Japan has a huge problem with sexual assault on their trains. Due in part to the population density of Tokyo, two thirds of all reported sexual assault cases occur on trains. Surveys of Tokyo's female population have found that 70% of women are in favor of establishing single-sex (women only) train cars. Conversely, similar surveys taken in cities like New York and London found that less than 30% of women were in favor of single-sex trains cars.
The attached article details the implementation and reaction to such single-sex train cars. Including the reaction of some men who boarded these single-sex train cars in an act of protest, as they believe this practice to be discriminatory. Conversely, there have been calls by women's rights groups for the government to do even more to protect women.
This video from Vice (first 13min) and the below article from the BBC cover a part of China's corruption by highlighting the "Ghost Cities" of China. These "Ghost Cities" are exact replicas of Western cities but with extremely low occupancy. For example: Tianducheng was built to be an exact replica of Paris (including it's own Eiffel Tower), however it's occupancy has remained at around 2%. The primary function of these "Ghost Cities" seems to be as a place for wedding photos and tourism.
So why are these cities so empty? To put it simply, they are too expensive. Normally. Supply and Demand economics would suggest that the lack of occupancy
would lower the cost of real estate in these cities and inspire
migration; however, thanks to China's communist policies and
accompanying economic regulations the real estate prices remain fixed, and thus the cities remain empty.
So then why does China continue building these "Ghost Cities"? Well, the next time you hear president Trump rambling on about how J-ina is cheating or manipulating their economy, this is what he is talking about. Basically China's government comes into local farming communities, kicks everyone out and enlists these massive city construction projects which
boosts their GDP because they are employing people and creating/increasing real estate value all over China. However, China's GDP doesn't take into account the sale or use of these
properties, only the construction.
What does all this mean? Well, 50% of China's GDP comes from construction, as such, on paper their economy seems to be booming (Lipstick on a pig). This is the explanation given for China's unprecedented economic growth by economists, as opposed to their exporting capacity which has largely diminished/shifted to places like Mexico. The implication of this is that China is creating an unprecedented housing bubble. Comparatively, during the
USA's housing bubble, construction made up around 16% of our GDP. The cause for concern here could also very likely be global, as China's economy has become so interconnected with the world, and in particular the USA' economy, (think domino effect).
Japan is old. In fact, it is currently the oldest country in the world. 27.7% of Japan's population is over the age of 65, and that number is increasing. It is estimated that by the year 2050 - 40% of the population will be over the age of 65. Comparatively, the U.S. has a population of 15.6% over the age of 65. This has left Japan facing major problems, not least of which is: who is going to take care of all of our old people? Japan's answer? Robots.
Within the next seven years it is projected that Japan will have a shortfall of 380,000 caregivers. In response, Japan's Ministry of Economy has requested ¥1.1 billion to support companies which produce these caregiver robots. The article below is a detailing of how the news reports that the elderly are very happy with their robot assistants, but calls into question the validity of these reports, posing the question: will our elderly really accept assistance from robots? The article concludes by calling for surveys of the population to find out if the elderly will accept robots.
I found this article troubling. I had heard of this problem and solution before in Japan, but (probably due to my age) I had never considered that people would have a problem with robot assistance. After reading this, I found myself reminiscing about all the times I've had to help my grandparents with the most simplistic technological tasks such as entering a wifi password or programing their DVR. However, it seems as though Japan has put most (if not all) of their eggs in to the Robo-basket, so tough luck for grandma and grandpa.
I recently listened to a series of audio book regarding Genghis Khan and the territorial conquest of the Mongols. One of the points that really stuck with me was the claim that from about 1200-1380, the Mongol conquest killed so many people, and wiped out so many civilizations, that they effectively lowered the carbon foot print of the earth. I decided my blog for this week should be a follow up of this point.
It seems that the legacy of Genghis saw a direct death toll of around 40 million people in the 13th and 14th centuries. A study conducted by Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Energy reported that this death toll equated to a reduction of "700 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is the amount emitted annually by worldwide gasoline demand today". The effect of wiping out civilizations on a conquest for global domination resulted in large swaths of land being made readily available for trees and vegetation to return, and thus resulted in the first ever "successful man-made global cooling".
Is China trying to interfere with the United States' elections? Vice President Pence seems to think so. Pence's accusation is that in another escalation of the economic trade war between the U.S. and China, China has now begun an attempt to change the outcome of the U.S. upcoming elections. Saying that "what the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country." However, much of this seems to be speculation as Pence has offered no hard evidence and is relying on quoting things that were told to him by our intelligence community. The article goes on to indicate that whatever intelligence which does indicate this action by China remains classified.
This article is about China's new efforts to "modernize" their nuclear arsenal. It cites from the PLA, which is the People's Liberation Army official newspaper. The PLA recently published a report in which Chinese researchers wrote about how because the tensions between the USA and Russia are increasing, and their respective nuclear arsenals are increasing - China must do the same.
China has had nuclear arms capabilities since 1964, but they also signed the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons along with the Soviet Union and the United States. I find it disturbing that all three of these nations signed that treaty, make statements about the need for de-nuclearization, and yet currently are increasing their nuclear programs.
This article is about ONE, which is the Asian version of the U.F.C. Started around seven years ago, ONE has rapidly become one of the most popular sporting events in the 136 countries it is broadcast in. ONE has also been valued at $1 Billion dollars by Bloomberg. When most of us think about the U.F.C, or MMA in general, we might think of a violent blood sport which capitalizes on human barbarity. ONE presents itself differently, and is even sponsored by family friendly companies like Disney. The owner of ONE states that what separates ONE from other MMA competitions is the influence of Asian values, claiming: “swearing and people who throw water bottles in press conferences” does not work in Asia. I can't seem to find much of a difference between the two -other than that the opponents seem to have more respect for each other-, so ill leave it to Victor Cui (Owner and CEO of ONE) to sum it up: "You see the storyline of East versus West play out in almost every
industry you can think of, from Apple versus Samsung, YouTube versus
Youku, Twitter versus Weibo, Facebook versus Renren. If you compare, UFC
has got a 90-percent market share in the states. We’ve got a 90-percent
market share in Asia".
