On April 30 1975, Saigon Crumbled

On this day in 1975, the North Vietnamese forces stormed Saigon. The end of South Vietnam was rapid.

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The flying “insect” I had thought a roach was a big moth with a fat red belly to which my hatred is quite strong but not as deep as to roaches. It is immobile in the room. It seems near its demise.

Tired Tired... Give Me Sound Sleep

昭和の日。

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「仕方ないので」、いつ眠ってもいい状態にしてからDr. Kissingerの「White House Years」を読み始めた。20ページほど読んで寝ようとしたら、これが眠れない。「You are floating on the water. The waves are very gentle and embracing you just so nicely」などと考えても全然ダメ。冷房を付けたり消したり。途中で、ブ～ンと外からムシが入ってきた。かなり大きいそうだったので、flying cockroachを想像したら、余計に眠れない。明るくなり始めてから、数時間眠った。気分悪い！午後３時までに銀行に小切手を持って行きたかったので、何とか起きた。気分悪い！

One of Many Books

“Shimon Peres” was one of many those books. In the book, the only decent Palestinian seems Abu Ala’a (Abu Ala) who was involved in the Oslo Process from the early stage. Bizarrely, the book doesn’t mention the Munich Olympic episode of 1972 at all. Most characters are suspicious and scheming.

Nomura-san's Memory Capacity

楽天のノムラ監督が開幕３連勝した時、73年と76年も同様だったと記者に指摘され、「覚えていない」と答えていた。この人の記憶力からして、覚えていないはずがない。73年はそのまま前期優勝して、阪急とのプレーオフにも勝って、前後期制になったパリーグで初優勝。そして、76年は江夏が南海のユニフォームを着たシーズンやないか。

Trip to Alaska to Dispose of Garbabe Container

わりとすっきり眠れたと思ったら、数時間で目が覚めた。それからが大変。あっち向いたり、こっち向いたり、腕を上げたり下げたり。半覚醒状態でアラスカまで行った。うちの前の道路にあるような濃い緑色のごみ箱を捨てに。アラスカ州のごみ箱だったので、眉毛も鼻毛も凍らせながら捨てに行った。Ａ５版ほどの大きさの白いカメラには、メモ代わりに使われたかのような、数字や文字が書き込まれ、すっかり汚れていた。誰かが板を一枚はずして天井裏に上がろうとしていたので、「上がるな言うたやろ！」と大きな寝言。何時に寝て、何時に起きるかはともかく、眠りの質が低いと気分をとんでもなく悪くする。

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永住外国人への地方参政権付与は「愛のテーマ」。「地球は生きとし生けるすべての者のものだ。そのように思っている。日本列島も同じだ。すべての人間のみならず、動物や植物、そういった生物の所有物だと考えている」。（鳩山由起夫幹事長）

すばらしい！でも、この人、選んだ職業を間違えましたね。法律を作る国会議員の発言とは思えん。永住外国人だけでなく、動植物にも（野にも山にも）参政権を与えますか。あれあれ、日曜日は「定住外国人」だったのに、今日は「永住外国人」になっている。

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法律と倫理は乖離することがある。法律を少しでも学んだ者はみんな知っていること。外国人への参政権付与と平行するように、国会議員の世襲を制限しようという話がある。世襲自体が問題なのではない。立候補者が気に入らなければ当選させなければいいだけのこと。世襲制限は法の下の平等に反する。「地盤、看板、かばん」を継いだだけで能力のない人が当選するのは、立候補者の問題というより、有権者の質の問題だ。

Israeli Dreams of Land Grabs

ファミリー親分のコメント：「ただ驚いています」。

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During the long flight [to France], Ben-Gurion was immersed in a book by the Byzantine historian Procopius, describing an ancient Jewish kingdom in Yotvat Island – today’s Tiran, in the strait of the same name. Ben-Gurion’s book, Peres thought, revealed his secret dreams. (p. 146)
The Strait of Tiran is located between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas.

It turned out that Ben-Gurion had already expressed his objection to the Israeli pretext [to draw England and France into the Suez conflict] and now presented to his hosts, instead, a far-fetched plan for the reshaping of the Middle East by redrawing Israel’s boundaries and even wiping Jordan from the map. (p. 147)
Erasing Jordan!

Dayan also demanded that England and France recognize Israel’s right, once the war [with Egypt] was over, to keep certain parts of the Sinai under her control. (p. 151)
This is a land-grab plan by force! What sort of right is Dayan talking about here?

To Whom Japan Belong?

清水由貴子ちゃん、父親の墓前で自殺の報あり。「ファミリー」とまで呼ばれた芸能人グループは何にもしてあげられなかったのか？ ファミリー親分のコメントに注目したい。

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民主党の鳩山由起夫幹事長：「日本列島は日本人だけの所有物ではない」「定住外国人に地方参政権付与は当然」。
「日本人」とは誰なのか？日本国籍を持つ人なのか、日本国籍を離脱した人も含まれるのか？親のどちらかが日本国籍を有しているが、出生した時から他国の国籍を持つ人はどうなのか？アイヌ人は日本人なのか？納税している定住者だからと言って、参政権を付与している国があるなら挙げてほしい。「定住者」って、そもそも誰のこと？その法的定義はあるのか？はっきりしている。日本の領土は「日本国民」のもの！
鳩山さんよ、「朝鮮半島は朝鮮人だけの所有物ではない」「チベットはチベット人だけのものではない」「シンガポール島はシンガポール人だけの所有物ではない」と言ってみれば？そして、逆説的に「イスラエル（パレスチナ）はユダヤ人だけの所有物ではない」とも。
「友愛」に「民主リベラル（リベラル民主：自由民主のひっくり返し？）」。思想でもなく哲学でもなく、輪郭もないボヤボヤ～ッとした話で政治家やってきたんですよね。

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“The infiltration of terrorists from Gaza and Jordan was on the rise; Egypt’s President Nasser created units of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza…” (p. 111, “Shimon Peres”)
They are all terrorists. Who created those “terrorists”? Infiltration by Jews into Palestine is called “immigration.” Many illegal activities by Israel are never considered “terrorist acts.”

Different Perceptions toward Illegality?

A few days ago, when I finished “Essays” by George Orwell, I started “Shimon Peres” by Michael Bar-Zohar. Into 89 pages, no Palestinian Arabs are mentioned as real humans.

“A throng of Arabs massacred sixteen Jews in the streets of Jaffa.”
“Arab bands… ambushed the main roads.”

The book talks about “illegal” activities on the part of Israel, for example, to procure armaments and connections with underworld figures. If any act is illegal on the Palestinian side, would it be described simply “illegal (but necessary to survive)”? I must go on reading.

Meanwhile, I went through “Invisible Trade II” that is mainly about the “escort” industry in Singapore.

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朝９時半にベッドから出た。もっと早く目は覚めていたが、それはかゆさのため。まさか、ベッドにもうダニはいないだろう、と思ったら、さっき蚊を発見した。けさからずっといっしょに暮らしているようだ。実は、目が覚めてから「うっすら」めまいがしてるような気がして、また雨が降っていたのでそんなに暑くないはずなのに、脳天からあの嫌な汗が流れ出してきたので、１時間ほどロッキングチェアで休んでいた。

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午後、漫才４本（いとし・こいし、千里・万里、ダイマル・ラケット、Ｗヤング）と落語３本（「百年目」（米朝）、「宿替え」（枝雀）、「稽古屋」（小米朝））をYouTubeで楽しんだ。

Takashimaya for Tigers Now & Israel not for Israelis as Ever

高島屋が阪神タイガース優勝セールに参加したいらしい。かつて、「大阪難波高島屋」「大阪（ナンバ）球場」「南海ホークス」は切っても切れない関係だった。「阪急ブレーブス」の影は阪急と阪神が経営統合した時点で完全に消え去った。そして「ホークスのもの」だった高島屋が、阪急阪神との経営統合を計画し、タイガースにすり寄ろうとしている。

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WHICH SIDE IS SERIOUS ABOUT PEACE?

On Thursday, [George] Mitchell met Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's new prime minister, who is leading a government dominated by hawks.
Israeli officials quoted Netanyahu as telling Mitchell that his right-leaning government wanted the Palestinians to first recognise Israel as a Jewish state.
Palestinians have long rejected such explicit recognition of the Jewish nature of a state where one in five people is Arab.
Netanayahu has yet to give a commitment to restart US-backed talks with Abbas on core issues such as statehood borders and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees. (Al Jazeera)

As he met Israeli leaders on Thursday, a senior official in Mr Netanyahu's office said the new prime minister had told Mr Mitchell: "Israel expects the Palestinians to first recognise Israel as a Jewish state before talking about two states for two peoples."
Under previous agreements, the Palestinians have recognised the right of the state of Israel to exist.

But correspondents say recognising it as a Jewish state would be tantamount to abandoning one of the Palestinians' key demands in final-status talks, the "right to return" of Palestinian refugees.
In a statement after Friday's meeting, Mr Erekat said the new Israeli condition "serves no other purpose than to stall progress towards negotiations".
"The PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation] has already recognised the state of Israel. Netanyahu refuses to even mention a Palestinian state," he said.
"Until the Netanyahu government unequivocally affirms its support for the two-state solution, implements Israel's Road Map [2003 peace plan] obligations and abides by previous agreements, Palestinians have no partner for peace," Mr Erekat added. (BBC)

Recognize as the Jewish nation? Israel is not for the Israelis, but for the Jews. Sounds like sheer racism.

"Going to" Japan

On Thursday, the work in Japan was confirmed as scheduled. What a surprising turn of event. I never expected to go there when I worked with them for the first time last September.

Help Wanted with Sleep

Bad sleep again. The traffic outside is kind of noisy into the wee hours, but I don’t think it is so loud that it prevents me from sleeping. What is the benefit to be working alone if I have to worry about disturbed sleep? Working alone should give me the freedom to sleep whenever I want to and as long as I like, as far as I meet deadlines. Or simply I’m not used to this place yet.

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Video editing is not so easy after all. First of all, the timing is slightly different from that of sound, which I don’t understand. Even if I cut and remove the unnecessary parts by going through frame by frame, the result is not as good as I expect. This may be a problem of the particular software that I downloaded.

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I delivered two jobs today, one of which I got only this afternoon. I had to turn down another enquiry as I didn’t think I could make the deadline, which was 10 am tomorrow. The plate is now cleared. To begin with, it is rare to find well-written originals. In particular, writings done by ad people are quite terrible in most cases. It seems to me that they have no clear idea as to what they write. All nice words and phrases are there. At the same time, they are often frustratingly repetitive. Especially troublesome is when I find multiple words of the same meaning in katakana and kanji.

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In Japan, if I really go there next month, there would be some people and places I want to visit but have no time to visit all. A few of them are graves.

Tatsuya

よく寝たような「気がする」。Ｙさんと彼の息子「たつや」が夢に出てきた。Ｙさんは住んでいるアパートに自分を連れて行ってくれた。建物の１階。中からドアを開けて「たつや」が出てきた。食事の用意がされていた。当然ながら大きくなっていて、「大人の声になってんのとちゃう？」と言った。でも、顔は自分が知っている子供の頃と変わってなかった。「たつや」も小学校３～４年生になっているだろう。

Sound Engineering

Several weeks ago, I downloaded nine music video clips from YouTube. Each lasts for about 10 minutes and I merged them by using the Movie Maker. Unfortunately, there is a shorter-than-one-second gap between the clips. No matter how short they are, they produce unmistakable silence. This afternoon, I got a sound editing software and with it extracted the sound of the whole video to cut out the silent parts. Finding the parts by looking at the sound wave, I could easily cut them out. Big kick out of it! Now that I’ve found where to cut, I can edit the visual part of the video.

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Last night’s sleep, or lack thereof, was terrible. Though I didn’t have an afternoon nap, sleep didn’t come to me. It was 4:30 am when I stopped reading, believing I would fall asleep soon. Still no sleep. I decided to plug the ears. Still no sleep. After a few vivid episodes in dream, I got out of the bed well into afternoon, exhausted.

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I was in a world where it was not possible for me to be good…
… [One] has to remember that the child has little sense of proportion or probability. A child may be a mass of egoism and rebelliousness, but it has no accumulated experience to give it confidence in its own judgements. One the whole it will accept what it is told, it will believe in the most fantastic way in the knowledge and powers of the adults surrounding it.
I had learned early in my career that one can do wrong against one’s will, and before long I also learned that one can do wrong without ever discovering what one has done or why it was wrong. There were sins that were too subtle to be explained, and there were others that were too terrible to be mentioned.
A child which appears reasonably happy may actually be suffering horrors which it cannot or will not reveal. (George Orwell, “Such, Such Were the Joys”)

Cause of My Death

Looking at the PC screen, I feel a moment of slight dizziness a few times a day. In the long term, this may be the cause of my death.

This early morning, Joe Biden appeared in my dream. I was trying to say to him that I remember things about his ’88 presidential campaign and his bout of brain tumor.

Much Ado...?

Much ado about nothing? North Korea launched a “satellite” over Japan. What’s the difference between this time and 10 years ago when Kim Jong Il did the same?

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Pacifists = “those who ‘abjure’ violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf.” (“Note on Nationalism,” George Orwell)

Patriots

北朝鮮ロケット発射の誤報。数年前に北朝鮮から列島を越えて太平洋に落下したロケットがあったというのに、しっかりと準備してなかった証拠だ。「愛国心」を「国を愛する心」と書き換えないと気がすまない国会議員がいる国で、迎撃ミサイルが「Patriot」というのが笑わせる。

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Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism. Both words are normally used in so vague a way that any definition is liable to be challenged, but one must draw a distinction between them, since two different and even opposing ideas are involved. By “patriotism” I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality. ("Note on Nationalism," George Orwell)

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確定していないが、来月日本に「行く」可能性が大きい。本当にありがたいことだ。あぁ、コンベヤに乗って回っているのでいいから、まともなスシが食べたい。あぁ、ピカピカ輝くうまいコメが食べたい。たまご焼きが食べたい。「卵かけご飯」でもいい。まともなそば、食べたい。食べ物が浮かんでくる。特に引っ越してから、１日１食ペース。おまけにインスタント率が高い。

Ballistic Missile Testing

[US President Barak Obama] said that the North's "unhelpful" response only added to its international isolation. He said North Korea could not threaten the "safety and security of other countries with impunity". (BBC website)

Long-range ballistic missiles… The US and the Soviet Union were very active until the mid 1980s in developing intercontinental ballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads to annihilate each other and the human race. Certainly, I don’t agree to the upcoming North Korea’s long-range rocket launch that would cross the Pacific over Japan. But, the attitude of the superpower is almost always hypocritical.

Japan’s media are reporting where the PAC3 “Patriot” missiles have been deployed, totally undressing the defense positions to North Korea. Would they report the same in real war?

Moved to the Arrogant League?

日本のプロ野球が開幕した。でも、読売新聞（電子版）は、「楽天３－１日本ハム（セ・リーグ＝３日）楽天は一回、鉄平の中越え三塁打、セギノールの右越え２ランで３点を先制した」。あれ、いつからリーグが変わったの？

Are You Kidding Me?

I received two “Dear Tenants” SMSs from the management company today. One says, “free internet access hv been provided at Neil Rd for your usage.” Another told me that “we hv enlisted StarHub digital DDTV services (16 channels for your viewing pleasure at no cost) effective next Tuesday.” Are you kidding me? And what’s “DDTV”? “HDTV”? Should it be “DTTV”?

Oh No! (I Mean "Oh Yes"!)

Painfully busy, but I shouldn’t complain.