Is Japan a Racist Country?

The answer by most Japanese would be "No, there is only one race in Japan." And if one thinks about it that is technically a valid answer. But then one only has to watch TV Osaka's long-running きらきらアフロ2011 or "Glistening Afro" television show and you may see some 'comic' scenes like this:



See Rarge Size

See also: Japanese Engrish Teacher Teaches Engrish

2011 North Korean Amateur Open Results

In case you missed it the first ever North Korean Amateur Open golf tournament was held last month at the Pyongyang Golf complex.



Olli Lehtonen from Finland was the overall winner with an individual score of 84. Lehtonen and fellow Finlander Johannes Raitio finished first in the doubles tourney with a joint score of 72. Below is a French video by Frederic Stevens showing scenes from Pyongyang and some footage of the tournament:



According to the Chosun Ilbo another player recently said that there were about 30 female caddies at the complex in their 20s or 30s, many of them graduates of the prestigious Kim Il-sung University. "Caddies were beautiful and considerate," he said. "After I finished playing golf, I came out of the shower at the club house, and there was a woman dressed in traditional Korean costume holding a towel. I instantly wondered whether there was another service waiting for me, but there was no 19th hole."

The Pyongyang Golf complex is the legendary course which was opened by Kim Jong Il in 1987. On that day, in his first ever round of golf, Kim shot a world-record 38 under par with 11 holes in one!




See also: From North Korea: 'Pyongyang Style' by Steve Gong

The Kills 'Baby Says' Live at SXSW

From their recently released new album Blood Pressures, here is The Kills performing 'Baby Says' live at this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas:





See more about this very popular band at The Kills Official Website

STOP THE INTERNET KILL SWITCH!

Dear Friends,

Have you heard about the “internet kill switch”? It gives governments the technical or legal power to cut off their entire country’s internet access, and it’s no longer just a pipedream of dictators, but a very real threat to all of us who use the internet around the world.

Egypt used it last week, Austria’s already got it, the U.S. has a law drafted to establish it, while other governments across the globe are testing to see how easily they could plunge their country into an information blackout. And they can do it one of two ways: either by creating the legal authority that gives them the power to demand that the internet service providers (ISPs) operating in their country shut down, or by configuring a “switch” that controls their country’s entire internet infrastructure.

Just because we use the internet everyday, doesn’t mean we always will be able to do so. A global movement of internet users can help stop our governments (democratic and authoritarian alike) from acquiring an internet kill switch, but only if we act fast. Add your name to our global "Stop the Switch" petition, which we'll deliver to those countries considering the switch and globally to the United Nations, which is meeting soon to discuss freedom of speech online:

https://www.accessnow.org/Stop-the-Switch

From Australia to Zimbabwe, we see how vital access to the internet, both on computers and mobile phones, is for people to freely express themselves. An internet kill switch puts your ability to communicate with friends and family online in jeopardy by placing control over the internet firmly into the hands of your government, who may not necessarily have your interests and rights in mind when they flip the switch.

With the U.S. just a few votes away from giving President Obama and any of his successors ultimate control over the country’s internet access, imagine what is being considered in other countries across the world. We need a global internet uprising to protect our rights, and we are starting at the top with the United Nations. Please join our call before the internet kill switch becomes the global norm:

https://www.accessnow.org/Stop-the-Switch

As online communication becomes an increasingly important part of all aspects of our lives, governments have sought to censor, filter, surveil, and now, shut off access to these vital tools. Just imagine if your government decided to switch your internet -- and you -- off.

In Egypt, using powers granted to Mubarak under emergency law, the government was able to shut off the internet with a couple of phone calls to each of the internet service providers (ISPs) operating in Egypt. Egyptians employed innovative work-arounds to avoid the shutdown like using international dial-up, but do we really want to resort to that? Lets draw a line in the sand as governments around the world race to acquire an "internet kill switch."

Governments habitually put their own survival above the well being of their people. The only real deterrent to the internet kill switch is us -- a global movement for digital freedom; please join the international campaign to “Stop the Switch!”


https://www.accessnow.org/Stop-the-Switch

With hope,
The Access Team

P.S. If you missed our live web symposium last week on The Middle East, The Revolution, & The Internet, you can watch it at: https://www.accessnow.org/policy-activism/press-blog/The-Middle-East-The-Revolution-And-The-Internet

P.P.S. You can also read Access' open letter to Vodafone's CEO here: https://www.accessnow.org/policy-activism/press-blog/open-letter-from-access-to-the-ceo-of-vodafone

For more information on the internet kill switch see:

http://opennet.net/blog/2011/01/egypt%E2%80%99s-internet-blackout-extreme-example-just-time-blocking

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/05/INO91HHD7P.DTL

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/global-net-crackdown-to-shatter-utopian-internet-experts-20110204-1ag3i.html?from=smh_sb

http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/egypt-leaves-the-internet.shtml

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20029282-281.html