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The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

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271–280 of 494 posts

Re: The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

#271

"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…

"There are already restrictions on speech..."

There are particular categories of speech that aren't considered to be "protected speech". And those categories can't be expanded just because some politicians and judges think it's a good idea.

"that same reasoning is what allows gun control."

A lot of what we consider "gun control" is under active constitutional debate.

Why go to all this trouble? I agree with the general idea that we shouldn't glorify mass shooters. But all we have to do is stop clicking and start to develop a cultural idea that it's wrong to report is a way that makes killers (in)famous. Mainstream outlets will stop doing it and the fringe is not very important.

Re: The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

#272
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

You sure about that? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_coverage_of_the_2016_Uni... >> 'A 2018 study found that media coverage of Trump led to increased public support for him during the primaries. The study showed that Trump received nearly $2 billion in free media, more than double any other candidate. Political scientist John M. Sides argued that Trump's polling surge was "almost certainly" due to frequent media…

This proves quite the opposite once you have a bit of context. This was the strategy of the DNC, they thought Trump would be easier to beat so they promoted his campaign.

> How the Hillary Clinton campaign deliberately "elevated" Donald Trump with its "pied piper" strategy

> In its self-described "pied piper" strategy, the Clinton campaign proposed intentionally cultivating extreme right-wing presidential candidates, hoping to turn them into the new "mainstream of the Republican Party" in order to try to increase Clinton's chances of winning.

> "We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to them seriously," the Clinton campaign concluded. [0]

[0] https://www.salon.com/2016/11/09/the-hillary-clinton-campaig...

Re: The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

#273

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…

Anyone who knows even a little history will realize that the aftermath of an assassination of a public figure results in an immediate increase in the popularity of the affiliated political party (the 'martyr effect'). The claims that the assassination of JFK in the United States in 1963 changed official US government policy are nonsense, incidentally - JFK was an ardent Cold Warrior who would have followed the same policy Johnson did, if faced with the imminent collapse of the South Vietnamese government. If anything the assassination strengthened the Democratic Party's political position at the time, and the same kind of effect seems to be taking place in Japan, with Abe's party expected to win a major victory.

The story of an individual with personal grievances (possibly acting alone, possibly not) related to a parent who went bankrupt by donating all their money to a religious organization affilated with the victim makes much more sense in terms of a plausible motivation. The other part of the puzzle is why security for such a well-known public figure was so poor, but Japan's history of low gun violence might explain that.

Re: The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

#274
post #5

The linked article ends with this: “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.” It’s important to note that the Japanese media is not monolithic. It’s true that the major newspapers (Asahi, Yomiuri, Mainichi, Nikkei, etc.) and the broadc…

Maybe, or maybe it’s just becoming obvious Japan’s “democracy” isn’t functioning at the level we’d all hope for that scares us all a little bit?

Re: The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

#275
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

This. Usually calm people in Japan rage now about that news is slow. People should be calm even in this situation.

Re: The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

#276

Japanese people I know are adamant that Abe had no ties or did ever voice support for the Moon sect, ever. I am now wondering if Abe had kept it secret and the shooter somehow found out.

I read he gave a speech there once. Maybe the killer heard about it and, combined with whatever mental illness he has, interpreted it as something more than it was.

In the US, Mike Pompeo (ex Secretary of State), Mike Pence (ex Vice President), and Trump (ex-President) have also given speeches to an offshoot of the Moonies...wild.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/05/pence-pompeo-he...

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...

Re: The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

#277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it was called "Share" and before that there was WinNy, a fork of the WinMX p2p client.

It was a four letter name that I’m not comfortable posting here…

Sorry, I don't understand. Why is it uncomfortable to name a piece of software?

Re: The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

#278
post #165

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…

I don't think it's that weird. You wouldn't think much of a famous cook being the son of another famous cook, or likewise for a famous athlete, chess player, religious leader, etc. A child is influenced by their parents through both nature (genetics) and nurture (childrearing). Of course stuff like connections, name recognition, favors and backroom deals are a thing as well which are various levels of bad and prevent…

There's different ways to think about it but it's pretty rare for both a patent and child to be great athletes, at least in the same sport. It happens, there's exceptions.

Michael Jordan's sons didn't play professional basketball. For elite sports, having an elite athlete parent has low predictive power.

Re: The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

#279

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. It is quite striking in the UK and US how mainstream media will be remarkably coy about identifying the cultural background of some criminals while straight off the bat into condemnatory opinion…

Quoted post unavailable.

> I wonder why that is.

Because they have a preference for objectivity over being diplomatic?

Re: The Crime That Killed Shinzo Abe

#280
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no licensing of the print or online media in Japan. However, there are a number of factors that effectively limit the freedom of many media outlets. The kisha clubs [1], which control media access to government officials and the police, are restricted to reporters from major media organizations. The tabloid press frequently complains about those restrictions and use those restrictions as justification for th…

> An amusing one that I remember is when a magazine was not allowed to include the term shōgi daoshi—literally, “falling over like shogi pieces” An amusing one on multiple levels. Standard shogi pieces don't fall over! They're not miniature statues like in Western chess, but flat reversible tiles [0]. It's like it was written by a Western journalist who needed to translate his idiom into Japanese. [0] https://upload.…

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