Korea Loves Japan

[Saburo]

http://uqmgp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

Korean hate burns like kimchi.

[Michael Pitaro]

That was the funniest thing I've seen all day. Go Korea!

[Mekugi]

That was very disturbing- all about a stupid bunch of rocks.

[Jock Armstrong]

This is the kind of thing that makes me giggle when some PC idiot talks about the "Global Village". The world hasn't caught up with their "enlightened" [naive???] worldview.

How you doin' Russ, long time no hear!

[ojiji]

I happened to be in Seoul when all that island stuff was making people lose their minds. Just around the corner from where I was having a meeting, some nut and his mother cut off their fingers in protest. Not sure what they thought that would accomplish.

[Sapporo Ichiban]

I actually wonder what will happen with Japan . . .

Aging population, everyone concentrated on little islands, export economy, and has made long-term enemies with most of their neighbors. That was fine when they had guns, etc and others didn't. But things are rapidly changing.

I'm curious to see if (1) Japan remains pacificist and manages to patch things up with its neighbors in time. Or (2) if Japan's situation becomes sort of like Israel's -- living on sufferance basically as a military base for the United States. Think Guam-plus.

I'm hoping (1) but I'm doubtful as people tend to have long memories and, unlike the Vulcans & Romulans, there are no emotionless Vulcans to be found hereabouts. But (2) relying on the U.S. has got to rankle especially as Japan surrendered to the U.S. during WWII.

In the news lately, there was talk of Toyota and other Japanese carmakers considering raising their prices on cars in order to give U.S. manufacturers a break. Was that simply individual company economics for fear that if GM & Ford go under there'd be a U.S. consumer backlash against Toyota, Honda & Nissan products? Or were those discussions triggered by policital/national implications? That is, was there fear that if GM & Ford went under the United States might react negatively to Japan as a whole?

[Sword and Pen]

The only people who would bemoan the loss of GM and Ford would be the major stockholders of both companies - as well as the giant oil companies.

Both decided, when oil prices were beginning their rocket climb, to continue the manufacture of giant SUVs. At the same time, their forays into electric cars, hybrid engines, and more energy efficient combustible engines were cancelled and in many cases, destroyed outright. It is no surprise that with gas prices at $2.30 a gallon where I live at (and higher), that the most popular orders are for the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids, and the like. The only domestic hybrid is the Ford Escape (an SUV, what a surprise).

SUV sales are way down. Hybrids are on backorder. GM and Ford have no real plans to expand their hybrids. Toyota and Honda are trying to keep up with the demand.

In other words, if Ford and GM both go down, it's their own fault. They did not listen to the wants of their consumer base, nor did they make any realistic assessment as to what their business climate would look like in even 2 years (the Japanese apparently did). They tried to force-feed something that people are now realizing are very expensive gas guzzlers (sounds alot like the OPEC embargo of the 70s) and their bottom lines are hurting because of it? Oh, well. Not my problem.

[Jock Armstrong]

Nobody but the stockholders would be upset?- perhaps folks who feed their families because the they have jobs with GM or Ford might. I'm sure people in Detroit for one would be bemoaning the loss of over 20,000 jobs.

[Joseph Svinth]

If you are willing to compromise, and buy vehicles assembled in the USA, then you have an enormous selection of vehicles available to you. However, if you want to buy vehicles whose parts are made in the USA, then your choices are pretty limited -- mostly trucks or gas guzzlers. See, for example, http://www.usstuff.com/cars.htm.

As for Detroit, headquarters are there, but the factories are all over. A list of GM factories appears at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GM_factories. Note that these include the all-American cities of Hanoi (Vietnam), Cairo (Egypt), and Togliatti (Russia). Raythong, Thailand, is interesting because it is home to several Ford plants (at least one of which is owned by the Ford subsidiary, Volvo) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_factories

Anyway, my guess is that this is mostly background to the continued outsourcing of jobs. See, for example, http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosins...A01-230550.htm.

But, look at the bright side. If things get rough in Detroit, nothing is stopping the union organizers from taking a page from their grandparents' book, and leaving the stagnant Old World of Detroit and Windsor for the Brave New World of India and China.

[Sword and Pen]

Originally Posted by Jock Armstrong

Nobody but the stockholders would be upset?- perhaps folks who feed their families because the they have jobs with GM or Ford might. I'm sure people in Detroit for one would be bemoaning the loss of over 20,000 jobs.

I am not so sure what the auto workers themselves would be able to do about something like that. Unfortunately, the auto execs in the American companies have about as large as a golden parachute as you can possibly get. And if and when GM and/or Ford end up in Bankruptcy Court, you can believe the CEO and his executive cronies have their money "protected" - and as the United Airlines case has shown, corporations no longer have to honor worker pensions.

Second, as I indicated earlier, GM and Ford poured billions into manufacturing large gas-guzzling vehicles as far back as 2000-2001. Ford had a Ranger Pickup with an Electric Engine, which they started recalling in 2004, and Chevy had an electric or hybrid car that was also recalled in 2004, sold to a foreign country as scrap and destroyed. All because they had an "oil-friendly" administration that started snatching teeth out of the EPA. Now the market itself forces a much needed correction because of greed.

And as always, the only ones who will get hurt in the end are the foot soldiers.

Just lovely.

Oh, what was the original topic again?

[Saburo]

Very important rocks, youthful creativity, and good old fashion hate mongering.

[Jody Holeton]

Dear all,

I am currently living in Busan, South Korea and I have been seeing some anti-Japanese sentiment here.

Yesterday, at the movie theater, I saw a cartoon video of the Japanese military coming to take the Dokdo islands and a Korean robot wiping them away.

Images of buck-toothed generals and fat sumo Japanese sailors...

I have also seen Japanese flags cut apart here at night club performances and had my students make vehement anti-Japanese comments.

Very strange, considering I hear Japan is loving Korean culture right now.

Anyone else seen any anti-Japan demonstrations?