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February 25, 2012
Cross-Culture on Japan and Australia: "Disasters create strange bedfellows."
Read the excellent article "Accidental Diplomacy: Australian-Japanese Relations" by Philip Porter at Richard Lewis's Cross-Culture. Excerpts:
What good could anyone imagine would come from the horrors of the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear leak that hit the Japanese coast last year?
Let me suggest one, a profound one: Japan for the first time since WWII felt cared for by foreigners. Foreigners, the “barbarians” of Perry’s black ships, the crazy, arrogant, unfathomable gaijins who had turned up in their thousands to get a bit of the action when Japan was in bubble economy mode.
Australia has been a major trading partner of Japan since WWII, exporting raw materials and getting them back in the form of cars, trucks, computers, anything. On the softer side Australia has also been seduced by wide-eyed anime characters like Astroboy, introduced business cards into its business etiquette and sushi, sashimi and tempura have become Aussie standards.
Immediately after WWII Japan was single minded in rebuilding domestically, protecting itself against a China that was not only its traditional enemy but now communist and still expansionist. It was deep in the throws of American occupation and needing to find a dignified and profitable relationship with its victors, which included Australia.
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R.D. Lewis
Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2012
Bongs at Work: Dude, the Doritos are key. Screw the due diligence. Service via Facebook.
At Reuters India, see "For Optimal Work Commitment, Skip the Pot?". It begins:
(Reuters Health) - According to a real shocker from the world of bona fide science, smoking marijuana is tied to less motivation at the office.
The author of the study said it can't prove whether that's due to the drug's effects, the social environment in which it's used or whether pot smokers are just more likely to be laid-back from the get-go.
Though researcher Christer Hyggen suspects pot is the culprit, another possible explanation is that people who aren't so happy with their work situation or motivated on the job are more likely turn to drugs.
"There's a popular belief that people who smoke cannabis are slackers and that they don't want to work," Hyggen, from the Oslo-based social research institute NOVA, told Reuters Health.
To see how well that perception held up, he analyzed data from a 25-year-long study of close to 1,500 Norwegians. Starting in 1987, when they were in their late teens and early 20s, participants filled out surveys that included questions on their recent pot use on five different occasions, into their 40s and....
Brad Pitt at work as Floyd in "True Romance".
Posted by JD Hull at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2012
Mike O'Neil and Rep. Jeff Flake on GOP Arizona Shoot-Out.
Posted by JD Hull at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2012
Greece: Getting $172 Billion More, Facing Heavy Losses and Balking at Brutal Anglo-Saxon Work Regimes.
Well, dang. Greek debt is said to be at about 160% of its GNP. Its second recent bailout coupled with long- and short-term pain in markets both in and out of Greece--add to this more rioting in the streets--prompts one obvious question: Should Greece remain in the Eurozone? While we all think about this, do see this AP story via The Washington Post, "Greeks’ elation at new debt relief is tempered by prospect of years of sacrifice".
ATHENS, Greece — Greeks were torn between relief and foreboding on the news Tuesday that their country has received a new massive bailout — while the aid will protect them from a calamitous default and keep them in the euro bloc, it will also cost households years of economic hardship.
The initial relief created Tuesday by the 17-nation eurozone’s approval of a new €130 billion ($170 billion) rescue package was offset by a grim reality: Greece faces many more years of sacrifice, on top of a grueling 24 months of austerity measures that have contributed to record high unemployment and a rapidly contracting economy.
“I don’t see (the agreement) with any joy because again we’re being burdened with loans, loans, loans, with no end in sight,” Athens architect Valia Rokou said.
The deal in Brussels gives Greece its second financial lifeline in less than two years — a combined package of foreign loans equivalent to about €22,000 ($29,000) for every Greek citizen, children included. National debt already amounts to about €32,000 ($42,300) each.
Rioting in Athens: What can a poor boy do?
Posted by JD Hull at 01:29 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2012
Overheard in Venice: Turn off phones/computers 2 hours a day.
"You will miss nothing. No one will miss you."
Posted by JD Hull at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)