I had intended to get to it last night but tired.
"Japan leader says he won’t revise apology to wartime prostitutes" by Martin Fackler | New York Times March 15, 2014
TOKYO — Moving to defuse a heated diplomatic dispute over World War II-era history, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday that his government would not revise a landmark 1993 apology to women forced to work in Japanese military brothels.
This was the first time since taking office more than a year ago that Abe has explicitly stated that his right-wing administration will uphold the official apology, known as the Kono Statement.
That statement, issued by Yohei Kono, then the chief Cabinet secretary, admitted that Japan’s military played at least an indirect role in forcing the so-called comfort women to provide sex to Japanese soldiers.
Okay, without wanting to minimize it too much we have a rape crisis within our own military at this time combined with the deaths of women in wars based on lies overseas, and my media is running us back to WWII (gotta get that term and memories revived in the public mind, 'eh? That's what is coming, huh?)
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Friday’s statements were one of the firmest expressions yet of Abe’s intention to adhere to a more moderate line on the often highly emotional historical issues that still divide Asia.
God I'm sick of division when most people agree and just want to live life. It's the globe-kicking power players and money addicts that are ruining it for everyone, with help from their ma$$ media mouthpiece here.
The statements also represent a clear pulling back from his earlier views before becoming prime minister, when Abe publicly questioned whether Japan’s Imperial military had actually coerced the women, a doubt shared by many Japanese nationalists.
I always found it amazing that German, Italian, and Japanese nationalism were bad, but AmeriKan and Israeli nationalism were good.
What was less clear was why he waited so long to reaffirm those apologies.
Again, not to minimize it, but why is it only the Japanese that have to keep apologizing with it never being good enough. That's not to excuse what happened; it's to point out the agenda-pushing and arbitrary nature of the pri$m through which I see the world. Of course, God himself will not protect you if you publicly question another certain historical event and its version of a holocaust™.
Since Abe took office in December 2012, people close to him have described a constant tug of war within his administration between his moderate advisers, including many former elite bureaucrats, and his longtime supporters on the political far right, who want him to push back against what they call overly negative views of Japan’s wartime behavior.
Oh, he has a Tea Party problem, too?
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They ain't dumping tea into the Pacific:
"Japan marks 3rd anniversary of tsunami disasters" by Mari Yamaguchi | Associated Press March 12, 2014
TOKYO — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to boost rebuilding efforts as the country marked the third anniversary Tuesday of a devastating earthquake and tsunami that left nearly 19,000 people dead, destroyed coastal communities, and triggered a nuclear crisis.
Japan has struggled to rebuild towns and villages and to clean up radiation from the meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Reconstruction plans are finally taking shape, but shortages of skilled workers and materials are delaying the work.
The triple disasters known in Japan as 3-11 killed 15,884 people and left 2,636 unaccounted for on its northeastern coast. The country has earmarked $250 billion for reconstruction through March 2016.
Three years later, nearly 270,000 people remain displaced from their homes, including many from Fukushima prefecture who may never be able to return home due to radioactive contamination.
During a ceremony in Tokyo, officials and representatives of the survivors offered a minute of silence to mark the moment, at 2:46 p.m., when the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the Tohoku coast. It was the strongest quake recorded in Japan’s history.
Abe has visited disaster-hit areas regularly since taking office in late 2012, and said Tuesday that he has seen signs of progress. Farming and fishing resumed in some areas, and some people have moved to public housing from shelters, he said, promising to do more.
‘‘We must further speed up the reconstruction so that everyone affected by the disasters can return to ordinary life as soon as possible,’’ Abe, wearing a dark formal suit, said during the solemn ceremony....
In Fukushima, the plant has stabilized substantially, but is still plagued by frequent leaks of radioactive water and other mishaps, triggering concern about whether it’s really under control. The leaks are hampering the plant’s decommissioning, which is expected to take about 40 years....
The minimization of that colossal disaster is sickening!
I guess the wall of ice idea melted pretty quickly, huh? What an insult to any thinking person that they would even suggest such a thing.
Abe, who still supports nuclear as key power source and is pushing to export nuclear technology despite the crisis, only briefly mentioned the Fukushima disaster in his speech.
Related:
Sniffing out trouble at US nuclear plants
Same design and safety systems as Fukushima.
Protest aims to press Governor Patrick on Pilgrim
Little late in his term, doncha think?
In a sign of growing caution against reactor startups, veteran lawmaker Bunmei Ibuki, also speaker of powerful Lower House of Japan’s Parliament, said the Japanese should remember they enjoyed the benefits of electricity at the cost of Fukushima.
I hope it was all worth it!
‘‘Each of us must reflect upon our wasteful lifestyle and shift to that of energy conservation,’’ Ibuki told the ceremony, calling for an energy policy ‘‘toward a nuclear phase-out in the future.’’
While I am for his position, I'm against the agenda-pushing. Great game the propaganda pre$$ has going. All the debate is in their small and narrow bubble.
Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement offering prayers to Japan’s people and support for rebuilding efforts.
That's all he had to say?
This is the same Kerry that compared global warming to a weapon of mass destruction?
In northern Japan, some tsunami survivors held their own memorial events....
And then it was again forgotten by my pre$$.
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And where is Caroline Kennedy on all this? She has plenty of time to tweet about dolphins and talk baseball while trying to keep the U.S. outpost in Okinawa. Why silent on the this legitimate, top five story on the planet? The fouling of the Pacific and the fact that the radiation has reached the west coast of the U.S. is omitted from the discussion here.
