FYI: Such security requirements a have been standard practice in the DOD and DOD contractors since WW2, but for maintaining national security and securing classified government and proprietary knowledge and hardware. 'Loose Lips Sink Ships'.
The government will easily be able to censor teachers and students alike with the ever present overhanging threat of instant denial of access via geor key cards.
All the nuisances of course are necessary to get people to willingly accept an imbedded chip or an injection that turns their own tissues into a random number generator and identity transmitter. Digital I.D. will be necessary to conduct financial transactions using digital currency. Who was ts to carry a card or phone everywhere for everything? Such a hassle. Just line up at the entrance to the chute that leads to the kiosk for an injection and you too can be free of antiquated technology and enjoy more freedom and express your Rights without infringement. It'll be like second nature for the Vaxed to get injected with a digital ID. If they haven't been already, given that the corpses of many of the Vaxed are currently transmitting Bluetooth signals. And will continue to do so after death from the comfort of their caskets in cemeteries, as has been proven.
I can say that these security protocols are far more strict than anything I dealt with aboard US naval vessels when I was in. But I held the lowest security clearance. We controlled who entered the engineering spaces ourselves. You did not want to be found in them unescorted. There were doors locked with massive keypad locks (non touch screen) and pad locks. Some had Marines guarding. But electronic surveillance with IC cards was not yet in vogue through the early 1990s. Though they very well may have been at the Pentagon and other such places, but not yet aboard ships or any of the buildings I used on base or in the yards. It was quite the opposite, a complete lack of security.
I have yet to see a building in Japan that meets fire safety code in the U.S.. It is common for doors of classroom small and large to open inward. Same with outer doors and theaters. I have never seen the panic doors that are required in public buildings in the U.S. When we had to evacuate our office building during the 3/11 Earthquake and tsunami, the first person to the emergency exit had to remove a plastic cover that covered the latch. I think this too opened inward. Luckily, no one was panicking. It is rare to even see a fire extinguisher, though I have seen quite a few fire hose stations in buildings. At one school, they hold annual fire drills for the full timers. My boss described these to me. However, I discovered a fact that had evaded him his entire 8 years there; the emergency exit door to the roof is locked. If there is a fire, we would all roast to death trying to get out the locked door or down the stairs to another door.
The school with all the key card controlled doors had a fire several years ago. The fire alarm system failed, so we had a small amount of smoke coming out of one floor while we could see people still working on floors above it. I saw all this only because the building I was in was evacuated due to the fire despite it being across the street and down the block from the fire. We were evaded but not those in the building on fire. No one injured or killed, thank God but it was a Charlie Foxtrot.
Then there is their faucied up code of conduct. They may be required to stay in the building as City Hall of one of the towns swept away by the 3/11 Tsunami were. The mayor and all city employees stayed in City Hall as an example. Well the stayed there until the water swept them away to their deaths. I think the Mayor and a couple of the men survived. All the women perished.
Asia has a really bad track record of employees dying in fires because the exits are locked. Japan too, though perhaps not as large of incidents. I have no Idea what would happen. I suspect that there would be many needless deaths.
The places where Japan has killed people in fires are the clubs up N floors in some narrow building where all the clubs/bars/restaurants etc. beneath them have used the fire escape stairs as extra storage. Offices tend to be in larger buildings with more than one (emergency) exit per floor.
Ever since the Grenfell Tower disaster in the UK I've paid careful attention to the location and number of fire escape stairs in buildings and I'm glad to say that (almost) all recent Japanese multi-story buildings (and many older ones) pass muster with at least two emergency stairways at opposite ends/sides of the building. The ones that don't are generally the aforementioned multifloor entertainment locations and they all seem to be older ones (though it can be sometimes hard to tell). You can do a virtual wander around, say, Shinjuku in Google streetview and spot the iffy buildings
I’d bet that many of those new buildings with multiple emergency exits still have their doors opening inwards as with the Kyoto Animation arson. Fire fighters could not open the emergency exits to to roof because all of the bodies pressing against it on the inside. The entrance and classroom doors of our 3 year old building open inwards. And, I’d bet not a one of the emergency exits is equipped with panic doors.
Besides using emergency escapes as storage, other emergency exits are walled over or have a sign outside blocking them. The dorm I once was forced to live in had a cradle (much like a boatswain’s chair for the nautically inclined) that lowered one person at a time to the ground. As there were 150 some of us living there and the escape apparatus was located on the 5th floor and passed windows on every floor below, the likely hood that most would roast to death after watching one get roasted alive during the decent by flames coming out of windows was high. The school with the locked escape door has the same method of escape from the roof.
Then we have the underground restaurants. Heat, smoke and flame rise and will follow those first few escaping the stairs up to street level and roast all others as they make their attempt. Even worse are these and others that have the kitchen between the dinning room and exits. In all seriousness, if one planned to design buildings to be the least safe they could be against fire, look to Japan for examples. None better exist.
Door opening inwards is not limited to Japan though (which is not a defense of Japan in that regard, I agree it is insane) I've seen that all over Europe.
Considering all the packed together buildings and the undergound eateries with BBQ grills at each table, I am actually amazed that Japan doesn't have more deadly fires.
I have long wondered how there are not more fires in Japan. There are some, but given the total disregard to fire safety, it is a wonder there are not more.
I also wondered about how things are in Europe. In historic buildings, I could see how these might not have outward opening doors but I have no idea on fire codes for new buildings there.
Earlier you mentioned a high rise fire in the UK. Is that the one were the building was covered in some sort of cladding to fight climate change? The cladding that contributed to the fire I know of is not fire retardant and is in fact highly flammable.
First of all, I want to thank you for your replies from the beginning of the year. And at the same time apologizing for not responding and being absent for the whole year (that was sadly one of the toughest years for many people, including me). I went through your articles in my inbox. I can see that you went through tough situations and still no end in sight…
Regarding this Psycho-Pass Anime like developments in Japan you are describing: I am really surprised how far the people are still participating. At the same time I am extremely impressed that you are still in Japan with all the trouble (even in the family) and that you master all this nonetheless.
With the upcoming year I am convinced that these circumstances will begin to come to an end. Based on what I see here in Germany and in the rest of the world, even in east Asia, we are facing an unprecedented breakdown of the economy in every single nation of the planet, combined with already horrible developments in peoples health.
No one of us wanted this, nevertheless it will be people like us which advice will become important for many people in our surroundings. And with this development on the horizon we can start to break out of these unpleasant circumstances in the future.
Stay as strong as you are, watch your family and yourself! I wish you all the best for the new year! Looking forward to read new insights by you.
Welcome back! I wondered what happened to you. Rereading the comments your just liked and this comment it seems that perhaps someone does not want us communicating, among he other issues. 2023 was certainly my toughest year and I know that a great many had even an even worse year.
Probably the main reason I am still in Japan is that the US and their criminal action of living abroad makes it near impossible to return. Though, I must say, that at least some of these issues are due to ignorance on my part, but even if I had the forethought to not allow these to develop, the big issues remain and I did try to prevent them. Basically, I am stuck here. Going back to the States means moving back in with my parents and being chauffeured to and from whatever job I can find until I get a drivers license I can use in the States and pay for insurance. Then I need to barrow their car. Basically start all over again as if I were 16 but at 50 something. Ugly.
One point I disagree with you here is that no one wanted this. It has become clear to me that a large portion of humanity has long been wanting this and that we, you and I and those we interact with here are the few who do not. I also doubt that they will be seeking our advice. They dispose us for being right while they were wrong. They would sooner kill us all knowing they will die a slow, miserable death than have to deal with the fact that they were wrong and we correct.
Given your optimism, I am optimistic for you. I am not for myself. The next school year starts April first. It is long past time to secure positions for the next school year and I have not been able to for two reasons, masks and the fact that I do not have a Masters degree and these have become a hard fast rule for most schools. One of the 5 employers I had at the start of the school has not asked me back for next year. They still may, but if they do they are very late to do so. Of the 4 remaining, one has been since before the panic only for the first semester. I am not earning enough to pay the costs associated with work and am set to lose even more income. Strength is being sapped from me. That is not say that your well wishes fall on deaf ears, they do not. Apart from substack, I have no support, even verbal. Your comments mean more than I can communicate. The fact remains, though, that I must find a way to pay my bills. Without wearing a mask and without the benefit a Masters degree confers.
That’s right, its tough to restart. I am just 30 years old and it was hard to even find a new job now in my hometown (but plans for leaving Germany are just postponed, not removed from the list). Nevertheless, the people responsible for all what’s happening now built a perfect kind of cage everywhere (but there are some nice places still available).
One can’t disagree on your point: There really were people out there who waited for their beloved open fascism to return. And the others fueled it with their daily actions and choices (though I can’t say that everyone was aware of the consequences to be gracious with them – it’s a sad situation…).
The Germans are “good obedient people” like the Japanese (which are called here the “Prussians of Asia”). I feared what you mentioned until around last autumn in Germany (“They would sooner kill us all knowing they will die a slow, miserable death than have to deal with the fact that they were wrong and we correct.”). But I recognized throughout the year that they changed in their thinking about the whole situation:
As now every family is somehow affected negatively 1) with the economic backlash of their obedience from 2020 onwards and 2) regarding health issues and even death, which became horribly mundane meanwhile.
Of course, they don’t apologize and say “I have been wrong”, but many many (ordinary) folks know that certain people wanted to harm them [and say it loudly now, be it at the hairdresser, the bar, the restaurant, the pharmacy or the supermarket]. The good thing is, they are getting angry at their direct supervisors, the politicians, the Faucis and the government bodies. Opinion research from August this year has shown that almost 70 percent of the Germans don’t trust the State anymore – and 91 percent don’t trust the political parties anymore (that’s an unthinkable result for this country). In Japan similar results are being reported here.
Something is happening in their minds and I can say that they won’t hunt us down anymore for what they were doing not long ago.
Given your position in Japan, you have done even better then us people here in Germany within the “awoken circle”! I have no doubt that you will continue to persevere.
Just keep an extra eye on your health and your family. E.g. a lot of vaccinated people here have found Natto (surprisingly) very helpful for regaining their health, especially because of its benefits for the blood (it seems to destroy micro blood clots). And say to yourself every now and then:
That is encouraging news from Germany. Is the same happening in Japan? I am sure there are those who knew from the beginning that all this was nonsense just as there were those who were shocked by the stupidity of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor when it was announced. There are probably a growing number of people who have come to understand that things are not as they are told. However, is this meaningful or will it just be a historical side note as those above are to the study of WW2? In Japan I suspect the latter. I hope I am wrong.
Recently the national broadcaster casting network (NHK) ran a story that featured the survivors of 3 or 4 four who died of the vax, only they reported that they died of Covid. Now, a watch dog has compelled NHK to apologize for the error, but how many who saw the program know it was untrue and that NHK was forced to apologize? I’d bet not a single Medical student knows this. Ditto for nursing students.
Another reason is masks. The “recommendation” with the strength of a mandate to wear them was lifted May 8th this year, yet around half in the greater Tokyo area are still wearing them. They continued wearing them despite the government recommending they do not during the unusually hot summer we had. To paraphrase a favorite statement from my students, their brains have been broken. The mad maskers are unreachable and will probably be screaming at the unmasked when masks are “recommended” again. Again, I hope I am wrong. Your observations on how Germans now feel towards the government there does give me hope that I am.
Ohh yes, the masks are a special thing in Japan as I read in your posts.
As we were and still are the minority, it is sobering to realize that we will be just a side note of history – nevertheless we were here :-)
That’s very interesting with NHK and the reaction, also very important!!!
When our government and mass media started to report very carefully about the vaccine affected people it was similar: They broadcasted some story’s (“there are just some people affected and have minor issues but everything is still fine for everyone”) in government media around 22:30h, but were hit by a huge backlash of Online comments of ordinary people. Many people used Twitter to complain that they have been affected also and complained why they send this so late and not taking the harms seriously.
Now at the end of the year there are many more (still careful) reports all around the media. Two weeks ago government media even send around 7 minutes of the toxic contents in all of those Covid vaccines [MDR (12/12/2023): „Corona-Impfstoff in der Kritik – Was ist dran?“] … just to delete it two days later from Youtube and their own media library: Folks were getting angry online again, what caused many more to become aware of this television report (which can be found on other YouTube Channels and Twitter because people downloaded it).
So that NHK reaction is very important. I think even the Japanese will have the same development maybe next year (anyway they started long after Germany and the west with the mass vaccinations – so they are catching up with all this).
And another good development is that the first heavily vax injured started in this year here in Germany to join the alternative (better said corporation independent) media bubble – one woman even started her own Telegram-Channel [Ich.will.leben offiziell No time to Die] and organizes (although very sick) the ordinary people step by step. As the flow of online information is relatively free again (most important Twitter because that’s where the ordinary people still are very active), one can observe this development in almost every country now. So again, Japanese people are humans too – so they will defiantly catch up next year!
I think i get now why so many older people appear to be "cranky." They aren't cranky, they just don't like the way things are going. could you imagine Dana Carvey doing the "Grumpt Old Man" now?
"Back in my day, we didn't stay home because we had the sniffles, we went to work. The only time you stayed home is if you coughed up a lung or were. making trips to the bathroom every five minutes to get your insides out. We'd take Nyqil and Sundefed to "mask our symptoms" which now would be seen as carrying a concealed weapon in some states...and we loved it!"
Problem is, as with the Babylon Bee of Late, it ain’t satire any more, it how things are. Just saw an article on how OTC symptom relief meds are selling like crazy because people are afraid to cough in public now.
This was part of my thinking back in 2020. I would ask what I considered ridiculous questions and you can bet if I brought any of them up then they would say "that would never happen." Things like:
"What is more selfish, to not wear a mask for the vulnerable, or demand everyone mask for a vulnerable population of .2%." But that's exactly what they think is "selfless." They consider it a worthy sacrifice to demand everyone do something that doesn't work for a few. There are a lot of reasons for this though that have nothing to do with the old Star Trek quandry about needs of the many and needs of the few. There is the spite factor (you should mask because I said so) and the morality factor (heart is in the right place).
In 2020 in December when I got covid again and bought over the counter remedies for the symptoms. As I did so I wondered if others were suspicious of me. (Is he trying to hide his covid.) Yes, I was. This is another front we have to fight on. We have to push back against the legacy of the this lunacy which is for people with allergies, emphysema, cancer, and those that swallow incorrectly. We get back to "cover your cough."
The new social contract is effective though. But our efforts to call it out are not unnoticed.
I was sitting here thinking that maybe these security procedures are par for the course in indoctrination. The idea is to get used to security procedures without question.
I was "schooled" this past week, speaking of colleges, by someone who said it is normal and accepted in college debates to include ad hominem attacks and logical fallacies in arguments. That if you actually include actual evidence, the insults, and appeal to experts logical fallacies do not count.
When asked to be linked to the official rules and rationale why this is a "sea change in debate" I was not given any support to this at all.
I would find ways to parody this system if I could. Do you require a card for the bathroom? Does it only allow certain permissions a day to take a dump? Does your toilet surveil the waste water?
An aside. I get frustrated now due to double authentication. Seems I have to use my phone authenticator every time I login to a site I hadn't logged into in awhile.
"An aside. I get frustrated now due to double authentication. Seems I have to use my phone authenticator every time I login to a site I hadn't logged into in awhile."
As some one who works in IT security, that's generally a good thing. Better that you are logged in via a code retrieved from an app than from an SMS message. Email links are about halfway between the two.
The reason for this is that the absolute top predictor of fraud is a login from a new location. Or from an old location that you haven't used in a while because your computer was stolen and they just got around to cracking the password on it
I get that, but it happens now almost every time I try logging in to just about anywhere. Places visited just the day before or in some cases even earlier in the day while others that I have specifically set to not remember me let me in with out doing anything. Why do I need to double authenticate each time I go to the newspaper I subscribe to but not to my photo hosting website? When I have more time, I’ll more of my security stories with you. You have heard some of them, but not all. Leaves me with the impression that all security measures are little more that a gate that has been dummy locked except for a few sites that no one would think should need any security.
I think the general principle I have heard is that in the name of security, some measure of freedom is lost. So a lot of this depends on how much freedom we are willing to sacrifice for security.
A random thought.
One of the great things about freedom is to choose convenience.
But convenience ironically usually takes a hit on the security front. Using debit cards, for instance, is not very secure. I remember my dad and Clark Howard warning against them. My dad refused to use debit cards inclining towards cash and checks. Kitsune as well has pushed against going cashless.
Because cashless is easier, but less secure, measures are taken to increase security. Which lessens freedom. so the very things we have done under the auspices of freedom have led to our undoing.
I got used to an authenticator when playing an online game. The first versions of it came as a standalone piece of hardware/software you kept on a keychain. Then they moved up to the phone app. I don't know if its generally a good thing or not. Should we not get some voice or say in the amount of risk/reward of these policies? Some security apps even allow for this...such as choosing weaker passwords, or opting out of double authentication, or choosing other means of authentication.
The login from the new location thing. The sad thing is every time it appears my browser is updated, these sites and apps interpret this as being from a new device or location. I wish people interpreted me as being new and different based on the context of my location or any modifications I made to my body.
Most of us know all too well this is a top predictor of fraud, thus why we have to call our bank whenever we change addresses or go on vacation, or logging in zip codes at gas pumps. While these tools can be used for good, they can also be used for ill as well. How much is "generally good/generally ill" is currently in flux.
After hearing about our new city hospital, that I exactly what I am thinking. While I always did wonder about how the conditioning would affect my students, I still laughed at the the schools policies as I thought they were just over enthusiastic with it. I did not expect to see hospitals adopting even more stringent measures and certainly not ordinary office buildings.
Colleges in the US have long been a joke, and an expensive one at that. I graduated in 2000 and things were weird even then. Have gotten more so and far more expensive too since then.
While the med school does not use the key card system for toilet use, I have seen QR CODE Only restrooms in Japan. There are toilets that do exactly what you joke about and they have been used in certain application for a number of years now. Does the city hospital use these? Do not know but would not be surprised either way. But soon theses too will be every where. They are part and parcel of the SMART Home, IoT framework that they are pushing.
I too am recently plagued by this double authentication business. I do not have an idiot phone which has lead to me losing access to various Apps I pay for. I also do not always have two devices (iPads in my case) to receive the authentication code they often send to a different device. This is another area where I am rapidly losing the ability to operate in.
I have witnessed similar changes in Hong Kong but it goes back a lot further. In the 1980s & 90s buildings such as the Central Government Offices were open to the public. Although I had the sense that I shouldn’t really be there without a reason, I was able to go to different floors and wander along the corridors and peer into the various offices without being challenged. Also even police stations offered limited access and you could for example just walk into the canteen and have a meal. All that soon changed and now there are electronic barriers and multiple layers of security and most of the original buildings have been replaced with modern ones specifically designed to keep the public at a distance.
Now this has crept into to commercial and residential buildings where you have to sign in at the downstairs lobby and given a specific pass to the floor you intend to visit. In some cases the security might call to confirm the appointment and someone will be sent to escort you in and out. Others require a security guard to ask you which floor you intend to visit and a lift devoid of buttons will be remotely controlled to ensure you can only access the floor you requested.
FYI: Such security requirements a have been standard practice in the DOD and DOD contractors since WW2, but for maintaining national security and securing classified government and proprietary knowledge and hardware. 'Loose Lips Sink Ships'.
The government will easily be able to censor teachers and students alike with the ever present overhanging threat of instant denial of access via geor key cards.
All the nuisances of course are necessary to get people to willingly accept an imbedded chip or an injection that turns their own tissues into a random number generator and identity transmitter. Digital I.D. will be necessary to conduct financial transactions using digital currency. Who was ts to carry a card or phone everywhere for everything? Such a hassle. Just line up at the entrance to the chute that leads to the kiosk for an injection and you too can be free of antiquated technology and enjoy more freedom and express your Rights without infringement. It'll be like second nature for the Vaxed to get injected with a digital ID. If they haven't been already, given that the corpses of many of the Vaxed are currently transmitting Bluetooth signals. And will continue to do so after death from the comfort of their caskets in cemeteries, as has been proven.
How to Detect if you Emit a MAC Address --
https://lenbermd.substack.com/p/how-to-detect-if-you-emit-a-mac-address
They don’t make it easy, do they?
I can say that these security protocols are far more strict than anything I dealt with aboard US naval vessels when I was in. But I held the lowest security clearance. We controlled who entered the engineering spaces ourselves. You did not want to be found in them unescorted. There were doors locked with massive keypad locks (non touch screen) and pad locks. Some had Marines guarding. But electronic surveillance with IC cards was not yet in vogue through the early 1990s. Though they very well may have been at the Pentagon and other such places, but not yet aboard ships or any of the buildings I used on base or in the yards. It was quite the opposite, a complete lack of security.
What if there is an actual FIRE. Would the administration floor be sacrificed, or have they thought of that and they would be released first.
I have yet to see a building in Japan that meets fire safety code in the U.S.. It is common for doors of classroom small and large to open inward. Same with outer doors and theaters. I have never seen the panic doors that are required in public buildings in the U.S. When we had to evacuate our office building during the 3/11 Earthquake and tsunami, the first person to the emergency exit had to remove a plastic cover that covered the latch. I think this too opened inward. Luckily, no one was panicking. It is rare to even see a fire extinguisher, though I have seen quite a few fire hose stations in buildings. At one school, they hold annual fire drills for the full timers. My boss described these to me. However, I discovered a fact that had evaded him his entire 8 years there; the emergency exit door to the roof is locked. If there is a fire, we would all roast to death trying to get out the locked door or down the stairs to another door.
The school with all the key card controlled doors had a fire several years ago. The fire alarm system failed, so we had a small amount of smoke coming out of one floor while we could see people still working on floors above it. I saw all this only because the building I was in was evacuated due to the fire despite it being across the street and down the block from the fire. We were evaded but not those in the building on fire. No one injured or killed, thank God but it was a Charlie Foxtrot.
Then there is their faucied up code of conduct. They may be required to stay in the building as City Hall of one of the towns swept away by the 3/11 Tsunami were. The mayor and all city employees stayed in City Hall as an example. Well the stayed there until the water swept them away to their deaths. I think the Mayor and a couple of the men survived. All the women perished.
I would think in case of emergency, the doors would be automatically unlocked. But I wouldn't be surprised if in such situations...the doors locked.
Asia has a really bad track record of employees dying in fires because the exits are locked. Japan too, though perhaps not as large of incidents. I have no Idea what would happen. I suspect that there would be many needless deaths.
The places where Japan has killed people in fires are the clubs up N floors in some narrow building where all the clubs/bars/restaurants etc. beneath them have used the fire escape stairs as extra storage. Offices tend to be in larger buildings with more than one (emergency) exit per floor.
Ever since the Grenfell Tower disaster in the UK I've paid careful attention to the location and number of fire escape stairs in buildings and I'm glad to say that (almost) all recent Japanese multi-story buildings (and many older ones) pass muster with at least two emergency stairways at opposite ends/sides of the building. The ones that don't are generally the aforementioned multifloor entertainment locations and they all seem to be older ones (though it can be sometimes hard to tell). You can do a virtual wander around, say, Shinjuku in Google streetview and spot the iffy buildings
I’d bet that many of those new buildings with multiple emergency exits still have their doors opening inwards as with the Kyoto Animation arson. Fire fighters could not open the emergency exits to to roof because all of the bodies pressing against it on the inside. The entrance and classroom doors of our 3 year old building open inwards. And, I’d bet not a one of the emergency exits is equipped with panic doors.
Besides using emergency escapes as storage, other emergency exits are walled over or have a sign outside blocking them. The dorm I once was forced to live in had a cradle (much like a boatswain’s chair for the nautically inclined) that lowered one person at a time to the ground. As there were 150 some of us living there and the escape apparatus was located on the 5th floor and passed windows on every floor below, the likely hood that most would roast to death after watching one get roasted alive during the decent by flames coming out of windows was high. The school with the locked escape door has the same method of escape from the roof.
Then we have the underground restaurants. Heat, smoke and flame rise and will follow those first few escaping the stairs up to street level and roast all others as they make their attempt. Even worse are these and others that have the kitchen between the dinning room and exits. In all seriousness, if one planned to design buildings to be the least safe they could be against fire, look to Japan for examples. None better exist.
Door opening inwards is not limited to Japan though (which is not a defense of Japan in that regard, I agree it is insane) I've seen that all over Europe.
Considering all the packed together buildings and the undergound eateries with BBQ grills at each table, I am actually amazed that Japan doesn't have more deadly fires.
I have long wondered how there are not more fires in Japan. There are some, but given the total disregard to fire safety, it is a wonder there are not more.
I also wondered about how things are in Europe. In historic buildings, I could see how these might not have outward opening doors but I have no idea on fire codes for new buildings there.
Earlier you mentioned a high rise fire in the UK. Is that the one were the building was covered in some sort of cladding to fight climate change? The cladding that contributed to the fire I know of is not fire retardant and is in fact highly flammable.
Hello Kitsune,
First of all, I want to thank you for your replies from the beginning of the year. And at the same time apologizing for not responding and being absent for the whole year (that was sadly one of the toughest years for many people, including me). I went through your articles in my inbox. I can see that you went through tough situations and still no end in sight…
Regarding this Psycho-Pass Anime like developments in Japan you are describing: I am really surprised how far the people are still participating. At the same time I am extremely impressed that you are still in Japan with all the trouble (even in the family) and that you master all this nonetheless.
With the upcoming year I am convinced that these circumstances will begin to come to an end. Based on what I see here in Germany and in the rest of the world, even in east Asia, we are facing an unprecedented breakdown of the economy in every single nation of the planet, combined with already horrible developments in peoples health.
No one of us wanted this, nevertheless it will be people like us which advice will become important for many people in our surroundings. And with this development on the horizon we can start to break out of these unpleasant circumstances in the future.
Stay as strong as you are, watch your family and yourself! I wish you all the best for the new year! Looking forward to read new insights by you.
NERMIN!
Welcome back! I wondered what happened to you. Rereading the comments your just liked and this comment it seems that perhaps someone does not want us communicating, among he other issues. 2023 was certainly my toughest year and I know that a great many had even an even worse year.
Probably the main reason I am still in Japan is that the US and their criminal action of living abroad makes it near impossible to return. Though, I must say, that at least some of these issues are due to ignorance on my part, but even if I had the forethought to not allow these to develop, the big issues remain and I did try to prevent them. Basically, I am stuck here. Going back to the States means moving back in with my parents and being chauffeured to and from whatever job I can find until I get a drivers license I can use in the States and pay for insurance. Then I need to barrow their car. Basically start all over again as if I were 16 but at 50 something. Ugly.
One point I disagree with you here is that no one wanted this. It has become clear to me that a large portion of humanity has long been wanting this and that we, you and I and those we interact with here are the few who do not. I also doubt that they will be seeking our advice. They dispose us for being right while they were wrong. They would sooner kill us all knowing they will die a slow, miserable death than have to deal with the fact that they were wrong and we correct.
Given your optimism, I am optimistic for you. I am not for myself. The next school year starts April first. It is long past time to secure positions for the next school year and I have not been able to for two reasons, masks and the fact that I do not have a Masters degree and these have become a hard fast rule for most schools. One of the 5 employers I had at the start of the school has not asked me back for next year. They still may, but if they do they are very late to do so. Of the 4 remaining, one has been since before the panic only for the first semester. I am not earning enough to pay the costs associated with work and am set to lose even more income. Strength is being sapped from me. That is not say that your well wishes fall on deaf ears, they do not. Apart from substack, I have no support, even verbal. Your comments mean more than I can communicate. The fact remains, though, that I must find a way to pay my bills. Without wearing a mask and without the benefit a Masters degree confers.
Thank you for your kind and informative reply!
Ugh, it keeps being insane – sorry to hear that…
That’s right, its tough to restart. I am just 30 years old and it was hard to even find a new job now in my hometown (but plans for leaving Germany are just postponed, not removed from the list). Nevertheless, the people responsible for all what’s happening now built a perfect kind of cage everywhere (but there are some nice places still available).
One can’t disagree on your point: There really were people out there who waited for their beloved open fascism to return. And the others fueled it with their daily actions and choices (though I can’t say that everyone was aware of the consequences to be gracious with them – it’s a sad situation…).
The Germans are “good obedient people” like the Japanese (which are called here the “Prussians of Asia”). I feared what you mentioned until around last autumn in Germany (“They would sooner kill us all knowing they will die a slow, miserable death than have to deal with the fact that they were wrong and we correct.”). But I recognized throughout the year that they changed in their thinking about the whole situation:
As now every family is somehow affected negatively 1) with the economic backlash of their obedience from 2020 onwards and 2) regarding health issues and even death, which became horribly mundane meanwhile.
Of course, they don’t apologize and say “I have been wrong”, but many many (ordinary) folks know that certain people wanted to harm them [and say it loudly now, be it at the hairdresser, the bar, the restaurant, the pharmacy or the supermarket]. The good thing is, they are getting angry at their direct supervisors, the politicians, the Faucis and the government bodies. Opinion research from August this year has shown that almost 70 percent of the Germans don’t trust the State anymore – and 91 percent don’t trust the political parties anymore (that’s an unthinkable result for this country). In Japan similar results are being reported here.
Something is happening in their minds and I can say that they won’t hunt us down anymore for what they were doing not long ago.
Given your position in Japan, you have done even better then us people here in Germany within the “awoken circle”! I have no doubt that you will continue to persevere.
Just keep an extra eye on your health and your family. E.g. a lot of vaccinated people here have found Natto (surprisingly) very helpful for regaining their health, especially because of its benefits for the blood (it seems to destroy micro blood clots). And say to yourself every now and then:
::: The darkest hour is always before sunrise :::
That is encouraging news from Germany. Is the same happening in Japan? I am sure there are those who knew from the beginning that all this was nonsense just as there were those who were shocked by the stupidity of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor when it was announced. There are probably a growing number of people who have come to understand that things are not as they are told. However, is this meaningful or will it just be a historical side note as those above are to the study of WW2? In Japan I suspect the latter. I hope I am wrong.
Recently the national broadcaster casting network (NHK) ran a story that featured the survivors of 3 or 4 four who died of the vax, only they reported that they died of Covid. Now, a watch dog has compelled NHK to apologize for the error, but how many who saw the program know it was untrue and that NHK was forced to apologize? I’d bet not a single Medical student knows this. Ditto for nursing students.
Another reason is masks. The “recommendation” with the strength of a mandate to wear them was lifted May 8th this year, yet around half in the greater Tokyo area are still wearing them. They continued wearing them despite the government recommending they do not during the unusually hot summer we had. To paraphrase a favorite statement from my students, their brains have been broken. The mad maskers are unreachable and will probably be screaming at the unmasked when masks are “recommended” again. Again, I hope I am wrong. Your observations on how Germans now feel towards the government there does give me hope that I am.
Ohh yes, the masks are a special thing in Japan as I read in your posts.
As we were and still are the minority, it is sobering to realize that we will be just a side note of history – nevertheless we were here :-)
That’s very interesting with NHK and the reaction, also very important!!!
When our government and mass media started to report very carefully about the vaccine affected people it was similar: They broadcasted some story’s (“there are just some people affected and have minor issues but everything is still fine for everyone”) in government media around 22:30h, but were hit by a huge backlash of Online comments of ordinary people. Many people used Twitter to complain that they have been affected also and complained why they send this so late and not taking the harms seriously.
Now at the end of the year there are many more (still careful) reports all around the media. Two weeks ago government media even send around 7 minutes of the toxic contents in all of those Covid vaccines [MDR (12/12/2023): „Corona-Impfstoff in der Kritik – Was ist dran?“] … just to delete it two days later from Youtube and their own media library: Folks were getting angry online again, what caused many more to become aware of this television report (which can be found on other YouTube Channels and Twitter because people downloaded it).
So that NHK reaction is very important. I think even the Japanese will have the same development maybe next year (anyway they started long after Germany and the west with the mass vaccinations – so they are catching up with all this).
And another good development is that the first heavily vax injured started in this year here in Germany to join the alternative (better said corporation independent) media bubble – one woman even started her own Telegram-Channel [Ich.will.leben offiziell No time to Die] and organizes (although very sick) the ordinary people step by step. As the flow of online information is relatively free again (most important Twitter because that’s where the ordinary people still are very active), one can observe this development in almost every country now. So again, Japanese people are humans too – so they will defiantly catch up next year!
I think i get now why so many older people appear to be "cranky." They aren't cranky, they just don't like the way things are going. could you imagine Dana Carvey doing the "Grumpt Old Man" now?
"Back in my day, we didn't stay home because we had the sniffles, we went to work. The only time you stayed home is if you coughed up a lung or were. making trips to the bathroom every five minutes to get your insides out. We'd take Nyqil and Sundefed to "mask our symptoms" which now would be seen as carrying a concealed weapon in some states...and we loved it!"
Problem is, as with the Babylon Bee of Late, it ain’t satire any more, it how things are. Just saw an article on how OTC symptom relief meds are selling like crazy because people are afraid to cough in public now.
This was part of my thinking back in 2020. I would ask what I considered ridiculous questions and you can bet if I brought any of them up then they would say "that would never happen." Things like:
"What is more selfish, to not wear a mask for the vulnerable, or demand everyone mask for a vulnerable population of .2%." But that's exactly what they think is "selfless." They consider it a worthy sacrifice to demand everyone do something that doesn't work for a few. There are a lot of reasons for this though that have nothing to do with the old Star Trek quandry about needs of the many and needs of the few. There is the spite factor (you should mask because I said so) and the morality factor (heart is in the right place).
In 2020 in December when I got covid again and bought over the counter remedies for the symptoms. As I did so I wondered if others were suspicious of me. (Is he trying to hide his covid.) Yes, I was. This is another front we have to fight on. We have to push back against the legacy of the this lunacy which is for people with allergies, emphysema, cancer, and those that swallow incorrectly. We get back to "cover your cough."
The new social contract is effective though. But our efforts to call it out are not unnoticed.
I was sitting here thinking that maybe these security procedures are par for the course in indoctrination. The idea is to get used to security procedures without question.
I was "schooled" this past week, speaking of colleges, by someone who said it is normal and accepted in college debates to include ad hominem attacks and logical fallacies in arguments. That if you actually include actual evidence, the insults, and appeal to experts logical fallacies do not count.
When asked to be linked to the official rules and rationale why this is a "sea change in debate" I was not given any support to this at all.
I would find ways to parody this system if I could. Do you require a card for the bathroom? Does it only allow certain permissions a day to take a dump? Does your toilet surveil the waste water?
An aside. I get frustrated now due to double authentication. Seems I have to use my phone authenticator every time I login to a site I hadn't logged into in awhile.
"An aside. I get frustrated now due to double authentication. Seems I have to use my phone authenticator every time I login to a site I hadn't logged into in awhile."
As some one who works in IT security, that's generally a good thing. Better that you are logged in via a code retrieved from an app than from an SMS message. Email links are about halfway between the two.
The reason for this is that the absolute top predictor of fraud is a login from a new location. Or from an old location that you haven't used in a while because your computer was stolen and they just got around to cracking the password on it
I get that, but it happens now almost every time I try logging in to just about anywhere. Places visited just the day before or in some cases even earlier in the day while others that I have specifically set to not remember me let me in with out doing anything. Why do I need to double authenticate each time I go to the newspaper I subscribe to but not to my photo hosting website? When I have more time, I’ll more of my security stories with you. You have heard some of them, but not all. Leaves me with the impression that all security measures are little more that a gate that has been dummy locked except for a few sites that no one would think should need any security.
I think the general principle I have heard is that in the name of security, some measure of freedom is lost. So a lot of this depends on how much freedom we are willing to sacrifice for security.
A random thought.
One of the great things about freedom is to choose convenience.
But convenience ironically usually takes a hit on the security front. Using debit cards, for instance, is not very secure. I remember my dad and Clark Howard warning against them. My dad refused to use debit cards inclining towards cash and checks. Kitsune as well has pushed against going cashless.
Because cashless is easier, but less secure, measures are taken to increase security. Which lessens freedom. so the very things we have done under the auspices of freedom have led to our undoing.
We're already probably 95% to a digital currency.
The thing is each website does (or doesn't do) its own security. So they are of course inconsistent
True.
I know this, but I have some pushback to it.
I got used to an authenticator when playing an online game. The first versions of it came as a standalone piece of hardware/software you kept on a keychain. Then they moved up to the phone app. I don't know if its generally a good thing or not. Should we not get some voice or say in the amount of risk/reward of these policies? Some security apps even allow for this...such as choosing weaker passwords, or opting out of double authentication, or choosing other means of authentication.
The login from the new location thing. The sad thing is every time it appears my browser is updated, these sites and apps interpret this as being from a new device or location. I wish people interpreted me as being new and different based on the context of my location or any modifications I made to my body.
Most of us know all too well this is a top predictor of fraud, thus why we have to call our bank whenever we change addresses or go on vacation, or logging in zip codes at gas pumps. While these tools can be used for good, they can also be used for ill as well. How much is "generally good/generally ill" is currently in flux.
After hearing about our new city hospital, that I exactly what I am thinking. While I always did wonder about how the conditioning would affect my students, I still laughed at the the schools policies as I thought they were just over enthusiastic with it. I did not expect to see hospitals adopting even more stringent measures and certainly not ordinary office buildings.
Colleges in the US have long been a joke, and an expensive one at that. I graduated in 2000 and things were weird even then. Have gotten more so and far more expensive too since then.
While the med school does not use the key card system for toilet use, I have seen QR CODE Only restrooms in Japan. There are toilets that do exactly what you joke about and they have been used in certain application for a number of years now. Does the city hospital use these? Do not know but would not be surprised either way. But soon theses too will be every where. They are part and parcel of the SMART Home, IoT framework that they are pushing.
I too am recently plagued by this double authentication business. I do not have an idiot phone which has lead to me losing access to various Apps I pay for. I also do not always have two devices (iPads in my case) to receive the authentication code they often send to a different device. This is another area where I am rapidly losing the ability to operate in.
I have witnessed similar changes in Hong Kong but it goes back a lot further. In the 1980s & 90s buildings such as the Central Government Offices were open to the public. Although I had the sense that I shouldn’t really be there without a reason, I was able to go to different floors and wander along the corridors and peer into the various offices without being challenged. Also even police stations offered limited access and you could for example just walk into the canteen and have a meal. All that soon changed and now there are electronic barriers and multiple layers of security and most of the original buildings have been replaced with modern ones specifically designed to keep the public at a distance.
Now this has crept into to commercial and residential buildings where you have to sign in at the downstairs lobby and given a specific pass to the floor you intend to visit. In some cases the security might call to confirm the appointment and someone will be sent to escort you in and out. Others require a security guard to ask you which floor you intend to visit and a lift devoid of buttons will be remotely controlled to ensure you can only access the floor you requested.
The new normal is abnormal, I would prefer to sit that dance out. God help us all! Sisterly love
Good grief. Another situation where "there's nothing to see here." Nothing to learn either.