U.S. citizens should register to vote now for the November 4, 2008, presidential and general elections. Many states close voter registration on October 4, 2008, which is 30 days before the general election. Be sure to allow sufficient time for your voting registration forms to reach the U.S. by mail.
Voters who have not yet registered to vote and requested an absentee ballot should complete a Federal Postcard Application (FPCA) on the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s website at www.fvap.gov. Voters may also pick up a hard copy of the FPCA from any U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate.
You should also complete a new Federal Postcard Application if you have moved or changed your name since the last time you voted.
FPCAs may be mailed to your local voting officials in the U.S. through the regular international mail or from any U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Some states also accept FPCAs by fax or e-mail.
For more information, review our webpage about absentee voting: http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7124c.html
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Well I guess the New Yorker pulled no punches with the cover but Palins video below should seal the deal:
No BS in this response! Go Jack!
You know, I use to really admire Senator John McCain. I praised McCain when I taught Life in Captivity and Resistance to Interrogation classes. Now I respect him as a fellow Veteran but I am highly disappointed in his most recent duck and run tactic. Some folks call it being chicken or a coward. Two words that I thought I thought never use when referring to Senator McCain.
As a private-citizen, Veteran, tax-payer, FORMER-Republican and just a plain ol’ member (consumer) of this ever-expanding global economy, I urge Senator McCain to suck it up like he did at the Hanoi Hilton and learn to multi-task in order to serve the American people.
But hey, I am a rookie at political ranting. Check out what David Letterman had to say!
Obama said that his staff is working on the joint statement and that this is the exactly the time that the American people NEED to hear from presidential candidates in order to describe how they plan on leading the United States especially during times of crisis.
He believes that he and McCain should continue to have the debate! Obama says that Presidents must be able to deal with various things at one time!
Here are two points that Obama made on the bailout package:
- US citizens should be treated like investors if the bailout package passes the Senate.
- The bailout package is not a welfare program for CEOs and others on Wall Street.
Obama said, “It’s my belief that this is exactly the time when theAmerican people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess.”
Leon Panetta said that this is America’s Economic 9-11 but I think that McCain came out of left field with his announcement (much like picking the Palin) in order to save his sinking campaign.
Here is the latest video:
At 0830 Obama called McCain to ask him to jointly issue a statement on the US financial crisis. Hours later, McCain calls Obama to inform him that he can issue a joint statement but also will need to delay the debate.
Suddenly, John “I don’t know much about economics” McCain wants an abrupt stop to his presidential campaign in order to return to Washington, D.C. and work on the financial crisis?! Now McCain has a plan?! Everyone in America is waiting for the debate this Friday. Why the sudden move for McCain to call for a cancellation of the debate? What a way to set “politics” aside. By the way, McCain said that he will also suspend his television advertisements. Read the rest of this entry »
The secrets out! Joe Biden was critical of Obama at the beginning, stating: “Obama is not ready!” Joe Biden voted for the war in Iraq. Will John McCain focus on these statements. Of course he will. But hey, game on!
Late Friday, CNN reported that Sen. Hillary Clinton had been told she is not the vice presidential choice, Joe Biden will fill the role and the US Secret Service has been dispatched to Senator Biden’s home.
Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Joe Biden has extensive foreign policy experience and would help beef up Obama’s relatively light resume on matters of national security. Biden recently returned from Georgia where he met with leaders to discuss the Russian invasion and the volatile region.
Hillary Clinton was not vetted for the VP spot since she is considered not a good match for the VP ticket and Bill Clinton still carries some negative political baggage. Although Obama calls for Change, Biden is a long time Washington insider but Biden brings experience and know-how (someone who can vouch for Obama) plus the all-important foreign policy experience that McCain claims Obama lacks.
Click here to see Joe Biden’s stance on Civil Rights, Defense, and other issues.
Click here to view Joe Biden’s home page.
BTW, Biden’s son serves in the US Army JAG Corps and is about to deploy to Iraq.
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Black Tokyo will now post commentary received from BT members as a way to present various discussions found on the BT Discussion Forum. The below commentary was submitted by Ruby Baby:
“All the commentary surrounding the E-mobile CM had me feeling a little down.
Why do I feel as though every time black people speak up about racism, there will be a significant number of voices raised to tell us, very basically, that we are merely seeing things? As a black man, I have to tell you that it’s extremely frustrating to have people challenge the legitimacy of my experience by adopting their strategies of denial.
The most pernicious idea I’ve encountered in discussions about race and racism, is the idea that racism, real racism, is something that is actually extremely rare. This is because the bar for what counts as racism has been set extremely high. Unless you’re a skin-head covered head to toe in swastika tattoos, and burning crosses on a regular basis in the front yards of black households, you’re not a racist. Racists have malice in their actions. Racist actions are violent, racist language is spewed forth in diatribes, and both are intended to cause harm. Claims of racism become tantamount to claims that someone has hatred for a particular racial group. If the incident you are talking about does not involve real racists with real hatred, then there can be no racism.
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Wow! I have received many emails regarding my posts on E-Mobile’s commercial (CM) that parodies Senator Barack Obama’s campaign for Change. Many wrote to inform me that the CM is only a parody of a Japanese television drama. I try to keep an open mind but E-Mobile does not get a pass on this one!
As presented in my posts and comments, Blacks have had to combat negative images and stereotypes in Japan (and elsewhere). One can easily turn on the television in Japan to watch a variety of programs that still show the CONTINENT of Africa as some backwards land or Blacks in America and elsewhere as the problem to whatever plagues a country. With that said, there are also some positive portrayals of Blacks on Japanese television. I am just doing my part to make sure that there are more.
Other replies that I received asked: Why don’t you focus on more positive things? My reply: Who say’s that I don’t! Let’s just say that I am doing my part to present a positive image of Blacks and of America. When I proudly wore the US Marine Corps uniform, I presented myself, my service, my nation, and just as important my “image” as a Black male in the most positive manner. Why? That’s how I was raised and “conditioned.” Part of my conditioning comes from understanding the power of an image and power of positive action.
For example, when there is news in Japan on Blacks or negative press relating to the US Forces Japan, I try to get the “rest of the story” from my various sources in and around Japan not only to provide a fair and balance report but to get the ura (behind-the-scenes, on the street, or underground) Japan version. If you have followed the Black Tokyo Discussion Board for the past nine years, you know that I report on both the good and bad and I tend to not sugarcoat things!
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Well it seems like the foreign press picked up on my Obama is a Monkey in Japan? story. Addressing the E-Mobile CM is important to me because America, considered the richest and most powerful nation in the free world, is on the path of putting a Black male in the White House. Some folks are eager to point out that Obama is not really “Black” but biracial or multicultural. Some tried to give him the Tiger Woods moniker of self-identity. Some have felt that the one-drop rule can go by the wayside, while others equate the “other” side as being the “reason” for Obama’s successes. One minute Obama is Black, another he is not Black enough.
Now, if you throw a monkey into the mix, whether it was due to racist intent or just plain stupidity on the part of a manufacturer, advertiser, or E-Mobile, then it sort of keeps the kokujin (Black person) marginalized at the highest level. The funny (not really) part is that I have received emails telling me that Obama will have a tougher time dealing with the Republican party in his quest for the White House and that the E-Mobile CM is not a cause for me to get my Afro out of shape. I protested when a Japanese singing group wore blackface (to show their soul) and I got in the mix when the “new” release of Little Black Sambo hit Japan. Color me crazy I guess!
I have talked and blogged myself crazy on issues regarding Blacks in Japan. Blacks share many notable experiences and achievements in Japan but there is still work to be done in improving our image in Japanese society. The Black experience and the use of the Black Other in Japan as a tool, scapegoat, or invisible entity in Japanese media, political circles, businesses, and in other circles is something that must be examined and corrected.
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I received the following question from a new BT reader this afternoon. He asked: “Why do you find Japan so fascinating?” My quick reply to the question: “I find Japanese history and culture fascinating, the Japanese interesting (from a sociological point-of-view) and life in Japan, as a case study of a nation trying to gain respect in the international a.k.a. multicultural world order. The new BT’er also asked: “Why don’t you focus on Africa instead of Japan?” Well, here comes the long answer!
Unlike past “norms” when life in Japan was mainly reported from the point-of-view of the victim or victor of wars with Japan, my current norm for examining Japan has more to do with how the Japanese and Blacks have interacted over the centuries. For example, some of my research looks at how the Japanese viewed and formed opinions of Blacks over the ages. We were seen:
- as warriors like Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (758 - 811), a Black man who is considered the first Shogun of Japan during the early Heian Period (check Chinese and Japanese historical records)
- as servants for the Dutch (1543)
- as samurai, like Yasuke (1582), who was personally trained by Daimyo Oda Nobunaga and later played a crucial role in Nobunaga’s last battle Honnou-ji no hen
- as minstrels thanks to Perry’s sailors in blackface
- as Little Black Sambo
- as marginalized negro soldiers during the post-World War II occupation living in segregated barracks (i.e, Tachikawa AB)
- as whatever those that import “their” prejudices teach, preach, or tell
- as our own worst enemy as times
Other parts of my research deals with the works of Black and Japanese scholars who focus on African & African-American - Japan relations.
“Contrary to popular misconception, there are large numbers of Black scholars whose academic research has nothing whatsoever to do with skin color or race relations” (Fikes, Jr., 2002).
To help the BT’er better understand why I chose to focus on Japan, I recommended the following publications from my constantly growing library:
- African Presence in Early Asia (Rashidi and Sertima)
- African American Views of the Japanese: Solidarity or Sedition? (Bracey)
- The African American Encounter with Japan and China: Black Internationalism in Asia, 1895-1945 (Gallicchio)
- The Black Samurai: A Novel of Feudal Japan (Bracey)
- Black Samurai: Work, Travel, Culture, Religion, Struggle, and Perspective of a Black American Man (Brown)
- America Encounters Japan: From Perry to Mac Arthur (Neumann)
- Securing Japan: Tokyo’s Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia (Samuels)
- U.S. Japan Strategic Reciprocity (Olsen)
Many Black academics often fall into certain academic fields that connect them to the color of their skin. There is nothing wrong with this but I want to follow the path of Blacks that have made it possible for other Blacks to provide information on Asia, in my case Japan, from an Afro perspective.
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Well the first round of feedback on E Mobile’s “Yes, We Change” commercial shown on TBS and TV Tokyo’s World Business Satellite comes from one reader that thinks Black Tokyo harbors a “bitter racist” and from the website Japan Probe:
While I respect everyone’s opinion, let me clear a few things up and respond to comments such as these:
- “The only people who find this racist are LOOKING for racism; butthurt gaijin who need to get a life.”
- “Taken completely out of context by foreigners, this commercial will appear racist.”
- But hey - why would e-mobile parody a currently-broadcast weekly TV drama starring a very popular and bankable idol when they could instead enrage foreigners everywhere by a blatantly racist parody of the Obama campaign!
These comments mischaracterize and misinterpret what Black Tokyo is all about. Black Tokyo presents information and discussions on Japan from the Afro perspective! The Black Tokyo Webmaster and Moderators have ZERO need and time to LOOK for racism. Believe me, we have better things to do! In my 27-years of dealing with Japan (as a US Marine, US GOV Civilian, businessman, linguist, actor), interacting with my Japanese spouse, in-laws, and numerous friends, and 45-years of dealing with “things/issues/other” considered Black, I respectfully disagree with the comments above. Come on now, do not insult me and my intelligence. The E-Mobile commercial is doing that just fine!
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Hello BT’ers!
Well it seems like the ugly head of racism has reared its big head again on Japanese television. E Mobile’s new cell phone commercial seems to depict a presidential campaign with “red” supporters (red is E Mobile’s corporate color and not representative of the Democratic Party (blue) in this case) in the background holding signs the say “Change.” While change is good, having the candidate depicted as a monkey is not!
Am I crazy to think that the monkey is supposed to represent Barack Obama? Given the track record for companies in Japan that use monkeys and blacks or monkeys as blacks in advertisements…maybe not!
I am sure that many of the BT’ers remember the Mandom advertisement and television commercial that had African and African-American males playing the role of Rastafarians and a monkey playing the role of…. well a black man! The tag line for the product was, “strong enough to even clean “their” skin!” Thanks to The Community and the power of protest via email along with my interview with the Asahi Shimbun, Mandom issued a public (newspaper and television) apology.
Click here to see the EM Mobile video. Be sure to send the Chairman and CEO, Sachio Semmoto, and President and COO, Eric Gan, a message! It seems like E Mobile would have used better judgment in producing such a commercial since one of their outside directors is Peter Cowhey, Dean of the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California San Diego. Cowhey formerly served as Chief of the International Bureau, Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
To end on a positive note, I previously posted that it seems like the majority of Japanese believe in change and in Obama. Hopefully other people will also believe and change. Be sure to let me know what you think!
It seems that most people around the world widely expect the next POTUS (President of the United States) to better U.S. policies toward the rest of the world, especially if Barack Obama is elected.
The chart shows global views on economics and the U.S. presidential race. Here are a few facts:
- 77% of the Japanese surveyed have more confidence in Barak Obama to handle world affairs properly.
- 83% of the Japanese are closely following the U.S. presidential election.
- Many in Japan, Turkey, Russia, South Korea and Mexico said the election would change little.
- Hillary Rodham Clinton, who lost the Democratic nomination to Obama, generally was rated higher than McCain overseas but lower than Obama!
Don’t forget to vote! You can read the article
here.
