Why Cameron Didn’t Apologize to India http://j.mp/14mYCH5 @Diplomat_APACさんから 「謝罪の危険」を冒さなかったキャメロン首相を評価する記事。虚しいなり。
政治的に賢い認識だとは思うけれど、こういう教訓しか残せなかったのかと思うとね。
The Jallianwala massacre, in which British soldiers opened fire on 10,000 Indians engaging in a peaceful protest, was easily one of the most reprehensible moments of British colonial rule in India. Even the hard-headed imperialist, Winston Churchill, declared it “shameful” and a “monstrous” event. In its wake, the great Indian poet and writer and subsequent winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, Rabindranath Tagore, renounced the knighthood that he had received from Britain.
At his visit to the monument, Cameron, echoing his Tory predecessor, wrote in the guest book that the massacre was “deeply shameful.” He went on to add that, “We must not forget what happened here. And in remembering we must ensure that the United Kingdom stands up for the right of peaceful protest around the world.”
Many Indian commentators criticized Cameron’s visit; given the egregious killing of over a thousand unarmed civilians who were simply defying a colonial ban against peaceful protests, some felt that an explicit apology was in order. 36-year old Sunil Kapoor, whose great-grandfather was killed in the massacre said, “We have been waiting for justice from the British and Indian government for 94 years. If they think it's shameful, why shouldn't they apologize?”
Yet it would not be at all straightforward for Cameron to bow his head, say “sorry,” and join this growing trend. In fact, while official apologies within countries have grown more and more commonplace, official apologies between countries remain rare and highly fraught. In Britain’s case, an apology might trigger a cascade of similar demands from a host of other, former colonial possessions. Even more importantly, apologies to foreign victims have potentially high domestic audience costs. Present citizens of the United Kingdom may not feel that they need to apologize for acts, however loathsome, that took place decades and centuries ago, and do not want their elected representatives, to make such gestures. Though such views are debatable, there is no question that they are prevalent and would exact a political price for any leader offering an apology.
Moreover, while it is possible that apologies could have the desired palliative effects – as in Germany’s reconciliation with Western Europe – in most cases, the fractious domestic debates that apologies create are as likely to inflame as soothe old wounds. For example, legions of Japanese prime ministers have offered apologies to Chinese, South Korean, and other former victims, only to prompt domestic outcry that aggravates victims still further.
As Cameron acknowledged a “deeply shameful” moment in British history, his approach still gave his countrymen something to feel good about. “I think there is an enormous amount to be proud of in what the British empire did and was responsible for,” the prime minister said. “But of course there were bad events as well as good events. The bad events we should learn from and the good events we should celebrate.”
Cameron’s approach offers promise for reconciliation across the world.
Meanwhile the Japanese public, insufficiently trained in critical thinking, will remain intellectually blinded by jingoistic and xenophobic propaganda
1 out of 7 Americans live below the poverty line
evicted homeless people live in tent cities found “in any town park,
“In any town you might go there are parks full of tents” is a mistaken expression, so we amend it to “there are tents in various places”.
poverty correlates with child obesity due to cheap junk food,
Middle-class children are more likely to be obese than those from the poorest backgrounds, according to a new study that challenges the prevailing wisdom on the subject.
how bankruptcies are widespread due to the world’s highest medical costs (e.g., one tooth filling costs \150,000)
アメリカでは歯につめものをしただけで、１５万円もかかる
It depends on a few things. Where you live, the dental office you go to and how big of a filling you need. Without insurance, expect to pay anywhere from $100-$250 for a filling.
Resolved QuestionShow me another »
How much does it cost to fill an average cavity? My tooth is killing me and I don't have insurance.?
6 years ago
Check with the teaching hospital in your community; that's usually the University Hospital. Most have clinics where you can get dental work done by a dental student (closely supervised of course) for a drastically reduced price. I don;t know about cavities but I have a friend who had a root canal at Georgetown University School of Dentistry for about $200. A Cavity is probably a lot cheaper.
Around a few hundred bucks. Take care of it now, or you'll be spending much more on a root canal or extraction.
education is undermined by “the evils (heigai) of evaluating teachers only by test scores,” and so on.
The article’s concluding question: “What can we do so we don’t become like America?” Answer proffered: Think critically, don’t take media at face value
Heavy stuff for a children’s magazine, and not entirely without merit. But not entirely accurate, either. So Stephanie’s daughter did as encouraged and questioned the article, for she had been to America and her experience was different.
Teacher’s answer: “It is written so it is true.” So much for critical thinking.
We would like to positively take up these issues and include Japan’s problems as well.”
But that’s the thing. They didn’t. Chagurin basically seized upon an entire foreign society as a cautionary tale, swaddled it in broad generalizations and burned it in effigy to illuminate a path for Japanese society.
So I did some research on the magazine. Endorsed by Japan PTA, Chagurin is funded by the Japan Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, connected with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).
Aha. MAFF is famous for its propagandizing, especially when it comes to keeping Japan’s agricultural sector closed for “food security” purposes
JA（農協）グループ家の光協会では1964年、農家の子ども向け月刊誌として『こども家の光』を創刊し、その後『こどもの光』と誌名を変更しました。
さらに、 創刊30年となる1993年に読者から誌名を募集し、英語のChild（子ども）、Agriculture（農業）、Green（みどり・自然）を合成した現在の誌名『ちゃぐりん』が生まれました。
JAの次世代育成を目的として創刊された。従って、購入はJAを通してすることになり、一般書店では買うことができない
日本PTA全国協議会の推薦も受けている
Although Tsutsumi repeatedly encourages critical thinking in her writings, none of her books on Amazon Japan apply the same level of critique to Japanese society
― probably because they would not sell as well or win awards.
But put the shoe on the other foot: If an article of this tone and content about Japan appeared in grade-schooler magazines overseas, funded by the U.S. farming lobby and endorsed by the PTA, the first wave of protests would be from the Japanese Embassy
That’s ironic, because in 2008 Kawada (unsuccessfully) campaigned against reforming Japan’s Nationality Law to allow international children born out of wedlock to be recognized as citizens even if paternity was not formally acknowledged,
http://www.debito.org/?p=10806#comment-370939
Emi Says:
December 6th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
hi folks… i’m the blogger who wrote about tsutsumi’s xenophobic position re citizenship statute. i also have a japanese blog (or two) where you can read tsutsumi’s entire column on the topic. i recommend those of you who read japanese to read her own words nd decide for yourselves.
たった一日の質疑だけで採決の予定だった国籍法改正法案が参考人質疑、更に法案質疑を行い、採決が来週に先送りされました。違憲状態を解消することは当然のことです。しかし、二重国籍の問題や参政権の問題など審議を続けるなかで、更に議論すべき問題が明らかになってきました。ドイツでは、98年の父子関係の認知を認める制度改正後の悪用を防止する「偽装父子関係の認知を可能にする法律」が今年3月に制定されました。田中康夫議員はDNA鑑定の義務付けなどの偽装防止対策の必要性を強く訴えています。更に雇用問題など社会に与える影響を含め国籍法のあり方に踏み込んだ議論をすべきです。国の根幹にかかわる国籍法という重要な問題は国民の目に見える形で議論し、判断されるべきことだと思います。会期も延長された今、良識の府参議院でこそ十分に議論するべきです。 川田龍平
ドイツでは、1998 年の親子法改革により、父親の認知宣言と母親の同意だけで父子関係
の認知が成立することになった。これにより、生物的な父子関係のみでなく、社会的な父
子関係についても法的な認知が可能となった。ところが、この制度を悪用して滞在法上の
資格を得ようとする事例が現れた。例えば、滞在許可の期限が切れて出国義務のある女性
が、ドイツ国籍を有するホームレスにお金を払って自分の息子を認知してもらう。この認
知によって息子は自動的にドイツ市民となり、その母もドイツに滞在できることになる。
このような制度の悪用を防止するために、2008 年 3 月 13 日「父子関係の認知無効のため
の権利を補足する法律」が制定された。民法典の改正により、父子間に社会的・家族的関
係が存在しないのに認知によって子や親の入国・滞在が認められる条件が整うケースに限
って、父子関係の認知無効を求める権利が管轄官庁にも与えられることとなった。
(齋藤 純子・海外立法情報調査室）
There are two different case scenarios involving false
declarations of parenthood:
A German man acknowledges paternity for a
child of a foreign, unmarried mother: pursuant to
Section 4 of the Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz), the child thereby acquires German
nationality and pursuant to Section 28 subsection
1 (3) of the Residence Act (Subsequent immigration of dependents to join a German national),
the mother of the child is entitled initially to a
temporary residence permit and, if applicable, in
due course to a settlement permit.
? A foreign man who does not have a secure right of
permanent residence acknowledges paternity for
the child of a German or non-German mother:
if the child has German nationality and the parents
have joint custody within the framework of a
custody declaration, the father is entitled to a
residence permit.
・・・・
In response to these observations, a decision was taken
to reform the paternity law which entered into force
in 2008, incorporating the right of public authorities to
contest the paternity into Section 1600 of the German
Civil Code. This amendment to the law put an end to
the public discussion. The concrete implementation
of the right to contest paternity and the checks carried
out on binational parents based on this right have only
been discussed in the Parliaments (Deutscher Bundestag 2010).
However, the issue continues to feature at administrative level as the foreigners authorities did not consider
the legal amendments to be particularly effective
and contestation of paternity before the courts rarely
leads to the loss of paternity. Although the foreigners
authorities in Berlin, for instance, received 360 reports
of false declarations of parenthood, proceedings to
contest the paternity were only instituted in 148 cases.
These proceedings were only successful in two cases,
i.e. less than 1 percent of suspected cases; similar
results are known from the operational practice of
foreigners authorities in Munich and Hamburg.
3.2.2 Measures aimed at preventing misuse
The right of public authorities to contest the paternity
of persons seeking to obtain a residence permit is the
most important tool for preventing false declarations
of parenthood.
For Kawada, his alarmist gang of arguments forced the Nationality Law to be reinterpreted in 2012 to place further restrictions on Japanese with foreign nationalities (Just Be Cause, Jan. 1).
So let’s conclude in Tsutsumi’s style: “We” should not become like Japan because its aging society, controlled by an unaccountable bureaucratic/gerontocratic elite, will forever crowd out the young and disenfranchised from its power structure. Meanwhile the Japanese public, insufficiently trained in critical thinking, will remain intellectually blinded by jingoistic and xenophobic propaganda.
岡本太郎 @okamoto_taro_bt
お笑いタレントみたいなしゃべり方をする人が結構多い。それはサービス精神かもしれないが、つまりはみんなに悪く思われたくない、自分がかわいい一念なのだ。
開く 返信 リツイート お気に入りに登録 その他
3月2日 岡本太郎 @okamoto_taro_bt
人生は本来、瞬間瞬間に、無償、無目的に爆発し続けるべきだ。いのちのほんとうの在り方だ。ぼくが芸術というのは生きることそのものである。人間として最も強烈に生きる者、無条件に生命を突き出し爆発する、その生き方こそが芸術なのだということを強調したい。“ 芸 術 は 爆 発 だ ”。
開く
I felt I had acomplished something that allowed me to have a clear conscience based upon what I had seen and read about and knew were happening in both Iraq and Afghanistan everyday," said Army PFC Bradley Manning [AP]
Bradley Manning obviously still believes in America, in a country that cares about the rule of law, fairness and human rights for all. His naivete might well cost him his freedom for the rest of his life.
"The more I read, the more I... began to think that the documented backdoor deals and seemingly criminal activity didn't seem characteristic of the de facto leader of the free world."
He didn't understand that backdoor deals and criminality have always been the modus operandi of American policy, as it has been for every other global power. It's what allowed the US to murder three million Southeast Asians during the Vietnam War while sending 58,000 American soldiers to their needless deaths. It's allowed subsequent invasions from Grenada to Panama to Iraq based on nothing but lies, not to mention allowed dozens of coups, support for innumerable small wars and (counter)insurgencies, coddling brutal dictators and ignoring or abandoning oppressed people.
I believed if the public, particularly the American public, could see this it could spark a debate on the military and our foreign policy in general [that] might cause society to reconsider the need to engage in counter-terrorism while ignoring the human situation of the people we engaged with every day.
Sadly, intending to provoke a public debate about policies that have caused so much suffering to Americans as well as Afghans, Iraqis, Pakistanis and other "enemies" is considered "misconduct" that could well provoke new charges of intending to "discredit" the US military
The infamous "collateral murder" video that Manning admitted leaking to Wikileaks, which depicts US Apache helicopter pilots firing upon a group of people on the ground, is a perfect example of this dynamic. The footage, and even more so the words of the pilots, are absolutely damning, as they confirm that the pilots indeed had a "blood lust" (in Manning's words) which led them to fire on a group of people, including clearly wounded men and those attending to them.
"We're trying to get permission to engage. Come on, let us shoot!" one of the soldiers shouts as he watches a van pick up the bodies. "We have a black SUV - or Bongo truck picking up the bodies. Request permission to engage." They received permission and did engage, and within moments a soldier exclaimed: "Oh yeah, look at that. Right through the windshield! Ha ha!" In fact, he'd wounded and killed more people, including children.
The deliberate shooting of anyone, combatant or civilian, in the process of attending to wounded who no longer pose an immediate threat to an opposing force, regardless of their status, is a direct violations of the Geneva conventions (particularly the First Geneva Convention) and thus of US Federal law. It is a war crime, which is precisely why the US military refused to release the video, and why Manning felt it was so important to do so.
Sadly, as Manning's Court Martial makes clear, for the US military-security machine, the most dangerous enemy whom it must protect itself against is not al-Qaeda. It's the American people, because they are the only ones who can challenge its power and hold it accountable to American and international law. It would be nice to hope that one day Americans will take this responsibility seriously, but that day appears very far off.
In 2006, Lord Carlile QC conducted an inquiry into the use of restraint, strip-searching and segregation in child custody.
Then, as now, fewer than one in ten searches yielded a ‘find’ and tobacco was the most common item discovered.
One 16-year-old girl told the inquiry she had been strip-searched and ordered to hand her sanitary towel to staff.
Another girl recalled: ‘When I had my first full search it was horrible as I have been s*exually abused and I didn’t feel comfortable showing my body as this brought back bad memories.’
Spitfire created using EGG BOXES: Battle of Britain fighter recreated with 10k staples and 5 litres of glue | Mail Online via kwout
