GlobalTalk 21

I have been “mistaken,” “misled,” “misrepresented,” and been “unaccountably in error,”
and am sorry if you have been offended

Monday, April 30, 2007

America: It Is Clear that Tim Harford Is Not an Economist. Can You Tell Why?

To quote: "There are anomalies. Steve 'Freakonomics' Levitt and sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh calculated that Chicago drug deale...

America: TIME Scores an Exclusive Interview with George Tenet. The Price? Go figure.

Japan: What Do I think of Prime Minister Abe's Trip to the US?

Since you asked…　　 No, really. A success, that's what. Mr. Abe accomplished about as much he could have hoped for. As I had said before,...

America: Ex-CIA Officials Speak Out over George Tenet's New Book, and THEY ARE FURIOUS.

Was it Charles Barkley who said of his autobiography when questioned about a typically outrageous quote, I don't know, I haven't rea...

America: If Any of This SectarianTrashing of the Iraqi Security Forces Are True, Then Mr.Bush Is Wasting Other People's Time, among Other Things

Would you care to read this WaPo article ? If you don't, the headline and the subtitle: "Maliki's Office Is Seen Behind Purge ...

Japan: Iraq Continues to Take the Wind Out of Constitutional Amendment

Yes, the story is a little old, but it looks like I'll never get around to writing that long piece on… The Yomiuri has been conducting ...

Saturday, April 28, 2007

America: Stop Talking about Hillary Clinton's Accent

This is about as fair as it gets in the MSM when it comes to the story about her accent shifting with the audience. Still, the writer has ...

Friday, April 27, 2007

North Korea: The Abduction Saga Continues with an Arrest Warrant. So Who Wants to Know?

Unless you are nuts about Japan (which you must be, if you're reading this blog, c'mon), you have missed the biggest long-running JM...

America: I Can Feel Tony Allen Can Feel Mr. Tenet's Pain

Sorry to be in the mood for trivia… If you think slamdunks can be detrimental to your career, just ask Tony Allen of the Boston Celtics. Acc...

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Japan: The Real Meaning of the Okinawa Election Results

In today's Upper House by-elections, the DPJ took Fukushima, while the LDP grabbed the seat that the DPJ incumbent had vacated to run (u...

France: Does the English Language MSM Consistently Label Sarkozy a Right-Winger or What?

Does the English language MSM consistently label Nicolas Sarkozy a right-winger, while it unfailingly calls Segolene Royal a socialist? But ...

Friday, April 20, 2007

America: Five Million Emails Missing in 22 Political Accounts?

Five Million Emails Missing in 22 Political Accounts? That's more than 250,000 emails lost per account. Assuming they've all had the...

Japan: It's Official, Japan Now Has a Basic Act on the Oceans. So, How Often Do You See the DPJ and the JCP Agree on Anything?

The Diet passed the Basic Act on the Oceans ( my translation ) today . The ruling LDP and Komeito , the main opposition party DPJ, the Japan...

Work Gets in My Eyes; or, Notice Regarding My Hiatus, Including a Very Brief Preview of Sorts

The following is the reply I gave to an inquiry from garret . And thanks also, garret, for not only putting up Karin's Japanland inquir...

Saturday, March 10, 2007

So Much Has Been Written and Talked about Concerning the Most Recent Flare Up over the "Comfort Women" Issue, and Yet I Can't Stop Myself

Some facts that get lost in the tussle: Prime Minister Abe did not raise the issue; Congressman Honda did, in a House Subcommittee, and forc...

Monday, March 05, 2007

Was Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa Broadcast on Japanese TV?

Karin Muller, creator of the documentary television series Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa , was somewhat surprised by the following in th...

Friday, March 02, 2007

Fred Kaplan Picks Up on the Bush Administration’s 180°on North Korean Uranium Enrichment Program. So Where Does That Leave Chris Hill?

I speculated about the sudden US turnaround on North Korea's uranium program here . And this is Fred Kaplan's take. Whatever the m...

Cute Animals – They're the Best Kind

If you think you can spare some love for cute little animals such as Donald Trump the Golden-Rumped Elephant Shrew, Dennis Kucinich Mahmou...

Mr. Abe Makes the Cover of Newsweek Unfortunately, the Headline is: LETDOWN

I can't believe anyone who bothers to read this blog has missed this one, but here it is anyway. Newsweek (Asia version) Mar. 5 issue h...

Intrepid Norimitsu Ohnishi Claims Japanese Government about to Reject "Kohno Statement on Comfort Women". Not So Fast, though That Is Not My Point

"Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denied Thursday that Japan's military had forced foreign women into sexual slavery during World War II,...

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About Me

Jun Okumura: After graduation, Jun Okumura promptly entered what is now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and stayed in in its ecosystem most of his “adult” life. Along the way, he had pleasant stops in an assortment of Japanese quangos (Japangos?), overseas assignments and government agencies. After thirty years, though, it dawned on him that he had no aptitude whatsoever for administration and/or management. Armed with this epiphany, he went to the authorities and arranged an amicable separation; to come out, as it were. He is completely on his own IYKWIAS, but he and the METI folks remain “good friends.” He currently holds the titles of “visiting researcher” at the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs (no, that MIGA) and counselor at a risk analysis firm that dares not speak its name. This gives him plenty of time to blog or make money on his own. His bank account says that he does too much of the first, and insists that he do more of what he calls “intellectual odd jobs”. He wants to be paid to write fulltime, or better, talk—where the easy money is—but that distinction has largely escaped him. He really should not be referring to himself in the third person; he is not that famous.

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