Posts by stephen walker
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I remember the first colour broadcast when it was repeated in, I think, the late 70s or early 80s, as having more impact.
hell, yeah. late on a Sunday night, i think. being only about 13, at first i couldn't figure out what the point was at all, but then i just got drawn into the psychedelic bizarreness of it all. hugely educational on so many levels.
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re your two Gaza-related links, they both look like garbage, imho.
the Israeli effort against Hamas
i wonder if Mr. Fallows' opening sentence might not be a giveaway to the fact that he doesn't know shit?
"Israeli effort against Hamas"? oh, right, the one where UN schools and houses full of families get bombed on purpose. That effort. I'm sorry to have to lower the tone, but to Mr. Fallows, I say: Fuck off.
and as for Mr. Marshall:
an ugly, defining watershed for Israeli democracy
oh, that would be the democracy that runs an apartheid system for its own citizens and a Warsaw Ghetto system for its subhuman neighbours? i think the "ugly, defining watershed for Israeli democracy" happened in 1948 when they decided to "clear the natives" through violence and theft, creating the longest-running refugee crisis of modern times. Millions of people crowded into refugee camps for 60 years? There's democracy for ya, then!
Here's my own summary of Israeli strategy and tactics:
"If we bomb them hard enough, will they stop complaining?" -
It's 2 degrees C here in Tokyo, and you want to show us your holiday snaps from Indochina? Cruel bastard!
Ah, gotta go to bed now.
I'll try emailing you tomorrow.(Have a mango lassi, you know you want to)
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cake.
or ケーキ if you prefer.
definitely not cale. that would be john. who is cool.
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Eve's Pantry is very much an old-school cale wholesale/retail operation as Sacha says. not sure how long it's been there, but i delivered Central Leader (local community paper) along that part of Manukau Rd in the late-70s and it was definitely there then and was already quite big. very occasionally used to score a free cupcake. i still rate their long cream doughnuts up there with the best...
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is getting a serious slapping
that's exceedingly generous of you?
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Israel, that bastion of Western Democracy in the Middle East, famous for its...bombing, starving and slaughtering of entire populations whenever it feels like it. Oh, and stealing as much land as it wants. All made possible by the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, the United States of America, supplying military hardware and diplomatic cover, 24/7 for over 60 years!
sorry, but most of the stuff i see in the Guardian seems rather...timid.
and, seeing we had Counterpunch mentioned up-thread...
Brian Cloughley: Israel is Immune From Criticism
Mike Whitney: The Gaza Bloodbath
Saree Makdisi: What Kind of Security Will This Barbarism Bring Israel?...speak the plain truth, no mincing words or pretending these are not war crimes on a massive scale.
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that 55 PA Velox is almost identical to the one i owned in 1988-1990. Except mine was battleship grey and a 53 so it had the morris minor-type mechanical indicators. no rust, 'cause it was from CHC originally. should've seen the expressions on people's faces when we overtook them on the Te Teko straight doing 80MPH. Four cylanders, three forward gears and 2300CC. It was a miniature version of a 1950 Chevy made in the UK. Pure American hubris scaled down to meet British stiff-upper-lip standards.
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Graham,
a few points ('cause i'm a pedant (a.k.a. pendant? in PA speak) and have lived in Tokyo on and off for the last 23 years):
1. "sudden recession aka crash". Nah. That's one of the main things about what happened here in the 90s. There was never any sudden crash or severe recession. Never. Not once. Just a very long period in which the stock market went down and stayed down, jobs got pretty tight (especially for young graduates) and real estate prices lost 80-95% from the 1989-90 peak. There was essentially no growth in GDP from about 1992 till 2002. There was persistent deflation and lots of insolvent banks that were repeatedly "rescued." On the last trading day in 1989, the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed with the Nikkei index at 38,915. On Wednesday, the last day of 2008, the Nikkei closed at 8,859. So you can see that the 80s bubble was a big bubble. But the Japanese economy never "crashed". The world-leading high-tech companies kept exporting their wares as before. People kept going out to eat, drink and shop, just not as crazily as in the 80s. Eventually, a global boom in recent years meant Japan could register GDP growth again. Whew.
2. "Don't worry". Yeah. Good advice. "Don't panic". Even better. But it pays to reflect a bit about how the world works and whether this cyclical system is in fact sustainable for more than just a few more years or not. Hedging ones bets is never a bad idea. Hope for the best, prepare for serious shit happening. You know the story.
3. Liam Dann. Yeah. Good piece. But he stretches credibility with the "Then suddenly with the collapse of Lehman on September 14 the financial world imploded" shtick. Nah. Lot's of smart "outsiders" were saying exactly that scenario would happen (not predicting which organisations would fail and exactly when, but taking some very accurate guesses backed up by robust arguments). But the mainstream press refused to discuss the coming financial meltdown until well after it arrived.
4. Don't laugh too much about Iceland because it could easily happen much closer to home...
5. Have a good 2009. I look forward to some great blog posts and, well, when are you coming to Japan again?
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the weather may be a bit chillier here than in Vientiane.
Bring some woolies.
We're not talking Great Lakes cold by any stretch, but sultry it is not. 8 degrees and raining today, not so good for sightseeing (or getting out of bed to face the obligatory crowded train commute). But tomorrow is down for 16 degrees and sunny. woohoo!anyway, your dollar would have bought 80+ yen six months ago, but only about 50 today, so the cheap shopping might have to go on hold, but at least the restaurant prices are reasonable here, unlike certain South Pacific countries with particularly embarrassing foreign ministers who double up as "Minister of the Rugby World Cup" and "Minister of Very Dodgy Facial Hair" or something like that.
good luck. oh, and buy or borrow a Suica or Pasmo card for the trains. saves hassles of buying tickets.