's a half-trillion dollars for an anniversary between friends, right?


No big deal. 


The royalty have always been scum with no connection to the regular people. "Let them eat cake" attitude still persists today... The queen should tell these people who plan these things to tone them down and don't spend so lavishly (of other people's money!) We have royalty in Japan too, but they don't do things nearly as gaudy as this. Recently the emperor and empress told the government that, when they die, they are forbidden to hold separate ceremonies fo each of them. The emperor said that it would cost too much money and ordered them to have a singe ceremony for the both of them at the same time in order to save costs.


I don't expect royalty to give up their positions voluntarily, but, especially in the west, they should take a clue from the Japanese. For example, even the marriage of the Crown Prince of Japan (the next emperor) is not even close to being in the Top Ten Lavish Weddings of All Time and Japan is a rich nation.


Half a trillion dollars to celebrate some old woman being on the throne?


Kneel down (or bend over) for your masters tax slave!

-------

Finally, not being a Christian, yet well studied in the religions of the world, I leave you with this:

1 Samuel 8  Warning concerning a King

¹⁰ So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who had asked of him a king. ¹¹ He said, “ This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. ¹²  He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴  He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶ He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. ¹⁸ Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁹ Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, ²⁰  that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” ²¹ Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people,he repeated them in the Lord’s hearing. ²² The Lord said to Samuel, “ Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”