Its Time to Duel!!!

Youtube

Bronx Junkyard










Today’s article will be a little offbeat to say the least. I’ve been assigned the topic of entertainment so things are going to be done a little differently. Instead of reviewing the good, the bad, and the ugly, in a manner of speaking, today’s article will feature entertainment sites from Japan and Korea that have caught my personal interest.

Youtube is quite possibly the greatest invention on the earth. Dare I say it, it might even be better than Wikipedia. It offers millions of mind numbing videos that waste away hours and hours of my life. The reason I bring this up, though, is a good portion of these clips are Japanese. And I'll be damned if there not fun as hell to watch though. Here are two of my favorites:



Yatta? Yeah….I don’t really get them either, but they’re just vague enough to be considered entertainment. Originally created as a sketch on a Japanese comedy show, the Yatta! Single was officially released in 2001 with unexpected results. It debuted at number six on the charts, and went triple platinum in Japan within weeks. Another interesting tidbit is that the sketch is at least a partly ironic commentary on attempts by the Japanese government to maintain optimism in the face of Japan’s severe economic troubles. To achieve this, they depict men impoverished to the degree of having no clothes but the figurative fig leaf on their loins, yet they still are able to maintain an irrational, irrepressible belief in their own potential for success. Outlandish humor and social commentary? That’s a stoner video if I ever saw one.



Anime is a staple of Japanese culture and this action packed thriller is no exception. Let me give you a short synopsis. Yu Gi Oh! Follows the life of a young boy by the name of Yugi Moto and his adventures as the King of Games. This is a much better version of the show.


Bronx Junkyard is a hub that allows users to upload media regarding their favorite Korean pop stars. It offers many forums that can cater to your viewing pleasure. From movies and mp3s to images and biographies, everything you need to be a Korean pop star can be found here. I didn't really have a chance to look at the site's other features, but this is definitely a site worth visiting.




Hyori? Nuff said.

Wikipedia is Better than the CIA

The World Factbook: Japan

Wikipedia: Economy of Japan

Today’s topic of interest is the national economy of Japan. In lieu of my normal introduction, I will begin my column with an article closely tied to Japanese economics. The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, it provides interesting, if not educational, insight into what drives the Japanese economy. Secondly, it is Valentine’s Day and I think we all deserve a break, especially me. Here’s the article: Geek Spending Power

Let’s begin with the World Factbook. It provides a wealth of information ranging from the number of unpaved airports to the country’s annual industrial production growth rate. I’m not even sure what that is exactly, but the point is that this site is a gold mine if you’re looking for any sort of statistical data. All data listed on this site have been provided courtesy of none other than the CIA. What more reliable of a source could you want? Unfortunately, the CIA doesn’t always get its facts right. What it does do, though, is provide us with a consensus source for which all forms of news media have access. This endows the press with a common database giving all media a sense of factuality and legitimacy.

Other than that, though, I’m not really impressed. As I glance over the site, the numbers mean absolutely nothing to me. Don’t get me wrong. Statistics are great and all, but they only reveal a part of the story. This is where Wikipedia comes in, quite possibly the greatest resource at my disposal. One day Wikipedia will inherit the earth, but I digress. The Economy of Japan page provides an ample supply of information as well, but in a much more user friendly form. The information is broad and generalized, but manages to paint a pretty clear picture while incorporating the important details. This sort of information is much more accessible to the public and gives meaning to all those statistics. So there it is, Wikipedia is better than the CIA.

Blogs Can Be Useful

Nature: China’s Burning Ambition

Wang Jian Shuo’s Blog

This week, I would like to continue discussing the topic of the environment. While writing my previous article, I came upon the idea of an Asian energy crisis. For those of you who don’t already know, the Asian energy crisis can be summed up simply as too many developing countries with not enough energy to power them all. I would like to further delve into the subject by focusing specifically on China where this problem seems most prominent.

China is one of the world’s most up and coming countries. With a rapidly growing economy, huge advancements in technology, and a population that rivals the world, China is quite possibly the most watched developmental country on the planet. It does, however, have one major flaw: its insatiable hunger for energy.

The articled in Nature refers to China as such, “The economic miracle that is transforming the world's most populous nation is threatened by energy shortages and rising pollution. It also risks plunging the planet's climate into chaos.” I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds kind of ominous. The article goes on to describe how China’s economic growth is increasing at a staggering rate and how China’s current energy resources cannot keep up. Due to massive economic growth, China’s demand and consumption of resources is growing steadily and proving to be quite a problem for the national government.

The latter source, Wang Jian Shuo’s Blog, is not a credible source by any standards. It is just a simple blog maintained by an average Chinese citizen in Shanghai. His posts are merely his own opinions and reflect his own views. This is why I chose this site. His blog provides day to day accounts of his own life. An excerpt from his blog states, “Not only Shanghai. The whole China is facing big challenge of electricity power shortage. Every morning, when I drive along the Zhao Jiang Bang road to work, the morning news from Beijing broadcasts about the shortage and measures the government has taken to overcome it. I have never seen such kind of storage before.”

Now, if you follow my blog, you might assume that this is the part of the article where I praise the Nature article as the better resource and denounce the blog for its absolute lack of credibility, but not today. I must admit that the Nature article is very informative and provides a very good overview of the Chinese energy crisis, but this week I’m going with the blog. Why, you ask? Because it’s more personal. The blog provides a more intimate view of the energy crisis. The accounts are given by an individual in the right in the middle of the situation and, to me, that’s important. Academic and news resources can provide us with a wealth of information and knowledge, but they lack personality. Blogs don’t include statistics and facts. They provide emotion and feeling, something lacking in most credible resources. And that my friends is why, for this week at least, a blog is superior.

Tree Hugging in the Far East

Energy Information Administration: China

People’s Daily Online

Energy Information Administration: India

The Hindu

Today’s topic is the environment, and as such, I have decided upon two countries with many parallels, India and China. Both countries retain huge land masses with an even larger population. India and China are two developing countries that have the potential for economic greatness. But along with this rapid, economic development, there comes a major drawback. Industrialization inevitably leads to environmental decay.

As I began my search for environmental enlightenment, I came upon the People’s Daily Online. When it comes to ecology and the environment, I can sum up this resource in a single word: useless. Articles regarding the environment are few and far between. The few articles I could scrounge up provided a view so biased that only the Chinese government could ever acknowledge it. On the other hand, there’s the Energy Information Administration. The EIA is a U.S governmental site that seeks public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. Using mostly statistical data, the site provides a much broader view of China’s environmental health. It gives very in-depth information regarding China, ranging from energy use and carbon emissions to China’s stance on renewable energy.

To begin my analysis of India, I would like to point out that as I was searching the People’s Daily Online, I found about two relevant articles. The Hindu, on the other hand, came up with an entire page’s worth, with 15,800 articles to follow. Unlike many other sites on the subject, The Hindu offers an abundance of information. Once again, the EIA was superb. It provided an honest, statistical analysis of India’s condition, but regarding this country I must say that The Hindu makes a much better resource. India, unlike China apparently, is quite aware of its environmental issues. The Hindu provides up to date articles regarding almost all aspects of the subject.

It seems strange that two countries with so many similarities take such opposing stances regarding the coverage of environmental issues. In my honest opinion, the first step to easing the environmental impact of industrialization lies within country itself. To stop this environmental decay, a country must be self-aware and its people must be held accountable for their actions.

Hustler's Ambition

Nikkei Net Interactive

The Japan Times

My latest revelation regarding East Asian media is that unbiased reporting, at least in regards to this subject, is merely a hoop dream. Even the best of resources only provide a portion of the picture. A myriad of resources must be used in order to get the complete story. In certain cases, even the most biased and regulated of resources can yield vital information. Take for example my review of the two Chinese financial sites listed in last week’ article. Even though the China Economic review is nothing more than thinly veiled propaganda, it can serve to be useful. In general, to understand a country’s economy, one must first understand the politics behind it. And there’s no better way than to visit a site run by the same people who make the policies. The Financial Times may provide a more rounded view of China, but being able to understand what the Chinese government is trying to project is imperative to making good investment decisions.

Another point I would like to bring to light came to me as I was perusing Japan’s financial media. It seems that even when valid, sources are available, information can be skewed nonetheless. Japan provides a perfect example of this. The Japan Times provides a very broad and comprehensive business section and the Nikkei Net Index supplements the world trader with numerous financial tools, but both have a single thing in common. They lack objectivity. Both praise Japan’s economic success, but none criticize. Japanese media is very highly regarded as both sober and concise, but its one greatest fault lies within its own culture, nationalism. To tie in with my previous paragraph, it takes a full range of resources to accurately assess the financial situation of a country. Even the worst sites may provide useful insight into the culture and society of a people. Society and culture are what drives a countries economy. They command the world of finances. Novel idea, huh?

www.thebulltrader.com

China Economic Review

Financial Times: China

Taiwan Economic News

Taipei Times: Business

In this week’s article, I will be taking a foray into the world of East Asian finance, more specifically that of Taiwan and China. Even more specifically, I will be reviewing a number of news sites that specialize in said subject.

As I began this article, the first thing I came to realize was that information regarding East Asian finance was scarce and hardly reliable. The majority of sources I came across were extremely biased and questionable at best. For example, one would expect that the China Economic Review and the Taiwan Economic News would have nothing in common seeing as they how they really don’t get along, but that’s where you’d be wrong. Both sources are completely biased and reek of government influence. A stranger to the Far East could easily read either of these publications and they would probably be painted a picture of utopia. The China Economic Review even goes so far as to post articles such as this, “Worth US$1.5 billion, Zhang Yin built her fortune on scrap paper. Specifically, hauling trashed paper and cardboard from the US to China.” These publications are nothing more than propaganda creating grandiose illusions of their real selves. Anyone who has been back to China or Taiwan within the last decade knows what I’m talking about. China and Taiwan have made some great improvements over the years, but the struggle is far from over. Riddled with economic and political vices, China and Taiwan are from perfection.

Now, on the other end of the side of the spectrum is the Financial Times. This publication is one of my favorites when it comes to China and finances. Without a resource like this I never would have discovered stocks like PTR or SNP, and trust me, at the time, they were a gold mine. Financial Times is arguably the best at what they do, and I’d be fool to argue. Their coverage is expansive, detailed, and informative. The Taipei Times is nowhere near as powerful as the Financial Times, and honestly, I would much rather be using the latter to research Taiwan, but my assignment requires that I report upon four sources, so I must. The Taipei Times seems unbiased and presents both sides of the story. Although not quite as comprehensive as the Financial Times, It provides unbiased reporting towards Taiwan’s finances and may prove to be of limited use in correspondence with other resources.

For further information: The Bulltrader