Weekend randomness: Tokyo's Oldest Man

Update: A story regarding the whereabouts of Tokyo's oldest woman has come about it the past week. Catch up at the link.

The current world life expectancy average is 67.5 years with the Japanese being the most long lived population in the world with average life expectancy of 82.6 years. This contrasts with the average in Swaziland of just 39.6 years. This weekends random news comes from Tokyo, a thriving metropolis of nearly 14,000,000 people.

 So in such a long lived population there is a lot of interest in just who is the most aged resident in the city. Up until this week the record was held by one Sogen Kato a man of 111 years. The record for world's oldest man is held by another Japanese person Tamoji Tanabe in the Southern City of Miyakonojo. He is also 111 years.

Me and Studio Ghibli: Part 6

In this, part 6 of my Studio Ghibli Feature we will be crossing into the 21st century and there is no finer way to get there than weith the critically lauded Spirited Away. But first let us take a look at one of the Studio's and Takahata's most overlooked gems, My Neighbours the Yamadas.

1999-My Neighbours the Yamadas

My Neighbours the Yamadas is Isao Takahata's fourth film for the studio and the most instantly stylistically different from the other films in the Ghibli canon.  It has a look of a moving water-colour painting and has the accolade of being the first Ghibli feature ever to be entirely computer animated.

The Arizona Immigration Debate

All over America people have argued the legality of the proposed Arizona immigration bill, parts of which have come into effect today. Just yesterday the Obama administration won a key victory when parts of the bill were deemed unconstitutional  by District Judge Sarah Bolton. The moved has angered many republicans in the border state which suffers greatly from the immigration crisis.

The Governor of the State Jan Brewer is planning to appeal the decision of the judge and it looks likely the bill will be taken to the supreme court. Many other states across America were considering enacting similar laws and now it seems there pans may have hit a roadblock.

India Extends Warm Welcome to Burmese Ruler

India has face waves of criticism from human rights groups due to a high profile 5 day long visit from General Than Shwe of Myanmar (Burma). The general berated by human rights groups for the illegality of his rule and the appalling human rights record in his country, was given a ceremonial welcome and greeted by top Indian officials as a State guest before being driven to the shrine of Mahatma Gandhi to pay homage to the late spiritual leader.

The Indian Government once was a staunch supporter of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi but began having greater dealings with the illegal rulers in the mid 1990s. The two nations have actually been allies since 1951 when they signed what was known as a 'treaty of friendship'. Since then the nations are estimated to have traded $1 billion worth of goods.

The Iraq Inquiry

Today all eyes in Britain were on Hans Blix as he made his appearance before the chairs of the Iraq Enquiry. For those of you who may have forgotten (or who haven't yet seen Team America) Blix worked for the UN as chief weapons  inspector at the time George W Bush threw charges at the administration of Saddam Hussein of harbouring nuclear weapons, or what have now become known as Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Of course we now know that Blix found no such ammunitions but the US swears by its belief stating that they were concealed from the inspector. However, later reports confirmed that Iraq had abandoned its weapons programme many years ago. Blix has since become a staunch opponent of the Iraq war. he claimed that the U.S. was "high on military" at the inquiry saying it believed it could get away with anything.

The Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Genocide

The most prominent international story of today is that of the sentencing of Kaong Guek Eav chief torturer in th regime of the Khmer rouge. He received 35 years 11 of which were taken off for being already served and 5 more for co-operating with the court. He faces charges of overseeing the murder of 14,000 in the horrifying genocide and countless rapes amongst other charges of inhumane acts, torture and crimes against humanity.

Across Cambodia people crowded in cafes and houses to watch the broadcast live on television. There was widespread outrage at the verdict. many had demanded he be imprisoned for the rest of his life. As one man pointed out he would be spending just 11 hours in jail for each of the murders he oversaw as head of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison. The Cambodians have earned their right to anger. Their suffering has been great and so far retribution pitiful.

Weekend Randomness:The Taiwanese Newsreader

Another week has flown by meaning its is time for another piece of weekend randomness. If you have missed out on any of the other editions in this series you can check them out in the blog archive on the side bar. This nugget of brilliance comes courtesy of Huang Ching a Taiwanese newsreader.

Last Wednesday while live on air the newsreader was the victim of a mosquito. The small insect was seen across homes in the nation crawling into the newsreader's mouth. Subsequently, the woman could be seen struggling for breath while valiantly trying to read out the rest of the news. Eventually, while in the midst of a sever asthmatic attack the broadcaster cut to 4 minutes of ads while a replacement presenter was drafted in and Ching was sent to hospital.