楽しい日本語 Tanoshii Nihongo

Akira Toriyama (who did not die in the quake) has created a video in hopes of raising funds! This is a really easy way to get money to quake victims, even if you’re wallet is thin. Why? Because all advertising revenue (created when you watch) will be donated. Easy, right? So click on the video and watch it!

Don’t forget to comment!

To be perfectly honest, I’m still in shock over this. I’m just thankful that my Japanese friends are safe, albeit a bit frightened. As I watched the horrific pictures and videos roll in, I was thinking to myself, “I want to help them. I should start a donation drive via Youtube or something. I mean, who wouldn’t want to help?”

Well, I got the answer to that while on a forum last night. That’s right, there’s jerks on the Internet. Click at your own risk, because this is just wrong on all sorts of levels. Granted, people like this exist everywhere, not just on the Internet. On that note, it’s not just Americans, whites, blacks, Mexicans, men, women, atheists, Christians, or any other collective group; there’s morons all over the place. Isn’t it sad and sick?

I know I shouldn’t waste my breath (or my fingers’ energy) on them, but it’s just hard to take such senseless and heartless crap lying down, especially as my friends struggle to keep their spirits up during this time.

I mean, seriously, paypack for Pearl Harbor? For one, the number of civilian lives in Japan killed by the US drastically outnumber the number of deaths (most of them military) at Pearl Harbor (Nanking was hundreds of times worse), and if that’s not “pay back” then what is? How long do you hold a grudge against a nation? Everyone did terrible things during WWII, America included. Go look up Dresden or something to see for yourself. That’s what war does. Was it a surprise attack? Yes, but what did FDR really think was going to happen when he started playing with fire and baiting the Japanese?

Since we’re talking about paypack, let me look at 9/11. Now, most of us consider the attacks on 9/11 to be horrific, senseless murder. That’s exactly what it is. However, some would consider it payback for what we were doing in the Middle East. You know those people dancing in front of the towers? They were basically doing what these idiots on Facebook are doing now.

“But,” you protest, “America is good! Why would anyone call that anything less than a terrorist attack?” Simple. Watch this video. Apparently, killing 500,000 children pre-9/11 is considered “worth it” to some people. Some people are happy when bad things happen to America, and it’s sick and wrong. If you don’t like it when someone laughs at your tragedy, why do it to someone else?

All nations are capable of atrocities, whether it’s Dresden, Iraq, Vietnam, Nanking, Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima/Nagasaki, the slaughter of Tibetans, the genocide of a culture, the fall of an Empire due to enemies, or even raids by individual Viking territories. The question is, how long are you going to remember? How long are you going to wish bad things on others?

I was taught to turn the other cheek, to pray for my enemies, and to try and see the viewpoints of others. I try not to judge people, no matter how different they are from me, and I try to reach out to everyone. I’m interested in all cultures, and I love learning new languages. The world is full of interesting people. It’s diverse and full of things to learn. Why spend our time hating?

So, please, stop saying stupid things. Now, time to ignore the trolls.

Disaster Preparations

Granted, not much is going to save you if a tsunami carries away your house, car, and everything you own. However, I always stress the importance of being prepared! I found a .pdf thing on preparing for disasters and am providing it to you for downloading. Free of charge, and a necessary thing, in my opinion.

http://www.mediafire.com/?znqvp40gb366mzu