Dede - the “Tree Man” of Indonesia
Maybe some of you have seen this story, but I saw a video of it on Sky News online today and immediately I knew I had to write about it. My inclination to write is twofold: firstly, to raise awareness of this story and this condition; and secondly, to make you realise how lucky you are. Sometimes you or your partner may complain that they look bad in something or that they wish they looked better. If you/they feel like that, reading this will hopefully make them feel very different, and realise how lucky they are.
Dede was a normal 15 boy living in Indonesia when, at the age of 15, he cut his knee at a construction site he was working on. Soon after this, his body seemed to start growing wart-like “roots” on his hands and feet. These expanded rapidly and over the years left him unable to carry out everyday tasks like holding things or writing. He was soon sacked from his job, being unable to perform it any more, and later left by his wife, leaving him to bring up two children on his own.
Omega Drag Races 2007: Okinawa
The past weekend was a pretty successful and productive one. Friday was a Japanese public holiday due to it being Japanese Thanksgiving and so I decided to make use of the day off. So at 8am I met up with a dive student to finish her Advanced Open Water licence. She did very well and is a very competent diver. Couldn’t believe when I checked my logbook that it had been 5 weeks since I’d been in the water. No wonder I’d be getting withdrawal symptoms! The water has cooled down a little but it was really good to get back into the ocean. In addition, I managed to see 2 of my favourite marine creature: the cuttlefish. I think out of all the marine life you see, they look most like something not of this world. I’m always fascinated whenever I lay eyes on them, and this time was no different. It also felt good to get another diver signed off, and it means I’m only one more certification off improving my instructor status to Master Scuba Diver Instructor, which I’m pretty stoked about. Staying on the diving theme, Kadena Marina have also got into gear and have sent me a contract for working with them part time. I’ve got to finish reading it and making sure exactly what I’m signing but hopefully I’ll be able to get it back to them at the weekend and will be on their books some time in early December.
And then on Sunday I went to the Omega drag racing tournament in Nago yesterday as a spectator. I was so close to entering but decided that I really needed a new clutch (and a clue about how to do drag racing!) so I just decided to watch this time. Was good fun though, and the Japanese really know how to power up their cars. S13s, Skylines (a lot of them), and even an old skool Datsun was there doing runs, and some of them were hella-quick. But standing out from the pack were 2 Evos: an Evo I, and an Evo III, being driven by my friend here in Okinawa. It was the first event she’s entered in Japan and she was the first woman to ever enter this drag racing event. She certainly ruffled some feathers and after a slightly nervy start, came in 3rd place in her class. Not bad at all considering the majority of the car is stock and the track is slippery as ice (coral-based roads are killers in Okinawa). I think the Japanese drivers were mostly in a state of shock and shame that a foreign woman was keeping up (and beating) them! Just goes to show the early Evos can hold it with the best of them.
So without further adue, here are some shots of the event:
Clarkson on migration
Love him or hate him, Jeremy Clarkson’s got an opinion on everything. And this time, migration is the focus of his thoughts and attentions. With the number of British people migrating is increasing, I thought this might provide some amusement.
“And then came the latest migration figures, which showed that while Britain received 5.4 billion west African pickpockets last year, we lost what the Daily Mail calls 196,000 British citizens. White, middle-class families who have moved abroad.
These figures would lead us to suggest that like everywhere else, Britain is suffering from a brain drain. That all our well educated, well spoken young professionals are being replaced by Borat.
Unfortunately, this argument fails to hold any water when you look at where these middle-class people are moving to. Australia is the No 1 choice, apparently, with 1.3m British emigrants living there.
Fine, but in the whole of human history, nobody has ever woken up and thought, “I know. I have a wonderful family, lots of money, a great job and an active social life. I shall therefore move to Australia.”
Australia is where you go when you’ve made a mess of everything. That’s why the 1.3m Brits who live there are known as whingeing Poms. Because they’re all failures.
Another popular destination is Spain, which is home these days to 761,000 Brits. Are they all brain surgeons? Inventors? Did Sir Christopher Cockerell invent the hovercraft and then move to Puerto Banus? No. Spain is where you go when you’ve sold your taxi.
What about America then? We imagine that the Brits living there are successful and bright, like David Beckham and, er, Kelly Brook. But mostly, I suspect the people who move from Britain to the States do so because they are interested in guns and murdering.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/jeremy_clarkson/article2326687.ece
Well that probably raised a smile or you’ve shut your computer off in disgust. If you had you wouldn’t be reading this so I’ll assume you’ve done the former! Until next time, take care and dive safely.
Skype withdrawing numbers that users have paid for
Shocking news this morning from Skype, some of the pioneers of internet telephony as we now know it. I’ve had a SkypeIn account since it started, around 3 years ago now I believe. This account allowed me to have a UK-based phone number so that people can call this number form the UK, pay the cost of a phonecall to London and be connected with me here in Okinawa. And although there have been a few issues with the service, I’ve been relatively pleased. That was, until this morning when I got an email from them.
This was an automated email and not personally written, and it was to inform me that Skype are withdrawing mine, and a significant number of other SkypeIn numbers with the area code 0207. A false apology was made along with no real explanation for why this is happening. You can see the email I was sent below:
Hello
We’re very sorry to tell you that we have to change your SkypeIn number. As some of you may know, we get SkypeIn numbers from a variety of telecoms suppliers. Unfortunately, we have to return some of the
0207 SkypeIn numbers to one of our suppliers of London numbers.
This means your number will stop working from December 20th 2007. We realise the inconvenience this will cause you, and sincerely apologise.
That’s why we’re going to give you a new SkypeIn number and voicemail - free for 12 months on us - to thank you for your patience and to help make the changeover as painless as possible for you.
Please make sure you redeem your voucher before December 20th 2007
Your next step: activate your new number.
Before December 20th 2007 activate your new SkypeIn number. We suggest
you do this as soon as you can.
1. Visit http://welcome.skype.com/cgi-bin15/DM/y/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
2. Log in and enter the SkypeIn voucher code above.
Due to changes in the capital’s number plan there is a limited
availability of 0207 numbers and we cannot guarantee that you will
find a 0207 number to replace your existing one. However, we have
plenty of 0208 numbers and 0203 numbers which OFCOM has introduced to
cover the whole of Greater London.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact our customer advisors
directly at sichange@skype.net. We’ve also created a step-by-step
guide to help you redeem your voucher and choose your new
SkypeIn number.
http://welcome.skype.com/cgi-bin15/DM/y/xx…xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The (really, really sorry)
people at Skype
Fingerprinting of foreigners in Japan begins
Well, the fingerprinting of foreigners who are entering in Japan has been going for around 36 hours now, and already the news reports are saying that 5 people have been deported, 3 of whom were found to have been using false passwords. Very strangely for Japanese news reports, little other information about these people (i.e. their nationality, reason for not being allowed in the country etc) is being released. This is already leading to some critics questioning the legitimacy of this story. It also begs the question that if they didn’t have the fingerprint check, would the Japanese authorities not have noticed that their passports were forgeries? If so then Japanese immigration needs to take a long look at its practices and methods.
Another point that has been raised about the issue concerns those bastions of Japanese tradition and legitimacy, the Yakuza. “But those are 100% Japanese!” I hear some of you already cry. That is true, but look at it another way. Do you think the Japanese should be allowing these known criminals travel to other countries when they are preventing foreigners who have done the same from entering their country. Earlier in the week, it was reported that a group called Velvet Revolver (I believe, although I’ve not heard of them) have been refused visas to come to Japan and perform due to a previous problem with the law in America. They have consequently cancelled their Japanese leg of the tour and have moved on to Australia for the next leg. Well done Japan - you’ve kept out those hardened thugs!
But this entry includes a story from the Mainichi website, which just goes to show what an uphill struggle foreigners are facing in Japan, both as residents and as visitors:
Celebrity uses fingerprint photo-op to call for cut in foreign crime
NARITA — TV celebrity Kazutomo Miyamoto urged immigration officials during a photo-op to use a new process to fingerprint inbound foreigners to fight foreign crime, not terrorism as the government claims the system will be used for.
“I think it’d be best if we could cut the amount of crime foreigners are committing and make Japan a safer place,” Miyamoto said at Narita Airport, where he was serving as the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau Chief For a Day as a promotional event for the fingerprinting process.
Starting from Nov. 20, Japan will follow the United States to become the second country in the world to implement individual recognition software for foreigners entering and leaving the country.
With the new system, nearly all foreigners will have to have fingerprints from both hands and a picture of their face recorded. Fingerprints will be verified with a list in what the government says will be an attempt to prevent terrorists or known criminals from entering Japan.
Japanese nationals will be able to pass through Immigration via an automated gate instead of waiting in line to be processed by officials if they have applied for permission and submitted fingerprints in advance.
Miyamoto, 43, was once a pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants.
source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071114p2a00m0na030000c.html
The shocking thing about this was he was pictured having his fingerprints taken, smiling as he did so, as if to say “This is fun, what’s the problem?”. What they should have had was one of the foreign Japanese celebrities from TV going to the machine, having their prints and photograph taken, and asking how they feel about having to have these details taken each time they enter the country, regardless of whether they are married to a Japanese citizen or not. Maybe the reason is because they wouldn’t be pleased at the idea and would voice discontent at such a practice.
The final worry people have concerns the recent history of Japan’s lack of ability to keep private information secret. This is a rather appropriate story, given the current UK story that 2 discs containing the personal details of 25 million people has been lost whilst going from HMRC to the National Audit Office. Japan seems to have a knack of losing such information too, with recent Japanese Self-Defence Force information and secrets been found on a laptop somewhere, and other stories of classified information being freely available on the internet after being entrusted with someone. The fear is that it will only take the loss of this information and for it to land in the wrong hands for all the foreigners who are in or who have ever been into Japan and had their details taken to be compromised. Scary stuff I’m sure you’ll agree. But Japan has it all covered so there will be no more terrorist attacks by foreigners in Japan. Not that there have ever been any, of course…