#hiroko tabuchi

[gwydionmisha]

How the Koch Brothers are Systematically Killing Public Transit and the Planet for Personal Gain

Hiroko Tabuchi in a front-page article at the NY Times website has pulled back the curtain on how Charles and David Koch are targeting public transit projects around the country. It’s a primer on how big money can use technology and messaging to get...

[darthfoil]

How Guilty Should You Feel About Flying?

Frequent fliers are responsible for two-thirds of all air travel, and therefore aviation emissions, in the United States, according to a new analysis.

“Emissions from air travel are growing faster than predicted in previous projections. Global civil aviation accounted for 918 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2018, or about the total annual emissions from Germany and the Netherlands, combined.

“ So what’s to be done to curb frequent flying? One idea, floated by a group in Britain called A Free Ride, would tax fliers progressively: Everyone gets one tax-free return flight each year, and a tax kicks in at a low rate from the second flight. Taxes then ratchet up for each additional flight in that year. “We’re not trying to prevent ordinary people from taking their hard-earned holiday,” said Leo Murray, the group’s founder. “The annual family holiday isn’t the source of the problem here. We can still tackle climate change, and everyone can still go on holiday,” he said. “We’re talking about a small wealthy elite group of air travelers.”

[forgottenbones]

Why is Japan still described like this? My generation grew up on Nintendo and baseball and “bargain sales” and the largest stock market bubble the world had ever seen. We navigate using GPS like the rest of the world.https://t.co/0w85RJjeNS pic.twitter.com/dHxLzxi042

— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) 24 aprile 2019

After all, America — with its unpredictable rains, nature and a plethora of quaint customs like its annual turkey feast — is very different from the rest of us whose trains run on a schedule and whose measurements are based on meters and centimeters instead of someone’s foot.

— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) 24 aprile 2019

[feitclub]

For U.S. pundits, China isn’t a country. It’s a fantasyland. http://t.co/mXX9Qp1gNN Much of this holds true for how Japan's portrayed here..

— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) May 31, 2015

You so often hear variations of "the Japanese have this figured out, but here in America (roll eyes)" -- which might seem flattering (1/7)

— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) May 31, 2015

..but it reduces Japan to a talking point, a tool for U.S. pundits to make domestic arguments. And Japan ceases to be a country w/ (2/7)

— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) May 31, 2015

..all the complexities of America. Case in point: After Amtrak derailment, pundits spoke repeatedly abt how Japan's bullet train (3/7)

— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) May 31, 2015

..has never caused a fatality. True, but the bullet train's just one part of Japan's rail network. The apt comparison wd've been (4/7)

— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) May 31, 2015

..an eerily similar case in '05 when a Japanese train jumped the tracks, killing 107 ppl, after its driver sped into a curve too fast (5/7)

— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) May 31, 2015

..exposing years of mismanagement & abusive working conditions at the rail company. But that wouldn't sit well w/ the neat narrative (6/7)

— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) May 31, 2015

..that Japan seems to provide America. (Parallel narrative is Japan failing to ever change, also not true, but that's another debate!) (7/7)

— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) May 31, 2015

Long story short: beware anyone who's never lived in China or Japan who has a soundbyte-ready talking point about how China or Japan is better than your country. And if a talking point sounds too good to be true, it is.

[cheepandsnail]

One of the most beautiful stories I've read this year by Hiroko Tabuchi. There's still plenty of beautiful humans full of compassion in this world... no flashiness, just a man showing the dead respect. --Snail