What is controlled?

OIE (The World Organization for Animal Health), recently unanimously adopted a resolution recommending that the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Taiwan, Chile and Brazil be recognized as having "controlled" risk status for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, commonly known as "mad cow disease".
On the same day some of Japanese domestic media have reported as if American beef is "almost safe". But unfortunately I could not find a single "safe" or any term which means something like "safe" in an official document.
It seems that what is "controlled" is not a risk but information.

Work or Die

In Japan, opposition parties like Democratic Party and Communist Party often use the term, "working poor" or "poor difference". "Kakusa", or "poor difference", seems to have been an only slogan which opposition parties can use as a countermeasure to the ruling party. If you stand at the station square in Tokyo for only ten minutes in the morning, you might hear "Kakusa" more than a hundred times. It's nothing but an incantation.
However, you can hardly find "poor difference" in Japan. Although the temporary workers who call themselves "working poor" insist that companies exploit them, most of them earn more than 20 thousand dollars a year. Who is of "working poor"?
If they want to work, it is not so hard to find jobs. Fortunately unlike China or North Korea, there are few people of privileged class who can live on only an unearned income in our country. I know few countries where the difference between poverty and wealth is smaller than Japan. We live in the utopia even communists could never have realized.
Of course I know some people who can afford Ferrari and a super high-end apartment. But they are rare "winners" who have aggressive spirits to make harder efforts than anyone. Harder work makes more money. That's all.
Passive persons have no right to complain about their low income and we, diligent workers, have no obligation to feed them. It is almost equal to re-building a useless nation such as former Soviet Union to support sluggard like NEET.
Work or die. It's quite natural in the world of capitalism. Japan is not an outdated communist state.

Catch the Wind

Unexpected troubles might disturb your pace. The more stable your life is, external pressure might have a bigger influence for it.
However, if a stability of your life brings you a sense of imprisonment to you, you would better catch the wind and take opportunity of it to break mannerism.
Staying where you are is not necessary the safest choice. You always bear a risk of being staggered by unpredictable factors. No matter if what's visible now is favorable or not, you would better move from there.
If you set up your sail, you would advance front, back, or aside. Even if the direction was not the best, you can control a sail and a rudder.

Even Bush Not Eat?

At a dinner party of President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the main dinner was reported roast duck. Aithough some members of the Diet aiming at complete opening of Japanese meat market requested the Whitehouse to let the prime minister eat U.S. beef steak, their demand seems to have been ignored.
It might show us the fact that U.S. Government executive officers know how terrible U.S. beef is. Even President Bush does not eat it.

A Cup of Coffee Supports East Timor

Sukiya, one of Japan's leading beef bowl restaurant chains, has recently started to sell East Timor Coffee at its 240 sites of more than 820.
East Timor, one of the newest countries which achieved independence in this century, is located in the east side of an island at the south end of the Malay Archipelago. Since it did not have any profitable industries except for small-scale agriculture, it has been one of the poorest countries in the world.
However, the farmers have successfully acquired the know-how on harvesting high quality coffee beans by support of Peace Winds Japan (PWJ), Japan's largest NGO (Non-Governmental Organization), dedicated to the support of people in distress, threatened by conflict, poverty, or other turmoil. Next step had been to get a stable market.
Zensho, one of Japan's outstanding food service companies, which runs more than 2700 restaurants including Sukiya, has decided to work together with PWJ. This year, Zensho purchased 10 tons of East Timor coffee beans produced by 200 specified families at "fair trade" price.
Sukiya's East Timor coffee has got a good reputation not only because of its organic farming but also because of its well-balanced taste of sweet and sour. East Timor farmers and PWJ pin their hopes on the growth of Sukiya's coffee sales.
Sukiya might show one of the easiest ways to join "Team Fair Trade". If you would like to join the movement, you have only to order a cup of coffee(180 yen) or buy a dripbag (50 yen) after you eat safe beef bowl at Sukiya's counter.

Zensho, which runs Sukiya, Coco's, Wendy's as well as various types of restaurants in Japan and the U.S., is well known for its stable policy not to use American beef. Because it might contain abnormal prion which causes BSE or mad cow disease.
Zensho uses Aussie beef, 100% abnormal prion free, while Yoshinoya, one of the most dangerous restaurants, force people "Russian roulette" by using suspicious beef.

Worth of Fame?

Boris Yeltsin, former Russian President, died yesterday. Media praised him as a person who has done an outstanding contribution for a historic change in Russia. Actually I think I saw his stern face and heard of his powerful voice in every important scene of Soviet Union's collapse.
However I don't think he was worth of fame. He was just a low cost actor who stepped in the stage after it was prepared. I know another guy who gave the revolution movement a freedom.
A true revolutionist is Mikhail Gorbachev and people who supported him.

Who is a Big Assist from Pine Slope?

Japan has sent a lot of excellent baseball players to major league since Hideo Nomo had joined Los Angels in early 90’s. Now outstanding players like Ichiro Suzuki (SEA) as well as Hideki Matsui(NYY) are known by and loved by baseball fans in the U.S.
Although they are very popular and well known, it seems that Japanese names are still pretty hard to be pronounced properly and are very hard to be memorized correctly for western people. I bet that’s why Daisuke Matsuzaka(BOS) was given a nickname “Dice-K “ so that American fans call him easily and memorize his name easily.
But “dice” and “K” are very far from what “Dai-suke” itself means. So I would like to tell all the fans the original meaning of “Daisuke”.
“Dai” means “big” and “Suke”, “assist”. So “Dai-suke” is “a Big Assist”.
A Big Assist! I hope he would be a big assist for Boston.

(ex.)
Matsuzaka = Matsu + Zaka = Pine + Slope
Matsui = Matsu + I = Pine + Spring
Suzuki = Suzu + Ki = Bell + Tree
Hideki = Hide + Ki = Excellent + Pleasure (Matsui of NYY), Excellent + Tree (Okajima of BOS)
Hideo = Hide + o = Outstanding + Guy = Hero (Nomo)