ALERTS!!!!

“The number of children and grandchildren with cancer in their bones, with leukemia in their blood, or with poison in their lungs might seem statistically small to some, in comparison with natural health hazards. But this is not a natural health hazard—and it is not a statistical issue. The loss of even one human life, or the malformation of even one baby—who may be born long after we are gone—should be of concern to us all. Our children and grandchildren are not merely statistics toward which we can be indifferent.”

John F. Kennedy, July 26th, 1963

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Lexicon for today’s Japan: Reading between the lies

FROM: THE JAPAN TIMES
Plowing through the news, one is often struck by the proliferation of acronyms, jargon, new names and terms. It can be a baffling experience, so I thought I would provide some explanations, keywords, synonyms, associative notions and interpretations to aid comprehension — even at risk of differing from the prevailing wisdom or PR hype.
“Abenomics”: 1. Deflation-busting policies by government aimed at raising prices, and hopefully wages, that might make the economy grow and make everyone happy if everything works out; 2. Boosting the stock market to make investors and speculators rich while devaluing the yen to promote exports at trading partners’ expense; 3. Making construction firms happy though vast increases in public-works spending; 4. Vague rumor outside of Tokyo where nobody seems to be benefitting; 5. Three-arrow variation on Three-card Monte; 6. Wishful thinking; 7. High stakes, long odds gamble; 8. Protecting vested interests; 9. Trickledown illusion.
“Abegeddon”: 1. What happens if/when Abenomics proves unsustainable, perhaps stoking high inflation and leaving a big mess to clean up; 2. Financial-market implosion; 3. Deep sh-t.
“Abeplomacy”: 1. Blowing it big time; 2. Isolation; 3. Relentless activity, poor results; 4. Slamming doors in neighbors’ faces.
“Abe-history”: 1. Amnesia; 2. Whitewashing;3. Beautifying; 4. Pride; 5. Antagonizing neighbors.
Akie Abe: 1. First Lady; 2. Political opposition; 3. Anti-nuclear campaigner; 4. Helps Abe look good, but no policy influence.
Proactive pacifism: 1. Euphemism for Abe’s security agenda; 2. Branding blather; 3. Gobbledygook; 4. Gutting the Constitution; 5. Bamboozling.
Fukushima: 1. Man-made nuclear disaster; 2. Botched evacuation; 3. Unsolved problem; 3. Incompetence and sleazy shirking of responsibility; 4. Black hole for taxpayers’ money; 5. Fleecing; 6. Shoddy; 7. Nuclear refugees; 8. Nightmare.
Tepco: 1. Tokyo Electric Power Company; 2. Fukushima meltdowns; 3. Denial; 4. Shirking; 3. Whitewashing; 4. Black hole for taxpayers’ money; 4. Nuclear village HQ; 5. Shameless; 4. Branding disaster; 5. Bailout; 6. Incompetence; 7. Shoddy; 8. Unprepared.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comments. In order to eliminate spam all comments are moderated. Comments will only be edited if they contain expletives or attacks on another person. All viewpoints are welcome.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)