I have made my choice, I am backing Fred Thompson for the 2008 Republican nomination.  As long time Republican, like since I could vote, I feel like Fred has the best credidentials in all of the important categories, national security, second amendment rights and just general Reagn-esque conservatism.  Sadly my home state of Kansas is not going to have a presidental primary, again.  Not that it matters with everybody and their mother going for front loaded primaries in the first quarter of the year.  Congress needs to step in and put in place a rotating, regioanl primary system that gives all members of each party a chance to shape their presidental ticket.  Basically the sytem that has been proposed would have each quarter of the nation hold a primary one month apart over four months, rather than the all over the map primary sytem that we have now, with the starting region changing every presidental election cycle.

Oh yeah give money to Fred 08 or put up a donate button, or get a bumper sticker etc, you get the idea.

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     Yasuo Fukuda is to be the new Prime Minister of Japan, that comes as no great shock.  He will face a difficult time in office, but hopefully he will be able to garner more public support than Abe managed.

From the Yomuiri Shimbun:

     Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda scored a comfortable victory in an election Sunday to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, which virtually guarantees that he will become the nation's next prime minister.

Fukuda wins LDP race / Will follow in footsteps of father as prime minister.

     I don't envy the job facing Fukuda, but in the end he will likely carry out the same policies as Abe, and hopefully prove rather more adept at doing so.  The first thing he needs to do is scrutinize his cabinet members very carefully.  Continual scandals among Abe's cabinet was one of the prime reasons for his downfall.

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     Sooo, I was saying that lately I have been drifting toward slice of life manga of late.  That is true but I still love a good series that is full of stuff that will simply never happen in this world.  Enchanter is a great example of this, I happened across Enchanter, much like Tetrgramaton Labyrinth by accident, the cover of volume one caught my eye and a I added it to my stack of manga.  After flipping through it a bit I knew that this was winner, with its laugh out loud humor, a fair share of action and nearly but not quite gratuitous fan service.  The main thrust of the story is about a highschool student (imagine that, a manga where the protagonist is highschool student , but I digress) named Haruhiko and the demon Eukanaria, who wants his body, and just his body.  If Eukanaria can sleep with Haruhiko she can extract his soul and replace it with the soul of her dead lover Fulcanelli, an Enchanter.  To keep this from happening happening Haruhiko takes on Fulcanelli's power and becomes an enchanter himself, keeping his soul, but having to continuosly rebut the advances of Eukanaria (who is all hips and tits), who did I mention looks just like the girl he has the hots for.  If that wern't enough there is the occansional demon attack and other stumbling blocks to a normal life being thrown at our somewhat reluctant hero.  On a curious note the distinguishing feature of enchanters is complete heterochromopathy, that is having eyes of distinctly different colors. (Digression #2, partial heterochromopathy is not uncommon, this is when one or both eyes have areas of the iris that are different shades or colors.  Complete heterochromopathy is rare in humans, but less so in certain dog and cat breeds.)  There are currently five volumes of Enchanter out from DMP, which deserves credit for sticking with the larger volume size and the use of color dust jackets, much like most manga in Japan.  I wish that was something that more companies did, but at least one company does it.

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     Sometime ago you may remember that I put up a rambling and admittedly incoherent post about how the EU was bad for the UK's national defence, well this is a hopefully rather more readable take two.

     I stand by the basic and simple premise that the UK must make a choice between being able to influence world events on her own militarily and as a result diplomatically or to subsume herself to being just one more cog in the defective European machine.  The nature of the cosequences of making the wrong choice are readily observable and nearly came to pass twenty five years ago.  The Falklands war proved that the UK was willing and capable of looking after her overseas interests without European assistance, of which none was forthcoming.  The assistance she did receive however was from her one truly reliable ally, the United States.  The help the US provided certainly helped swing the war in Britains favor, but in the end only the Brits themselves could go and take back what was rightfully theirs.  A fine quote from Admiral Sandy Woodward's* book One Hundred Days bluntly warns of the dangers of excessive European integration and entanglements even before the UK became a member of the EU.

     I can not resist a review of this whole affair.  Were I Galtieri I would have observed the Malvinas** negotiations of the last few decades and found little hope of early staisfaction.  I would have also observed that, over the same long period, there had been a progressive withdrawl of , and reduction in, British overseas military capability.  In the General's boots, I would have concluded that at some time in the not so distant future, British policy on the Falklands issue would become all shadow and no substance.

     When the cuts in the Royal Navy were announced recently, the way ahead ust have seemed clear to Galtieri, and he only needed a half reasonable excuse.  Senor Davidoff's scrap dealers and our indignant reaction to them provided just such an excuse.  Galtieri attacked.  His reasoning was as impeccable as his timing was previous.  All he had to do was wait another six months, when Hermes, Invincible, Fearless and Intrepid would all have gone...

     If the Argentinian government, or others similarly minded elsewhere, are to be deterred from this kind of military adventurism, we shall need to provide not only the mark of our resolution on the spot [a flag, a ship, a platoon].  But also the obvious wherewithal to reinforce it [mobile forces, at short readiness].

     We would not again wish to repair our mistakes the hard way.  But it was the last Defence Review that was a problem.  After the needs of the strategic nuclear deterent and the defence of the home base had been met, they decided in favor of the short term, politically expedient, continental European commitment.  This was to the detriment of Britain's long term, long established, worldwide, national interest.  This was plainly evident to Galtieri, and I doubt he was alone.

     Whatever I may have thought before, the Falklands experience has given me a new insight into the capacity of non-democratic governments for immorality and dishonesty.  That capacity is apt to be too common in this turbulent world.  What, if any, should Britain's role in all be in all of this?  It is clear enough that our traditional global policy has long suited our geographic and political interests.  That is a matter of history.  And this war has once again demonstarted that it suits our professional military capability-air, land and sea.

     Our Defence budget, of course can only buy a certain amount. But I am convinced that it ought to be spent where it can influence both European and World affairs.  It must be a mistake to place it where it can affect - and in a very limited way at that - the policies of our European neighbors only.

       The nature of the EU beast is vexingly complex and multifaceted, so much so that the definitive site on the EU, Richard North's EU Referendum has spawned a second blog just for defence issues, Defnce of the Realm check out these to great blogs and their forum for deep background and discussion on pretty much any EU related topic.  As for the topic at hand the needs of Britains distant interests have not been well served by three sucessive governments, one Conservative and two Labour.  They have invested heqavily in often inferior european made hardware that is available form others cheaper, with higher performance and a willingness to let the work be done by and large inside of the UK, creating jobs and the subsequent economic growth and wealth creation that it spurs, plus more tax revenue for the government.  And  some procurement projects that are quite frankly fiasocs of the first order, namely the Cougar Comand Liason Vehicle and the Eurofighter Typhoon, both of which are well nigh unuseable in the curent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

      The fact is that today the UK would be hard presed to recapture the Flakland Islands, while they posess plenty of the major vessels needed for the task the sharp decline of Destroyers and Frigates in the Royal Navy would leave the Phibs and Flattops open to attack, not mention the nightmarishly long fleet train required in such distant waters.  I have great personal respect for the drive and ingenuity of the individual British servicemember, but he has been let down continously since the early nineties by his Government and High Command in the name of European intergration, and sadly the cost has not just been wasted pounds and pence but caskets draped in the Union Jack.  The choice is clear to everyone involved, but no one has the courage to do what must be done to save the military capability of the mother democracy.  The people of the United Kingdom must speak loudly and with one voice, delivering a clear and concise message to their servants in Parliment that the UK free itself of the parsitic usurping European Union before it is too late.

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From the Yomuiri Shimbun:

     Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Taro Aso, who are running in Sunday's LDP presidential race, both emphasized Friday the need to submit a bill on a new law to continue Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean for U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.

     The two candidates in the LDP presidential race to pick a successor to LDP President Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, held a debate forum at the Japan National Press Club in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on the day.

     The current Antiterrorism Law, which allows the Maritime Self-Defense Force to refuel U.S., British and other military vessels in the Indian Ocean, expires on Nov. 1.

Read the whole thing here: Fukuda, Aso urge new law on refueling / Say bill should be passed in current session.

     So in the end the DPJ's intransagence may have toppled prime minister Abe but whoever succeeds him will ram through a renewal of the anti-terrorism law anyway.  The DPJ gained a tactical victory but a strategic defeat, they hurt the LDP but did not, and can not prevent them from accomplishing their goal.  In the end the outcome is the same, but the DPJ can claim that it forced concessions wether they did or not. (since the DPJ will likely regard the resignation of Abe as a form of concesion even though he could have gutted it out and pushed on ahead despite the resistance.  So in the end nothing will signifigantly change in terms of policy at the top, at least as regards the war even though the players may change.

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As you may have noticed things are changing rather quickly around here as mee.nu upgrades from Minx 1.0 to Minx 1.1.  Please bear with me as I try to figure out how to get things as I want them and  generally learn how the new model handles.  Also sorry for the rather sparse postings over the last few days, I am going to try and make up for that with a number of posts over the next three days.

Addendum, from now on all internal links in posts will be Steel Blue and all outgoing links will be either Blue for work safe sights and Yellow for non work safe sights.  All links in the sidebar will remain as they were previously

Addendum to the Addendum, Fresh From the Front links will remain Steel Blue.

Have an ecchi picture for your troubles.

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4 Israeli Air Force F-15I medium bombers, a variant of the F-15E, planes like these participated in the raid of September 6.

     The Isareli Air Force raid into Syria on the sixth has become a much more intriguing story over the last 48 hours. While originally billed as a strike at weapons bound for Hezbolah, it is clear now that the raid was aimed at a high prioity, time sensitive target that had to be destroyed and destroyed right away.  The strike was deep into eastern Syria, only 50 miles from the Iraqi border along the Euphrates river, proving to the world, and in particular Iran that the IAF is more than capable of deeply penetrating a modern intergrated air defense network.  What the actual target was is not yet entirely clear to us but the Israelis thought valuable enough to send in a commando team to recon the target and paint it with a laser designator for LGB's, rather than using JDAMs in a standoff strike.  LGBs are used when only true pinpoint accuracy will do.  While infiltarting Syrian airspace with 8 or 9 jets is impressive the helo carrying the commandos would have been hard pressed to cross from northern Israel that deeply into Syria without being detected and would have been in need of fuel even with auxiallary tanks to make the return trip.  Someone helped set this up for the Israelis, giving them a forward base to launch the ground ellement of the attack.  The most likely nation to provide that help is Turkey, given the short distances involved and the close military relationship between the two middle eastern democracies.  The other possibility is that the US allowed Israel to use a base in western Iraq as a staging point, but the needs of US policy in the region make this rather unlikely, however the Israelis would most likely have been given the OK to use one of the US held airbases in western Iraq as a divert field for any aircraft damaged in the raid. 

     So what was all this effort after, what was worthy of taking the risks and calling favors to pull this off?  While most people point to nuclear manufacturing facillities the time sensative nature of the strike makes me believe that the cash strapped North Koreans may be selling more than nuclear know how, but rather nuclear warheads.  This chilling thought is reinforced by the need for absolute precision, a uranium enrichment facillity or similar manufacturing facillities tend to be rather large and conspicous targets easily destroyed by high accuracy weapons like JDAM.  The reports we have gotten so far seem to suggest that the target was small and highly protected.  But what if all of this is just smoke and mirrors to cover up the real operation.  If the Israelis believed that the North Koreans had moved a viable nuclear weapon to Syria for use against them or transhipment to Iran attacking from the air would not be enough, there would always be the chance that weapon was merely damaged rather than destroyed.  It is my personal belief that the comandos actually went in and seized something and the IAF followed up to destroy evidence of that seizure and to provide a credible and for the Syrians and North Koreans unassailable cover story unless the come completely clean with what was going on there, which is more than highly unlikely.

An Israeli AF F-16C, F-16s likely provided cover for the F-15Is and provided SEAD* support for the raid.

*SEAD=Supression of Enemy Air Defenses

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New York City Firefighters raisng the American flag at ground Zero 9-11-01

Six years, six long hard years have passed since that terrible morning that will forever be etched into my memory, I know exactly where I was when I first heard the news, as I am sure many of you do as well.  This is the only post for today.  Today is reminder of why we fight, to protect against something like this from ever happening again.  Here is why we fight, SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 VICTIMS all 2996 reasons.  You are in our hearts and minds, always inspiring us to go froward and do what must be done so you will not have died in vain.

Flight 93 Memorial Stone, Shanksville Pennsylvania

Firefighters and Military Personel unfurling the American flag at the pentagon, 9-12-01

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     Politicians as a group tend to be a rather slimy bunch, no matter what part of the world the hail from, so it is always nice to see one who is willing to stand on principle and do the right thing, even it were to mean the end of their career.  So it is with Japanese prime Minister Abe as the following story and editorial from the Yomiuri Shimbun detail. Abe pledges to continue MSDF mission / Promises Bush he'll fight for refueling issue.(story) and Shirking the war on terror not an option.(editorial)

JDS Karuma, DDH-144

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From First Multi-National Force Iraq, Defend America and Marine Link.

Airmen, Marines Deliver 'Buffaloes'  Ground troops get new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

Marines, Iraqis Sweep Area for Insurgents.

U.S. Soldiers, Iraqis Re-open Elementary School, Renovated school includes Internet room with 12 computers.

Soldiers Help Iraqis Rebuild Pump Station.

A sobering look at Iraq war’s heroes.

Iraq’s new justice unfolds in a fortress.

Sunni Arab secular bloc returns to Iraqi Parliament.

General honors pioneers of 555th.

In 24-hr battle, Hawr Rajab turns on al-Qaeda.

Soldiers capture car bomb cell leader.

Iraqi and U.S. Security Forces engage terrorists in Samarra.

Coalition airpower supports Coalition ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iraq seeks oil output of 6 million bpd within decade.

Guard your secrets with your life, and in so doing protect the life of another!

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     I find it interesting how my preferences in the genre of reading material has evolved over the years, it paints a picture of a steady but evolutionary change in what I find interesting.  While I still read and enjoy some titles that I first began following years ago I have noticed that over the past year to 18 months my tatses have shifted more toward series driven by carachters and plot than say out and out action or comedy.  I still enjoy those series, and still follow them closely but the stories I seem to enjoy the most are those that are about normal people in normal circumstances.  My favorites in this genre are varried but share the similar thread that they revolve around normal people with normal problems and concerns. They are in no particular order Genshiken, Suzuka, Pastel, School Rumble and Welcome to the N.H.K.

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NFL Week One, In the Books, well almost.

     The first week of the NFL season is over, except for the monday night double header, which should be interesting but some things have been learned that paint an intriguing picture for the rest of the season.

1.  The Eagles are not as good as most people thought.  Green Bay has a good team but Philly was the decided favorite coming into todays game, more troubling for than the two costly special teams turnovers was their anemic offensive preformance, scoring just 13 points, that isn't going to cut it from week to week in a tight division like the NFC East.

2.  The jury is still out on the Lions, the beat Oakland today, and they nearly blew the game to the Raiders so I am still sceptical of them winning more than 6 or 7 games this year.

3.  Brett Favre is ageless.  The Packers should just go ahead and give him a lifetime contract, since he apparently woun't retire until he dies at this rate, so save us the offseason drama.

4. New England is still really good, but they may yet have problems with Randy Moss and no one else at wide out and the injuries on the defensive side of the ball.

5a.  The Cowboys have a lot of offense, running up 45 points on the Giants tonight, but the banged up secondary is a problem.  Overall their defense needs to tighten up against the deep ball.  The 'Boys offense will be frightening once Terry Glenn comes back from his injury next week or the week after.

5b.  Tony Romo is a stud, 4 TD passes, 1 TD run, 345 yds of passing, 11 yds of rushing and 1 Int, come on Jerry, give Tony a long term contract already.

6.  Eli Manning is really good, but even that probably won't save Tom Caughlin's job, the Giants need a playoff win or Caughlin is out the door contract extension or otherwise.

7.  The Steelers are back and are looking to prove that last year was in fact an abberation.

8.  The Redskins are better, but by how much? And ditto their opponent today Miami.  Both of them palyed well with Washington wining in over time but questions remain for both teams.

9.  The Browns suck, pick a QB and stick with him, but don't play the savior from South Bend untill next year.  That year on the sidelines is one of the best ways to teach a rookie QB the NFL game.

10.  St. Lois was complacent and believed a little to much of their own hype and failed to take Carolina seriously and they lost as a result, that should not happen again.  For Carolina they need to keep it at a high level all year and not play down to their opponents level like last year, that cost them 4 games and a playoff spot.

11.  Chicago's offense is their achilles heel, they held San Diego to only 14 points, but managed just 3 themselves, this when Rex Grossman gave a good preformance, givimg up a single Int that was more the fault of the reciever than his own.  If Grossman plays well and they still can't score points they will have a long and dissapointing season.

12.  Vince Young just wins, he did it at Texas in collage and he is doing it in Tennesee with the Titans, look for the Titans to make it to the post season this year.

13.  Kansas City was mistaken in letting Trent Green go.  Green was the best of all their QB's and they will miss him for  quite a while.

14.  The Texans seem to be pulling it together after their fresh start, they convincingly beat the Chiefs, showing a smart, aggresive defense that will keep them in games that changes to their offensive should now be better equipped to capitalize on and bring home some wins.

      Overall the opening weekend played out about how one expected, with a lot of close games and a couple of real blow outs.  Now to see how the teams playing on monday fare to get a complete picture of each division and who looks like the likely winner and loser of those races now that we will have had a chance to see all 32 teams play games that actually mean something.  So on a final note I say:

GO COWBOYS!!

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     While I am certainlly no fan of the ACLU, there are times when they serve their intended purpose of helping to protect the rights of individuals when the governement attempts to violate them.  Sadly Japan is lacking an ACLU or  CBLDF* .  Yet more unconstitutional and unethical actions by the Japanese police, being aided and abetted by the courts no doubt.  A brief overview from Hisei Democracy.

     In the light of the recent arrest of a doujin artist on obscenity charges we take a look back at the past five years in the history of free speech regulation and litigation vis a vis drawn pornography in Japan. We examine the current state of affairs and speculate as to the fate of the free speech right enshrined in article 13 of Japan’s constitution, one that now seems to rest on a very fragile footing indeed.

     The first challenge to freedom of artistic expression came in the fall of 2002 in the form of the arrest of manga artist Beauty Hair as well as the president and editor in chief of Shobunkan Co. for the publication of eromanga compilation Misshitsu. This was the first ever arrest on obscenity grounds of a mangaka, and resulted in a prison sentence (later reduced to a fine) for the publishing house president. Icarus has coverage of the recent developments in the case, as does ComiPress. As Simon of Icarus points out, Beauty Hair is still active and his more recent work is readily available (albeit highly censored compared to earlier fare).

And a brief bit of background from the Icarus Publishing Blog.

     The irony is that there had been no significant obscenity case for several decades up until recently, because censors were finding themselves on the losing end in both the judicial court and the court of public opinion.  Had they continued pushing, the Japanese obscenity statute could have been in danger of being repealled completely.  But with the Misshitsu case, in which the judge flat-out ignored pro-defense testimony from legal and social experts, the moral crusaders and prosecutors found new life.  So while such cases are never good for the individuals involved, the very tiny potential silver lining is that this may get the public to pay attention to the issue of free speech again, and perhaps the question of whether article 175 has any place in modern Japan may be settled once and for all.

      So what is it I mean by the acts of Japanese governement being unconstitutional, I shall explain in detail.  First let us examine the appropriate section of the Japanese criminal code, namely Article 175 of Chapter XXII of the Criminal Code of 1907, as Amended, March 08, 2006.

Article 175. (Distribution of Obscene Objects)
A person who distributes, sells or displays in public an obscene document, drawing or other objects shall be punished by imprisonment with work for not more than 2 years, a fine of not more than 2,500,000 yen or a petty fine. The same shall apply to a person who possesses the same for the purpose of sale.

     The first noteable thing about this article is the lack of definition of just what is obscene, this is the first area where the constitutionality of the law comes into question.  In the US this law would be struck down for being "Vague and Overly Broad".  Meaning that the lack of a clear definition of what obscenity is allows for too many contradictory and conflicting definitions as to what would constitute a violation of the law.  What is rather insidous and odious about Japanese obscenity law is how it is enforced as defined, or rather not defined by Section 1, Article 180 of Chapter XXII of the criminal code.

     Article 180. (Complaints)
(1) The crimes prescribed for in Articles 176 through Article 178 and attempts of the above-mentioned crimes shall be prosecuted only upon complaint.
(2) The provision of the preceding paragraph shall not apply when the crimes proscribed under Article 176, paragraph 1 of Article 178 or attempts of the above-mentioned crimes are committed jointly by two or more persons who are at the scene of crime.

      The deliberate absence of Article 175 in Section 1 of Article 180 means that rather than requiring a complaint from a citizen to the police, the police themselves may charge such a violation of their own volition.  In concept this meant only to happen when such an act ocurs in plain view of an officer, otherwise most  such actions would be based upon a complaint.  The Japanese police however have shown of late that they are, likely with the encouragement of prosecutors and possibly judges, seeking out what they see as violations of Article 175.  This is to turn the whole concept of innocent until proven guilty on its ear, when the police stop being impartial investigators and actively seek out violations of the law that are not based upon strict technical definitions (like speeding, running a stop sign, shoplifting etc) they are to an extent acting as judge and jury because the have to make a personal judgement as to wether or not the material in question is in their opinion a violation of Article 175.

      One thing that I found most disturbing while reading the Japanese criminal code was the utter lack of definitions as to just what a specific crime entails, and what acts must comitted and conditions must be met to establish a finding of guilt.  This is even more disturbing given that there is currently no form of Jury trial in Japan.  The amount of discretion left in the hands of judges who acting both as finders of guilt and innocence and the decider of points of law and referee between defense and prosecution creates a system that prevents the judge from acting in an impartial manner.  This concern for definitions is no small manner, US laws at both the state and federal levels contain very exacting definitions as to what constitutes a crime and what acts are not crimes and even what certain documents are.  An example from the Kansas Annotated Statues, Chapter 22, Criminal Procedure, Article 22, General Definitions:

(4) "Arrest" means the taking of a person into custody in order that the person may be forthcoming to answer for the comission of a crime.  The giving of  a notice to appear is not an arrest.

(8) "Complaint" means a written statement under oath of the essential facts constituting a crime, except that a citation or notice to appear issued by a law enforcement officer pursuant to and in compliance with K.S.A. 8-2106 and amendments thereto or a citation or notice to appear issued pusuant to and in compliance with K.S.A. 32-1049 shall be deemed a valid complaint if it is signed by the law enforcement officer.

       Now we come to the heart of the matter, the fact that Article 175 is a clear violation of at least one Article of the Japanese constitution and very likely two others as well.  The clear violation is the absolute right to free speech and the clause preventing censorship in Article 21:

Article 21
Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed.  No censorship shall be maintained, nor shall the secrecy of any means of communication be violated.

      The clarity here is without question, the fact that the Government has enforced censorship upon artists in the name of preventing obscenity is in clear violation of the second sentence of Article 21.  What is all the more agregious is that the Japanese courts have failed in their duty to throw out Article 175 as unconstitutional prior restraint, legally the most offensive form of censorship.  The people have the right to draw whatever they wish, which includes people having sex and showing all of the details up close and personal wether some judge or prosecutor likes it or not.  As for the other two Articles that may be violated by Article 175 are Articles 11 and 13.

Article 13
All of the people shall be respected as individuals. Their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness shall, to the extent that it does not interfere with the public welfare, be the supreme consideration in legislation and in other governmental affairs.

 Article 11
The people shall not be prevented from enjoying any of the fundamental human rights. These fundamental human rights guaranteed to the people by this Constitution shall be conferred upon the people of this and future generations as eternal and inviolate rights.

      The violation of Articles 11 and 13 are subtle but very real, the people being charged are having their rights violated by the government which both articles forbid.  Additionally the guarantee to fundamental human rights includes the frredom of speech and of the press so Article 175 would be unconstitutional for this reason even if Article 21 didn't exsist.  Article 11 plays the same roll here as the ninth amendemnt in the US Bill of Rights, acting as a catch all to aknowledge and reserve to the people any rights not enumerated elsewhere.   The outcome of this case is going to very instructive as to just where Japan is headed in terms of future censorship and what the public at large will do to see to it that their rights are not violated by their government.  I hope that this case will ignite a public debate as to wether Article 175 has any place in the modern net connected world where uncensored porn is a click away.  Conversely I am not too optimistic about the public response, the Japanese as consensus driven society tend to go along with whatever the government puts forward without to much opposition, this along with a lack of strong organizations to help the victims of censorship means that this guy is in for a long and rather rough, not to mention expensive ride through the often questionable Japanese legal system.  I wish him luck, because he is going to need it.

*CBLDF= The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, they fight these kinds of cases here in the US.  The do very good work, go to their website, and please make a donation, its tax deductable to boot.

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From Fox News:

Family Loses Second Son in Iraq. (Note link to video)

     There is not a whole lot one can say about this, two sons from one family, seven sons from one small town.  My thoughts and prayers are with their families.  Lets us see to it that their sacrifice upon the altar of freedom has not been in vain, let us once more recomitt ourselves to achieving victory.

May these honored dead find peace in death that they knew not in life.

(photo from the Arlington National Cemetery website.)

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Giant sized edition with stories from:  First Multi-National Force Iraq, Defend America, Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa and Defense Link.

From Iraq:

Soldiers remember Iraqi man’s sacrifice that saved their lives.

Concerned citizen leads Coalition Forces to large cache of nitric acid.

Iraqi Doctors, Medics Treat Fellow Iraqis.

Iraqi Air Force Conducts First Mission Without U.S. Help.

Volunteers Take Oath for Service to Country.

Road leads to success, confidence restored in Tal ‘Afar.

Coalition Outpost Washash established.

Aid station’s doors open to Iraqi children.

Coalition generals announce progress in Iraq.

Ancient University Opens Rebuilt Student Center.

Dragons found house rigged to explode, caches.

From Afghanistan:

Reconstruction Team to Build 29 Schools.

U.S. Soldiers, Afghans Celebrate Independence.

Airmen Teach Afghan Police Hand-to-Hand Combat.

Local Afghan "Cop" Show a Big Success.

Team Delivers Medical Aid to Afghans.

Afghan, Coalition Forces Offer Assistance.

Army Chief of Staff Visits Afghanistan.

From Africa:

EMF Sailor returns home to Djibouti to support U.S. military mission.

CJTF-HOA Partners with Islamic Relief USA, UPDF to Coordinate Humanitarian Aid for War-Torn Somalia.

U.S. military women reach out to Djiboutian women through discussion.

6th PSC does more than just guard the perimeter.

Through hard work, sacrifice and courage victory will be ours, for our patience knows no bounds and our dedication to our cause is unwavering.

Posted by: raging tachikoma at 09:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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     This is a good read, but I have to take issue with some of the analysis and pre-occupation with the UN.  Still though go read it and tell me what you think.

Collective self-defense and collective security: what the differences mean for Japan.

 

     Collective self-defense is authorized, along with individual self-defense, by Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. Put simply, if a country in the international system has suffered an armed attack, then any other country has the right, but not the duty, to use armed force against the aggressor in reliance upon the principle of collective self-defense.

     The only preconditions, in addition to the determination that an armed attack has occurred or is irrevocably in motion, are that the use of force is deemed necessary, that the force is proportionate to that used in the attack or the threat posed, and that it is immediate.

     What is crucial to recognize here, however, is that there is no requirement that the U.N. Security Council make any prior determinations, much less authorize the use of force. Thus, if Canada were to launch an armed attack against the United States, to take a far-fetched hypothetical example, and Japan was permitted under its constitution to exercise the right of collective self-defense, then it could use force against Canada under international law (regardless of whether Japan had a mutual security treaty with the U.S.).

     So long as the Japanese government itself came to the conclusion that the U.S. had indeed been the victim of an armed attack, Japan would be free to use force against Canada in reliance on collective self-defense (though the Security Council or the International Court of Justice could subsequently find that the use of force was unjustified, as happened to the U.S. in the case Nicaragua v. The United States of America).

     In contrast, collective security involves the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security, as authorized by the U.N. Security Council under Chapter VII, and specifically Article 42, of the U.N. Charter. There need be no "armed attack" as a conditional precedent, but merely a determination by the Security Council that there is a threat to the peace, a breach of the peace, or an act of aggression, such that the use of force or other measures are required to maintain or restore international peace and security.

     So the scope of collective security operations is much broader and the threshold for its use much lower, than for collective self-defense; but states may not act unilaterally, singly or together, under the guise of collective security. Authorization by the U.N. Security Council is necessary.

    The continuing debate both within and outside of Japan as to her future role militarily in the world is slowly but surely beginning to gather momentum.  While many of her neighbors and more than a few of her own citizens would like to continue Japan's reliance upon others for her security it becomes ever more obvious that this can no longer be the case.   The author of this piece misses what is really one of they key facts in the modern world, that institutions like the UN aren't worth the price of the paper their charters are written on.  After all what exactly an amended article nine does or doesn't allow for is entirely dependant upon the interpritation of the then current Japanese government.  That is the key issue here, not what the constitution says but what the government believes it says.  Words are open to differing interpritations, and those interpritations often play a large part in crafting what actions the Japanese government does and does not take.  The author is confusing the words of document of no worth, the UN charter with that of tremendous worth and importance, the costitution of a sovereign nation.  Even the oldest and most straight forward of political documents must be interpritated to apply them to the modern world.  One of the primary duties of the US Supreme court is to provide guidance and interpritation of the US Constitution when the meaning of an article or amendment is at controversy.  The real world has a nasty way of making the utopian ideals of the past and present reveal themsleves for the terrible and misguided things that they are.  How you interpret the words of a constitution can allow you to do things that are completely contridictory to the clear meaning of the words contained there in.

    If I maybe be a bit unrealistic here for a moment but the Japanese could in theory take action against the taliban and al qaeda since Japanese nationals were killed in the attack on the twin towers.  This could be justified by simply taking the position that an attack upon a nation's citizens by a foriegn power is an ipso facto attack upon the nation as a whole.  Article nine as it now exsists forbids the use of war and the right of beligerency, but this can be avoided by using a term other than war to descibe  what is in effect war.  After all according to the Truman administration there wasn't a war in Korea but rather a Police Action.

For the record her is the exact wording of article nine as it is now, quoted from Wikipedia: (quoted sections in blue)

ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

And to effect this it is furthered by section 2 which forbids the posession of a military.

In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

     From a strictly legal point of view the Japanese goverment has been in violation of section 2 of the article since 1949, but have avoided that issue by deft symantic footwork.  If symantics can allow for the poseesion of a military without removing article nine then I see no reason to see why it can't allow for their use as it stands now.  Still the need to amend or remove article nine is needed if simply to remove any calls of hypocracy when Japan makes use of her military power.  It needs to be said that should it come down to it the Japanese would make use of their military regardless of what article nine does or doesn't say if the survival of the nation depended upon it.  The most likely case for this is in the event of a North Korean invasion of South Korea, which would include strikes at US forces in Japan and as a result attacks upon Japanese forces the share facilities with and given the poor quality if the NK's weaponry the Japanese populace at large.  No nation can afford to ignore such a provocation if it wishes to remain a credible power in the eyes of her own citizens and the world.  The final analysis is that Japan should simply accept that article nine and other vestiges of high minded world peace idealism were a bad idea when they were included in the postwar conctitution and are even more dangerous and damaging in the unsettled world that she now finds herself residing in.

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:And to think some people want socialised healthcare in this country.

Miscarriage follows ambulance crash after nine hospitals turn woman away.

      Some things are almost to hard to believe, yet this really did happen, and the consequences for the person involved will be more than just physical.  This type of loss carries with it real and lasting emotional scars that will fade with time but never disappear.  As for the hospitals who turned this poor woman away may their directors of emergency medicine rot in the very worst part of hell usually reserved for terrorists and child molesters.  I hope that this and similar incidents will spur the Japanese government into sanctioning the hospitals who refused a patient needing treatment.  The duty of physician is to first do no harm, and that includes providing a safe enviroment for those in need of care, not allowing them to spend hours in ambulance running from place to place in vain while their condition worsens.  The first hour is called the golden hour for a very good reason.  If you treat someone within one hour of a medical emergency their chances of survival go up something like eighty percent.  I can not fault the paramedics here, they did their utmost to find proper treatment for this poor woman who required much more sophisticated and specialised care than they could offer. 

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From First Multi-National Force Iraq:

Clearing operations in Samarra strike hard at insurgency.

Public Healthcare Clinic opens; one of five in Kirkuk.

New sewer system supports east Baghdad residents.

3-1 Cavalry denies enemy sanctuary in Jisr Diyala.

11 terrorists killed, six suspects detained in Coalition operations.

Operation Lightning Hammer disrupts al-Qaeda in Diyala.

Military refutes reported Coalition confrontation in Baghdad mosque.

1-15 Infantry finds, destroys large enemy cache.

Iraqi citizens escape makeshift prison, CF find remains.

Freedom can only be maintained through constant vigilance against those that would seek to deny it to those that do not have and to steal it from those that already possess it.

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From Fox News

    

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. â€”  Make it three straight Little League World Series championships for the United States.

Dalton Carriker homered to right in the bottom of the eighth inning as Warner Robins, Ga., beat Tokyo 3-2 in a thrilling title game on Sunday.

The 12-year-old Carriker raised his arms in celebration after hitting a 2-1 pitch from Japan's Junsho Kiuchi over the right-field stands. "USA! USA!" cried the Georgia-partisan crowd.

Columbus, Ga., won the crown last year, and Ewa Beach, Hawaii, in 2005.

Full Story Here

     Congratulations to the team from Warner-Robbins and to the team from Tokyo.  This story is refreshing after several days of seemingly enedless Michael Vick coverage on the sports channels.  These kids play simply for the joy of playing and that is the purest of reasons and makes all of the teams winners in my book.

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World backs U.S. war on terror / Fight against Al-Qaida, Taliban U.S.-led, but supported by intl community

As debate in the upper house of the Japanese Parliment continues about wether or not to extend Japan's special law allowing the MSDF to assist in operations supporting allied forces in Afghanistan  it is reassuring to see that some people still have their heads screwed on straight.  Not much more to say except go read the editorial, it is a couple days old but still pertinent and a good reminder that their a hell of lot more people that want us to succeed rather than fail.

Picture of a T-28 Trojan for no particular reason other than its a cool pic.

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