Tag: japan

Do the Philippines and the ASEAN community have what it takes to deal with China?

August 7, 2013 benign0 39 Comments

For all the feel-good news snippets we are receiving about the arrival of the Philippines’ newest warship, the 3,200-tonne BRP Ramon Alcaraz which joins the 3,400-tonne frigate BRP Gregorio del Pilar also acquired from the United States last year in patrolling disputed waters off Palawan, one cannot help ask a simple question: Can anyone really…

Culture, Development, Government, Society

Metro Manila had long ago set itself up for its own destruction by flooding

August 8, 2012 benign0 54 Comments

According to Mark McDonald in a New York Times blog post, the recent floods that hit Metro Manila this week “seem to have caused little public anger over further municipal dysfunction in the densely populated capital of more than 10 million” and that, instead, “Filipinos demonstrated a remarkable civic spirit as they shared news of…

Culture, Development, Government, Society

The Philippines increasingly finds itself in situations that require military responses

April 12, 2012June 28, 2013 benign0 27 Comments

The Philippines is increasingly finding itself in the middle of military flash points across the Far East. Over at the West Philippine Sea, the country’s biggest warship, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar is engaged in a standoff with two Chinese surveillance vessels standing in the way of the arrest of Chinese fishermen caught allegedly poaching…

Development, Government, Politics

AKB48: Computer-generated pop stars and next-gen pop entertainment

July 4, 2011July 4, 2011 benign0 6 Comments

Recently the Japanese pop group AKB48, an “idol” theatre group composed of young girls, created a sensation after a computer-generated “composite” character “joined” the group to appear in a candy commercial. The character, named Aimi Eguchi, became a hit with AKB48 fans who at the time did not know she only existed in a computer….

Culture, Tech Talk

Can some manga and anime images be considered child porn?

June 13, 2011 benign0 3 Comments

Somehow, it was determined by government censors in Australia that three female characters in the Nintendo video game Dead or Alive: Dimensions are under eighteen. As such, a feature within the game that allows players to “look up characters’ dresses in certain poses” has been considered “potential child pornography.” As a result, the Classification Board…

Media, Religion, Tech Talk

World of Hurt

May 1, 2011 BenK 36 Comments

By any measure, 2011 has been a superlatively rough year for Mankind. In just four months, Australia has suffered major flooding; New Zealandâ€™s second-largest city was virtually flattened by an earthquake; Japan suffered the triple-header of the biggest earthquake in that countryâ€™s known history, a tsunami, and a serious nuclear emergency; and just this week,…

Media storm raised on prospect of American military return to the Philippines!

April 29, 2011May 16, 2023 benign0 4 Comments

Don’t look now, but some people are getting a bit defensive soon after the Inquirer.net published reports of “high level visits” by American officials to meet with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Olongapo City officials. Specifically US Senators Daniel Inouye and Thad Cochran who respectively chair and officiate the US Senate appropriations committee reportedly…

Economy, Government, Media, Politics

The Americans are back in Subic Bay and Olongapo City!

April 28, 2011 benign0 24 Comments

In a report published on the Inquirer.net, it was revealed that there have recently been some “high-level visits” by United States officials to meet with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Olongapo officials. It seems that possible delays in a massive relocation of US military facilities from Okinawa in Japan to the US territory of…

Economy, Government, Society