171–180 of 494 posts
What is this Shingetsu News Agency? They don't have an English Wikipedia page and searching for them turns up only their own content. Are they affiliated with communism? North Korea? American progressive movements? None of the above? Do we know that this isn't two cults bickering?
As an incidental remark: I find it remarkable that on the surface I now know of three G7 countries / liberal democracies where the PM/President is the (grand)son of a PM/President himself. Bush Sr - Bush Jr Pierre Trudeau - Justin Trudeau Nobusuke Kishi - (Shintaro Abe; FM) - Shinzo Abe [Honorary mention: France with "Le Pen" both father & daughter made it to the second round in the presidential elections (2002; 2017…
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> That’s because the ethnicity of a criminal is usually not a relevant detail. That’s a big assumption rooted in a moral framework rather than in objective science.
In a news report about an individual crime?
Or for this case, lets say the perpetrator was of Chinese origin instead of Japanese. Do you think that wouldn't be relevant at all?
I don't completely buy the "religious group" reason given by the assassin. It might just be a convenient cover story for any "State Actors" behind the assassination. Shinzo Abe had been a real thorn in the side of China and North Korea by pushing a hard-line approach towards them. He had tremendous worldwide political/economic clout and was instrumental in establishing the "Pacific Quad" as a real challenge to China…
How would China or North Korea convince a Japanese soldier to openly kill his leader and face death penalty? There is very little social exchange between these countries, extremely few foreigners speaks Japanese, I just don't see how they could indoctrinate him to such a degree that he would give up his own life for that cause. Extremely few people give up their life for a cause even when they grew up in that society…
Imagine TikTok, who isn't just driven by ad revenue but the need to keep the Chinese government happy.
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This is the same in every country, including the US where entire agencies will just stop talking to you if you piss them off (especially police departments.) It's one of the ways we get all this propaganda even though we have a nominally "free" press.
"This is the same in every country, including the US where entire agencies will just stop talking to you if you piss them off" They only stop talking to you through official channels. There will always be leakers, disgruntled employees and others willing to talk to you anonymously or unofficially. Not to mention that you can talk to people and ask questions without announcing that you're a reporter. This used to be c…
"Why the Japanese media has refused to identify the “religious group” that formed the motive for the killing must remain as speculation at this juncture, though it reflects very poorly on Japan’s status as a democratic nation." Because they aren't stupid. When you name names and provide ample details you have given the killer things that encourage others - infamy, a platform to spread their message, etc. In the US, w…
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In a news report about an individual crime?
Lets say a hate crime was committed against Jews. Do you assume it was a Nazi, or an Islamist? This pops up all the time in Europe, usually it is Islamists but sometimes it is Nazis, and that makes a huge difference when interpreting what the crime means. Or for this case, lets say the perpetrator was of Chinese origin instead of Japanese. Do you think that wouldn't be relevant at all?
I don't completely buy the "religious group" reason given by the assassin. It might just be a convenient cover story for any "State Actors" behind the assassination. Shinzo Abe had been a real thorn in the side of China and North Korea by pushing a hard-line approach towards them. He had tremendous worldwide political/economic clout and was instrumental in establishing the "Pacific Quad" as a real challenge to China…
How would China or North Korea convince a Japanese soldier to openly kill his leader and face death penalty? There is very little social exchange between these countries, extremely few foreigners speaks Japanese, I just don't see how they could indoctrinate him to such a degree that he would give up his own life for that cause. Extremely few people give up their life for a cause even when they grew up in that society…
And if recent years have taught me a lesson, it's that real life is often stranger than friction. What you think can only be achieved by state-level, mafia-like collaboration ends up being the work of random individuals (e.g., that Bitfinex hack where two funny characters were caught with $4.5bn of stolen bitcoin).
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Why aren't the major Japanese media outlets covering this angle before the polls close in Japan's upper house elections (today)?
It’s absolutely insane to me that people are criticizing the Japanese media over this. Why should we be amplifying a murder’s message? Don’t reward a man for shooting someone in the back. After every mass shooting in the US I see widespread criticism of the media for sensationalism and turning mass murders into stars. Yet when another country follows this very advice, they’re criticized for a lack of free speech?
But of course I am not the "widespread criticism" you refer to.
It would be useful to point to the actual hypocrisy of a specific source/person — where this source/person was critical of the U.S. media amplifying a murderer's message but critical of Japan's refusal to do so.
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Even vile doesn't quite cover the scale of the horror, especially Unit 731 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_in_Manchukuo
I read the Unit 731 Wikipedia page recently and almost wished I hadn’t. Im surprised I’d never heard about it and neither had any of my friends. Not that it’s a competition, but some of the atrocities I read about on that page were worse than any other World War atrocity I know and it seems like it’s just been swept under the rug.