imafraidofamericans
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Heated Toilet Seats and State-Sanctioned Murder!
Tuesday, 25 September 2007, Sendai Voice by Timothy Harada
When coming to a foreign land, it is often easy to fall into the trap of labeling things that you are not used to seeing in your own country as "primitive."
I remember when I first came to Japan, and I tried to squat down to go to the bathroom in a hole in the ground, I thought, "Damn, is this a 3rd world country?" However, my Japanese wife, when visiting the US for our December wedding was shocked that none of the toilet seats in Southern California are heated, like many are in Japan during the winter. We may easily criticize foreign customs in foreign countries as "barbaric" or "primitive," if we are not used to those customs in our own country. However, I don't think we can fairly label one country as either "primitive," "barbaric" or "civilized" simply by what contraptions they utilize or what cultural customs they follow. It is far worse, however, to label countries as "evil," as the so-called "president" of my country has labeled a few other countries (1).
Nevertheless, it is important for conscientious people of all countries to examine critically the actions of all countries (especially their own), and to criticize those actions that are truly barbaric, such as the action of demonizing other countries. This should be done without having to criticize the people of any given country, who in many ways are not always personally responsible for the actions of their particular governments. As a US citizen, I feel it is very important for me to examine the actions of my own government, even though I didn't vote them into power. When the "president (2)" of my country calls a group of countries (North Korea, Iran and Iraq) "the Axes of Evil," it is imperative that I, as a conscientious citizen of the US, look critically at such a statement.
Since Bush has never offered any reasonable explanation as to why these 3 countries are "evil," I am left to try to come up with my own explanations. I have tried with my limited resources to examine the countries that Bush labeled "evil," to see if there is possibly anything that they may all share in common, that may make them seem "evil" in the eyes of an uneducated person like George W. Bush. These three countries don't share a common religion; they don't have similar customs for going to the restroom. They definitely don't all possess nuclear weapons (as the International IAEA inspectors in Iraq proved before the US illegally invaded it, and as that illegal invasion verified. The same I'm sure is true of Iran.) Regardless of Bush's many ignorant attempts to make links to two of these nations, NONE OF THEM had any connection to 9/11.
Though I'm definitely not an expert on any of the 3 countries, the only thing that I could find that they all shared is that they all practice what many refer to as "state-sanctioned murder," otherwise known as "capital punishment." Of all the customs that one can consider as either "primitive" or "civilized," Kansai Time Out Magazine says, "Capital punishment, according to many critics, is what separates the primitive nations from the civilized (3)." Ok, though I wouldn't go as far as calling the 3 nations "evil," I would have to admit that their governments are still primitive in their continued use of this barbaric practice. This then leaves me with having to compare this barbaric practice in these three so-called "evil" nations with that same barbaric practice in other nations.
First, looking at some of the countries that ALTs come from, we see that Canada joined the civilized world in 1976, when it outlawed the death penalty. South Africa too became civilized, after ending the long brutal history of Apartheid, when it voted in 1995 to no longer kill its own citizens. All European Countries, during the 1900s, banned the death penalty; so has Australia and New Zealand. In addition, many countries in Africa, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, Asia and South America have also now all decided that the death penalty is too barbaric for their country to keep legally sanctioning. Included among these Newly Civilized Countries (NCCs) are: Venezuela (1863), Honduras (1956), Haiti (1987), Cambodia (1989), Mozambique (1990), the Slovak Republic (1990), Nepal (1990), Macedonia (1991), Djibouti (1995), Azerbaijan (1998), Turkey (2002), Mexico (2005), and the Philippines (2006) (4). In all, "Amnesty International reports that… 222 countries, including almost all Western nations, have eliminated the death penalty (or restrict it to exceptional circumstances) (5)."
However, despite having developed heated toilet seats, with its continued sanctioning of the death penalty, the Japanese government is still not considered any more civilized than the countries bush labeled as "evil" by many death penalty critics. According to the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center (HRDC), "Japan is one of the only two industrialized democracies that use the death penalty currently; there are 57 people on death row [in Japan] waiting to be executed, and approximately an additional 50 inmates [in Japan] whose death sentences are still under appeal." The UN Human Rights Committee and the Council of Europe have both condemned Japan's death penalty practices (6).
Unfortunately, I am from that only other "industrialized democrac[y]" that the HRDC refers to above that still kills its own citizens, the US. As the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Reports, "84 countries continue to kill their citizens, among them the United States. The US ranks fifth in how many people it executes, placing it slightly behind Iran and ahead of Afghanistan (7)." In this regard, the US is similar to only a few other countries where ALTs come from, like Thailand, Trinidad-Tobago, Singapore and Jamaica that all still legally kill their citizens. Unlike Japan, however, many states in the US have finally realized the savagery of hanging their own citizens. Though most states in the US (except only Washington and Delaware [8]) prefers more sanitized ways of disposing of their "unwanted" citizens, like lethal injection and electric chairs, the US government's puppet regime in Iraq showed the whole world how truly savage hanging was, when footage was leaked out on the internet of the hanging of the former leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. In fact, the new US puppet government of Iraq has carried out over 54 hangings since the US put them in power (also 8).
In all fairness, however, to the Japanese government (for being one of the very few governments left that still hang their citizens), it should be required when comparing one form of state-sanctioned murder, to also include a debate on other forms of state-sanctioned murder. Regardless of the justifications given for killing so-called, "criminals, who may kill again," all the excuses for why nations should continue killing their own citizens don't stand up to the even more barbaric act of killing other nation's citizen (especially innocent civilians), which occurs when a nation decides to use the most barbaric form of state-sanctioned murder, the act of war. Perhaps it is quite ironic that the only nation to outlaw war as a form of national policy was Japan (under US military occupation), when it adopted article 9 of its current constitution. Though many warmongers over the centuries have claimed that they were carrying out wars against other nations, to "civilize" those nations, the forced adoption of article 9 in Japan's post-World War II constitution is probably the only truly civilizing example that the US can attest to accomplishing as an outcome of war. In this one area (the outlawing of war), the Japanese government can be considered far more civilized than any other government.
However, the greater irony (or rather, tragedy) lies in the fact that the US government and it continued war mongering, has been the biggest factor in driving a debate in the Japanese government to reconsider its antiwar constitution. Though many peace activist in Japan and elsewhere, have hailed article 9 of Japan's constitution, as an example of the most civilized form of jurisprudence, thanks to the Japanese government's subservient relationship with the US (in it's so-called "War on Terror [the most oxymoronic idea ever created, as war is the greatest form of terrorism]") many inside and outside of Japan are pushing Japan to remove this one most civilizing aspect of Japanese law.
Though Japan may have heated toilet seats, as they are "one of the only two industrialized democracies that use the death penalty currently" (as the HRDC wrote), and they are one of the last nations in the world that still hangs it's citizens, perhaps Japanese politicians, who are trying to bring back Japan's ability to use state-sanctioned murder on people of other nations, are vying with the US to be even more uncivilized than those nations the US claims to be "evil."
1. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
2. My conscience only allows me to call George W Bush the "president" in quotes, because all serious studies I've examined of the elections of 2000 and 2004 prove to me that he wasn't elected to office by popular vote, and therefore can't be considered a "president," under the definition offered in the US constitution.
3. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
4. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
5. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
6. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
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8. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
Tuesday, 25 September 2007, Sendai Voice by Timothy Harada
When coming to a foreign land, it is often easy to fall into the trap of labeling things that you are not used to seeing in your own country as "primitive."
I remember when I first came to Japan, and I tried to squat down to go to the bathroom in a hole in the ground, I thought, "Damn, is this a 3rd world country?" However, my Japanese wife, when visiting the US for our December wedding was shocked that none of the toilet seats in Southern California are heated, like many are in Japan during the winter. We may easily criticize foreign customs in foreign countries as "barbaric" or "primitive," if we are not used to those customs in our own country. However, I don't think we can fairly label one country as either "primitive," "barbaric" or "civilized" simply by what contraptions they utilize or what cultural customs they follow. It is far worse, however, to label countries as "evil," as the so-called "president" of my country has labeled a few other countries (1).
Nevertheless, it is important for conscientious people of all countries to examine critically the actions of all countries (especially their own), and to criticize those actions that are truly barbaric, such as the action of demonizing other countries. This should be done without having to criticize the people of any given country, who in many ways are not always personally responsible for the actions of their particular governments. As a US citizen, I feel it is very important for me to examine the actions of my own government, even though I didn't vote them into power. When the "president (2)" of my country calls a group of countries (North Korea, Iran and Iraq) "the Axes of Evil," it is imperative that I, as a conscientious citizen of the US, look critically at such a statement.
Since Bush has never offered any reasonable explanation as to why these 3 countries are "evil," I am left to try to come up with my own explanations. I have tried with my limited resources to examine the countries that Bush labeled "evil," to see if there is possibly anything that they may all share in common, that may make them seem "evil" in the eyes of an uneducated person like George W. Bush. These three countries don't share a common religion; they don't have similar customs for going to the restroom. They definitely don't all possess nuclear weapons (as the International IAEA inspectors in Iraq proved before the US illegally invaded it, and as that illegal invasion verified. The same I'm sure is true of Iran.) Regardless of Bush's many ignorant attempts to make links to two of these nations, NONE OF THEM had any connection to 9/11.
Though I'm definitely not an expert on any of the 3 countries, the only thing that I could find that they all shared is that they all practice what many refer to as "state-sanctioned murder," otherwise known as "capital punishment." Of all the customs that one can consider as either "primitive" or "civilized," Kansai Time Out Magazine says, "Capital punishment, according to many critics, is what separates the primitive nations from the civilized (3)." Ok, though I wouldn't go as far as calling the 3 nations "evil," I would have to admit that their governments are still primitive in their continued use of this barbaric practice. This then leaves me with having to compare this barbaric practice in these three so-called "evil" nations with that same barbaric practice in other nations.
First, looking at some of the countries that ALTs come from, we see that Canada joined the civilized world in 1976, when it outlawed the death penalty. South Africa too became civilized, after ending the long brutal history of Apartheid, when it voted in 1995 to no longer kill its own citizens. All European Countries, during the 1900s, banned the death penalty; so has Australia and New Zealand. In addition, many countries in Africa, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, Asia and South America have also now all decided that the death penalty is too barbaric for their country to keep legally sanctioning. Included among these Newly Civilized Countries (NCCs) are: Venezuela (1863), Honduras (1956), Haiti (1987), Cambodia (1989), Mozambique (1990), the Slovak Republic (1990), Nepal (1990), Macedonia (1991), Djibouti (1995), Azerbaijan (1998), Turkey (2002), Mexico (2005), and the Philippines (2006) (4). In all, "Amnesty International reports that… 222 countries, including almost all Western nations, have eliminated the death penalty (or restrict it to exceptional circumstances) (5)."
However, despite having developed heated toilet seats, with its continued sanctioning of the death penalty, the Japanese government is still not considered any more civilized than the countries bush labeled as "evil" by many death penalty critics. According to the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center (HRDC), "Japan is one of the only two industrialized democracies that use the death penalty currently; there are 57 people on death row [in Japan] waiting to be executed, and approximately an additional 50 inmates [in Japan] whose death sentences are still under appeal." The UN Human Rights Committee and the Council of Europe have both condemned Japan's death penalty practices (6).
Unfortunately, I am from that only other "industrialized democrac[y]" that the HRDC refers to above that still kills its own citizens, the US. As the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Reports, "84 countries continue to kill their citizens, among them the United States. The US ranks fifth in how many people it executes, placing it slightly behind Iran and ahead of Afghanistan (7)." In this regard, the US is similar to only a few other countries where ALTs come from, like Thailand, Trinidad-Tobago, Singapore and Jamaica that all still legally kill their citizens. Unlike Japan, however, many states in the US have finally realized the savagery of hanging their own citizens. Though most states in the US (except only Washington and Delaware [8]) prefers more sanitized ways of disposing of their "unwanted" citizens, like lethal injection and electric chairs, the US government's puppet regime in Iraq showed the whole world how truly savage hanging was, when footage was leaked out on the internet of the hanging of the former leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. In fact, the new US puppet government of Iraq has carried out over 54 hangings since the US put them in power (also 8).
In all fairness, however, to the Japanese government (for being one of the very few governments left that still hang their citizens), it should be required when comparing one form of state-sanctioned murder, to also include a debate on other forms of state-sanctioned murder. Regardless of the justifications given for killing so-called, "criminals, who may kill again," all the excuses for why nations should continue killing their own citizens don't stand up to the even more barbaric act of killing other nation's citizen (especially innocent civilians), which occurs when a nation decides to use the most barbaric form of state-sanctioned murder, the act of war. Perhaps it is quite ironic that the only nation to outlaw war as a form of national policy was Japan (under US military occupation), when it adopted article 9 of its current constitution. Though many warmongers over the centuries have claimed that they were carrying out wars against other nations, to "civilize" those nations, the forced adoption of article 9 in Japan's post-World War II constitution is probably the only truly civilizing example that the US can attest to accomplishing as an outcome of war. In this one area (the outlawing of war), the Japanese government can be considered far more civilized than any other government.
However, the greater irony (or rather, tragedy) lies in the fact that the US government and it continued war mongering, has been the biggest factor in driving a debate in the Japanese government to reconsider its antiwar constitution. Though many peace activist in Japan and elsewhere, have hailed article 9 of Japan's constitution, as an example of the most civilized form of jurisprudence, thanks to the Japanese government's subservient relationship with the US (in it's so-called "War on Terror [the most oxymoronic idea ever created, as war is the greatest form of terrorism]") many inside and outside of Japan are pushing Japan to remove this one most civilizing aspect of Japanese law.
Though Japan may have heated toilet seats, as they are "one of the only two industrialized democracies that use the death penalty currently" (as the HRDC wrote), and they are one of the last nations in the world that still hangs it's citizens, perhaps Japanese politicians, who are trying to bring back Japan's ability to use state-sanctioned murder on people of other nations, are vying with the US to be even more uncivilized than those nations the US claims to be "evil."
1. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
2. My conscience only allows me to call George W Bush the "president" in quotes, because all serious studies I've examined of the elections of 2000 and 2004 prove to me that he wasn't elected to office by popular vote, and therefore can't be considered a "president," under the definition offered in the US constitution.
3. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
4. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
5. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
6. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
7. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
8. This page wouldn't let me post this reference page. Search for original article online.
