*Merry Refreshmas!(TM)*

I hereby declare that the 25th day of every month be Refreshmas!(TM)

Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katielips/ / CC BY 2.0

The mother tongue - bill bryson

I just finished this book The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson. It is not a new release. It was written back in the 90's but I just stumbled across it during a visit to Vancouver back in the summer. It is a book about the history of the English language. Sound dry? No. It is a highly entertaining and readable volume. It is packed (packed) with great stories and histories of how the English language got to be the way it is.

Online education is more effective than classroom

Read the story:
Online education is more effective than classroom


Classroom learning. The teacher-student model of learning is a highly ineffective way to learn.

How did our public education system get started? Why is this the way we are today?
A system that will create industrial discipline – show up, work, read, count

Schools resemble factories
-Show up on time
-Bells ring
-Teacher is the boss
-Commute to school = commute to work – preparing students
The education system is obsolete. Don’t reform it. Replace it.

Japan – your daily definition of insanity:
Doing the same thing over and over in hope of getting a different result

Alvin Toffler on the education system – speaking, toward the end about the Japanese school system

A laptop computer for under $100

Did it come from Toshiba or Samsung? No. Dell? No. How about SONY or Apple? Hardly. The netbook did not come from these companies, either. But once it appeared and it was popular, all these big, sluggish, inbred companies jumped on it, except Apple. The netbook, by the way, was the creation of Asus, in Taiwan.

Cherrypal. Yup. Cherrypal. That’s the company that’s cracked the $100 price point for a web browsing computer. Origins are in Silicon Valley and are now owned by Tristate Lifestyle Brands (Tristate Hong Kong Group Limited).

PC maker Cherrypal has done something Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child couldn't do: make a laptop that breaks the US$100 price barrier.

Cherrypal on Tuesday announced a no-frills laptop called Cherrypal Africa, which includes hardware usually found in smartphones. It can run the Linux or Windows CE operating systems, which are also found on cell phones.

If these catch on you will see all the fat, bloated, greasy, drooling PC makers clamouring to produce their own sub-$100 PCs, likely for $129 due to Microsoft’s bullying in on the action, appearing soon.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/184709/cherrypal_offers_laptop_for_under_100.html

The Warmest Decade on Record

Data has been collected about the Earth's temperature. Records extend back to 1850. 160 years. The Earth extends back 4.5 billion years. 160 years versus 4,500,000,000. The warmest decade on record? What can this possibly mean if records have been kept for just 16 decades versus 450 million decades. Data collected represents 16/450,000,000 or 0.0000035556% of all earth's climactic data.

The Thames used to freeze over and Greenland used to be green! The vikings named it from it's colour. In the grand scheme of history of the planet, that was not so long ago.

Past Decade Set to be the Warmest Ever

The great global warming swindle

The climate is changing. The climate is always changing.

Scientists show that there is no connection between the human contribution of carbon dioxide and climate change / global warming.

Climate change is a political agenda. It is propaganda. Not science.

Why do we suppose CO2 is responsible for climate change?
CO2 = 0.054% of the atmosphere; how much CO2 is there in the atmosphere?
Humans are adding only a very small percentage.
Atmosphere has very small % of greenhouse gases.
Water vapour = 94% of greenhouse gases

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Formal US VP Al Gore – the definitive popular interpretation; comes from ice core surveys. That's it. What is the correlation between temperature and CO2 levels?

However, the link is the wrong way around. Temperature leads CO2. CO2 follows – a lag of 800 years.

CO2 is not a pollutant. It is natural. Humans produce a small fraction.
Humans and factories, volcanoes, animals and wildlife, dying plants and vegetation, and oceans. Oceans are #1 contributors of CO2 according to scientists – if you heat the ocean, it emits co2; the cooler, the more they absorb. Shoe we have a war on oceans?!

There is no evidence that CO2 has ever determined climate change.

How about Sunspots – how reliable are sunspots as an indicator of climate change?
Sunspots v. Temperature. In fact there is a direct correlation. The sun is driving climate change.

Androgenic global warming is unfounded and a lie.

visit: Wikipedia - The Great Global Warming Swindle

Watch: The Great Global Warming Swindle

Let's Happy Engrish!

Happy, happy.

Japan is the second largest economy in the world (for now). In school students are required to study English for five or six years. People spend hundreds of dollars on electronic dictionaries. There are many private English schools in Japan. It is estimated that English is an annual $4 billion industry in Japan – not including private lessons. In Japan English is cool. The language shows up everywhere: store and product names, t-shirts, restaurants and music lyrics. Despite its popularity, its prevalence and the money spent, the second wealthiest country known for hardworking, diligent students, the Japanese are amazingly disappointing.

As seen on a menu at a one coin bar in shibuya:

“Omlet that sSpicy Cod roe entered”

Just like that. I couldn't get a good photo. I'll have to go back...

Universities: The next threatened industry?

The internet has transformed (read: shaken up) the music industry, the film industry, long distance telephone calls, the travel industry and most recently it is chipping away at the newspaper industry.

Which sector is next to face the threat? Would you believe: universities?

What are we paying for? Student loans in the United States are outrageously high.

$5000, $10,000 or higher per year in tuition, then there are living costs

University education will soon be free, or very, very affordable to say the least.

The end of high-price university tuition.
What are you paying for?

The question is not: "Why is college so expensive"

The question is: "Why go to college at all?"
read a book. find it online. join online communities. join offline communities. ask questions. develop a portfolio of your learning. in the past universities were repositories of knowledge and wisdom. they were central, physical meeting places of learned people. now, they are everywhere. unless you are studying for a professional designation like a P.Eng., or M.D., why waste your time and money? Why do people still go to university? they're expensive. It is well past time to re-think universities and their function.

Discombobulated

"Discombobulated". Do you know this word? Likely not. If you type it into a word processor the spellcheck will not catch it. Why? Because it is a regular English word. What does it mean? Mmmmm....

So, if Discombobulated is a word, then how about : "combobulated", the past tense of "combobulate". They will show up as unknown.

Deliver
We use this word often. How about "liver"? If you deliver, isn't the opposite to liver?

Antidisestablishmentarianism
Here is another one that will pass your spellcheck. Amazing.

First post since the eclipse!

Wow. I was so surprised today to see that I have not made a posting here since the solar eclipse back in July. It is not that I have no topics to write about or no opinions to give. I have been writing, just not posting.

After some time off in August and a relaxing time spent in Vancouver, I have had a hard time to get back on track and get motivated again. This reminded me of a quick note I'd created recently. We are a society with an attention deficit.

Attention deficit society
People are losing a MASSIVE amount of time, because they are not focused, me included. Tools and methods are useful. Getting in the habit is CRITICAL.

To change? Change you habits. Model your behaviour against those who are succeeding. The best people have a coach. Perhaps you should get a coach, too.

Decide - from Latin dēcīdere, to cut off

Longest Total Solar Eclipse and its impact on Ocean Temperature

July 22, 2009. The Longest Total Solar Eclipse of the 21st century will pass over India, China and through the Pacific Ocean off the Southern tip of Japan. What is its impact on ocean temperature and current. An eclipse is an amazing natural phenomenon. The sun's light is blocked by the moon. During this time sunlight is dimmed, the air cools. Birds are tricked into flying back to their nests and flowers close. How much will this change in direct sunlight and cooling affect ocean temperature and air along the path of the eclipse. It is the longest solar eclipse and passes over significant swath of ocean. We will soon find out.

Free Education: The end of schools?

For a while I have been thinking, planning, researching the prospect of launching an online education business. It is a real challenge to determine the right business model in the massive sea of other online education, training and eLearning sites. I know there are opportunities, I'll keep thinking.

Recently The Obama government announced a program to develop free online courses at American community colleges.

U.S. Push for Free Online Courses

In fact, now there are a vast array of free online learning resources - either courses or even textbooks.

More than 100 free places to learn online and counting

The question is: Are they being used? Well, really, there are an array of questions: Are they being used? By whom? How? Are they used only by those who have access? How long will it take for a shift (if it happens) toward these free resources and How will this change 'formal' education?

You can learn for free now: go to a library.
You can explore a vast array of information and knowledge: use the Internet
Need to learn a process?: Watch a "how to" video on YouTube
Thousands of parents who do not like the public school system have opted to "home school" [Home Based Learning] their children

What role does formal education fulfill? What was it's purpose in the first place and where is it going? Are schools fast becoming outdated?

Well, before we consider this, we need to think about the role of formal education.
This is a topic to be explored in future posts.

Paralyzed by choice

This is me. This is how i feel. Too much choice can by paralysing.

The Future of the Internet

200808 the Future of the Internet

I am Canadian

Try living next to the US. 35 million Canadians versus 350 million Americans. They have an uninformed / stereotypical view of Canadians which is challenged in this very, very popular beer commercial of the 1990's.

Follow along and read my comments below the video:

Hey, I am not a lumberjack or a fur trader
and i don't live in an igloo
or eat blubber or own a dog sled
and i don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada, although I'm certain they're really, really nice.
I have a prime minister, not a president.
I speak English and French, not "American"
and i pronounce it "about" not "aboot"
I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack
I believe in peacekeeping, not policing
diversity not assimilation
and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal
a touque is a hat
a chesterfield is a couch
and it is pronounced "ZED" not "ZEE", "ZED".
Canada is the 2nd largest land mass
the first nation of hockey
and the best part of North America
my name is Joe and I am Canadian
thank you.

Explanation:

Hey, I am not a lumberjack or a fur trader
and i don't live in an igloo
or eat blubber or own a dog sled

[Still...Americans think this is the image of a typical Canadian. They ask us..sometimes...those that know where Canada is...]

or i don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada, though I'm certain they're really, really nice.

[Funny because it is not uncommon if you tell an America that you are from Canada, they will ask: "Ah, from Canada, do you know Jimmy in Toronto?" -- I am not kidding. This is why it's funny. It is true. Canadians find this hilarious...but annoying]

I have a prime minister, not a president.

[they think every country has a president]

I speak English and French, not "American"
and i pronounce it "about" not "aboot"


[Very common for American to ask Canadians: "Say "about", Say "about"!". They think it is hilarious....we think it is annoying. We do have more of an "oo" sound compared to "ow" - especially in eastern Canada, where they really do say "aboot"! And I ask people from Nova Scotia to say "aboot" ;-) ]

I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack

[For many, many years Canadians traveling abroad will sew a Canadian flag on their packpack so they will not be mistaken for American. Canadians pride themselves on an excellent global reputation of not invading, attacking or overthrowing nations. In Europe, if you speak English people assume you are British, or worse: American. When you tell them you are Canadian, their expression changes, their face lights up. It is so nice. I always appreicate it and never get tired of it.

FYI - Americans know about this flag on the backpack and some American travelers sew Canadian flags on theirs. Shameful.]

I believe in peacekeeping, not policing

[Canada is a long time supporter of UN Peacekeeping missions. In fact a former Canadian Prime Minister: Lester Pearson created the UN Peacekeeping Forces for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize]

diversity not assimilation

[America's vision: E Pluribus Unum - it is on the back of the US dollar bill - it means: from many, one. People move from many countries and many cultures to America. When you move to America, you must assilimate - become American. Canada has a vision and a policy of multiculturalism. People move from many countries and many cultures to Canada. When you move to Canada, you can be or do anything you like - continue to practice your beliefs and culture. Diversity]

and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal

[mmm....?]

a touque is a hat

[this is a Canadian word.]

a chesterfield is a couch


[From the English furniture maker. my parents always refer to the sofa as a "Chesterfield". Sound strange? What do Japanese call a stapler?...]

and it is pronounced "ZED" not "ZEE", "ZED".

[It is.]

Canada is the 2nd largest land mass

[It is.]

the first nation of hockey

[It is.]

and the best part of North America

[It is.]

my name is Joe and I am Canadian
thank you.

[Canadians are known for being very, very polite - compared to Americans. Thus the "thank you" at the end.]

Now you have a much better understanding of Canadians :-)

Thank you.

High Tech Japan?

Japan is a wealthy country, isn't it? It is, in fact, the second largest economy next to the United States.

Japan is known for high technology, isn't it? It is, in fact home to dozen of global technolgy leaders such as Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Casio, Nintendo, Sharp and Mitsubishi. It is a nation that prides itself on high tech innovation.

Why, then, has this wealth and high tech talent not shown up in Japanese television? I am not talking about the television sets. I am talking about television content. It's pathetic. Production values from the 1960's. Something that American high school kids would do. No. Strike that. American high school kids would use far more computer graphics than TBS, Fuji or NHK.

It is a regular scene to see TV presenters holding up a cardboard sign and pealing off pieces to reveal the content beneath. This reminds me of very early days of American television.

In America, CNN has adopted a very cool technology called the "Magic Wall" that was introduced during the US Presidential election race.

Meanwhile, back in Japan, The Daily Yomiuiri website regularly crashes my browser.

But wait, I really must be careful what I say. It is not that Japanese television does not use any computer graphics. They do. In fact they use too much. Too many words on the screen, too many spinning kanji characters. Grotesquely sized and colours subtitles. Endless annoying pinging and sparkling sounds. Utterly intrusive and annoying. Just endless visual pollution and noise, noise, noise.

It is not confined to one type channel or one type of program. The problem is wide spread.

It is bewildering that a culture known for Zen and peace and serenity behaves this way. Why do they?

And, it is wildly ineffective. People just drown it out.

I recommend to the television industry in Japan get a Mac Powerbook and learn to use the very basic computer graphic and video production software. It is a small step to take, but it will go a long way in taking your production values out of the 1960's. Then, take a basic course in design. Less is more. This won't solve all of your problems - there are many - but it is a start.

learner versus learned

In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.
— Eric Hoffer

What does this quotation mean?

The speaker is talking about the importance of learning. The ability to learn and to continue to learn. The world is changing and will continue to change. Those who have the ability to learn will be successful - they will inherit the future - while those who have stopped learning, now live in a world - in their minds - that no longer exists in reality.

As an educator I agree with this. Nothing is more pointless and useless today in education that rote memorization. Information and facts are important. But, so too is a content, a framework and the ability to synthesize new knowledge and apply knowledge to problem solving. This is the ability to learn and this is valuable.

Head in the Clouds

Head in the Clouds

Well, I found it.

I’ve long been searching for it, and now I’ve found it.

My new hobby. Something on which to focus my free time. There are so many things that one can see and read and do. But, where to invest one’s free time? Cooking, running, yoga, some sort of collection? There are just too many choices, too many things to collect. Where does one begin? So much choice, so hard to decide. This indecision has long prevented me from enjoying a relaxing past time and providing a confident answer to the ubiquitous question in Japan: “What’s your hobby?”

Recently, I discovered it on the Internet and I knew as soon as I saw that it was for me. This is something I can get behind. This is for me. What is it? Clouds. That’s right. As of today I am a card-carrying member of The Cloud Appreciation Society.

Sound crazy?

Sound like something only crazy, eccentric people would join?

I am member number: 16093. There are 16092 members before me. It should not be a surprise that the Cloud Appreciation Society is based in England, land of cheese rolling and other eccentricities. I think I have strong English blood because when I first saw this site I was immediately drawn to it. This was it: cloud appreciation. No expensive equipment, no special shoes or clothes, no rigorous examinations, nothing to buy nothing to collect. Just look up and appreciate and feel a connection with 16000 of my fellow members. What’s the purpose? No purpose. Why does everything need a purpose? Is there a purpose in spoon collecting? No, cloud appreciation, that’s for me.

However, now, when I reply to the question: “What’s your hobby?” I will have to learn how to respond to the head-tilting looks of confusion and the follow up questions that are certain to occur: “What?” “What’s that?” “Clouds?” What should I do?. Let’s see: Q: “What’s your hobby?”, A: “Golf”. There, sounds better. Perhaps I’ll save my true hobby for friends and any eccentric Brits I meet.

Screen shot taken to commemorate my membership: member number 16030 – before new members join.

The Cloud Appreciation Society
http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

World No Tobacco Day

Here's an idea I can get behind. It's an event called: "World No Tobacco Day". In 1987 the members of the World Health Organization [WHO] created this event in an attempt to bring awareness to the 5.4 million people who dies annually from smoking related illness. That's the population of Yokohama.

I found this statistic on a web site: In Japan, smoking is the leading cause of death and is responsible for 20% of all cancers. 50 percent of men and 14 percent of women smoke. The leading cause of death. Shouldn't the government, who's job it is to protect its citizens do all it can to reduce its nation's leading cause of death? Well...shouldn't it?

Lots more statistics here.

Japanese attitudes toward smoking is amazing to me as a Canadian. With all we know about the effects of smoking on health. For many years in Canada smoking in all public buildings - including restaurants and bars - has been illegal.

One package of cigarettes in Canada costs over Y1000, there are no vending machines for tobacco, there is no advertising for tobacco, all packages must contain a very large label (50% of the package). Visit here for a list of the array of very large images that appear on cigarette packages in Canada. It is quite disgusting, I think you will agree.

You can argue that it is about freedom to choose: If adults choose to smoke, that's their decision. Ok. However, it has long been known that second-hand smoke is as lethal (deadly) as smoking, itself. This is the reason why indoor smoking is banned in all areas - including restaurants - in Canada. In America - the land of freedom of choice - many states including New York and California, indoor smoking - including bars and restaurants - is banned. Even in staunch France, from 2008 public smoking bans - including restaurants and bars - are in effect. The law is supported by 70% of the population.

Where is Japan in all this? A wealthy, developed, educated country where smoking in restaurants continues and cheap tobacco is prevalent.

I feel that there is one good thing about being a smoker: it takes the mystery out of how you are going to die.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_No_Tobacco_Day

an idea I can get behind - to get behind something means to support it.
takes the mystery out of - to become known

Some advice for a returning adult learner

I was writing to a student recently and thought I'd share it here.

I always respect a person’s decision to improve their education and improve themselves.

You will find that "formal" education does not have all the answers. In fact, people learn best "informally" from stories, from talking to others, from their own 'tacit' experiences.

Consider the knowledge that is important to you, beyond what is required. Also, I find that it is important to keep things in perspective.

A formal course of study can provide you with direction and knowledge and a piece of paper that looks good on your resume.

Thousands, or millions, of others have come before you. They have struggled at times. So will you. They got through. No one was born knowing any of this stuff. We all had to learn it at some point.

So, please bear this in mind. Formal education is directional and not final. It is a beginning and not an end in itself.

South Paws

Are you left-handed? Do you know someone who is? How about someone who can use both hands in the same manner: for writing or throwing?

You will be surprised to learn that one job in the United States has a very high incidence of left-handed people. Can you guess? I will tell you later.

In western history, there has been a strong bias against left-handers. Look at the word 'left', and where it is derived from in various languages, to see this. In French 'left' is gauche which can also mean 'ugly', 'clumsy' or 'uncouth'. In Italian 'left' is sinistra which is where our word 'sinister', meaning evil, comes from. This is similar in many other Latin-based languages. The English word 'left' comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lyft, meaning 'weak'.

A 'left-handed compliment' actually is an insult. However, someone's 'right-hand man' means their most important, loyal and useful follower. Pictures of Satan, the devil, depict him as a left-hander.

Because of this, left-handers were treated differently, as outcasts or evil people. In the past, probably due to Satan being a left-hander, they were said to have been 'doing the devil's work'. Many left-handed people were forced to write and eat with their right hand. Changing a person's handedness forces them to use a different brain hemisphere, and often causes stuttering or other learning difficulties.

A left handed person is commonly referred to as a lefty or south paw. Why south paw?
The origin of this term is in the United States and it is connected to baseball. A long time ago, before flood lights and night games, all baseball games were played in daylight. Baseball fields were designed and built to accommodate the sunlight. In order to keep the bright setting sun out of the eyes of the spectators and the batter, home plate was oriented west. As the afternoon turned to evening, the sun would set, in the west, behind home base. The pitcher faced west. East was behind him. His right hand was on the north side of the field and his left hand was…south. Left handed pitchers became known as south paws. A paw, in case you don’t know, is what we call the hand (foot) of a dog or cat.

We have a special word for someone who can use both hands. They are ambidextrous. This is a rare word. Ambi means both and dextri means use. They are rare people, indeed.

Here is a collection of 1000 famous left-handed people from history. This UK website sells products for left-handed people.

So, how about that job in the United States with a very high incidence of lefties? In fact, it is President of the United States! Five of the last seven presidents have been south paws. Here they are: Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan, George Bush, Sr., Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. Amazing. Why do you think this is the case? You might find some answers here in this CBC article from 2008.

Left handers have their own day. It is August 13, 2009

Pizza vending machine

TOPIC: Pizza vending machine

Japan is the land of the rising sun and the land of 5,400,000 vending machines, the most anywhere on the Earth. Most of these are beverage machines. Now, a new vending machine is set to be introduced that will make and bake a pizza in 3 minutes. You won't find this vending machine in Japan, a country that prides itself on gadgets. Rather, this machine was created in the land of pizza: Italy.

QUESTIONS
Why do you think this machine was developed?
Aren't there many places to buy pizza in Italy?
What possible problems do you see with this machine?
Do you think that a sushi or onigiri vending machine might succeed in Japan?

Read the story and watch the video here:

VIDEO:YouTube video clip
STORY: The Independent - Pizza vending machine

Wide Girls - Japanese stocks - The Economist

TOPIC: Japanese stocks

Wide girls
Mar 26th 2009 | TOKYO

"Mrs Watanabe is tiptoeing back into Japan’s stockmarket"

“NOT trusted” is how Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso described stockbrokers this month, before calling them kabuya, or “wide boys”. And with the Tokyo stock market scraping 26-year-lows in mid-March before soaring 20% in the past fortnight, the reputation of equities as an investment is shoddy at best. Yet some Japanese investors are throwing caution to the wind and beginning to buy.

QUESTIONS
Do you invest in equities (the stock market)?
Is it a good time to invest? Has the market bottomed out or do you think that the markets will get worse before they get better? In Japan, individual investors are rushing in to the market. Why are they doing this now? Do they know something the rest of the world doesn't?

LANGUAGE
wide boys / wide girls
tiptoeing
scraping
fortnight
shoddy at best
throwing caution to the wind
net buyers
tip the trend
A lot rests on Mrs Watanabe, the fabled retail punter who plays the markets
wade in
she and her kind
a big fillip
it elicited only cynicism from seasoned hands

Bullish on Japan? Nonsense

Why I am bullish on Japan

I want to thank Mr. Koll for writing as his view highlights a way of thinking that is no longer effective.

It is clear to me that Mr.Koll has the wrong perspective on Japan and on the world going forward. As a former economic analyst with a major investment house, he is seeing the world in ways that no longer apply. He is looking at the world through the rear view mirror.

The R&D argument is easy to refute. As is the case with the education system in the US where more money is spent per child than in any other country. You would expect the results to be stellar. Far from it. It is not how much you spend, it's how you spend it.

If patents are a measure of economic success, does it really help the wealth of the nation if these patents pertain to some functionality of a vending or pachinko slot machine? sheer numbers of patents indicate nothing nor do patents on a vast array of technologies that may never be adopted. The number of patents in relation to economic output over the past 10+ years tells me that their systems are misaligned. They are out of focus. If,however, they are continually dominating patent awards and clipping along at 3-5% growth in GDP, then I'd say, yeah, they are really onto something and all countries would be rushing to Japan to study their success. They are not.

"The future will be designed and invented in Japan" Should read: "The future will be designed and invented in by a few companies in Japan for a little while longer until the Indians and Chinese have fully ramped up."

Creativity has been bred out of Japanese. That is no great revelation. The ability to get things done is clearly here, but those steering the ships are largely inept and inbred - in politics and in business - large and small. Ability, profit motives, efficiency and effectiveness are clearly absent from Japanese business. If the Japanese economy comes back it will take another 20 years. That's the amount to time it will likely take for all the deadwood to retire from the system.

Japan has been coasting for years on an explosion of wealth, savings blanketed in protectionism. Now that wealth is dwindling, the savings are going fast, and the population is ageing.

Japanese are not any more "hard working" than anyone else. They work long hours. Are they any more productive? Look at all the overtime, no holidays, no layoffs and economic growth that's been sliding for years. This is a very ineffective economy. Look at the other G7 countries where overtime is much less, people have holidays and there has been economic growth.

Japan today is the rich, spoiled child, now fully grown with no career, smokes, drinks, gambles and is living off a trust fund that's soon to run out.

All the "wa" in the land will not help Japan, the nation, regain it's former position.

At best, Japan will find its position in the world as the ageing engineer uncle who used to be wealthy, still knows a few things, but who no one takes seriously as the world has moved on while he still talks about the old days.

There is no vision in japan, no inherent spirit or drive like post-war Japan.

India and China will soon regain their positions as world leaders that they held a few hundred years ago.

Sadly, Mr.Koll is analysing the wrong things. The world has changed. Governments are and will continue to fall, banking systems are and will continue to collapse. Riots - have started and will continue. what we see now with bailouts is a necessary but short term window dressing. The media uses the word: recovery. This, too, is a misnomer. It's a whole new world emerging and we have to see it in a different way. The way that it is and not the way we think it is (or was) or the way we think it ought to be.

The Incredible Shrinking Polar Bear

Read the article here:

The Incredible Shrinking Polar Bear


I have long known about the fate of the noble Polar Bear. I learned years ago that the polar ice cap is shrinking, that the annual ice floes do not last as long as they used to and as a result, polar bears can not feed long enough. They are getting thinner and female bears cannot sustain enough fat to bear (excuse the pun) as many cubs as they used to - three became, two and two has become one.

I have been know, for years, to refer to SUVs as "polar bear killers".


Vocabulary and Phrases
turning to cannibalism
to draw up an action plan
to subsist
to congregate
to recede

a vital fattening-up time
to see them through
a long summer fast
chair (a person and a verb)
delegates

desperation
deliberately
denning (den - noun, to den - verb, denning)
over-optimistic

A Lender

Today I became a lender.

Today I lent money to person I've never met.

Her name is Tagi.

She is 49 years old, has six children and lives in Samoa.

Read about Tagi and why I am lending her money.

What to read - March 2009

From the BBC

Dalai Lama renews autonomy call
The Dalai Lama has repeated his demand for "legitimate and meaningful autonomy" for Tibet.

Your ability to discuss this issue is very good practice.
Some good language here:
"legitimate and meaningful autonomy"
a climate of fear
a bloody uprising
feudal society
serf
emancipation
"mutual benefit"
legitimate and meaningful autonomy
enable
within the framework
exile
prevail

On a lighter note...
Short article. Key terms are emboldened.
Love letters from Prince Charles to Canadian woman listed on EBay
Friday, March 6, 2009 Canadian Press
You, too, can own love letters apparently written by Prince Charles to a Canadian woman - if you have a minimum of $30,000 to spare.

The six letters are up for grabs on the online auction site EBay with a starting bid of $30,000. So far, there are no bids. The letters are written to a Montreal woman named Janet and most were written in 1976. But the latest letter is dated June 8, 1980 and in it, Prince Charles discusses how he was under tremendous pressure to get married, but assured Janet he would give her fair warning before that happened.

He married Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981.

Looking for a new career? How about as a Bee Inspector? :-)
From The Guardian
Bee parasite devastates colonies as hives go unregistered and uninspected

Millions of insects could be wiped out because thinly staffed inspectorate does not know where half the country's beekeepers are.

Cows - Their Impact on the Environment

What is the impact of a cow on the global climate? In fact, collectively, they can have an impact. The food we produce - how we grow it, and not so much how it get to us, has a significant impact on CO2 emissions. This according to a recent article in New Scientist.

Deliver us from Cheeseburgers
New Scientist

Check out Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions and see that food production accounts for 15% of greenhouse gases. 5% of global CO2 emission comes from livestock. This stat from the World Resources Institute. How do they know?

Food for thought
Household Greenhouse gas emission account for double that of driving! Check out this chart.

Read the story: What is your dinner doing to the planet?

Namaste

Namasté is a common spoken greeting or salutation in the Indian subcontinent.

It is commonly used in India and Nepal by Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, and many continue to use this outside the Indian subcontinent.

In Indian and Nepali culture, the word is spoken at the beginning of written or verbal communication. However, the same hands folded gesture is made wordlessly upon departure.

In yoga, namasté is said to mean "The light in me honors the light in you," as spoken by both the yoga instructor and yoga students.

Taken literally, it means "I bow to you". The word is derived from Sanskrit (namas): to bow, obeisance, reverential salutation, and (te): "to you".

Namasté is one of the few Sanskrit words commonly recognized by Non-Hindi speakers. Namasté is particularly associated with aspects of South Asian culture such as vegetarianism, yoga, ayurvedic healing, and Hinduism.

In recent times, and more globally, the term "namasté" has come to be especially associated with yoga and spiritual meditation all over the world. In this context, it has been viewed in terms of a multitude of very complicated and poetic meanings which tie in with the spiritual origins of the word.

Some examples:
• "I honour the Spirit in you which is also in me." -- attributed to author Deepak Chopra
• "I honour the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, I honour the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One."
• "I salute the God within you."
• "Your spirit and my spirit are ONE." -- attributed to Lilias Folan's shared teachings from her journeys to India.
• "That which is of the Divine in me greets that which is of the Divine in you."
• "The Divinity within me perceives and adores the Divinity within you."
• "All that is best and highest in me greets/salutes all that is best and highest in you."

The Google GDrive?

It is very mysterious, the Google GDrive.
The posting on Wikipedia and the audit / edit trail are quite mysterious.
Check it out.
GDrive [on Wikipedia]

Whirlwind

The recession in America is now being branded as a whirlwind? Is that what they're calling it now? Did Madison Avenue do another spin job?

A recession (or whirlwind) in Tokyo? Here is a definition: There is a recession in Tokyo when the line up to pay for your designer clothes is shorter than usual.

In Japan, well, Tokyo, people make money people spend money. It flows. the yen has jumped quite a bit as a result of the banking meltdown in the US, so foreign products are cheaper and i get a great rate when i send $ home. People are flying to Seoul to shop 'cause their currency has dropping making the difference even more extreme.

That being said, people -are- being affected here. Though nothing like in North America.
Areas outside of Tokyo and Osaka have been hard hit for a long time.

I'd say that I am affected by some corporate training contracts that are "pending", so it is not losing work, rather, not getting proposed work.

Here in Japan and especially in the US there was what I call a false economy for years: People spending money they don't have on things they don't need. Too much credit. People kept buying. Companies scaled up production and operations based on this. Now that it's crumbling, 'false profits' are going and 'false jobs' are now gone.

Everything goes in cycles. Economies go in cycles. When times are good people think they'll never end. When times are bad, likewise.

It is possible, not only to survive but thrive, during a recession. Where there is crisis, there is opportunity. You have to think differently. With the wipe out of the banking system, when it gets restored, it will not be the same as before. When the economy recovers it will not be the same as before. Things will be quite different in the future. Expect change. Don’t expect that a 'recovery' will look like things did before.

I predict that as I write now in January 2009, things will get worse before they get better. We have not seen the worst of it yet.

I’ll be ok. I am used to it. Here's why:
For the past 10 years, all my work has been on contract. I generally work 2-4 different places. Sometimes I am really, really busy. Sometimes I am not. When I am not working, I have no income. It happens. I've learned to expect it and manage it. Eventually it comes back.
Compare me to a Japanese "salary man" who has worked 10 years at the same company. If / when he loses his job tomorrow with wife, family and no savings (they've spent it all on Disneyland, Louis Vuitton bags and a host of other useless things). And, never having been in that situation, it's major stress. he's likely to jump in front of a commuter train (which happens far, far too often here).

Me? I'm fine. just inconvenienced by the train delay. Most Japanese, like Americans -- with way too much unwarranted credit -- have lived in a happy-happy world too long. Time to wake up, read a newspaper and learn what's really going on in the world.

Christmas in Japan

It's a funny place, Japan.

Japan is not Christian. It is "officially" Shinto, but largely Buddhist. No one understands any of it until someone dies, though. In Japan, Christmas is for couples.
Dinner for a "North American" Christmas is roast turkey. Turkey is not a Japanese food. Japanese have a severe affinity to borrow culture from Americans. However, the closest thing to turkey is chicken. KFC has Christmas promotions. I tell Japanese that in England people eat goose as a traditional food at Christmas. They look quite disgusted. They seems happy with their deep fried chicken.

I discovered the "Christmas cake" in Japan is, in fact, sponge cake, not heavy fruit cake. Japanese are surprised by this, of course. As Christmas is for couples, it stands to reason that it is a "romantic" holiday. Gifts are a must. What's the big gift to celebrate the birth of Jesus? Jewelry. And what beverage could go better with your jewelry, sponge cake and KFC than champagne? It's the beverage of choice for the most holy of Christian days. So, to review, KFC and champagne - that's Christmas in Japan. Weird, weird country.

The love hotels get long line ups during Christmas, apparently. I'll have to wander through Dogenzaka, Shibuya to check it out.

Christians in the west are not off the hook. Christians continue blindly to use Christmas trees, holly wreaths and mistletoe - all pre-Christian, pagan symbols; and continue to celebrate Samhain (Halloween), the pagan new year. I think Christians are confused as well.

The best investment in yourself

What is the best investment you can make in yourself?

Many people would answer: Education.
As an economist, I know there is a direct positive correlation between education (formal education) and income. The higher your education, the higher your income. What is formal education? It's "school". Lessons, lecture, assignments, examinations: a formal and recognized course of study. However, any education - formal or informal - is a valuable investment in yourself. You do not need to go to school. Read. Talk. As questions. Get curious. It may improve your income. It will enrich your life.

Some would say: Your health.
Shouldn't you always put the best things in your body that you can? It is you only body, after all. There is an endless selection of bad food easily available to us. Somewhere in and amongst all the processed foods, chemicals, and additives we lost our connection with the land. We lost our connection with real food. To invest in yourself, reconnect with your food. Take time. Plan your meals. Learn what goes into your food. Know what's good for you. Less animal fat, more leafy-greens, moderate exercise. Enjoy time with family and friends. Reduce your stress. Manage your stress. Be away of the effect that stress has on your body. This is something you can control. Drink less alcohol. Stop smoking. Stop smoking. Smoking will kill you. It's your body and it's an investment worth making.

Others might say that travel is the best investment you can make in yourself. Many of us in the developed world are in a position to travel to distant and far off lands. The experiences gained from exploring new places, discovering new things and meeting new people can be enriching and life-changing. Travel teaches you about the world, it teaches you about your own country and culture and it teaches you about yourself. There's a big world out there to discover. Yours to explore.

I resolve…

In North America the beginning of the New Year signals a new and fresh beginning. It is a time that people decisions to start anew – to make a change. These decisions are called New Years Resolutions. The most common resolutions one hears are:

- To quit smoking
- To go to the gym
- To lose weight
- To spend more time with family and friends
- To get out of debt

This time of year, early January, memberships to gyms and health clubs jump and how-to-stop smoking commercials appear on television. I am reminded of “Reveen” a stop-smoking hypnotist who always seem to come to town in January.

While making resolutions to improve oneself is noble, the vast majority of people are not successful. The likely reason is that New Years resolutions are imposed at one time of the year: January 1st. Rather, the preferable time to set goals is when you are ready and not when the calendar tells you it’s time.
What happens in Japan? Do Japanese make New Years Resolutions at the beginning of the year? Is there some custom?