So I've rediscovered Enka.I
hadn't listened to it in a while, so I had forgotten what it was
called, but then I was searching through a list of musical artists by
style, and saw the word Enka, and it all came flooding back.
It actually surprises me a little that I like
Enka, not from a language or cultural standpoint (I tend to have an
irrational love for Asian people and culture )
but from a musical standpoint. It seems to me that there are at least
a couple different styles of Enka, and the style that I tend to like
the most, is a style that would probably bother me in other situations.
The style of Enka that I like the most, is the style where you sing
through the break in your voice, letting your voice jump between your
normal singing voice, and your falsetto voice frequently, with quite a
bit of vibrato.
Normally, I tend to find vibrato pretty annoying, but in the case of Enka, I actually like it.
Here is a link to my favourite Enka song that I've heard so far. It seems to be that they got Otowa Shinobu-san to sing this for part of a play, but I'm not entirely sure, as there seems to be a variety show type announcer.
Here is a short paper that I wrote for my Political Science class. It's probably not the best paper, but, I enjoyed writing it, and you might find it interesting. Please be sure to tell me what you think. :)
Throughout
history, there have periods where the average surface temperature of the Earth
has been either higher, or lower than the optimum temperature.We are currently in a period of earth’s
history where the temperature is rising, and the countries of the world must
come together to figure out a way to slow, or stop global warming.There are many ideas on how to stop global
warming, some are better than others, and some that have been tried have had
mixed results.Personally, I’m not sure
where I stand on the whole issue, I think that there is a problem, but I don’t
know how big of a problem it really is, as there is conflicting information
coming from both sides.
I would say that the some of the
strongest arguments for a tougher Environmental Policy are the arguments that
say that countries need to spend a lot more money on helping to combat Global
Warming.While I find these arguments to
be the strongest, there are many reasons why States aren’t doing this.
“The study,
entitled "Military vs. Climate Security", found that the government
has budgeted 647.5 billion dollars for the defense budget in 2008, compared to
7.37 billion dollars for climate-related programmes.” (CLIMATE CHANGE:Wars Dwarf Warming in U.S. Budget, IPS, January
2008)The United States is one of the
worst polluters in the world, but it can’t be bothered to spend more than 1.1%
of what it is spending on the war this year, on combating global warming.
However,
the United States is not alone in this, the total money pledged to date by all
of the countries, to help poorer countries adapt, is just $300,000,000.00.And out of that money, only ten percent of it
has been spent, or, just $30,000,000.00.There is a lot of plenty in the world, but countries like the United
States are spending billions of dollars fighting a war that has become nothing
more than a big sore spot in the world of international relations.It is estimated that the world needs to spend
about 50 billion dollars each year in order to help developing countries with
clean energy sources.If the United
States took its entire defense budget for 2008, and spent it to help developing
countries to develop in a clean, and responsible way, we could pay for that
program for the next 12 years, with about 47 billion dollars to spare.
Interestingly
enough, China advocates that rich countries should “…allocate 0.5% of their
national incomes in official aid to help developing countries adapt.” (Adapt
or Die, The Economist, September
2008)China was the last country that I
would expect to have expected to rally for helping to aid poorer
countries.Unfortunately, countries are
already finding excuses to not give money that they have already pledged in
aid.It is estimated that the National
Income in the United States in 2006 was approximately $9,680 Billion. (Federal
Reserve Statistical Release,www.federalreserve.gov/Releases/Z1/)
If the United States dedicated just 0.5% of that money to help developing
countries to adapt, it would only be 48.4 Billion dollars.It seems expensive now, but as time goes on,
it will only get more and more expensive to try to reverse the damage that has
been. Nobody wants to be the first one
to start doing something, because it will be easier for everyone who starts
after them, and nobody wants to be spending more money than everyone else.
One of the arguments that I find to be
the weakest, is that the utilization of Clean Development Mechanism Credits will
play a major role in getting us out of this crisis.The reason why I find this argument to be the
weakest is because they’ve already tried this approach, and Big Business raked
us over the coals.The idea is a very
good one, but the execution was badly flawed, and unless we keep is out of the
hands of Big Business, I don’t believe that it will work.
Initially
when the Cap-and-Trade method of reducing emissions was implemented, the EU
gave the Pollution Allowances away to companies, instead of selling them.This gave companies the perfect opportunity.They were able to keep polluting at the same
level, at no cost to themselves, and turn around to the consumer charging more
for the same services that they were already receiving.“Many of these industries, particularly the
power sector, reacted by double dipping: they took the free allowances, and
still raised prices on consumers, resulting in billions of Euros in windfall
profits.” (Containing Climate Change, Foreign Affairs, September 2008)
The
CDM credits are kind of a sham anyway, because they aren’t necessarily reducing
emissions, they’re just making sure that new countries don’t start with their
own emissions.The Big Businesses are
granted Carbon Credits based on their current emissions, and they are allowed
to buy or sell them as they need to.In
exchange for these credits, the Big Businesses are supposed to finance
Emissions reducing projects in nations that are still developing.
Another
argument that I find hard to take seriously is Al Gore and his Carbon Credit
Campaign.Big Business and its CDM
credits are a lot like former Vice President Al Gore, and his carbon
offsets.“Al Gore defends his
extraordinary personal energy usage by telling critics he maintains a
"carbon neutral" lifestyle by buying "carbon offsets," but
the company that receives his payments turns out to be partly owned and chaired
by the former vice president himself.” (Gore’s ‘Carbon offsets’ paid to firm he
owns, World Net Daily, March
2007)According to the Nashville
Electric Service, Al Gore’s mansion uses more electricity every month, than the
average American household uses in an entire year. (Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”, Tennessee Center for Policy
Research, February 2007) If Carbon
Credits biggest supporter isn’t working to reduce the emissions that he is
causing, how can he argue for living cleaner, and greener?
Although I disagree with Al Gore and his carbon credits, I do find myself
agreeing with him when he says that the countries that are most responsible for
the climate crisis need to be the ones who are leading the fight to make our
energy greener, and our environment cleaner.Countries who have polluted the most, should have a bigger hand in cleaning
up, and countries that haven’t polluted as much, shouldn’t be held so
responsible.
In the end, I’m still not sure how serious this threat really is.It’s not that I don’t think that we should
develop cleaner energy, because I think that having cleaner energy is
important, not only for those of us living today, but for future generations as
well.Still, are we really in immediate danger?Do we really only have a few more decades
before we start losing a large number of the species that are living on this
planet?I don’t know.
What I do know is that we need to stop pointing fingers and finding
excuses, and start taking responsibility for our actions.The governments of the world need to start
taking charge, and they need to start enforcing compliance, even if it hurts
business, or the economy for a while, things will get better quickly, the
standard of living of people who are living in poverty near factories will
improve.With cleaner air, and cleaner
energy, everybody benefits.It’s
expensive right now but, in the long run, it will be worth it.
One Criticism I have about the sources provided for this report, is that
there were no articles, or sources arguing the other side.There were no sources arguing that Global
Warming isn’t as big of a problem as it is made out to be.Like I said, I don’t really know which side I’m
on at this point, but, I would like to hear more from both sides.
WORKS
CITED
1.CLIMATE CHANGE:Wars
Dwarf Warming in U.S. Budget, IPS, January 2008http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41033
I can't remember if I heard it somewhere (I thought that maybe it was part of a title to an Emery song, but then I couldn't find it...) but in my East Asian Histories class today my teacher said something and I was reminded of it, and started writing things down that felt along the same lines.
1. Putting on a bold face (When the reality is really quite different) 2. Giving up your life for a cause (But in the end, it wasn't really worth it) 3. Wishing something will happen (And rejecting it when it does) 4. Taking the fall for a friend (When they never acknowledged it) 5. Sharing your dreams with someone (And finding out they're impossible) 6. Giving your love to someone (Who never really wanted it)
It's the first one that I thought was somehow connected to Emery, or maybe some other band. If you know, let me know.
Depression is an interesting thing. It comes at us like wave after immense wave, like a typhoon of despair. It doesn't even have to be a big thing that sets it off, it can be something that everyone else views as inconsequential, or a minuscule bump in life at the most. But it doesn't feel that way, and it doesn't have to make sense. It's important because it matters to us. It's important because it hurts us. Depression is an interesting thing, because it's not always apparent. With some people, it's all very obvious, with other people, it doesn't show as being very serious, it seems like they're just upset about something, and it will pass soon. It would be funny, but it's a serious thing, and it needs to be taken care of. We have serious mental, and emotional problems, maybe not as serious as some, but we need help all the same.
Depression is a unique thing. Not everybody has the same triggers as we do, most people probably don't. That makes depression fascinating, in a very messed up way. It makes you want to watch, and see what happens, when you should really be reaching out. Depression is a unique thing, because not everyone necessarily wants friends and family to help, or even to know about it, while some people use it as a way to get attention. That makes it easier to hide. We don't want anyone that we love to know, so we can hide it easier when we're around them, and let out just enough so we can get by.
I like people, so I want to know them . I can listen to peoples stresses and complaints, problems and hurts, for hours, offering what advice I may, and just being an open ear for those who need it. Which sets me apart from the rest of my family, who want nothing to do with complaints, and personal ills. Personal problems and stresses can be recognized through listening to the complaints of a person, which can better enable you to help them. I cannot stress it enough, being an ear for someone is the most helpful thing that you can do. Listening for only a short while won't do, being an ear for someone to vent to, and being sympathetic is the best thing that you can do as a friend. Throw away the idea that listening to someone complain is annoying, be there to help, be a person. Don't just be your own person, be a person for others.
Absolute Confidence. Absolute Honesty. These are the keys to Absolute Friendship.
Absolute Confidence. This is something to pride yourself in. If you are taken into someones confidence, you must keep it. I make sure to let people know when they tell me their secrets, it's in Absolute Confidence. Anything short of that is treason to your friendship.
Absolute Honesty is hard. It probably comes second. It's easy to make a promise, and keep it, but it's hard to lay yourself out bare, and it can be especially hard to do when you don't know what will happen to your friendship.
Absolute Friendship is surely the ideal, but still quite attainable. It takes the right kind of people. I have yet to achieve Absolute Friendship. I promise to keep working on it.
Absolute Confidence. Absolute Honesty. These are the keys to Absolute Friendship.
