Monthly Archives: October 2014

ryota

Women`s rights groups hail conviction of Afghan cleric for girl`s rape

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Summary

This article is about the girl who was raped and confronted her attacker in court. What`s unusual about this case is that the victim had the courage to step forward.This girl was 10 years old, so a little young girl from a far province gets justice for herself, this was an amazing thing for people. This article says this is a success for human rights in the country. And also it says that it makes us believe and trust more in the justice system in the country.

Reaction

When we read this article, we talked about the ways how can ladies or girls raped get justice against the culprit in countries such as Japan. In Japanese present law, it admits the participation system of the victims to court. I thought this will be the best way.

But usually, the victims who were raped have the clear memories about incidents. So it will be difficult for the victims to confront their attacker in court. Therefore, the partipation system is not the perfectly best way for victim`s salvations.

I think as the thing which complements the system, Japanese present law admits the shield system between victims and culprit or television telephone system for victims. These systems will improves the participation system of victims to court.

However, the little girl`s confrontation her attacker in court is a success for human rights in the world, I think.

koichi

MY REACTION ABOUT HONG KONG PROTESTERS

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Summary

Hong Kong politics is ruled by Chinese government. Chinese government has ruled that candidates for the chief executive election must be vetted by a nominating committee  dominated by pro Beijing groups.There is not  enough democracy. So,protesters mostly composed of students started to take action. They planned to hold a ballot over whether to accept several government concessions.But they abandoned the plan because of “lack of discussion”.  Tens of thousands of protesters  still have joined a sit-in calling for full democracy in Hong Kong.

Reaction

When I read this article, I thought Hong Kong students is very powerful. If Japan is in same situation, maybe Japanese student don’t take such a big action. Almost all Japanese students are not interesting in politics.  Why so?  I think Japanese students feel that ” Whether I vote or not, Japanese government will not change itself”. So I think Japanese government should change its politics  because of the reason that is different from Hong Kong’s.

masahiro

Masahiro

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Summary

 This article is about the tension between protesters, police and the masked men in Hong Kong. Protesters opposed to the idea of restriction on the first-ever direct election. Protesters want to stop the plan of screening the candidates so they built a barricade in the center of Hong Kong. Police took out a dawn operation to relieve traffic. Protesters demanded the authorities to accept the demands. The masked men arrived to destroy the barricades because they are anti prodemocracy-demonstrators. So we could say that this article’s title could be “protesters VS police and the masked men”.

Reaction

 As I read through this article I thought these kinds of actions are meaningless. It could be effective but causing trouble to an innocent people is not the way to demand something. By using barricades, people could not go through by car and even by foot. In anyway if you want to convince someone you should not rely on those violent actions.

 If I were to challenge the government I would use internet media. These day people tend to use internet. People inside their home often use “2ch”,”nikonikodouga” etc. By using them we could change people’s thoughts. In this way we won’t be an obstruction to anyone.

 What I wanted to say is that trying to change something in a violent way may be effective sometime(not always) but will be disliked by the citizens who form the city.

kryota, Uncategorized

Reactions of “Japan ministers Yuko Obuchi and Midori Matsushima quit”

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Reactions of “Japan ministers Yuko Obuchi and Midori Matsushima quit”

Summarize
Japan’s minister Obuchi and Matsushima has resigned almost at the same time.
Ms Matsushima had been accused by the opposition of violating election laws.　Ms Obuchi was alleged to have misused her political funds
PM Shinzo Abe who brought them into his cabinet said he took responsibility and that they would be replaced within a day
Ms Obuchi was tipped by some as a future prime minister, but allegation emerged that her staff had misused campaign funds. She apologized for being unable to contribute to key goals set by Abe, including “a society where women shine”

Reaction
After I read this article, I think it is stupid news.
Mr Abe wants to bring more women into top level of government, but I don’t think that is not good way.
I think Japan is not male chauvinism but female supremacy recently. If there are more women in the cabinet, they are more predominant in Japan. You may say that if there are many men in the cabinet, feminists get angry, but I think the best way of equality of the sexes is that.
At present, there isn’t the public tendency to discriminate against women in Japan, so even if there are only men in the Diet, it doesn’t become male supremacy. But how about turning this situation?
And there is more important problem. That is the policy to bring women into cabinet actively .It isn’t necessary to bring them into by force. Brilliant people must be ministers, so it should not be restricted that more women must become them. As this article, that policy brought about disaster.
I think it is good that more excellent women go into top level of government, but should stop the public tendency to bring them into government by force

yoshika

My reaction about Ukraine election a win for president’s allies

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Summary

Pro-Europe parties secured a big win in an election in Ukraine, with president Petro Poroshenko hailing people’s support for his plan to end a separatist war and pursue democratic reforms sought by the west.  He mentions that majority of voters were in favour of the political forces that support the president’s peace plan and seek a political solution to the situation in the Donbass. President Petro poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk were both taking over 21% of the votes cast from a field of 29 comparing parties.

 

Reaction

Although Pro-Europe party have secured a big win in an election in Ukraine, I don’t think Ukraine is ready to join EU because many trouble have happened in Ukraine such as Crimean crisis, the crash ofMalaysia Airlines Flight 17 and the war between Pro-Russian and Pro-European.  Therefore, domestic politics are still confused. Even they succeeded to join  EU, they would probably cause a trouble and it might confuse whole EU and the world.  I think that Ukraine should solve the problems happening inside of the country one by one carefully first, and then, try hard to join EU.

 

marina

Reaction on the independence of Scotland

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Summary:

In September 19th, there was a big voting going on in Scotland. People in Scotland gathered together and spoke up to get more supporters. Many campaigners assembled in major cities and appealed their opinions. Because of this, many people who were never involved in a politics before also became a part of campaigners for their own country’s independence. However, the result of voting was “No” to the independence. Many campaigners were disappointed with this result and seemed to lose their attention toward their independence. Yet, it turned out to be that more and more Scots were willing to involve in their independent. Scottish National Party is the major party and it now has a member of 80,000 supporters.

 

Opinion:

In my opinion, it is always difficult to have a country independent after being a part of another country. It may lead a country to many disadvantages and challenges. Economy, culture, and relationships between people are the things you have to concern in order to have independence. However, in many cases people get too enthusiastic and loose their normal temper to think about these problems. In this article, it also described how people got together and acted so eagerly. I hope this will turn out successfully and have the country a peaceful place.

 

rintaro

My comment about Chinese political corruption

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As a result of greater economic freedom, China suffers from widespread corruption including graft, bribery, embezzlement, backdoor deals, nepotism, patronage, and statistical falsification. In order to put the brakes on this increasing malversation, a key meeting of Chinese Communist Party leaders focusing on the rule of law and fighting corruption has begun in Beijing.
Xi Jinping who is the president of the party, has taken measures to fight against political corruption since assuming the position in 2013. His anti corruption campaigns are very effective and some improvements are expected. He said that no one is beyond his reach and all offender will be punished regardless of their rank.

 

I think that a swift and specific solution plan is indispensable because growing corruption among public officials produces two serious negative consequences.

First, corruption leads to socio-political instability and a legitimacy crisis for the regime.
If officials use their power to satisfy their selfish desires at the expense of public interests, people will not believe in them anymore. In consequence, their authority and legitimacy will decline and the government will lose its influence. Furthermore, corruption will lowers the moral standards and cohesion of the entire society, cause public officer’s behavior may set a bad example for society and may stimulate others to follow.

Second, corruption may disturb economic growth.
By imposing their power, corrupt officials will get a big sum of money easily. In contrast, a big majority of people in china will have to work hard for little money… Such a unfairness will probably kill people’s motivation to go to work. The death of meritocratic system means the collapse of the society. Injustice among rewards should be corrected.

In this way, corruption will have negative influences in individuals’ economic behavior and will hurt the government’s legitimacy and jeopardized economic growth. Its prevention and eradication is an absolute requirement for better social and public life in china.
HOWEVER, I want to stress that corruption is a strong temptation that any one may succumb to if we get the chance (if you are a bureaucrat for instance).
After all, politicians(who take bribes)
are neither more nor less than the representative of the Chinese Nation…
Instead of wasting time cursing at the crowd of uncountable corrupt politicians(who are their own reflexion), Chinese people may need to examine themselves.

yusuke

CURRY SPICE SAVES THE WORLD!?

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Summary: There was a new discovery that the turmeric, a type of curry spice can repair the brain cells of people with neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer.  Turmeric  can cause the expansion of two key brain regions where the growth of neurons is known to take place. As a result it helps the brain to work as usual, if the brain had some diseases. However, this discovery was just found in the laboratory experiment that was held to the rats.  Whether it works for the human or not, is still under study.

Reaction: This was really surprising news for me, because curry is one of my favorite food. I used to live in India, the country of curry. The fact that I learned there, supports the news that was told in the article I read in class. In India, people’s chance of becoming Alzheimer, is 1/4 than the possibility of Americans to become a disease such as Alzheimer. What I thought is that,  there must be some kind of correlation  between the amount of curry that Indians eat each year, and their small risks of becoming Alzheimer.

But the problem is, it is still difficult, or expensive to buy turmeric spice for curry in Japan.  This discovery was surprising , though it is not useful enough to help the diseases yet.

yuki

Equal parental leave pay for Civil Service staff

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Summary

Currently, only mothers are entitled to full pay when a couple choose to share parental leave. But all Civil Service employees will be entitled to full parental pay from April 2015. The changes will enable more fathers to spend time caring for their baby. From 2015, parents can have a fully flexible choice over how they split their 52 week parental leave entitlement. Therefore extra leave was given to employed fathers if mother returned to work and was not claiming statutory maternity pay. The changes to the Civil Service pay arrangements will allow more fathers to be able to afford to take time off to care for their children.

My opinion

I think this Civil Service is innovative, so it should be entitled as soon as possible. It is difficult and unfear that new-born children is taken care of by only mother. Many of fathers who don`t take care their children say that there are no time for taking care because they work almost day. Therefore they are supposed to take care of their children if they are given to parental leave. Some mothers want to continue their works with raising children. That is needed for father`s help. It is said to not only raising children but also housework. For these point, I think the Civil Service is good system.

yuka

Mobs assault Hong Kong protesters’ barricades

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SUMMERY
A mob who opposed to Hong Kong’s prodemocracy demonstrators assaulted on protesters’ barricades and clashed with police.
Demonstrators originated a civil disobedience movement because they objected to restriction on the first-ever direct election for the semiautonomous Chinese city’s leader. The leaders of students-led protesters require authorities to stop screening candidates and demand to resign Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, the city’s Beijing-backed leader. They declare they don’t intend to retreat from the street until authorities accept their demand.

REACTION
Hong Kong is the very place that political tension between authorities and citizens, especially students. It was only several months ago that students stayed in Hong Kong’s Diet opposed to economic policies with China. The accident was not rare, or rather students’ movements are very active in Hong Kong. I wonder why students in Hong Kong have high political awareness or what inspire them so much. In my opinion, one of the reasons is that students are the easiest group to originate social movements. Compared to workers, for example, students probably have much time to communicate, discuss, gather and unite. In addition, students do not expect personal benefits in return for participating in political movements. But still, I have many questions about why youth or students in Hong Kong are motivated to participate in politics.