Lots going on in the realms of spies, lies, media, and that constantly shifting and increasingly inflammatory Asian Game of Zones.
buzzfeed covers an intelligence failure:
White House “Did Not Know” National Guard Was Being Deployed In Ferguson
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon called the National Guard to Ferguson late Sunday without letting the White House know first.
“Folks didn’t know,” an administration official told BuzzFeed Monday. “The White House did not know they were sending it in.”
Nixon gave “no heads-up,” the official said.
From The Wire, and we hope that headline’s not literal:
Pentagon Fires Back At Critics of ‘Police Militarization’ Program
The Pentagon on Tuesday mounted a vigorous defense of the surplus military equipment transfer program that has drawn criticism following the police crackdown in Ferguson, Missouri.
The Defense Department’s chief spokesman, John Kirby, told reporters during a briefing that the 1033 program was not “some program run amok,” despite images of heavily armored officers in Ferguson that have fed concerns about the “militarization” of local law enforcement.
Congress created the program in 1990 to allow police departments to apply for free transfers of excess military equipment as local authorities sought to beef up security to combat drug gangs. Transfers have increased as the Pentagon wound down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Vocativ militarizes the neighborhood schools:
Back to School: Make Sure You Pack Your AR-15, Honey
If Compton schools were hoping to dispel stereotypes about their area, allowing school police to pack assault weapons is not the way
School’s back in session next week, and the campus police in Compton are packing more heat than ever. That’s not a reference to the hot drought California has faced in 2014—we’re talking guns. Specifically: controversial AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, approved for use on school campuses to prevent future gun rampages.
“This is our objective—save lives, bottom line,” Compton Unified Police Chief William Wu told the city’s school board. The board has been told that select campus police officers will be allowed buy the rifles and keep them in their cars, in case of a mass shooting incident or terrorist attack.
On to the spooky front with Deutsche Welle:
Binney: ‘The NSA’s main motives: power and money’
Whistleblower William Binney recently made headlines when he told the German parliament that the NSA, his former employer, had become “totalitarian.” DW spoke to him about NSA overrreach and the agency’s power.
DW: In your testimony, you described the NSA as “totalitarian,” and many commentators say that Germany’s Stasi history has made the country more sensitive to NSA revelations. But others have suggested this comparison is too easy. After all, the Stasi also targeted intellectuals and general writers opposed to the East German regime.
Binney: Sure, they haven’t gone that far yet, but they tried to shut down newspaper reporters like Jim Risen [who is fighting legal action by the Department of Justice to testify against an alleged source - the eds.]. Look at the NDAA Section 1021, that gave President Obama the ability to define someone as a terrorist threat and have the military incarcerate them indefinitely without due process. That’s the same as the special order 48 issued in 1933 by the Nazis, [the so-called Reichstag Fire Decree]. Read that – it says exactly the same thing.
These were totalitarian processes that were instituted. And it’s not just us – it’s happening around the world. Totalitarianism comes in the form first of knowledge of people and what they’re doing, and then it starts to transition into using that power against people. That’s what’s happening – in terms of newspaper reporters, in terms of crimes. That’s a direct violation of our constitution.
TechWeekEurope covers a digital Baedecker:
GCHQ Is Mapping Open TCP Ports Across Whole Countries
The reconnaissance operation codenamed ‘Hacienda’ supplies the agency with some of the information needed to compromise systems
German journalists and academics have criticised Britain’s intelligence service GCHQ for scanning servers round the world, and maintaining a database of open ports which could be used in attacks.
British intelligence agency GCHQ has been cataloguing open TCP ports across entire countries as part of a secret programme codenamed ‘Hacienda’, reports German publication Heise Online.
The database resulting from the scans is used in other GCHQ surveillance projects and shared with the rest of the Five Eyes – the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – using the secure MAILORDER transport protocol.
An open port can enable the attackers to identify services that are running on a server with the view to compromise it. According to Heise, Hacienda targeted 32 countries since 2009, and has completely mapped ports of at least 27.
From Nextgox, and significant:
Exclusive: Nuke Regulator Hacked by Suspected Foreign Powers
Nuclear Regulatory Commission computers within the past three years were successfully hacked by foreigners twice and also by an unidentifiable individual, according to an internal investigation.
One incident involved emails sent to about 215 NRC employees in “a logon-credential harvesting attempt,” according to an inspector general report Nextgov obtained through an open-records request.
The phishing emails baited personnel by asking them to verify their user accounts by clicking a link and logging in. The link really took victims to “a cloud-based Google spreadsheet.”
From the Guardian, domestic espionage:
25 Turkish police officers arrested amid Erdogan wiretapping scandal
Swoop in cities including Istanbul and Izmir during investigation linked to government corruption claims
Twenty-five police officers have been arrested by Turkish authorities in the latest nationwide swoop to detain suspects alleged to have illegally wiretapped key government figures, including the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reports said.
Police carried out raids in 12 cities, including Istanbul and Izmir, as part of an investigation into allegations of espionage and illegal wiretapping, the private Dog(an news agency reported.
The swoop on Tuesday was the third such roundup since July in a probe that has resulted in dozens of arrests and raised tensions as Erdog(an prepares for his inauguration as president on 28 August.
From intelNews, evoking suspicions of Mossad?:
‘Sensitive files’ stolen as Saudi motorcade is ambushed in Paris
A 12-vehicle entourage transporting a Saudi royal to a Paris airport was ambushed on Monday in cinematic fashion by heavily armed men, who stole a suitcase full of cash and diplomatic files described as “sensitive”.
French police are trying to determine whether the ambush, which occurred on Monday evening just north of downtown Paris, was aimed at the money or the documents, which French newspaper Le Parisien described as “sensitive”. According to French police, the Saudi motorcade was heading from the renowned Four Seasons George V hotel on the Champs Elysées to Le Bourget airport, 15 miles north of Paris, which handles private jets. But as the convoy drove through Porte de la Chapelle, two BMWs without license tags suddenly made their way to the top of the motorcade and forced it to stop.
Within seconds, eight heavily armed men brandishing handguns and AK-47s stormed out of the two cars and hijacked a Mercedes minivan that was part of the motorcade. Several of them boarded the vehicle and drove away, taking with them its three occupants, a driver, a bodyguard and another official. Later on, the three hostages were abandoned by the side of the road. The minivan, as well as one of the two BMWs used by the armed assailants, were later found burnt out in the village of Saint-Mesmes, northeast of the French capital. But the thieves took with them a suitcase containing €250,000 ($330,000) in cash, as well as what the French press said were “important diplomatic documents”.
Deutsche Welle covers spooky journalistic blowback:
BND head to discuss Spiegel report with top Turkey spy
The German and Turkish intelligence heads will meet to discuss reports that Berlin routinely spied on its NATO partner. On Monday, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry summoned the German ambassador in Ankara, Eberhard Pohl.
Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu reported that the chiefs of the two countries’ spy agencies had agreed to meet after Turkey’s Ahmet Davutoglu spoke by phone with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, his German counterpart, whose office confirmed that the two foreign ministers engaged in a “long talk.”
A spokeswoman for Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the BND, would neither confirm nor deny the meeting to news agencies on Tuesday.
Turkish officials have demanded an explanation after news magazine Der Spiegel reported that Germany had repeatedly eavesdropped on officials from the country. Anakara called the spying “unacceptable.”
From MIT Technology Review, a red light alert:
Researchers Hack Into Michigan’s Traffic Lights
Security flaws in a system of networked stoplights point to looming problems with an increasingly connected infrastructure.
With permission from a local road agency, researchers in Michigan hacked into nearly 100 wirelessly networked traffic lights, highlighting security issues that they say are likely to pervade networked traffic infrastructure around the country. More than 40 states currently use such systems to keep traffic flowing as efficiently as possible, helping to reduce emissions and delays.
The team, led by University of Michigan computer scientist J. Alex Halderman, found three major weaknesses in the traffic light system: unencrypted wireless connections, the use of default usernames and passwords that could be found online, and a debugging port that is easy to attack.
“The vulnerabilities we discover in the infrastructure are not a fault of any one device or design choice, but rather show a systemic lack of security consciousness,” the researchers report in a paper they’re presenting this week at a computer security conference. They did not disclose exactly where in Michigan they did the research.
Network World takes wing:
Senator questions airlines’ data privacy practices
A senior U.S. senator is asking airlines about their data privacy practices, saying he’s concerned about what information the companies are collecting and sharing with third parties.
Some consumer advocates have raised concerns that airline privacy policies “can contain substantial caveats and that it is difficult for consumers to learn what information airlines and others in the travel sector are collecting, keeping, and sharing about them,” Senator John “Jay” Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, wrote in a letter to 10 U.S. airlines Monday.
The airlines receiving the letters included United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Airlines contacted about Rockefeller’s letter didn’t immediately respond to requests for comments.
From the Los Angeles Times, security for conspicuous consumers:
New Corvette will record every move a valet driver makes
Attention valet drivers: Don’t get frisky with the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette — big brother is watching.
General Motors is offering next year’s model of the famous sport coupe with a data recorder that captures video, audio and driving data from the vehicle when switched into a special “Valet Mode.”
Valet Mode is displayed on the touchscreen panel of the 2015 Corvette. Data and video can be viewed instantly by the owner on the screen when the car is parked, or it can be downloaded to a computer. (GM / Associated Press)
The Vette’s owner can come back from dinner and check out if the valet was testing the sports car’s 3.8 second zero to 60 mph time. The car will have recorded data such as speed, engine RPM, which gears have been used and the highest level of g-force incurred on that joy ride to the parking garage.
EUobserver covers critique:
EU justice chief criticises Google on ‘right to be forgotten’
The EU’s justice commissioner has accused internet giant Google of leading a campaign to shoot down data protection reforms.
Speaking in Lyon, France on Monday (18 August), the commissioner, Martine Reicherts, said: “Google and other affected companies who complain loudly” about a recent EU court verdict on personal data are “detractors … attempting to throw a new spanner in the works”.
The Luxembourg-based EU court in May ruled that Google must remove links to any content that is “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant” or face a fine.
From Deutsche Welle, with a suggestion that they try American police departments:
Uncertain outlook for German arms industry
German tanks, submarines and weapons are in high demand. They’re exported to Israel despite the war in Gaza, and Kurdish fighters would also welcome a shipment. Yet the defense industry is worried about its future.
When trade unions look to politicians for help, they’re generally hoping for backing in the fight against managers planning job cuts. But when workers’ representatives from the German arms industry met at the Ministry for Economic Affairs on Tuesday, it was for a very different cause.
In this case, it’s the minister of economic affairs himself, Sigmar Gabriel, who is putting their jobs at risk by approving fewer and fewer German arms shipments to worldwide customers. In a letter sent to Gabriel in July, the unionists said that the minister’s decisions were threatening the very existence of a number of corporations in the security and defense industry.
Ernst-August Kiel, an employee representative with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, said after the meeting with Gabriel that they’d debated some “dicey deals,” involving thinner order books and fewer follow-up orders.
And from Sky News, semantics rebooting on the ground:
Exclusive: US Recruits Iraq Security ‘Advisers’
The US Army looks to beef up its ‘Office of Security Assistance’, despite Barack Obama ruling out sending troops back to Iraq.
Barack Obama may have ruled out sending “boots on the ground” back to Iraq but in the face of a growing threat from the Islamic State (IS), the Pentagon appears to have hit upon a way to get them back in by the back door.
The US Army’s Contracting Command has issued a tender notice for companies capable of deploying security assistance mentors and advisers in Iraq.
These individuals would be required for a 12-month contract, potentially extendable to a total of 36 months.
After the jump, that latest from the Asian Games of Zones — including Indo-Pakistani tensions rising, Pakistani protests, an Aussie/Malaysian rift abated and terrorism foiled in Malaysia, a high-level Taiwanese security sacking, Chinese border and terror strategems, Japanese armaments move, Shinzo Abe’s militarism redux, Japanese Korean fears, semantic riffs, and a Nazi pasta invasion. . .
For our first Asian item, internal dissent via BBC News:
Pakistan protesters march on parliament in red zone
Anti-government demonstrators in Pakistan are advancing towards parliament, breaching a designated secure zone in the capital Islamabad.
Protesters used wire cutters and cranes to move shipping containers barricading the so-called red zone, which houses state buildings and foreign embassies. They have encountered no resistance so far from security forces, who have been instructed to avoid violence.
The demonstrators want Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign.
The Washington Post militarizes:
Pakistan’s Sharif enlists army to secure high-security zone ahead of protests
The Pakistani army has been called in to secure the heart of the capital as a standoff between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and key opposition figures deepened Tuesday, government officials said.
In a surprise move, Sharif has asked the military to assume responsibility for protecting key government buildings and diplomatic compounds in Islamabad amid protests calling for his resignation. The mobilization of the army to secure the “Red Zone” represents a dramatic move for Sharif, who has had an uncomfortable history with the army, including being ousted in a military coup in 1999 when he last served as prime minister.
But Sharif, who returned as premier after elections last year, is facing dual threats from Imran Khan, the leader of the Movement for Justice party, and firebrand cleric and religious scholar Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri.
The Express Tribune crosses the Rubicon?:
I have burnt all bridges and will not turn back, says Imran
In an exclusive interview with Express News anchor Shahzab Khanzada, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said he has burnt all bridges and would not turn back from his demands.
Terming Parliament “illegitimate”, Imran said he would stage a peaceful protest in front of Parliament House. “I do not want people and the police to clash, which is why I will lead the march into the Red Zone myself,” Khan reiterated.
Claiming that the police is on his side and would not harm him, Imran warned, “If any Gullu Butt tries to create violence, we will not spare Nawaz Sharif.”
The Christian Science Monitor ups trans-border tensions:
India calls off Pakistan talks after envoy meets Kashmir separatists
India said Pakistan was meddling in its internal affairs, but previous meetings haven’t triggered diplomatic rows. Both countries claim sovereignty over Kashmir.
A meeting between India and Pakistan’s foreign secretaries has been canceled over the divisive issue of Kashmir, dashing hopes for reconciliation between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
India reacted angrily to a decision by a Pakistani diplomat to meet separatists from Indian-administered Kashmir, which has long been a sore point between the two countries. Two of India and Pakistan’s three wars since independence have been fought over Kashmir. Each country controls a portion of the territory and both claim it in its entirety.
Indian media portrayed the consultation with Kashmiri leaders as Pakistan’s disregard for India’s reasonable wishes, even though such meetings happened regularly under previous Indian leadership. Still, others cast it as an extreme stance by Narenda Modi, India’s prime minister, who was elected in May.
The Economic Times asserts:
Pakistan says it is ‘not subservient’ to India
A day after India cancelled Foreign Secretary-level talks over Pakistani envoy’s meeting with Kashmiri separatists, Pakistan today reacted strongly saying it was “not subservient” to New Delhi and was a “legitimate stakeholder” in the Kashmir dispute.
Arguing that High Commissioner Abdul Basit did not interfere in India’s internal affairs, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam claimed that Kashmir was not part of India.
“That is just a pretext. It was not the first time that meetings with Hurriyat leaders took place. It is been happening for decades,” Tasnim told PTI.
The Express Tribune erupts:
Protests erupt outside Pakistan’s Delhi mission after envoy meets Kashmiri leader again
As the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi met with Hurriyet leaders a day after India cancelled secretary level bilateral talks, protestors gathered outside the Pakistani mission on Tuesday, Times of India reported.
Angered by the meeting, people gathered to protest outside the mission, demanding that the Pakistani High Commisioner be sent back. There were reports of clashes between the police and protesters.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hurriyet Conference chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani said that Kashmir is an international issue and not an internal issue of India, IANS reported.
BBC News ameliorates:
Australia and Indonesia ‘to end spy rift’
Australia’s foreign minister says a deal has been reached with Indonesia to end a row over claims Australian agents spied on the Indonesian president.
Julie Bishop told the ABC that a “joint understanding” had been reached and preparations to sign it were under way. Intelligence sharing and military and border co-operation would resume when the pact was signed, reports said.
The spying claims came from documents leaked by Edward Snowden. Indonesia briefly withdrew its ambassador.
Channel NewsAsia Singapore averts:
Malaysia militants plotted ISIL-inspired attacks: police
Malaysian police have foiled plans for a wave of bombings drawn up by radical Islamic militants inspired by Iraq’s extremist jihad group ISIL, a top counter-terrorism official said Tuesday.
The 19 suspected militants arrested from April-June were formulating plans to bomb pubs, discos and a Malaysian brewery of Danish beer producer Carlsberg, said Ayob Khan Mydin, deputy chief of the Malaysian police counter-terrorism division.
Ayob Khan told AFP the group, all Malaysians, had visions of establishing a hardline Southeast Asian Islamic caliphate spanning Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore, and planned to travel to Syria to learn from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The Christian Science Monitor assesses:
As maritime disputes simmer, Vietnam counts cost of anti-China riots
Hundreds of Asian factories were attacked in May after popular anger erupted over Chinese oil exploration in disputed waters. Vietnam depends on foreign investment to generate growth and has promised to avoid a repeat.
Most of the 460 affected factories belonged to Taiwanese, Singaporeans, and South Koreans, whose companies have collectively poured billions of dollars into Vietnam’s rapid industrialization.
The question hanging over Vietnam is what happens next time there’s a provocation with China, its giant rival. While thousands of Chinese and other Asians fled Vietnam during the protests, investors and analysts say most have since returned after the government promised to ensure their safety. Police have arrested 85 people linked to the protests.
Having pledged to tamp down anti-Chinese violence, Vietnam may now opt for international diplomacy. Earlier this month, 61 members of the ruling Communist Party issued a public call for the government to take legal action against China over its oil rig deployment.
From South China Morning Post, caught with his breaches down:
Taiwan-mainland affairs official sacked for ‘national security breach’
Cross-strait council claims to have evidence against former deputy chief Chang Hsien-yao
A former deputy chief of the government agency in Taiwan that handles relations with the mainland is under investigation for alleged breaches of national security.
The Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau had evidence against Chang Hsien-yao, a spokeswoman for the council, said yesterday, without giving details.
The two agencies were continuing their investigations, she said. One of the Investigation Bureau’s roles is counter-espionage.
From Want China Times, strategic railing:
Tibet railways to form ‘triangle defense’ for PLA
The Lhasa-Xigaze Railway and the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway will help Chinese military deployments and resource allocations in southern Tibet and enhance Beijing’s control over the country’s border with India, China’s nationalistic tabloid Global Times reports.
Trains began running on the Lhasa-Xigaze Railway on Aug. 16, shortening the travel time between Lhasa and Xigaze to around two hours. The link allows the PLA to respond quickly and transport supplies to southwestern Tibet in a contingency. The 253-km railroad on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is said to be the most costly railway ever built at 50,000 yuan (US$8,100) per meter as it situated at over 4,000 meters above sea level and requires many bridges and tunnels to cross the mountainous terrain.
Officials responsible for Tibet’s economy said the railway will significantly boost the region’s tourism industry.
Want China Times joins hands:
China to lead five-nation anti-terror drills in Inner Mongolia
China is preparing to lead a major multinational anti-terror exercise that carries strong political and diplomatic significance, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.
Peace Mission-2014 will be held between Aug. 24 and Aug. 29 in Zhurihe, China’s largest and most modern training base located Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in the northern part of the country. The countries taking part will be China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a Eurasian political, economic and military alliance founded in 2001.
Around 7,000 personnel will take part in the non-traditional security cooperation aimed at striking regional terrorism, with the People’s Liberation Army’s Air Force and Ground Force taking the lead, according to Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao.
Jiji Press mulls more militarization:
Japan’s LDP Mulls Stronger Control of Uninhabited Islands
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans to submit a bill to parliament early next year that is aimed at strengthening control of uninhabited islands near border areas by building lighthouses and ports, informed sources said Tuesday.
The LDP is also considering giving the government authority to seize privately owned uninhabited islands in a bid to prevent them from being acquired by foreign nationals, the sources said.
The LDP believes that Japan needs to clarify its sovereignty over uninhabited islands in the face of a series of intrusions into Japanese territorial waters by Chinese ships near the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. The islands in the southern Japan prefecture of Okinawa are also claimed by China.
The Asahi Shimbun sends in the Marines:
Training for future Japanese-style Marines rigorous and secretive
The waters were choppy and the elite unit in combat gear had only one goal: to reach and “secure” a slice of Japanese territory.
The mission to Nezumishima island in the Kujukushima chain here was part of a cutting-edge training program for members of the Ground Self-Defense Forces’ Western Army Infantry Regiment.
They will eventually form the core of a Japanese-style Marine Corps tasked with making amphibious landings to retake outlying islands.
Want China Times mulls munitions mootings:
Japan may sell weapons to ASEAN countries to contain China
Japan is reportedly considering selling arms to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in response to China’s growing influence in the region and aggressiveness in asserting maritime claims.
Tokyo has decided to hold a seminar late September to meet diplomatic and defense officials from ASEAN member states, according to the Tokyo-based Kyodo News. Japan will seek to understand their requirements needs for defense technology and promote its own defense products, the report said.
Japan has asserted that the vast swath of water from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and western Pacific should remain boundless and free and should not be under Chinese suzerainty, according to the Tokyo-based Sankei Shimbun. The assertion and Tokyo’s view that international law should govern the high seas instead of coercive force won support from the member countries, it said, also claiming that Japan-made hardware, especially ships and aircraft, represent attractive investments to ASEAN member countries.
From Nikkei Asian Review, let’s make a stealthy deal:
Japan looking to buy more stealth fighters in fiscal 2015
The Ministry of Defense plans to seek funding for the purchase of six F-35 stealth fighter jets in next fiscal year’s budget to strengthen defense of remote southwestern islands against China, which has grown increasingly assertive at sea and in the air.
The ministry intends to ask that 124.9 billion yen ($1.2 billion) be set aside. The Air Self-Defense Force hopes to buy 42 of the aircraft in all to replace its fleet of aging F-4 fighters. The new fighters will be scrambled when foreign planes approach Japanese airspace.
Japan has purchased 10 F-35s over the three years from fiscal 2012, but this will mark its first time buying six in a single year.
The Yomiuri Shimbun hints at the quo for the previous quid:
Government paves way for SDF’s refueling to U.S. fighters
The government will expand the Self-Defense Forces’ support for U.S. forces to provision of arms and ammunition as well as airborne refueling to the U.S. military’s fighter jets, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
This policy will be incorporated in an interim report on its revision of the Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation Guidelines, which the government is scheduled to issue next month.
The current guidelines do not approve these support activities by the SDF. The revision—which reflects July’s Cabinet approval of the new interpretation of security—will enable the SDF to give logistic support to U.S. forces in the event of emergencies in the Korean Peninsula.
Xinhua pacifies:
Japanese anti-war activists call for defense of pacifist Constitution
Japanese anti-war activists expressed hope for all peace-loving people to join hands to safeguard Japan’s pacifist Constitution at the first Peace Prize of Asia awarding ceremony on Friday.
The Peace Prize of Aisa is sponsored by Malaysia’s Society for Research on World War II History. After rigorous reviews and discussions, the judges’ panel ultimately awarded the first “Peace Prize of Asia” to all Japanese people in recognition of their efforts to prevent war and defend the pacifist Constitution for world peace.
An anti-war activist said on the occasion that it was “a retrogression of history” for the Japanese cabinet in July to approve a resolution that would allow the country to exercise the so-called “collective self-defense right” by revising its pacifist Constitution, ignoring strong protests from home.
What are they so worried about? Consider this, from Jacobin:
The New Japanese Nationalism
The nationalist pride and neoliberal economics peddled by Shinzo Abe promise only cheap escape from Japan’s problems
In his first stint in office, Abe attempted to revise all of the country’s founding charters — the Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Education, and the Ampo security treaty with the US — with partial success.
Now is his chance to pick up where he left off. And one need only look at his proposed revisions to the Constitution to see where this is going.
Gone are the lofty democratic ideals in the preamble — hymns to “the preservation of peace, and the banishment of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance for all time of the earth” — for a beefier start: “Japan is a country with a long history and unique culture, and an emperor as the symbol unifying the nation.” What follows are adjustments to nearly all of the document’s 103 articles that would greatly expand the scope for a state of emergency; transform the nominal Self Defense Force into a full-fledged army; and subordinate freedoms of speech, press, and association to the maintenance of public order.
The Mainichi with numbers to quantify the price of intolerance:
Survey: Korean residents exposed to hate speech in Japan angered, frightened
A survey of Korean residents in Japan has found that nearly 80 percent of respondents who have encountered hate speech felt angered, sad or frightened, but most of them did nothing about it.
The survey, which queried 203 Korean residents in Japan aged from their teens to their 30s, was conducted between June last year and March this year by the Organization of United Korean Youth in Japan (KEY) and Yasuki Izawa (Kim Tae-young), a professor at Toyo University
Altogether, 85.7 percent of respondents said that they had encountered hate speech, and of these, 78.2 percent said they had had felt angered, sad or scared at the time. A total of 2.3 percent said they had directly argued against the hate speech, while 1.7 percent said they had reported it to public or other organizations. An overwhelming majority — 70.1 percent — said they had done nothing. When asked if they had spoken to anyone else about it, 42.5 percent said they hadn’t. Another 27 percent said they had spoken to friends and 16.1 percent said they had spoken to family members.
From Jiji Press, Yes, Virginia, there is a Game of Zones:
2 U.S. Election Candidates Vow Dual Name for Sea of Japan
Two candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives midterm election in November have pledged that they will urge the country to refer to the Sea of Japan also as the East Sea in school textbooks.
The decision is likely to trigger talks in Congress on whether school textbooks should use both names. The East Sea is the name the two Koreas prefer for the waters that separate Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
The pledges were made by a Democrat candidate and a Republican contender for the 10th district in Virginia.
And for our final headline, a real blast from the past via the Independent:
‘Long Live the Nazis’ spaghetti dish sold in Taiwan renamed after backlash
An Italian restaurant in Taiwan which named two of its sausage-filled dishes “Long Live the Nazis” has apologised after it was bombarded with complaints.
Tsao Ya-sin, the 24-year-old manager of the Rockmill restaurant in Banciao, New Taipei City, said she was sorry for her lack of sensitivity when naming the pizza and spaghetti meals containing German sausages.
She said that she had chosen the name to “help customers”.
