Thursday, 15 October 2015
Tuesday, 13 October 2015
faith
If you live in the world long enough, and I most certainly think that I have, at 62, then you see that most things arise from Luck rather than from race, religion, upbringing, or karma...with karma being the most destructive and evil notion. The idea that somehow most people deserve what happens is a great and evil affront to reality.Deserving has nothing to do with anything at all. 'Deserving' is the ultimate crock and blight on humanity.
We live, we learn, we do what is necessary. The world, as it is, is as okay as it ever has been and ever will be. Any improvements are simply minor graduations that disappear pretty soon; and other stuff arises without altering the human condition at all. Life is meaningful because those who are living put meaning into it. We do that. We do the Hard Yards. This meaning is very important and lasts the length of every human life whether it is a minute in embryo or 90 years existing. Beyond that, nirvana, heaven, and all the insanities, this is all just advertising for profit and for prophets.
As for believing that only Jesus, Judaism, Buddhism or Hinduism or this or that ism being the only way to have meaning or eternity for that matter...what kind of cunt would do that to people?
If there be eternity, then we can all choose that on our own terms, or refuse it. We have choices. This is our world. This is the freedom any half way decent God would give us in a minute. I take this freedom very fucking seriously. My future, whether mortal or immortal, is not decided by rosaries or prayer beads, This is my business on earth, and as for the afterlife, well, this is even more my business and no other cunts business. I'll wait for you there, with love.
We live, we learn, we do what is necessary. The world, as it is, is as okay as it ever has been and ever will be. Any improvements are simply minor graduations that disappear pretty soon; and other stuff arises without altering the human condition at all. Life is meaningful because those who are living put meaning into it. We do that. We do the Hard Yards. This meaning is very important and lasts the length of every human life whether it is a minute in embryo or 90 years existing. Beyond that, nirvana, heaven, and all the insanities, this is all just advertising for profit and for prophets.
As for believing that only Jesus, Judaism, Buddhism or Hinduism or this or that ism being the only way to have meaning or eternity for that matter...what kind of cunt would do that to people?
If there be eternity, then we can all choose that on our own terms, or refuse it. We have choices. This is our world. This is the freedom any half way decent God would give us in a minute. I take this freedom very fucking seriously. My future, whether mortal or immortal, is not decided by rosaries or prayer beads, This is my business on earth, and as for the afterlife, well, this is even more my business and no other cunts business. I'll wait for you there, with love.
Saturday, 10 October 2015
Japan hits out as UNESCO archives Nanjing massacre documents
Japan hits out as UNESCO archives Nanjing massacre documents
Posted
Japan has lashed out at UNESCO's decision to inscribe documents related to the Nanjing massacre in its Memory of the World register, describing it as "extremely regrettable" and calling for the process to be reformed.
Key points
- Japan labels UNESCO's decision to archive documents related to the Nanjing massacre as "extremely regrettable"
- UNESCO inscribed the documents in its Memory of the World register
- China says 300,000 people died in a six-week spree of killing, rape and destruction after the Japanese military entered Nanjing in 1937
- The massacre is an exceptionally sensitive issue in the often-tense relations between Japan and China
The UN's cultural and scientific body agreed to 47 new inscriptions on Friday, including a request by Beijing to mark documents recording the mass murder and rape committed by Japanese troops after the fall of the Chinese city of Nanjing in 1937.
The massacre, often referred to as the Rape of Nanjing, is an exceptionally sensitive issue in the often-tense relations between Japan and China, with Beijing charging that Tokyo has failed to atone for the atrocity.
Japan had called for the Nanjing documents not to be included and on Saturday accused UNESCO of being politicised.
"It is extremely regrettable that a global organisation that should be neutral and fair entered the documents in the Memory of the World register, despite the repeated pleas made by the Japanese government," Tokyo's foreign ministry said in a statement.
"As a responsible member of UNESCO, the Japanese government will seek a reform of this important project, so that it will not be used politically."
The UNESCO decision came after a two-year process during a meeting of experts tasked with studying nominations from 40 countries.
The new inscriptions were agreed at a meeting that ran from Sunday to Tuesday and was held in the United Arab Emirates.
Japan's World War II record still creating friction
The Japanese military invaded China in the 1930s and the two countries fought a full-scale war from 1937 until Japan's defeat in World War II in 1945.
China says 300,000 people died in a six-week spree of killing, rape and destruction after the Japanese military entered Nanjing.
Some respected foreign academics put the number lower but there is very little mainstream scholarship doubting that a massacre took place.
In Japan, however, some conservatives and nationalists deny that atrocities were committed, a source of regular regional friction.
In February, a senior executive at Japan's publicly funded TV broadcaster NHK denied the massacre, reportedly dismissing accounts of it as "propaganda".
Japan's official position is that "the killing of a large number of non-combatants, looting and other acts occurred" took place, but it adds "it is difficult to determine" the true number of victims.
In April this year, Japan rebuffed protests about newly approved textbooks after complaints that they failed to use the word "massacre" when referring to the mass slaughter of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, preferring the term "incident".
Tokyo frequently clashes with many of its Asian neighbours over its war record, with many accusing the country of failing to atone for its atrocities or recognise the suffering that took place under the yoke of Japanese militarism.
The Memory of the World register, set up in 1992, is aimed at preserving humanity's documentary heritage, and currently holds 348 documents and archives that come from countries all over the world.
"It is my deep and firm conviction that the Memory of the World program should be guided in its work to preserve documentary heritage and memory for the benefit of present and future generations in the spirit of international cooperation and mutual understanding, building peace in the minds of women and men," UNESCO director Irina Bokova said.
Japan had two entries recognised by UNESCO on Friday.
The first was a body of 18th century documents amassed by a Buddhist temple and the second a tranche of documents related to the internment of Japanese prisoners in Siberian labour camps after the end of World War II.
AFP
China completes construction of lighthouses in South China Sea
China completes construction of lighthouses in South China Sea
China says it has completed the construction of two lighthouses in the disputed South China Sea as tensions in the region mount over Beijing's maritime ambitions.
North Korea ready to fight
North Korea ready to fight 'any war' with US, Kim Jong-un tells major military parade in Pyongyang
Updated
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has used a speech at a major military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party to say his country is prepared to fight "any kind of war waged by US imperialists".
Key points
- Kim Jong-un says North Korea ready for "any war" with the United States
- North Korea stages military parade to mark 70th anniversary of Worker's Party
- Thousands of soldiers, trucks, tanks and missiles march through Kim Il-sung Square
- Parade will be closely watched in case Pyongyang unveils new military equipment
Dressed in his customary dark Mao suit, Mr Kim struck a more belligerent note than in previous public addresses.
"Our party dauntlessly declares that our revolutionary armed forces are capable of fighting any kind of war provoked by the US and we are ready to protect our people and the blue sky of our motherland," he said.
Thousands of goose-stepping soldiers in tight formations marched into Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung square for the parade, alongside a cavalcade of tanks, armoured vehicles and assorted ballistic hardware.
Mr Kim, the third generation of a family dynasty that has ruled the North with absolute authority for the past seven decades, took salute from the massed military ranks.
His words were met with rapturous applause from tens of thousands of flag-waving spectators, while above the square, a large banner slung from a gas-filled balloon read: "Long live the invincible Workers' Party of Korea."
Liu Yunshan, the fifth most powerful man in China's ruling Communist Party, stood by Mr Kim during the parade.
An overnight thunderstorm and light rain in the morning threatened to put a dampener on the parade, which has been in the works for months.
Mr Kim paid tribute to his family's legacy on Friday with a midnight visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which serves as the mausoleum for his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founding leader.
Satellite images taken four days before the parade showed a sprawling training ground in Pyongyang featuring some 800 tents, 700 trucks and 200 armoured vehicles.
As night fell after the parade, a tribute to the ruling party that has served at the whim of three generations of the Kim dynasty, the skies of Pyongyang were lit up with a fireworks display over the banks of the Taedong River.
On the ground, roaring crowds held up their coloured squares to create huge images of Worker Party flags and spelling out Mr Kim's name.
Experts looking out for new military hardware
As with similar displays in the past, the event was closely watched for glimpses of any new hardware that might signal a forward step in the North's military development.
North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests and threatened a fourth as part of a nuclear weapons and missile program that it has pursued through a barrage of international sanctions.
There is debate among experts as to how far it has come in developing those weapons, especially the ability to shrink nuclear warheads so that they can fit on a missile.
An exhaustively researched report published this week by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security estimated that North Korea had between 10 and 16 nuclear weapons as of the end of 2014.
The report argued it was likely the country could already build a warhead to fit atop a Nodong missile — with a range of less than 1,300 kilometres — but added that the reliability of such a weapon was open to question.
Months of planning and preparation have gone into the parade, involving a mass mobilisation of state personnel and resources to ensure its success.
The capital itself was given a comprehensive makeover — its streets lined and decorated with giant posters, red banners and national flags, many of them displaying the numerals "10-10" in reference to the ruling party's official October 10 birthday.
The North excels at such choreographed displays of military muscle, which aim to boost pride and patriotism at home.
At the same time, it sends a defiant message to an international community that has sought, without success, to pressure Pyongyang into abandoning its nuclear weapons ambitions.
China remains North Korea's most important diplomatic ally and economic partner, even as Beijing has grown increasingly wary and impatient with Pyongyang's nuclear weapons ambitions.
But the attendance of just one Chinese official reflects North Korea's diplomatic isolation.
Mr Kim and Mr Liu met for talks on Friday, during which the Chinese official delivered a letter from president Xi Jinping, and voiced Beijing's willingness to work with Pyongyang on resuming multi-party talks on its nuclear program.
"The DPRK (North Korea) is willing to make efforts to improve relations between the North and the South and safeguard the stability of the peninsula," Xinhua reported the young leader as saying.
AFP
N. Korea proposes talks on peace treaty with U.S. North Korea has twice in the span of a week suggested that it and the U.S. should sign a peace treaty. On October 1, at United Nations General Assembly, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong urged that the U.S. establish a permanent peace treaty with the North. Six days later, North Korea reiterated their call for a peace treaty with the U.S. For North Korea to make the same call in less than a week is unusual.
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Top Stories Today
Costly and complicated – why many Koreans can't face reunification (The Guardian)
Twice a month a North Korean defector and a South Korean professor meet at a cafe in downtown Seoul for a caffeine-fuelled argument.
Twice a month a North Korean defector and a South Korean professor meet at a cafe in downtown Seoul for a caffeine-fuelled argument.
Park, Obama to discuss more N.K. sanctions, but not THAAD: envoy (The Korea Herald)
Amid North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats, Seoul and Washington will explore the possibility of additional sanctions and other ways to deter another major provocation.
Amid North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats, Seoul and Washington will explore the possibility of additional sanctions and other ways to deter another major provocation.
N Koreas rice, corn production down 14 pct in 2015: FAO (Yonhap News)
North Korea's production of key food produce is estimated to decline on-year in 2015, data showed Friday, apparently due to unfavorable weather conditions.
North Korea's production of key food produce is estimated to decline on-year in 2015, data showed Friday, apparently due to unfavorable weather conditions.
Cash Crunch Hits North Korea's Elite (WSJ)
China’s economic slowdown and a plunge in coal prices are depriving North Korea of critical foreign currency, threatening to stir discontent among the small, elite class.
China’s economic slowdown and a plunge in coal prices are depriving North Korea of critical foreign currency, threatening to stir discontent among the small, elite class.
N. Korea preparing to put on one of largest-ever military parade (Yonhap News)
Recent satellite imagery shows North Korea is preparing to put on one of the country's largest military parades to mark the 70th anniversary this week of the founding of its Workers' Party.
Recent satellite imagery shows North Korea is preparing to put on one of the country's largest military parades to mark the 70th anniversary this week of the founding of its Workers' Party.
Thursday, 8 October 2015
About Mishima, Seppuku etc
Apparently the blog issue regarding Mishima's seppuku death is the most 'hit' item on this 100,000 hit blog...so there are quite a few strange people out there.Now the reason I first put Mishima and his chosen way of death on the blog years ago was basically because I worked for 30 years as a clinical nurse and consultant in end stage terminal care and pain control; and then I worked in mental health for awhile and suicide was often coming up as a topic. I have no problem at all with people committing suicide based upon Mishima's noble notion: that the death should be incredibly painful and in private and done in a way to illustrate that the pain of death was worse than the pain of living and you only ever did it as a political statement to basically, in death, make yourself a bit larger than life. I've got no issue with that at all. That is actually noble. No pills, no car crashing, just a bloody big knife twisting in the guts, and you do it yourself. The primarily important thing for Mishima was that the death was discrete, his self killing, etc, although having his friend there to cut off his head kind of made it into a public event due to photography...but all in all, Mishima chose Seppuku for very valid reasons relating to Japan and the dishonour of the Empire. I do think that this is a noble form of self killing: that it be intensely more painful than life, and that it be done basically in secret and very neatly so as no one is harmed when they find the body.
I dont think death is much to be scared about.
When locking up the Hospice gates some years ago at night one of my colleagues said 'don't you need a torch to go out there in the dark?' and I replied 'darlin, i've walked along with so many hundreds of people into their nights and deaths that it is the darkness that should be afraid of me.' I actually said that. It was a real Frank Drebbin of Police Squad moment...you don't get many moments in a life time to say something really profound as well as really silly-ful of bravado, and also really deep. I did it.
I don't work at titrating pain control for people at death's door any more and I'm really happy not to do so any more. 30 years was enough for many lifetimes.
The thing about Mishima is that he is such a fucking good writer that it is a crying shame he never got the Nobel Prize, it really is. He's much better than a lot of them, he just didnt have an 'acceptable philosophy'...and when did that matter, ever, in art?
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