Shame

[Hot Lunch]

Oh man. I don’t think this is true at all. We have some pretty recent examples of folks invading other countries and being pretty darn cavalier about war.

Yeah, nuclear powers invading weaker countries that are neither nuclear powers nor are protected by any.

This isn't the same as Western European countries invading other equally-matched Western European countries, as was the case up until WWII.

And of the names I mentioned... no name today compares. Not even Putin.

 

[gyoja]

That said, Koreans have nothing to fear from Japan.

It’s not fear, they just refuse to forget. Besides, they have enough problems with their northern neighbor.

 

[gyoja]

And of the names I mentioned... no name today compares.

Yet.

 

[Hot Lunch]

Yet.

Ever. Such a person aspiring to make that kind of name for themselves will get their country turned into a parking lot before they could ever achieve that.

 

[O'Malley]

Do they?😳

I was giving a lecture once about the three sources, durations and ‘levels’ of energy for powering muscles: CrP-10-15sec, anaerobic 30-40sec aerobic…you get the idea. I had little photos next to the text as examples of the activity that might utilise each source of energy as an aide memoir for the students. Next to CrP+ADP—> ATP+Cr, I had a photo of a Japanese swordsman cutting through a rolled straw mat (tameshigiri). All of a sudden a Chinese student stood up and started shouting incoherently. I didn’t know what was going on but I pinpointed her in the audience, approached her and asked her if there was a problem. She shouted in mixed English and Mandarin that her grandparents were at the Nanjing Massacre and she was protesting about me using the picture of a Japanese swordsman. A 19 year old girl in 2016 having been indoctrinated by her parents!

She was psychotic as it turned out over the subsequent years, her wealthy parents getting her through dental school and even buying her a practise in London on graduation.

Well, that type of sword-cutting was a key element of the war crimes/crimes against humanity of the Nanjing Massacre, which directly affected her family. I wouldn't blame you for using it but I'd understand why she'd be touchy about that.

Yes, both sides in a war commit terrible acts. But that does not mean both sides are morally equivalent. What Japan did to the people of China and Korea or acts the Nazis committed cannot be compared to anything the Allies did by a long shot. They were magnitudes of order worse. Authority and culture were the main culprits. Most nations have gone beyond the realm of humanity at some time. Even us "good guys" Americans have crossed the line with the Native Americans in the 1800's. But in many cases, former enemies can eventually become friends after some time has passed. The past takes time to leave the present.

That's why we have international crimes (genocide; war crimes; crimes against humanity; and aggression). And yeah, the Japanese and the Nazi leadership were judged for that. That being said, the current system still has pretty big accountability gaps, and I can think of a couple of Western countries that might not come out clean after an investigation for international crimes (and I'm not talking about the 1800s).

Far be it from me to say what relations between Japan and Korea should be like, but one of the benefits of the existence of nuclear weapons (and I'm not saying that the positives outweigh the negatives, by the way), is that there will never be another Hitler, Caesar, Napolean, Genghis Khan, or... Hirohito again. We can't just go around conquering other countries and being reckless with war like we could before WWII, because nuclear weapons are keeping everyone in check. Hell, WWII and the Cold War forced Western European countries to shift their focus to self-preservation, leading to the decolonization of India and Africa.

That said, Koreans have nothing to fear from Japan.

I am, a bit, curious as to why the Japanese head of state still holds the title of "Emperor." If the Mexican or Canadian head of state or government adopted such a title, I'd consider that an act of war. Maybe that has something to do with it?

Yeah, nuclear powers invading weaker countries that are neither nuclear powers nor are protected by any.

This isn't the same as Western European countries invading other equally-matched Western European countries, as was the case up until WWII.

And of the names I mentioned... no name today compares. Not even Putin.

I get what you mean: invasion or full scale war against a country that has access to nuclear weapons appears unlikely today. But that doesn't mean it will never happen. And in the meantime we're seeing how Putin uses the nuclear threat to prevent military responses from Ukraine's allies.

Ever. Such a person aspiring to make that kind of name for themselves will get their country turned into a parking lot before they could ever achieve that.

Wouldn't bet on that. Putin is currently going for territorial expansion in violation of international law, to make a name for himself (he compares himself to Peter the Great).

 

[Gyakuto]

I am, a bit, curious as to why the Japanese head of state still holds the title of "Emperor." If the Mexican or Canadian head of state or government adopted such a title, I'd consider that an act of war. Maybe that has something to do with it?

You have a very low threshold for commencing war.

If anyone used the prefix, ‘Grand Muff Tarka the Otter, King of Space, Slayer of large hairy beasts with masses of Sharp Pointy Teeth’ then I might slap them, once, for being pretentious, but war?

 

[Hot Lunch]

You have a very low threshold for commencing war.

If anyone used the prefix, ‘Grand Muff Tarka the Otter, King of Space, Slayer of large hairy beasts with masses of Sharp Pointy Teeth’ then I might slap them, once, but war?

If the head of state or government of a neighboring country holds the title of "Emperor," the implication is that he has plans for your country to be part of it.

 

[O'Malley]

If the head of state or government of a neighboring country holds the title of "Emperor," the implication is that he has plans for your country to be part of it.

There are much more reliable tells that a country's planning for conquest than the title given to its leader in a foreign language... In Japanese, the original title is 天皇, meaning "heavenly sovereign".

 

[Gyakuto]

Well, that type of sword-cutting was a key element of the war crimes/crimes against humanity of the Nanjing Massacre, which directly affected her family. I wouldn't blame you for using it but I'd understand why she'd be touchy about that.

A picture in a physiology lecture, in 21st century England, to young adults in their late teens, this one having been born in London and never even having visited China, causing that much upset? I’m sorry, but her parents are perpetuating a hatred for people long since dead and passing that loathing onto Japanese kids, some of which are her daughter’s, age, some wearing maid costumes and entertaining people in cafes for a weekend job etc? Can you at least see the silliness in that and maybe even think it’s slightly immoral of her parents?

It seems to me that some people want to feel outraged when acceptance and acknowledgement of long achieved reconciliation is the way forward and better for everyone.

 

[Gyakuto]

If the head of state or government of a neighboring country holds the title of "Emperor," the implication is that he has plans for your country to be part of it.

So an implication is sufficient to commence a conflict? People are touchy, eh?

 

[Hot Lunch]

So an implication is sufficient to commence a conflict? People are touchy, eh?

Kind of like an adult next door neighbor claiming to be attracted to one of your underaged children.

 

[O'Malley]

A picture in a physiology lecture, in 21st century England, to young adults in their late teens, this one having been born in London and never even having visited China, causing that much upset? I’m sorry, but her parents are perpetuating a hatred for people long since dead and passing that loathing onto Japanese kids, some of which are her daughter’s, age, some wearing maid costumes and entertaining people in cafes for a weekend job etc? Can you at least see the silliness in that and maybe even think it’s slightly immoral of her parents?

It seems to me that some people want to feel outraged when acceptance and acknowledgement of long achieved reconciliation is the way forward and better for everyone.

I don't know about that particular person's situation, nor whether she expressed hatred towards the Japanese in general. I was just commenting on the fact that the particular act of killing defenseless prisoners by cutting them with a sword was typical of the Japanese soldiers that committed the massacre. Some could also argue that it was encouraged by the military training at the Toyama Academy, where a new style of batto-jutsu was developed, with a strong emphasis on tameshigiri. Some Japanese also engaged in killing contests involving cutting down people with swords, at least one of which was triumphantly reported on in Japanese press: Hundred man killing contest - Wikipedia

 

[Steve]

Can we get back to more fun things? How about soccer? In America, our kids are well coordinated, capable of using their hands and feet in concert.

 

[O'Malley]

Can we get back to more fun things? How about football? In America, our kids are well coordinated, capable of using their hands and feet in concert.

Fixed.

 

[Fungus]

CrP+ADP—> ATP+Cr

So this is how the natives speak proper English?

 

[gyoja]

So this is how the natives speak proper English?

The Queen’s English? 😁

 

[Fungus]

the benefits of the existence of nuclear weapons (and I'm not saying that the positives outweigh the negatives, by the way), is that there will never be another Hitler, Caesar, Napolean, Genghis Khan, or... Hirohito again. We can't just go around conquering other countries and being reckless with war like we could before WWII, because nuclear weapons are keeping everyone in check.

While it is natural to think that any life-form would be be tuned to self-preserving behaviour, I am not sure it applies the the outliers, as they are the "variation" that evolution also "needs". The problem is if dangerous weapons get in the hands of one of the outliers. Even if these weapons are presumable under government controls, as we see parts of the world falling apart and gets corrupt, who knows where some of these bad weapons end up?

So the ide is that as long as the weapons are in the hands of the "self-preserving" guys then it's ok, but what when these lines get fuzzy?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

My deepest sympathy! 😧

I was actually about to switch back to Android, then I started working there. I'd rather have the Android integration with my PC, but my iPhone works better for me at work.

I was a Mac guy back when that was the computer for graphics (I had a small graphic design business on the side). I liked Mac better than Windows, and maybe still would, except for gaming and a few tech things I can do that don't work on Mac.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

That ecosystem is also what makes it hard to get out of there, once you are stuck in the mess of dependencies and subscriptions and with MY DATA in THEIR proprietary data structures/storage. If you pull out of one, your lifes organisation fall into pieces.

So I say stay away from it, even if the first is for free.

Much of that is true if you're using Android, too. If you want to switch to iPhone, you've got subscriptions and dependencies that make it hard to switch. It's less restrictive, of course, because you have a much wider range of hardware. That last point is the worst part for me - I'd rather buy inexpensive midrange phones, and there's really no such thing with iPhones, at least not really comparable to what's available in the Android ecosystem.

 

[Hot Lunch]

While it is natural to think that any life-form would be be tuned to self-preserving behaviour, I am not sure it applies the the outliers, as they are the "variation" that evolution also "needs". The problem is if dangerous weapons get in the hands of one of the outliers. Even if these weapons are presumable under government controls, as we see parts of the world falling apart and gets corrupt, who knows where some of these bad weapons end up?

So the ide is that as long as the weapons are in the hands of the "self-preserving" guys then it's ok, but what when these lines get fuzzy?

Well, here are the facts:
- We haven't had a Napolean, a Genghis Khan, a Caesar, an Alexander the Great, a Hitler, or a Hirohito since World War II.
- Pay attention to the last one I mentioned: Hirohito. The results of his actions? Japan gets nuked twice. This sent a powerful message to the rest of the world.

As for small outliers getting their hands on nukes, either they'll get stopped by or kept on a leash by bigger nuclear powers (e.g., North Korea's relationship with China).