Nope, it's always something else. I personally think that U.S. leadership has been hanging around Israel too long.
"Agriculture secretary tries to sell Japan on US beef" by Hiroko Tabuchi, International Herald Tribune | April 8, 2010
TOKYO — US diplomats have cajoled and pleaded with the Japanese to buy American beef, even wolfing down bowls of the meat in front of Japanese TV cameras.
Related(?): Japan Rubs Globalists Raw
Yeah, I think it is; take away the fish and then the Japanese have to eat something -- and here is a plate of steaks and hamburgers!
Didn't that other diet serve them well for thousands of years? Healthier than us western slobs?
But six years after a single case of mad cow disease in the United States prompted Tokyo to slam its doors on beef imports from the United States, Japan has loosened its restrictions only slightly — denying American ranchers and meatpackers full access to what was once their most lucrative market.
You got the frikkin' military base, so WTF? Can't you just leave them alone?
The Obama administration is stepping up pressure on Japan to reopen its market, dispatching Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to Tokyo. Vilsack is slated to discuss the beef trade with his Japanese counterpart, Hirotaka Akamatsu, today....
Wow. What the hell kind of change do you get, America?
In 2003, Japan was the largest market for US beef, with exports of $1.4 billion; since then, American beef exports to Japan have averaged about $196 million.
Aren't there other hungry people in the world to whom we can sell?
Japan’s restrictions cost American producers about $1 billion in lost exports a year, according to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
Always about money with AmeriKa, 'eh?
--more--"
And the Japanese are very smart; they know they must at least talk so they don't get the stick again.
"Japan willing to discuss US beef ban" by Bloomberg News | April 9, 2010
TOKYO — Japan’s position on restricting US beef imports following the discovery of mad cow disease in the country in 2003 has not changed, a minister said, though the countries agreed yesterday to continue talks on the issue....
--more--"
Someone else who has a beef with the Japanese:
"Japanese man executed in China over drugs" by Associated Press | April 7, 2010
BEIJING — China executed a Japanese man for drug smuggling, the country’s top court announced yesterday, the first execution of a Japanese citizen since the countries established relations in 1972....
Hey, look, that is their business. They have a lot of other issues (past occupation by Japan being one), and it is not my place to comment here.
--more--"
I may a bit here, though:
AS POLICY wonks across the developed world fret about aging populations and overtaxed social welfare systems, America’s future has already arrived in Japan, where the labor force has started to shrink....
But so far the country hasn’t declared bankruptcy or erupted in cataclysmic generational warfare.
Instead, its fate is partly in the hands of people like Kenji Ueda, a 72-year-old entrepreneur who founded a temporary employment service for older workers....
Translation: there will be no retirement, American.
Such upbeat talk is oddly reassuring for the United States, now that yawning Medicare obligations are beginning to spook creditors and Social Security is paying out more than it’s taking in....
What do you mean spooking creditors?
If no one will loan us money, America -- economy will grind to a halt no matter how much money the fed prints!
On a broader scale, major employers are increasingly bringing back their retirees, often at reduced hours and lower pay....
Sigh. It just hurts considering all the money going to banks, wars, etc, etc.
Obviously, the public discussion of aging in Japan isn’t just about quality of life. Japan also faces the kind of policy choices that keep US deficit hawks up at night. The government is debating whether to raise a sales tax to pay for pensions.
It wears you down after a while.
Yup, slap a tax on it, that's the answer.
Japan’s stiff public debt, which ballooned amid the malaise of the 1990s, gives it less room to maneuver.
Then the U.S. must be in a straight-jacket.
But that’s not the point....
Then what is?
Objectively, it matters to society whether seniors feel useless and bored or needed and pleasantly occupied....
I can think of other ways of doing that (like this) without WORK!!
I wish I was bored and useless because then the MSM would be telling you the truth.
Not all senior citizens need nursing care, and not all can take, or want to take, the equivalent of a permanent vacation in West Palm Beach....
That last bit is just so insulting I'm going to ignore it.
Given the choice, I'll take the permanent vaca, sigh.
--more--"
As you can see, I have no beef with Japan.
