Category Archives: Japan

Nagasaki Atom Bombing: 79th Anniversary: Anybody Listening?

79th anniversary of Nagasaki bombing

August 9, 2024

The event commemorates those killed when the US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city. This year’s event was boycotted by the US and UK after organizers decided not to invite the Israeli ambassador.

The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still evoke strong feelings in Japanese society, and the US has not formally apologized for the attacks
Imagd: Japan Pool/Kyodo/AP/picture alliance

Japan on Friday marked the 79th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city of Nagasaki, which left tens of thousands of people dead.

Continue reading Nagasaki Atom Bombing: 79th Anniversary: Anybody Listening?

South Korea’s Population is Collapsing; Government Is Panicking

South Korea: Hyper-Competitive and Childless

There are enough people to go around: eight billion now, compared to two billion less than a hundred years ago. Fifty-one million in South Korea, compared to only twelve million a hundred years ago. So why are South Koreans obsessed about their low birth rate?

It is certainly very low now. The average number of children a South Korean woman will have in her lifetime is just 0.72, whereas the birth rate needs to be at least 2.1 children per woman to prevent the population from falling.

Ukraine’s New War Commander & the East Asian Population Bust

 

Ukraine: The Generals Are Not The Problem

God is usually on the side of the big battalions’, Voltaire allegedly said. Not always, but ‘usually’. So how much do you want to bet?

By Gwynne Dyer, in Opinion · February 12, 2024

Coming up to the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (24 February), things aren’t looking bright for the Ukrainians, and particularly for President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The war has not been going well: Ukraine’s vaunted summer offensive sputtered out with almost no gains. Russia’s winter offensive is showing equally unimpressive results so far, but the Russians always have that four-to-one numerical superiority on their side. (After all the refugees fled, there are probably no more than 35 million people left in Ukraine.) Continue reading Ukraine’s New War Commander & the East Asian Population Bust

Nagasaki: AP News: Nagasaki marks 78th anniversary of atomic bombing with mayor urging world to abolish nuclear weapons

[Almost no one is paying attention. Voices crying in the wilderness. Luke 19: 39 Then some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “command your disciples to be quiet!”

40 Jesus answered, “I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will start shouting.”]

TOKYO (AP) — Nagasaki marked the 78th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city Wednesday with the mayor urging world powers to abolish nuclear weapons, saying nuclear deterrence also increases risks of nuclear war.

Shiro Suzuki made the remark after the Group of Seven industrial powers adopted a separate document on nuclear disarmament in May that called for using nuclear weapons as deterrence.

“Now is the time to show courage and make the decision to break free from dependence on nuclear deterrence,” Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki said in his peace declaration Wednesday, “As long as states are dependent on nuclear deterrence, we cannot realize a world without nuclear weapons.”

Continue reading Nagasaki: AP News: Nagasaki marks 78th anniversary of atomic bombing with mayor urging world to abolish nuclear weapons