(Japan’s spring comes with yearly National Invitational High School Baseball Tournament)Lightly Come, Lightly Go as if Virtual
(C'est comme la réalité virtuelle)
SECTION I: 100 Yen = 100 Cents??
One dollar was traded at 99 yen in London, last night.
Toyota reportedly announced to reduce its production of SUVs and pick-up trucks in its US plants, this morning.
The New York Times now reads:
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Almost everything seems to be going wrong for the American economy at once…
On Thursday, the dollar plumbed new lows against the Japanese yen and several other major currencies; the price of an ounce of gold jumped above $1,000 for the first time; and lenders raised home loan rates once again.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/business/14econ.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
But, one Japanese blog on economy has reported on a stock price trend of Carlyle Capital with a remark that though Japan has now more than $1 trillion exchange reserve just like China has, those dollars accumulated at the rate of 115 yen per dollar have now 10% less value in terms of yen, meaning a 10 trillion yen ($100 billion) appraisal loss.
(http://www.financial-j.net/blog/2008/03/000493.html#more )
All I can say to you is that it is not an act of conspiracy by anybody. It must be one effect of Anger of the God or Allah.
Give dollars back to the U.S.; and give what you should give back to the God or Allah back to the God or Allah.
Your life was given by the God or Allah, so that sooner or later you have to give it back.
Yet, before you dispose yen, you had better read EEE Reporter.
SECTION II: Internet Driven Politician (1)
It is not only the trend of the global money market that the Internet and other high-speed telecommunications and high-power computation are accelerating and affecting.
Alarmingly, the Internet can leverage political momentum to any unwanted direction.
One well-known example is found in the rise and fall of the former South Korean President who was elected after the South Korean economy had got into serious recession to be rescued by IMF and Japan.
In 2002, young South Koreans who wanted economic reform and pride in their nation-state and dreamed of unification with North Korea started to use the Internet, e-mails, and other means based on cellular phones and PCs to disseminate an idea that a certain liberal ex-lawyer candidate could break through the wall between the North and the South, bringing about glory of the Korean race.
They succeeded in stirring up the boom for the ex-lawyer candidate as millions of messages were sprayed over the Internet.
But, the South Korean President could not effectively restore the Korean economy. Most of major banks in Korea were still under control of foreign capital. The President was about to completely lose his face and popularity, since his pro-North Korea policy did not work well, either.
Then, he started to desperately accuse Japan of its former occupation of the Korean Peninsula before WWII, which is always an easy policy to be a temporary hero among South Koreans.
It is as if he had not done anything but accuse Japan of its former occupation of the Korean Peninsula before WWII, namely more than 65 years ago, in the latter half of his tenure of Korean presidency.
Nonetheless, some pro-North Korea citizens in South Korea and some anti-Japanese citizens in the U.S. really welcomed this behavior of the South Korean President.
But, his overall popularity among the general public in South Korea plummeted down, which could not be compensated by his official visit to North Korea carried out several months before the end of his tenure of South Korean Presidency.
SECTION III: Internet Driven Politician (2)
If you are familiar with Japan, you must know the one specific name of a politician: Lower House Member of Japan Mr. Koichi Kato.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koichi_Kato_%28LDP%29
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Upon the sudden illness and death of Keizo Obuchi in May 2000, Kato did not make a leadership challenge, believing that internal strife would not be healthy for a party in mourning. By November, however, displeased with the slow pace of reform and poor public image in the Mori administration, Kato made his move…
Unfortunately for Kato, the LDP Secretary-General at this time, Hiromu Nonaka, was a strong supporter of Mori. Nonaka launched a harsh round of party discipline, threatening to expel any LDP members that voted against Mori…
The damage had been done, however. Kato and Yamasaki were left to bear the full brunt of public humiliation. The aftermath of Kato's rebellion was disastrous. A large segment of his faction split off, weakening his influence in the Diet. Public opinion that had initially supported ousting Mori now blamed Kato for his failure…
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Mr. Koichi Kato, an ex-diplomat, was once regarded as an elite politician who was promised to be elected as the Prime Minister of Japan sooner or later before 2001.
But, he launched an unthinkably poor insurgency to his party, trying to get premiership in vein in late 2000 (since then Prime Minister Mr. Yoshiro Mori was unthinkably unpopular with his classically patriotic stance).
Eventually Mr. Kato lost not only the political battle, but also his political allies, his power base in the party, LDP, and reputation as an elite politician in the public.
Many people wondered then and are still wondering why he could not wait for months or so until the legitimate party conference was held in 2001 to elect the new LDP leader who could become the Prime Minister of Japan (due to LDP’s majority in the Lower House) where he was highly expected to be named so.
I was also wondering who had instigated him to objectively impossible insurgence but subjectively (probably) slam-dunk insurgence in the Liberal Democratic Party in November 2000.
It is former very influential lawmaker Mr. Hiromu Nonaka that has given a clue to this mystery in his memoir published after Mr. Nonaka left the Japanese Congress (the Diet) in 2003 through a fierce fight against then Prime Minister Jyunichiro Koizumi:
( http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%80%81%E5%85%B5%E3%81%AF%E6%AD%BB%E3%81%AA%E3%81%9A-%E9%87%8E%E4%B8%AD%E5%BA%83%E5%8B%99%E5%85%A8%E5%9B%9E%E9%A1%A7%E9%8C%B2-%E9%87%8E%E4%B8%AD-%E5%BA%83%E5%8B%99/dp/4163656405 )
Mr. Hiromu Nonaka, a self-made politician in contrast with Mr. Kato's career, wrote that it was the Internet that had driven Mr. Koichi Kato to a desperate challenge against the then party leaders in late 2000.
Mr. Kato then received many e-mails loudly supporting him and asking him to replace then Prime Minister Mr. Yoshiro Mori, the top leader of the faction where Mr. Jyunichiro Koizumi, Mr. Shinzo Abe, and Mr. Yasuo Fukuda, who all became the Prime Minister of Japan later, belonged.
Mr. Kato, himself the top leader of other faction in LDP, started to actively operate his homepage on the Internet where he found many online messages earnestly expressing a hope that Mr. Kato became the Prime Minister of Japan as soon as possible.
The Japanese Media also paid strong notice to the boom on the Internet pushing Mr. Kato to the challenge, thus joining it a little frivolously. Then, there was none to stop Mr. Koichi Kato to take a shot at then Prime Minister Mr. Yoshiro Mori and then LDP Secretary-General Mr. Hiromu Nonaka, one of the leaders of other influential faction.
However, Mr. Koichi Kato could not get wider support from a majority of LDP members and the general public; he finally failed in forcing Prime Minister Mr. Yoshiro Mori to srep down, thus losing his face, his political status, and a possibility to become the Prime Minister of Japan forever, which however paved the way for Mr. Jyunichiro Koizumi’s accession to premiership in April 2001.
In this way, the Internet once messed up and ruined the career of prominent Japanese politician Mr. Koichi Kato, though he has come back and currently keeps his seat in the Japanese Congress enjoying renewed respect widely as a very experienced liberal lawmaker.
(Now you know in what state Japan was just before the era of the War on Terror in which the strength of alliance between Japan and the U.S. has been demonstrated globally, at least from a certain point of view, since Mr. Jyunichiro Koizumi has been a very pro-U.S. conservative.)
SECTION IV: US Presidential Election in 2008
If this trend in the global money market is not taken into account by US voters, it may not be good to the rest of the world.
If the power of the Internet becomes the most decisive factor in 2008 US Presidential Election, it may not be good to the rest of the world.
(Politicians often act like an actor or an actress.
An actor or an actress also plays a role of a politician depending on his or her assignment.
But, one’s true vocation for an actor or politician might consist in very different features.
Can you, Mlles., play a role of a woman following the Messiah most politicians would not rather succumb to even if you find this world to be a political stage?)
“Do Not Make Your Brother Fall”
(Rucksicht auf den schwachen Bruder)