Being of Asian descent, I'm excited about the coming New Year. Unlike Christmas, New Year's has special significance for the Japanese -- it is a time to renew ties with family, dispense with old debts and ill will, and clean the house to begin anew. And, as with most Asian festivals, much of the primary focus is upon food: On New Year's Eve it is customary to eat a meal of wheat (soba) noodles to ensure good luck and black beans for prosperity, then visit friends and family on New Year's Day while enjoying a feast of different foods that each have their own symbolism.
One very important symbolic ceremony doesn't take place much around here anymore because it requires a lot of people and considerable work space. The mochitsuki (mo-cheet-soo-kee) is a grand community activity that involves pounding sweet rice grain into a sticky, smooth dough that is then formed into small cakes, or mochi (mo-chee). It's an activity that takes a good deal of skill, too. As one person rhythmically pounds the rice grain with long-handled wooden mallets dropped from high overhead, another person must reach into the barrel with nimble hands to turn the dough before the next mallet lands. When the dough is smooth and shiny, other hands pinch the dough into small cakes which are allowed to cool on a table covered with a thin layer of sweet rice flour, then eaten with a sauce made from sugar, ginger and soy sauce. Yum! What a fantastic, tasty way to begin the New Year!
Despite the absence of a good, old-fashioned mochitsuki, I wish for everyone everywhere a year of personal prosperity. May you, your family and dear friends experience inner peace and contentment... because each of you deserve nothing less.
UPDATE: Acknowledging intense international and domestic pressure, the Bush administration on December 31 announced a ten-fold increase in aid to the tsunami-stricken countries. Now all that remains is whether those countries will actually receive any of the aid package. (Thursday's edition of the New York Times carried an excellent editorial (click here for the print version -- registration may be required) explaining that, despite a similar gesture to aid the Indian province of Bam after it was struck by an earthquake one year ago, they have yet to see any of the aid money.)
December 28, 2004
Good news, at least concerning one person; the friend I thought was in Thailand for the holiday cancelled her trip. She plans to go in April, instead, although conditions will no doubt be barely better than now.
As I watched Monday's Nightline coverage of the tsunami's aftermath, I couldn't help feeling moved by the sheer scale of the disaster. Something inside me stirred, I wanted to hop the next plane out. But I also know the futility of going without a firm idea of what can actually be done. A friend and I were talking at lunch today while watching the monitor above the bar when she echoed the sentiment of wanting to go there (she'd been in Sri Lanka before, although I'm not sure in what context). By five o'clock this afternoon she'd already attempted to contact a friend who has connections in the Bangkok area, and I think she's actually going to leave in February. Then I got a wild idea.
First, ask anyone who witnessed the events on September 11 and you won't find many who didn't feel the same internal tug, wanting to go there, to do something -- anything -- as long as it was to help. In fact, so great was the desire to reach out that many simply left their homes and jobs to go to New York City. Second, contrary to popular belief, people are actually more willing to give of time and money now than ever before.
I believe that volunteerism and civic commitment smolders in each and every one of us. And it's a sociological principle that humans are naturally inclined -- even programmed -- to come to the aid of someone in need. But simple life obligations of work, family, school and community compete with noble intentions to volunteer more time or donate more money to worthy causes. And it has become more difficult to choose the "worthy cause" because social service needs continue to multiply. What if the big corporations could be persuaded to subsidize employees who use their vacation time as rescue/aid workers? For example, in exchange for a ten-day or two week commitment as a rescue/aid worker in Somalia or Indonesia, the employer pays for three or four days of the employee's time off. One result would be an increase in the number of able bodies to relieve emergency workers in disaster-stricken or severely underdeveloped areas of the world. Another, more significant, result would be an increased level of corporate responsibility, a term that has been blithely bandied about by Wall Street "watchers."
Some people may scoff at this idea, particularly those who are pressing for implementation of an early warning system such as the one that has existed for years in the Pacific Rim. (The reason there isn't one in the Indian Ocean basin is because the countries in the basin are so disadvantaged as to not even factor in the global economy. The countries' peoples then, and their welfare, are insignificant blips in the life continuum. And let's not forget that there's not much oil in Southeast Asia.) Even if there were an early warning system in place that undoubtedly would have saved lives, it would not prevent the incredible property and land damage that only water is capable of rendering. Finally, Southeast Asia simply doesn't have the infrastructure to support the components of an early warning system. Take a look at photographs of circa-1880s New York City, and you'll see garish towers supporting six to eight levels of telegraph and electrical wires; that was before city planners got smart and began burying utilities under the roadways. Such is the condition of most of Southeast Asia's moderately developed countries.
A rescue/aid worker network would do a world (literally) of good, and it would certainly carry more sincerity than the piddly $15 million that President Bush so magnanimously offered (a particularly laughable gesture considering that the cost of the Iraq War is somewhere around $150 BILLION). At the very least, it would serve to replace or supplement the National Guard forces that would ordinarily have been sent for disaster relief -- that is, if they weren't busy killing off civilians in Iraq.
As I watched Monday's Nightline coverage of the tsunami's aftermath, I couldn't help feeling moved by the sheer scale of the disaster. Something inside me stirred, I wanted to hop the next plane out. But I also know the futility of going without a firm idea of what can actually be done. A friend and I were talking at lunch today while watching the monitor above the bar when she echoed the sentiment of wanting to go there (she'd been in Sri Lanka before, although I'm not sure in what context). By five o'clock this afternoon she'd already attempted to contact a friend who has connections in the Bangkok area, and I think she's actually going to leave in February. Then I got a wild idea.
First, ask anyone who witnessed the events on September 11 and you won't find many who didn't feel the same internal tug, wanting to go there, to do something -- anything -- as long as it was to help. In fact, so great was the desire to reach out that many simply left their homes and jobs to go to New York City. Second, contrary to popular belief, people are actually more willing to give of time and money now than ever before.
I believe that volunteerism and civic commitment smolders in each and every one of us. And it's a sociological principle that humans are naturally inclined -- even programmed -- to come to the aid of someone in need. But simple life obligations of work, family, school and community compete with noble intentions to volunteer more time or donate more money to worthy causes. And it has become more difficult to choose the "worthy cause" because social service needs continue to multiply. What if the big corporations could be persuaded to subsidize employees who use their vacation time as rescue/aid workers? For example, in exchange for a ten-day or two week commitment as a rescue/aid worker in Somalia or Indonesia, the employer pays for three or four days of the employee's time off. One result would be an increase in the number of able bodies to relieve emergency workers in disaster-stricken or severely underdeveloped areas of the world. Another, more significant, result would be an increased level of corporate responsibility, a term that has been blithely bandied about by Wall Street "watchers."
Some people may scoff at this idea, particularly those who are pressing for implementation of an early warning system such as the one that has existed for years in the Pacific Rim. (The reason there isn't one in the Indian Ocean basin is because the countries in the basin are so disadvantaged as to not even factor in the global economy. The countries' peoples then, and their welfare, are insignificant blips in the life continuum. And let's not forget that there's not much oil in Southeast Asia.) Even if there were an early warning system in place that undoubtedly would have saved lives, it would not prevent the incredible property and land damage that only water is capable of rendering. Finally, Southeast Asia simply doesn't have the infrastructure to support the components of an early warning system. Take a look at photographs of circa-1880s New York City, and you'll see garish towers supporting six to eight levels of telegraph and electrical wires; that was before city planners got smart and began burying utilities under the roadways. Such is the condition of most of Southeast Asia's moderately developed countries.
A rescue/aid worker network would do a world (literally) of good, and it would certainly carry more sincerity than the piddly $15 million that President Bush so magnanimously offered (a particularly laughable gesture considering that the cost of the Iraq War is somewhere around $150 BILLION). At the very least, it would serve to replace or supplement the National Guard forces that would ordinarily have been sent for disaster relief -- that is, if they weren't busy killing off civilians in Iraq.
December 27, 2004
Well, despite my best intentions, I managed to have a decent Christmas weekend. Of course, a lot of that is because I won $40 playing poker -- not too bad for an hour and a-half's work. And I won against my obnoxious and self-absorbed brother, who'd been telling all of us how he was going to clean our clocks after dinner. And the really great thing was that I won most of the money on HIS game. Heh, heh, heh. Revenge is indeed sometimes sweet.
Now I'm worried about a friend whom I know is visiting Thailand for the holiday; her home recording indicates that she expected to be home Tuesday morning, but I haven't heard anything after leaving messages at her home and on the cell. Can you even imagine what that scene must be like? Imagine waiting all year to go on vacation, then falling victim to a freakin' natural disaster... and a tidal wave at that. I am hoping that she was busy in her hotel packing her bags, nowhere near the beaches, and that I'll hear from her by the end of the week. In the meantime, if anyone wants to make a donation to the relief effort the American Friends Service Committee is one of many organizations accepting donations. You can contact them at
On to sports news. Unless you've had your head in the sand you know that former NFL (National Football League) linebacker(?) Reggie White died unexpectedly Sunday from what doctors believe may be a lung ailment. But I'm having trouble summoning a lot of sympathy for his untimely passing (unlike tonight's Monday Night Football half-time tribute that made the man appear to have lived as a saint). Oh, he was a great player, racking up more sacks than any other defensive lineman, but White was also a bigot. In 1998, he delivered a speech to the Wisconsin state legislature that denounced not only blacks but homosexuals, as well. The sad thing was not that the Wisconsin legislature didn't put a stop to his drivel, but that White rightly guessed that he could get away with the speech given his stature as a professional athlete. And it was exactly his athlete status that bought him credibility in supporting Trent Lott's Defense of Marriage Act and advocating for the "rehabilitation" of gays. I'll tell you what... even if I could be "rehabilitated," it wouldn't be for the sake of someone like Reggie.
Now I'm worried about a friend whom I know is visiting Thailand for the holiday; her home recording indicates that she expected to be home Tuesday morning, but I haven't heard anything after leaving messages at her home and on the cell. Can you even imagine what that scene must be like? Imagine waiting all year to go on vacation, then falling victim to a freakin' natural disaster... and a tidal wave at that. I am hoping that she was busy in her hotel packing her bags, nowhere near the beaches, and that I'll hear from her by the end of the week. In the meantime, if anyone wants to make a donation to the relief effort the American Friends Service Committee is one of many organizations accepting donations. You can contact them at
AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE
AFSC Crisis Fund
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, Pa. 19102
215-241-7000
www.afsc.org
On to sports news. Unless you've had your head in the sand you know that former NFL (National Football League) linebacker(?) Reggie White died unexpectedly Sunday from what doctors believe may be a lung ailment. But I'm having trouble summoning a lot of sympathy for his untimely passing (unlike tonight's Monday Night Football half-time tribute that made the man appear to have lived as a saint). Oh, he was a great player, racking up more sacks than any other defensive lineman, but White was also a bigot. In 1998, he delivered a speech to the Wisconsin state legislature that denounced not only blacks but homosexuals, as well. The sad thing was not that the Wisconsin legislature didn't put a stop to his drivel, but that White rightly guessed that he could get away with the speech given his stature as a professional athlete. And it was exactly his athlete status that bought him credibility in supporting Trent Lott's Defense of Marriage Act and advocating for the "rehabilitation" of gays. I'll tell you what... even if I could be "rehabilitated," it wouldn't be for the sake of someone like Reggie.
December 17, 2004
A media era will end tonight when "Now with Bill Moyers" broadcasts with its namesake as host for the final time. Moyers's exit occurs, ironically, at the end of the same week during which FOX News announced the signing of arch-conservative Zell Miller.
Moyers is one of the last journalists whose ethics are beyond reproach. His departure from public broadcasting after more than three decades leaves a gaping wound in journalism because his was, as Meryl Streep said, "a voice crying in the wilderness -- on behalf of the wildreness -- for decades." Indeed, Moyers ensured that certain subjects remained in our consciousness long after corporate media sidelined them because they weren't conducive to the bottom line. He deplores, too, the marriage between government and media, telling anyone who will listen that the First Amendment was intended as "a firewall between politicians who hold power and the press that should hold power accountable." Instead, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the FCC have capitulated to the media conglomerates, whose executives are generous contributors to the Republican party. Moyers examined this issue during the April 26, 2002 "Now" broadcast:
Moyers will continue to produce documentaries with his wife, Judith Davidson Moyers, the president of Public Affairs Television. That means his voice will be a little deeper in the wilderness, but that's still where the most unique creatures are found.
Moyers is one of the last journalists whose ethics are beyond reproach. His departure from public broadcasting after more than three decades leaves a gaping wound in journalism because his was, as Meryl Streep said, "a voice crying in the wilderness -- on behalf of the wildreness -- for decades." Indeed, Moyers ensured that certain subjects remained in our consciousness long after corporate media sidelined them because they weren't conducive to the bottom line. He deplores, too, the marriage between government and media, telling anyone who will listen that the First Amendment was intended as "a firewall between politicians who hold power and the press that should hold power accountable." Instead, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the FCC have capitulated to the media conglomerates, whose executives are generous contributors to the Republican party. Moyers examined this issue during the April 26, 2002 "Now" broadcast:
Twenty years ago there were fifty owners of America's major media outlets. Now there are six. How a handful of companies came to exercise such control over the media is one of the [most unreported] stories of our time. Two-thirds of today's newspaper markets are monopolies [and] the music and news delivered to over half the radio audience is controlled by four giant corporations.
Moyers will continue to produce documentaries with his wife, Judith Davidson Moyers, the president of Public Affairs Television. That means his voice will be a little deeper in the wilderness, but that's still where the most unique creatures are found.
December 16, 2004
The fact that the Social Security program is in deep trouble has been known for at least two decades. Roosevelt's New Deal vision of a society forever free from worry of another Great Depression was terrific in theory, but wasn't designed to withstand the economic deficits that have skyrocketed since the dot-com and tele-com bubbles disintegrated. And no president has pushed for the privatization of Social Security as much as George W. -- never mind that he'll never have to rely on it. Here's my thought on the topic.
The stock market is nothing more than a gigantic pyramid scheme, one of the many carrots dangled in front of Americans to make them feel as though achieving the dream is still possible. Actually, it does pay off for a select few -- like Bernie Kerick and Martha Stewart -- but another fact about the market is that one makes money only when one has money to invest in the first place. Eighty-nine percent of Americans have no idea of the difference between a stock or a bond, let alone the advantages or pitfalls of either. Couple this ignorance with tiered stock offerings that divide shares into Class A, B, C (and sometimes D) shares and the obvious inference that some are superior (senior) to others, and one soon discovers that even the stock market has social stratifications.
A majority of Americans can't afford their own health insurance (because most of them work for Wal*Mart), can barely afford their homes if they're lucky enough to own one, and occupy the lower income strata that benefits least (if at all) from the much ballyhooed tax cuts of the current administration. Exactly how these folks are supposed to find money sufficient to invest in a private "investment program," that may or may not ensure their future social welfare, is anyone's guess. Even if there were investment money available, the likelihood of affording a class of shares that will actually pay a return is diminished by the simple economic fact of diminishing returns. There will always be a finite number of shares available regardless of the number of splits that occur, and each split diminishes the value of the whole by deflating the value of individual shares (at least the class of shares that this type of investor can afford).
The feds are betting that Americans will chase the privatization carrot exactly because of stories like Bernie Kerick's (who earned some $6.2 million from the sale of Taser International shares), and because Americans repeatedly prove themselves susceptible to get-rich-quick schemes every time they buy a lottery ticket. The feds are encouraged because consumers continue to support Wal*Mart expansion, believing that the number of jobs created by a store opening in their neighborhood will infuse the economy -- when in fact the standard of living falls because the jobs pay a lower wage than those of the businesses that were driven out. So it all comes down to the numbers that people are willing to see, rather than those which tell the real tale. And it was precisely the unseen numbers that allowed companies like Enron, WorldCom and Global Crossing to dupe so many for so long.
I'm not actually worried about my own social security. At the rate the feds keep raising the retirement age bar, I won't have to worry about it until I'm 85-1/2.
The stock market is nothing more than a gigantic pyramid scheme, one of the many carrots dangled in front of Americans to make them feel as though achieving the dream is still possible. Actually, it does pay off for a select few -- like Bernie Kerick and Martha Stewart -- but another fact about the market is that one makes money only when one has money to invest in the first place. Eighty-nine percent of Americans have no idea of the difference between a stock or a bond, let alone the advantages or pitfalls of either. Couple this ignorance with tiered stock offerings that divide shares into Class A, B, C (and sometimes D) shares and the obvious inference that some are superior (senior) to others, and one soon discovers that even the stock market has social stratifications.
A majority of Americans can't afford their own health insurance (because most of them work for Wal*Mart), can barely afford their homes if they're lucky enough to own one, and occupy the lower income strata that benefits least (if at all) from the much ballyhooed tax cuts of the current administration. Exactly how these folks are supposed to find money sufficient to invest in a private "investment program," that may or may not ensure their future social welfare, is anyone's guess. Even if there were investment money available, the likelihood of affording a class of shares that will actually pay a return is diminished by the simple economic fact of diminishing returns. There will always be a finite number of shares available regardless of the number of splits that occur, and each split diminishes the value of the whole by deflating the value of individual shares (at least the class of shares that this type of investor can afford).
The feds are betting that Americans will chase the privatization carrot exactly because of stories like Bernie Kerick's (who earned some $6.2 million from the sale of Taser International shares), and because Americans repeatedly prove themselves susceptible to get-rich-quick schemes every time they buy a lottery ticket. The feds are encouraged because consumers continue to support Wal*Mart expansion, believing that the number of jobs created by a store opening in their neighborhood will infuse the economy -- when in fact the standard of living falls because the jobs pay a lower wage than those of the businesses that were driven out. So it all comes down to the numbers that people are willing to see, rather than those which tell the real tale. And it was precisely the unseen numbers that allowed companies like Enron, WorldCom and Global Crossing to dupe so many for so long.
I'm not actually worried about my own social security. At the rate the feds keep raising the retirement age bar, I won't have to worry about it until I'm 85-1/2.
December 14, 2004
Isn't is odd that it's only AFTER someone dies that you hear the interesting stories? My maternal grandmother recently followed her ancestors home, yet all I ever knew of her were the grousings of her children (and the childrens' children, whose perceptions were undoubtedly clouded by the former). Now, almost two weeks after she was buried with just one child and one grandchild in attendance, an uncle (by marriage) is sharing what he read in letters from my grandmother's half-sister.
My grandmother was truly the last of a breed, the granddaughter of hatamoto samurai (personal guard of the Shogun). She was born in the United States and educated in Japan, attaining a level of education that, for Japanese women of the day, was reserved for a select few. Later, she would be called back to the United States and an arranged marriage, into a class much lower than she ever felt deserving of. I knew for some time that she had a half-sister, whom she hadn't spoken to for well over fifty years, but this week was the first I ever knew of the existence of a brother. Although I've never met either one, both are younger than my grandmother -- and I hope that, during a planned trip to Japan next summer, I will be visiting them and not their graves. The half-sister had three children, whom I also hope to meet; but it's weird to know that there are relatives on the other side of the world whom you never knew of. My immediate family is very small, and the joke we've always shared with friends is that if ever they met someone with the same last name as ours, dammit, let us know because they're related to us!
My grandmother was truly the last of a breed, the granddaughter of hatamoto samurai (personal guard of the Shogun). She was born in the United States and educated in Japan, attaining a level of education that, for Japanese women of the day, was reserved for a select few. Later, she would be called back to the United States and an arranged marriage, into a class much lower than she ever felt deserving of. I knew for some time that she had a half-sister, whom she hadn't spoken to for well over fifty years, but this week was the first I ever knew of the existence of a brother. Although I've never met either one, both are younger than my grandmother -- and I hope that, during a planned trip to Japan next summer, I will be visiting them and not their graves. The half-sister had three children, whom I also hope to meet; but it's weird to know that there are relatives on the other side of the world whom you never knew of. My immediate family is very small, and the joke we've always shared with friends is that if ever they met someone with the same last name as ours, dammit, let us know because they're related to us!
December 03, 2004
Well, darn it all, I tried to pull the plug on this thing but I just can't -- I've got too much to say about the irony I see all around me. Like the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) issuing warnings on RU-486 (the "morning-after" pill), citing dangers to women after one woman developed a serious infection and another died (from an unrelated cause) when it was discovered that both had taken the prescription-only pill. Not one week earlier, Vioxx was recalled for its link to heart attacks and strokes -- information that the company had at least one full year before the recall.
Or how about the latest development in the so-called "Spy Files" case? The local police department claims that it stopped conducting surveillance on alleged "terrorist organizations" (such as the Colorado Coaltion for Middle East Peace and the American Friends Service Committee), by showing up at protest demonstrations and canvassing nearby parking lots and writing down vehicle license plate numbers for tracking, and sometimes infiltrating the organizations. Not only did the surveillance never cease, but the department refuses to subject neo-conservative groups to the same scrutiny (like the ones protesting at tonight's and tomorrow's Holiday Parade of Lights, after organizers of the parade barred any float displaying a religious sentiment).
Here's a good one... George W. just nominated the former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerick as this country's next Secretary of Homeland Security chief, succeeding Tom Ridge. I dunno, you tell me what qualifies Kerick; the man is a high-school dropout. Bush, playing the 9/11 card for the hundredth time this week, said Bernie was "at the World Trade Center minutes after the first plane hit" and "there when the towers collapsed." What Bush didn't mention is that Bernie comes straight from a security consulting firm -- one in which he's a partner with Rudy Giuliani, and which stands to profit handsomely from what are sure to be plentiful no-bid contracts. Apparently, if it was good enough for Cheney and Halliburton it's good enough for Bernie's and Rudy's Keystone Kops Konsultants.
Finally, the West is clamoring for Ukraine's popularly-elected prime minister, Viktor Yushenko, to step aside and allow the defeated Viktor Yanukovich to remain in power. The U.S. even sent Colin Powell over there, claiming widespread election fraud and ballot box stuffing. Well, aren't we a fine administration to cry "foul"?
Or how about the latest development in the so-called "Spy Files" case? The local police department claims that it stopped conducting surveillance on alleged "terrorist organizations" (such as the Colorado Coaltion for Middle East Peace and the American Friends Service Committee), by showing up at protest demonstrations and canvassing nearby parking lots and writing down vehicle license plate numbers for tracking, and sometimes infiltrating the organizations. Not only did the surveillance never cease, but the department refuses to subject neo-conservative groups to the same scrutiny (like the ones protesting at tonight's and tomorrow's Holiday Parade of Lights, after organizers of the parade barred any float displaying a religious sentiment).
Here's a good one... George W. just nominated the former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerick as this country's next Secretary of Homeland Security chief, succeeding Tom Ridge. I dunno, you tell me what qualifies Kerick; the man is a high-school dropout. Bush, playing the 9/11 card for the hundredth time this week, said Bernie was "at the World Trade Center minutes after the first plane hit" and "there when the towers collapsed." What Bush didn't mention is that Bernie comes straight from a security consulting firm -- one in which he's a partner with Rudy Giuliani, and which stands to profit handsomely from what are sure to be plentiful no-bid contracts. Apparently, if it was good enough for Cheney and Halliburton it's good enough for Bernie's and Rudy's Keystone Kops Konsultants.
Finally, the West is clamoring for Ukraine's popularly-elected prime minister, Viktor Yushenko, to step aside and allow the defeated Viktor Yanukovich to remain in power. The U.S. even sent Colin Powell over there, claiming widespread election fraud and ballot box stuffing. Well, aren't we a fine administration to cry "foul"?
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