Pacific Tribune

Archive for August, 2009

Japan DPJ Election Win Brings ‘Bloodless Revolution’ Update2 – Bloomberg.com
Aug. 31 Bloomberg — The Democratic Party of Japan swept to power for the first time as the nation’s voters turned their backs on half a century of single-party government that failed to reverse economic stagnation and spiraling welfare costs.

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Yukio Hatoyama: Japan Must Shake Off U.S.-Style Globalization

In the post-cold war period, Japan has been continually buffeted by the winds of market fundamentalism in a US-led movement that is more usually called globalization. Freedom is supposed to be the highest of all values, but in the fundamentalist pursuit of capitalism people are treated not as an end but as a means. Consequently, human dignity has been lost.

The recent financial crisis and its aftermath have once again forced us to take note of this reality. How can we put an end to unrestrained market fundamentalism and financial capitalism that are void of morals or moderation in order to protect the finances and livelihoods of our citizens? That is the issue we are now facing.

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Kitsilano couple reaches out to Asia

John Cassils had just pulled out his video camera in a village in northern Laos in 1999 when he was invited into a hut to see a shaman dancing.

John, his wife Nina and four friends had been enjoying a 10-day trip by riverboat and four-wheeled drive in the mountainous area near the Chinese border. They'd asked their driver to drop them off outside the village and walked in separately with no translator, although one friend who was in the Vietnam War spoke Lao.

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US testing new system to bypass web filters

The US government is testing a new technology in China that could soon give the country's 300 million web users another way to access information blocked by the Chinese government's filters.

The technology would pose yet another challenge to Beijing, which has been struggling to keep improper and violent materials, including pornography, away from its Internet users.

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