Rant: What I Dislike About Many Greens and Environmentalists - Understanding Human Motivations

Let me start off by saying that we need to protect the environment. We need to keep the beaches, rivers, lakes and land clean. We need to take care of ourselves and our earth for our children and their children and their children's children. But we also need to wake up and see what is really important in our lives.

Snowing like crazy in Tokyo... Global warming, don't you know?

Now to the point: I'm really fed up with self-righteous militant and nearly militant Greens and Environmentalists. I am sick and tired of their ignorant and ill considered ideas. I am really disgusted by their "holier than thou" attitude and thinking that they are always right and you are always wrong. They are just as bad as religious zealots: I don't mind someone having their religion and their beliefs. Great! Do as they wish. But do not try to push these beliefs on me or other people. I really don't like their abrasive and antagonistic attitudes.


I also wonder just how stupid these people can be. On one hand they will complain about the government being completely corrupt and in bed with big business when it comes to things like nuclear accidents and BP oil spills... Or banking corruption and the destruction of the working class... Yet, on the other hand, they want the government to tax us so that they can take care of the environment? Astounding!


This is a government, in Japan's case for exapmple, that can't even handle the bookkeeping properly and now has the country on the ledge of bankruptcy and people want to give them more money!? That would be like handing care of your household finances to a crack addict and expecting that he will take care of things properly. 


Today it is snowing and it is snowing hard. This is at least the sixth time this year it has snowed in Tokyo. This is the hardest and deepest snow I have ever seen here. In the 27 years I have been here it has never snowed more than twice in any winter. Most winters it doesn't snow at all; and if it does, the snow melts immediately upon hitting the ground. But this is at least six times in one year! To illustrate the rarity of this more, just one month ago, on Jan. 24, it snowed more than 4 cm in Tokyo and that was the most snow in 6 years. Today's snow is much more than that!  

Thousands of people have died in Europe, almost 100 in Japan, because of this winters cold and snow... It is the coldest winter in nearly 30 years... But is it a fluke? Nope. Just two years ago, they said the winter of 2009 ~ 2010 was devastatingly cold. This year, 2012, is the death of the Global Warming Cult. R.I.P.


The rule of thumb is that if there is a crisis and the government comes along and says, "pay us more money and we'll take care of it for you." Then a wise person (and I do mean wise and intelligent experienced and thoughtful person) would automatically become suspicious. Trust me. Over 3 decades in the mass media and many years as a station news director makes me much more of an expert on that than any university professor.


Trust that everything you see or hear is told to you by someone who has a motivation for it. If it is on TV or media or in publications, then you can pretty much be safe in assuming that there is a strong profit motivation. If it comes from any government or quasi-government source (that includes your government, the UN, the IPCC, etc.) then you can be 100% sure there is a profit motivation. Motivation is the key word. If you do not understand this simple concept then educate yourself right now with this short video. It's a simple course in Praxeology, the science of understanding the purposeful behavior of human beings:  

Yesterday I posted about some Japanese kids terrorizing some monkeys in a zoo. In Japan, this didn't make national news. Please refer to: Kids Acting Like Animals Have to Apologize to Animals:


It also shows a good thing about Japan: Even though these kids were drinking underage and throwing fireworks, nobody claims that stricter laws need to be made for firework sales or alcohol sales.

Everyone knows that these kids were just causing trouble. People in Japan generally don't think about passing laws to try to make people into good human beings.


My point was that, in the west, people are confused with the role of government and personal responsibility. One intelligent reader also pointed out that, had this been in the west, it would have hit national news with an outpouring of sympathy for these animals and a public outcry for severe punishment meted out:


If this happened in the UK or US, the response would have been tremendous, and out of all proportion compared to the effects.


Since the animals were at a zoo, and therefore famous; the sentencing would be much more severe for the perpetrators, because the media would drum up the war chant of “murder the marauders who caused mayhem to the monkeys!” Plus in our modern era, what else is there in life, but to become famous? To be blunt, how else could a judge or attorney become famous, but to listen to the mob, and give them what they want?

In a similar city, there would probably be hundreds of poor homeless people that nobody cares about, and who would've wound up eating out of rubbish skips, and sleeping under bridges...


The militant Greens will gladly destroy people, property, business and lives to save the earth... They wouldn't lift a finger to save a human life. Here's an example: When making a program satire of the entire Global Warming Debate (being neither pro nor con) in 2007, an irate listener called the broadcast station and threatened to, 


"Come down to the broadcast station and set it on fire and kill everyone inside!"


I laughed and told him that,


"Please come along and try. I will be waiting for you alongside the local police and the fire department."


We never heard from him again. That was in Tokyo. Like I said, this has been one of the coldest winters in a long time... I wonder if he is still thinking about running around and setting buildings on fire? If he is, it's probably just to stay warm.


There are many, far too many of these militant (may I say frickin' crazy) people running around. They will violently protest the killing of 600 non-endangered species of dolphins in Japan (because, as the reader commented they are "famous" - and animals are "cute") but I don't see them protesting their own countries involvement with US and NATO bombing and the starvation tactics and killing of millions of Iraqi people and children...


Or for another example, there are people who are taking dog and cat food to the Fukushima disaster area to feed strays. I don't get it. There's 400,000 people there with lives shattered. Thousands of children have lost parents and siblings. Tens of thousands are still live in temporary shelters and these people are spending their time helping stray animals? 


If you think that organizations like PETA do a good job, think again. Read this:
PETA kills more than 95% of all animals in its care.


Where are these twisted people's priorities? (Watch the video again: Money).


I am not pleased about this killing of pets or dolphins either, but instead of going and fighting about that, I have, for example, thousands of children with incurable diseases like deadly cancer that need help in my back yard right now. Pardon me for having twisted priorities but I think I'll spend my time helping handicapped and crippled and terminally ill kids... I can't stop people from feeding the animals or pigeons in the park, but I have to wonder where their priorities are.  

If you are going to talk the talk, walk the walk...

People have got to start thinking with their analytical minds, if they have any left. There was a time, several years ago, I was having a discussion with an extremely confused German friend. He insisted that,


"We need the government to make rules outlawing guns."


I completely disagreed. He then added,


"If the government doesn't make laws outlawing guns, then crazy and dangerous people will have guns!"


"You mean, like they do now?" I retorted.


If you believe that guns cause crimes and murders then you must believe that cameras cause child pornography. 


Personally, I don't think so. (By the way, Canada has many more guns per capita than the USA and does not have a gun murder problem so don't tell me that the USA problem is because of guns.)


Like, I said, people need to open their eyes and stop taking the propaganda they hear and see as gospel truth... 


The best thing would be for people to start thinking for themselves. But that might be asking for too much.


NOTE: It warms my heart to see other writers who think along the same lines as I do. Here's one of my favorites with an article that just came out. His name is James Delingpole: Why I am so rude to Warmists

Here's a TV report about today's snow:

Processed Foods Cause Obesity and Cancer in Humans - Human Deaths From Cancer are on the Rise Since 1950 - Cats and Dogs Now Eat Processed Foods - Cats and Dogs Now Get Cancer….. Any Questions?

The other day a good friend told me about another acquaintance whose daughter had just passed away last Tuesday from a ten-month battle with cancer. Poor little girl. She was only eight-years-old... I have experience with dealing with childhood cancer so I can understand somewhat their suffering. May god rest her soul and comfort the parents.

......

This morning I went to the grocery store. I walked by the racks that have the processed poisons (er, I mean processed foods). I never buy that stuff. We picked up our veggies and fruits and then went to the check out counter. There, I noticed that, "Gee! The shelves where the processed human foods are sure do look a lot like the shelves where the processed cat and dog foods are. In fact, they look exactly alike!" 

If you don't pay attention closely, you might be eating your cat's dinner... It might even be healthier!

The increase in cancer deaths (even with the massive decrease in smoking cigarettes) can be attributed to many things. Some things may be difficult for us to control like the air we breathe or the location of factories from our homes.

It is easy, though, to control what we put into our bodies.

Human food. We know this isn't healthy.

It is common knowledge that processed foods cause obesity and cancer in humans (as well as many other maladies)

Deaths from human cancers are on the rise since 1950 (an increase of over 41%!)

Seriously. It's in a can or packaged at a factory, is there any question that it has all sorts of chemical goodies in it?

The diet of people in the west (Japan too) have continually been on a course of more convenience. This makes a situation whereby the consumption of processed foods increase as the years go by.


It isn't a coincidence that as more and more people eat processed foods that more and more people get cancer. Recently, more and more cats and dogs are getting various sicknesses and diseases like cancer. 


More and more people feed their animals processed foods that are causing these illnesses. I think there is a pretty easy to figure causative correlation going on here, don't you think?


Question 1: Do you think the chemicals in processed foods are safe? Do you think that chemicals can cause diseases like cancer? If so, don't you think it is a good idea to eliminate these chemicals in your diet or at least cut them down greatly wherever you can? 


Question 2: Do you think you should you be feeding yourself or your child processed foods?

My son's typical breakfast: Raw veggies and fruits: carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, cashew nuts, tomatoes, orange slices, melon slices (and two boiled broccoli). Add to this homemade raw veggie & fruit juice and 1/2 slice bread and one small sausage. Glass of bottled water. We never give him processed foods for any meal! My breakfast is all these fruits and veggies blended into juice!

Get healthy and protect your health now because the government is going bankrupt and they aren't going to be able to pay for your medical bills one day in the very near future; whether that is Japan, the United States or any of the  European nations with their massive debts. Who is going to pay for your medical bills when the government can't? Hint: Look in the mirror (it's you!)

Getting rid of all the processed foods and poisons we eat and drink is not a 100% sure-fire way to prevent cancer and diseases, but it is a pretty strong shield. And, I mean, in this day and age, why not make the best effort to cut down these poisons coming into our body? In many ways, we cannot control pollutants in the environment and where we live, but we can make a better effort to protect our bodies and our children.


It's a pretty simple equation, I think. You can do your best to eat right now or pay the price later. Your choice.


Note: My dear friend, Timo Budo wrote, "Hey buddy, I read yer rant about processed franken-food. In my case you're preachin' to the friggin' choir. You seen the flick "Forks Over Knives" ?" Here's the trailer:

Doing and Playing are Two Very Different Things

"Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

I know way too many people who play all the time. Of course, like anyone else, I like playing too. But there comes a time when we must all "do" and not "play."


I suppose, in this example, my use of the word, "play" could also be used interchangeably with "pose." There are far too many poseurs around.

People think they understand the difference between "do" and "play." But allow me to explain the big difference here.

I learned a great lesson about not "playing" when I was a student. In High School, I was president of the Science Club. I don't really remember how I got that title, it's just that a Biology teacher thought my grades were good enough and the other geeks decided that they'd vote me in as president.


Being president of the Science Club was sort of fun, I guess.


As president of the Science Club, I was King Geek. In Science classes and Biology, I didn't have to attend classes like the other kids did. I was the guy who assisted the Science instructor with handing out Petri dishes and feeding the pets in the Science Department.


I also learned that the cutest girls in my school were basically stupid in Biology so they were nice to me so that I would tell them the answers to test questions. I thought that this would translate to me being popular outside of Science class but I was totally wrong on that front.


While the classes were going on, I'd get to sit in the back room and do "experiments." Mr. Holts, my biology instructor allowed me to do any sort of experiments that I wanted to. I grew plants, did experiments with bacteria and learned all sorts of things about feeding and breeding animals and fish.


I learned stuff like most lizards won't eat food when they are in captivity so you have to force feed them. I also learned that mice are so freaked out by snakes that if you put a mouse in a snakes cage or terrarium, often times the mouse will freeze up and just sit there in fear.


Well, back to the difference between "do" and "play"....


One day, I was bored out of my wits as I sat in the back room at the Science department. There, I spied a cockroach and some silverfish. I captured them as I intended to use them for lizard or fish food... As I was searching for a container to put them in, I spotted a large glass beaker and, to my surprise, a bottle of Hydrochloric acid.

That gave me an idea... The devil horns slowly creeped up on the sides of my head.


I put the insects in the large beaker and saw that they could not climb up the sides. They were trapped. I then pulled up a chair and took an eyedropper and squeezed out a drop of acid and dropped it into the beaker.


The cockroaches and silverfish would run as mightily as they could towards the top of the beaker trying to get out. But run as hard as they may, they would give up and slowly slide back down the sides of the glass until their tails hit the acid at which time they'd take off again, full speed, up the sides of the glass.


They did this over and over. 

To make a lame o excuse for my deliberately torturing some of god's creatures, I found it interesting how and why the insects seemed to run as hard as they could up the glass but then "get tired," give up and slide back down. I mean, insects don't have muscles! How can they get tired.


Well, as a twisted little high school brat (and president of the Science Club) I got my jollies torturing these insects (I was probably laughing like a mad scientist too) when a big hand slapped right down on my shoulder. It was Mr. Holts. He said to me,


"Mister Rogers! You have so much talent and ability but you waste it. Do you know what your problem is? Your problem is that you don't want to "do" science; you want to "play" science. There is a big difference."


He was right. I have never forgotten that moment. 

I think about that and I can see his face whenever I see people doing crappy work. Or people whose primary concern at work (mostly middle management people) having the protection of their position as the number one priority over the success of the project. I can also hear his words whenever I feel that I am not doing my best and letting other people down.


Life is too short for us to waste it on dead end efforts. In my thinking, there is no such thing as a dead-end job. A job is a dead-end if you make it that way. If you view it as a opportunity, then how can it be a dead-end if you use it to motivate yourself for bigger and better things? 


Never sell yourself short.


Remember to always do and not play.

Lady Gaga, Coldplay and Other Western Artists are Minor in Japan

This column is about Japanese Rock stars versus Western Rock Stars in Japan. It was inspired by my friends Allison Sane and JP Valentine. The premise is that, in spite of the hype and hoopla in the western press, USA and UK artists have seriously fallen out of their position of "Most Favored" in Japan (and China and elsewhere in Asia). That's what this post is about.


Allison had asked me if Eric Burdon was "big" in Japan. I replied that he was in the sixties, but not now. That's not to say that Eric Burdon doesn't have fans in Japan, he does. But, over these last fifteen years, whether it's Eric Burdon or not, (or any other modern western pop star) sales of albums from US and UK artists, and in turn their popularity, have dropped off a cliff. Western artists are just not the draw or as popular as they were a few decades ago. 

Eric Burdon today might be able to do some shows in Tokyo but drawing more than a few hundred people is highly questionable. Expensive dinner show is more practical and profitable for this type of artist in Japan.

The biggest (and worse sounding) venue in Japan is the Tokyo Dome. Performing there is considered the pinnacle of success for an artist. I hate concerts at the Tokyo Dome. The sound is terrible (like all large venues). The dome roof is kept up like a big balloon so the sound reverberates around the dome and it sounds like you are listening to a concert inside of a canyon. Heck, you are. The place holds 54,000 people.


The last big western artist who could come to Japan and quickly sell out a few nights at Tokyo Dome was Michael Jackson at the height of his popularity in the early nineties. Madonna has played there. The Backstreet Boys have. I saw David Bowie with Adrian Belew in 1990 at the Tokyo Dome. David Bowie was the last time I went there to see a concert that I actually wanted to go to. I had tickets in the eighth row right in front of the stage and Bowie was 20 yards in front of me. He could have been a mile away. The echo was so bad it sounded like he was singing inside of an airplane hanger.


But that was a long time ago. Very few western artists can come to Japan anymore and sell out the dome even for one night. Most today don't even try. Coldplay certainly couldn't do it. They played at Saitama arena last time which holds 37,000 maximum. The Tokyo Dome is just out of reach for western artists today. 


In fact, I don't think there are any bands in the entire world (excepting, perhaps a Rolling Stones reunion) that could sell out a few days at Tokyo Dome these days. Aerosmith is playing there next week, for one night, but they are having a hard time selling tickets and will be lucky to sell out the arena seats on the first floor.


Their popularity isn't what it used to be so I imagine they don't ask for green M&M's anymore. But, I also imagine that Aerosmith insists upon playing there because Steven Tyler is so insecure that he needs to say "We're playing the dome" because perhaps he's afraid of meeting Nigel Tufnel in the lobby.

Really good Japanese rock bands don't become famous in this country

As an aside, I once interviewed Aerosmith and I said to Steven Tyler, "I go back with you guys since high school. I have all your records. My question is which one of you guys was wearing the makeup as the cat? Which one of you had the star on your eye and which one had the long tongue?"


Tyler got pissed off for a second but Joe Perry and the other guys laughed. It think it was the first time in history that a TV interviewer got Aerosmith to sing the Kiss song, "Rock and Roll all Night" on national TV. 


Later I overheard Perry tell his manager, "Now THAT'S the kind of interview we want to do in Japan!" I'm sure he said that because Japanese interviewers always ask dumb questions about what is their favorite food or color.


But I digress....


I'm sure they'll be giving away lots of Aerosmith tickets to industry related people just to try to fill the place.

Boowy at Tokyo Dome.  This band, Boowy, if they got back together, could sell out a week at the Dome in a few hours

But when it comes to Japanese artists, playing in their home turf, it's a completely different story. You might think that major Japanese artists all suck and I might well agree. But I will add that they suck no more or less than most big western (especially Top 40) artists! But no one can sneeze at Japanese bands that can sell out an entire week at the Tokyo Dome. And the list of bands that do is long.


Just a few weeks ago, I went to see Complex who sold out two nights in a row at Tokyo Dome. Complex is Hotei Tomoyasu and Koji Kikkawa. They sold out two nights a short while back and donated all the money to charity! So laugh all you want. These guys are not a joke.


Do the math. Let's see: ¥9,800 a ticket times 54,000 people equals: ¥529,200,000. This amount of yen at today dollar rate (¥76.91 yen to $1 USD) equals: $6,880,769.00. Now take that times two and you have over $13 million dollars for two nights performance. (Please someone double check this math. I've done it over and over and still come up the same. It's astounding to me this number... But Muhammed Ali got $5 million dollars for a 45 minute fight with Joe Frazier in 1975, so I guess this is correct. If I am wrong, please comment!)


Now imagine a bunch of other Japanese artists who can do this for an entire week straight! The top bands in the west? Nope. One night, maybe. Like I said, there's not a western artist in the world today who could do that excepting a Rolling Stones reunion, maybe. They might be able to pull off two nights, but not three.

Complex at Tokyo Dome - Total David Bowie ripoff? yes. But the fans don't care. And David Bowie doesn't sing in Japanese.

For many years, Japan and Japanese rock stars have had an inferiority complex towards western artists as they deservably should have. But nowadays, things have changed in Japan. And, when they can make this kind of money playing in Japan - and never make near that amount in the west - all the while western artists come here to make big money - why bother going to play in the USA?


Sure, the big name artists still dream of becoming big in the west too, but the west doesn't hold the allure it once did for people. And that's not just people in Japan, but, I think for people all over the world.


Sure, some dream of Hollywood and New York, but when it comes to the big name Japanese artists (who don't sing in English anyway) it's no longer practical to even consider trying to break into the USA market... Most certainly isn't profitable.


These big name Japanese artists can stay at home, in their comfy chairs, and copy the western artists that they are inspired by and make those musicians' music their own. 


The domestic audience doesn't know the difference.

Glay at Tokyo Dome 2005. Massive in Japan. They suck, but were fans of my radio show, so that's OK.... But they still suck.

NOTE: It might sound like I am dissing these Japanese artists or even Aerosmith, but I am not. When anyone can sell their music and become professionals, regardless of how crappy I might think their music is, that is to be respected. After all, who cares what I think and isn't everyone a music critic?

Playing music and actually getting paid to do so is great. Getting paid very well to do so is the dream of a lifetime.