well i was reading some article and i tough that this might interest ppl well it make me relise how hard it is to find a good job or ue bream job....


Japan's burgeoning class: Working Poor

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In one of the world's wealthiest nations, Junpei Murasawa is a poor man.

He skips meals to make ends meet. A bachelor, he lives in a tiny apartment in Tokyo, sharing a kitchen, toilet and shower with nine neighbors. He doesn't have health insurance because he can't afford the premiums.

The 29-year-old laborer is one of a burgeoning class in Japan — the working poor. The number of Japanese earning less than $19,610 a year surged 40 percent from 2002 to 2006, the latest data available, the government says. They now number more than 10 million.

In a country that boasts the world's longest-living population, where young women with Louis Vuitton bags crowd the sidewalks, Murasawa's is a voice of hopelessness and despair — a voice increasingly heard in Japan.

"Everyday I live in deep anxiety," said the soft-spoken temporary worker, currently making $882 a month by bagging purchases at a home improvement center. "When I think about my future, I get sleepless at night."

The plight of such workers is likely to worsen as the current global financial crisis ripples through the Japanese economy. At the bottom of the economic food chain, Murasawa and his cohorts will be the first to suffer.

The growth of the working poor — not seen in such numbers since Japan surged to wealth in the 1980s — has been a shock to a country that once prided itself on being a bastion of economic equality.

"It is unprecedented to see such a widening income gap in Japan," said Yoshio Sasajima, economist at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo. "Our society is definitely becoming a class society."

The seeds of changes now wrenching Japanese society were planted in the burst of the so-called "bubble economy" in the early 1990s.

As the Tokyo stock market tumbled, evaporating vast stores of wealth, corporations restructured by laying off workers. In the 2000s, that was followed by a round of free market reforms that widened the disparity between haves and have-nots.

A key to the growth of the working poor has been the explosion in temporary employment agencies, which allow corporations to take on labor without having to pay benefits — and then unload workers at will.

As part of market reforms, the government made it easier in 2004 for manufacturers to hire such laborers, whose number has since increased 40 percent, hitting 1.33 million in 2007. About 40 percent of temps are aged 25 to 34.

"Instead of hiring costly, full-time employees, companies are bringing in cheaper, part-time workers as part of their cost-cutting efforts," said Yasuyuki Iida, an economist at Komazawa University in Tokyo.

Another factor feeding the trend is the emergence of so-called "freeters" — 20- and 30-somethings who have opted for low-paying jobs in services such as convenience stores rather than chasing the material benefits of corporate work.

The spike in the number of the working poor is already taking a toll on Japanese society.

More people are putting off marriage because of tight finances, exacerbating a declining fertility rate. Part-time workers unable to afford rent sleep in 24-hour Internet cafes to escape the streets. Some have stopped going to the doctor because they can't afford it.

Murasawa is typical of the new class.

He rarely eats breakfast or lunch, and says his usual dinner is a bowl of instant noodles that he picks up — with the rest of his diet of cheap fast foods — at the local $1 shop.

Rent for his 64 square-foot, one room apartment in Tokyo costs $343 a month.

Despite his poverty, Murasawa doesn't qualify for government welfare payments — he makes too much. Japan doles out help only to single people living in Tokyo who make less than $833 a month.

Murasawa grew up poor in rural Yamaguchi prefecture, 480 miles west of Tokyo, where his parents ran a small vegetable shop. After graduating from high school, he didn't have enough money to go to university, so he began working at the store.

Bored with that life, Murasawa came to Tokyo two years ago in hope of landing a well-paying job. What he found instead was subsistence on a series of short-term labor contracts.

"Sometimes I ask myself what I'm living for," Murasawa said. To make ends meet, he's given up dining out, drinking, smoking, going to the movies or buying CDs, clothes and magazines.

"I've stopped being hopeful for the future. I've already given up getting married because I have no money to do so. Getting married is like a fairytale to me. It is utterly unrealistic," he said.

That hopelessness is spreading to pop culture.

The surprise runaway best-selling book of the year, for instance, is a Marxist novel written in 1929. "The Crab Factory Ship," by communist Takiji Kobayashi, chronicles hellish labor conditions of ship workers under a sadistic captain. The author was tortured to death by police in a Tokyo prison at age 29 in 1933.

The book has sold more than 500,000 copies since the beginning of the year, after the book's publisher, Shinchosha, linked the plight of the crab ship workers to that of the working poor in modern Japan in its advertising campaigns.

"The book must have struck a chord with the young working poor who feel that their lives are not getting any better no matter how hard they work," said Tsutomu Sasaki, a senior manager of Shinchosha. He estimated 30 percent of the book's readers are men in their 20s.

Not everybody who drops into poverty stays there.

For 10 months in 2006, Sanae Yamaguchi lived off a series of low-paying, short-term labor contracts.

"I was so miserable during that period because I always had to worry about money," the 26-year-old said.

After graduating college, she got a full-time job as an accountant at a wholesaler of electronic products in 2005 in Osaka, western Japan. But 10 months later, she was let go. Like Murasawa, Yamaguchi came to Tokyo in early 2006 in search of a better job.

But she was only able to find temporary jobs, mostly as a clerk, living in a tiny apartment where she shared a kitchen, toilet and shower with 20 neighbors in the outskirts of Tokyo.

She earned around $980 a month, and paid $441 for rent. Yamaguchi said she had to give up on having a TV set to save on electricity.

To her, the temporary employment route was a poverty trap.

"If you are a temp worker, you're always getting laid off, which means you don't acquire any professional skills," she said.

Yamaguchi finally emerged from her troubles in early 2007, landing a solid full-time job as an accountant at a medical company in Tokyo. She refused to divulge her current salary, but said she can now dine out with her friends, buy clothes and cosmetics and live in her own apartment with a shower, toilet and kitchen.

But that old insecurity has stayed with her.

"Even though I have a good job now, I'm always worried that I could slip back to poverty anytime," Yamaguchi said. "There is no job security in Japan anymore."

uhhh recently i starting to like this country singer called tylor swift since her song is pretty fun toear well for me and this is the first song that i heard from her.. it's called love story

here goes the lyric

We were both young when I first saw you
I closed my eyes and the flashback starts
I'm standing there
On a balcony in summer air

See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns
I see you make your way through the crowd
And say hello
Little did I know

That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles
And my daddy said, "stay away from Juliet"
And I was crying on the staircase
Begging you, please don't go
And I said

Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story
Baby, just say yes

So, I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet cause we're dead if they knew
So close your eyes
Escape this town for a little while

Oh oh
Cause you were Romeo, I was the scarlet letter
And my daddy said, "stay away from Juliet"
But you were my everything to me
I was begging you, please don't go
And I said

Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story
Baby, just say yes

Romeo, save me
They try to tell me how I feel
This love is difficult, but it's real
Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess
It's a love story
Baby, just say yes

Oh oh

I got tired of waiting
Wondering if you were ever coming around
My faith in you is fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town
And I said

Romeo, save me
I've been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you, but you never come
Is this in my head
I don't know what to think
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring
And said

Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone
I love you and that's all I really know
I talked to your dad
Go pick out a white dress
It's a love story
Baby, just say yes

Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh

'Cause we were both young when I first saw you

hope u enjoy it ohh and here her pic

happy b'day paddington bear!!!!! if u dont know what is it here some explanation:

Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958[1] and was subsequently featured in several books, most recently in 2008, written by Michael Bond and first illustrated by Peggy Fortnum. The polite immigrant bear from Darkest Peru, with his old bush hat, battered suitcase and marmalade sandwiches has become a classic English children's literature icon.[2] Paddington books have been translated into thirty languages across seventy titles and sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. Over 265 licensees, making thousands of different products across the UK, Europe, USA, Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia and South Africa all benefit from the universal recognition of Paddington Bear.[3]

Paddington is an anthropomorphised bear. He is always polite (always addressing people as "Mr.", "Mrs." and "Miss" and very rarely by first names) and well-meaning (though he inflicts hard stares on those who incur his disapproval), likes marmalade sandwiches and cocoa, and has an endless capacity for getting into trouble. However, he is known to "try so hard to get things right

History

Origin
Bond based Paddington Bear on a lone teddy bear he noticed on a shelf in a London store near Paddington Station on Christmas Eve 1956, which he bought as a present for his wife. The bear inspired Bond to write a story, and in ten days, he had written the first book. The book was given to his agent, Harvey Unna. A Bear Called Paddington was first published on October 13, 1958, by William Collins & Sons (now Harper Collins).


The toy Paddington Bear
The first Paddington Bear was created by Gabrielle Designs in 1972, a small business run by Shirley and Eddie Clarkson, with the prototype made as a Christmas present for her children Joanna and Jeremy Clarkson (English broadcaster and writer). Shirley Clarkson dressed Paddington in Wellington boots to help the bear stand upright. This is the origin of the addition of Wellington boots to Paddington's attire. The earliest bears wore small children's boots manufactured by Dunlop until they could not keep up with production. Gabrielle Designs then produced their own boots with paw prints moulded into the soles

here some pic of it:

hmm here my choice of japanese song of the day.....
i love it cozz it got a soft melody and quiet meaningful lyric

if i'm not the one - Nana Tanimura

After the rain, a rainbow shines, showering LOVE
That’s you at all, Hold me, I delivered courage

As a bud, my eyes closed. All of my dreams, awakens.
Stay by my side

But if I’m not the one, could I see you?
We call a miracle
Wanna be your shining rose, In your arms I always in bloom
If I’m not the one

The future is not yet visible, I lose interest in drawing the days
I’ll be also sometimes cry, thorns hold my heart

You are not alone, no matter what day, your eyes, this tear
I’ll make it melt

So if I’m not the one, do you believe
That I can tie our feelings together?
we’re ever shining rose, the flower that blooms eternally
If I’m not the one

As a bud, my eyes closed. All of my dreams, awakens.
Stay by my side

But if I’m not the one, could I see you?
We call a miracle
Wanna be your shining rose, In your arms I always in bloom
If I’m not the one

for some reason i was listening to this old indo song dunno why lols but i love the title .. it's called i miss you but i hate you my girl..... lols and here goes the lyric

Lyric:

Ah... I miss you baby....

Waktu aku lagi tinggi
Hilang akal sehatku
Tapi masih ingat kamu

Hampir setiap malam hari
Di dalam tidurku
Sering memimpikan kamu

Banyak usaha untuk menelpon kamu
Banyak pesan yang aku tinggalkan
Tapi di mana kamu aku nggak tahu
Jarang di rumah kebanyakan di jalan

I miss you but I hate you, my girl....
I miss you but I hate you, my girl....

Baru aja kubuka mata
Terbangun pagi-pagi
Langsung kepikiran kamu

Setiap bunyi berdering
Langsung ku angkat telponku
Berharap itu dari kamu

Berkali-kali aku sms kamu
Berkata mesra yang aku ucapkan
Kamu nggak tahu apa nggak mau tahu
'Gak ada kabar nggak ada penjelasan

Kappa (河童, Kappa? "river-child"), alternately called Kawatarō (川太郎, Kawatarō? "river-boy" or Kawako (川子, Kawako? "river-child" , are legendary creatures; a type of water sprite found in Japanese folklore. However they are also considered to be a part of cryptozoology, due to claims of sightings. In Shintō they are considered to be one of many suijin (literally "water-deity").

Appearance
Most depictions show kappa as child-sized humanoids, though their bodies are often more like those of monkeys or frogs than human beings. Some descriptions say their faces are apelike, while others show them with beaked visages more like those of tortoises or with duck beaks. Pictures usually show kappa with thick shells and scaly skin that ranges in color from green to yellow or blue.

Kappa supposedly inhabit the ponds and rivers of Japan and have various features to aid them in this environment, such as webbed hands and feet. They are sometimes even said to smell like fish, and they can certainly swim like them. The expression kappa-no-kawa-nagare ("a kappa drowning in a river" conveys the idea that even experts make mistakes.

The most notable feature of the kappa, however, is the water-filled depressions atop their heads. These cavities are surrounded by scraggly hair, and this type of bobbed hair style is named okappa-atama for the creatures. The kappa derive their incredible strength from these liquid-filled holes, and anyone confronted with one may exploit this weakness by simply getting the kappa to spill the water from its head. The kappa possesses a deep sense of etiquette, so one trusted method is to appeal to this, for a kappa cannot help but return a deep bow, even if it means losing its head-water in the process. Once depleted, the kappa is seriously weakened and may even die. Other tales say that this water allows kappa to move about on land, and once emptied, the creatures are immobilized. Stubborn children are encouraged to follow the custom of bowing on the grounds that it is a defense against kappa. In addition, the Japanese Folklore says that the kappa is a master of Koppo; the bone-breaking technique, which was actually invented by them.

Behaviour
Kappa are mischievous troublemakers. Their pranks range from the relatively innocent, such as loudly passing gas or looking up women's kimonos, to the more troublesome, such as stealing crops, kidnapping children. In fact, small children are one of the gluttonous kappa's favorite meals, though they will eat adults as well. They feed on these hapless victims by sucking out the shirikodama (尻子玉, shirikodama?)[1] (or entrails, blood, liver, or "life force", depending on the legend) through the anus. Even today, signs warning about kappa appear by bodies of water in some Japanese towns and villages. Kappa are also said to be afraid of fire, and some villages hold fireworks festivals each year to scare the spirits away.

Kappa are not entirely antagonistic to mankind, however. They are curious of human civilization, and they can understand and speak Japanese. They thus sometimes challenge those they encounter to various tests of skill, such as shogi or sumo wrestling. They may even befriend human beings in exchange for gifts and offerings, especially cucumbers, the only food kappa are known to enjoy more than human children. Japanese parents sometimes write the names of their children (or themselves) on cucumbers and toss them into kappa-infested waters in order to mollify the creatures and allow the family to bathe. There is even a kind of cucumber-filled sushi roll named for the kappa, the kappamaki.

Once befriended, kappa have been known to perform any number of tasks for human beings, such as helping farmers irrigate their land. They are also highly knowledgeable of medicine, and legend states that they taught the art of bone setting to mankind. Due to these benevolent aspects, some shrines are dedicated to the worship of particularly helpful kappa. Kappa may also be tricked into helping people. Their deep sense of decorum will not allow them to break an oath, for example, so if a human being can dupe a kappa into promising to help him, the kappa has no choice but to follow through

pic:

hmmm again remembering in high school i had to do romeo and Juliette for my English class : well that wasnt too bad eventough i barely understand what they are saying but i wish i can talk like that lols u know try to be romantic lols ne way here one of my fav scene i mean pretty cool line that Shakespeare guys write :/

Romeo (holding her hand as they dance): "You are like a shrine enclosing a holy relic, and I would be unforgivably uncouth to touch it with my unworthy hand except that I am ready to "kiss away" the damage I have done." (In other words: "I love holding your hand; may I kiss it?")

Juliet (probably amused, but cautious, teases him): "There's nothing wrong with your hand (I like it!), and handholding while we dance is quite legitimate; but you're being a little too bold in wanting to kiss me. If you're really a pilgrim, you should greet me only with your hand, as 'palmers' do."

Romeo: "Hey, even holy pilgrims are human: they've got lips. Please let me kiss you."

Juliet: "Pilgrims use their lips for praying, not kissing."

Romeo: "Fine, so I'm praying to you to let me kiss you. If my prayer isn't answered I may lose my religious faith."

Juliet: "Well, if I were a statue of a saint you were praying to, I might just grant your prayer although I'd remain motionless." (In other words, "I won't kiss you; but yes, you can kiss me.")

Romeo: "Stand still while I kiss you." (He kisses her lips.) "Just as a pilgrim might kiss the statue of a saint in hopes of receiving forgiveness for sins, so your acceptance of my kiss undoes any sin I committed by holding your hand."

Juliet (thrilled and amused at the same time): "So you claim to have gotten rid of your sin by kissing my lips. Now I've got the sin. What are you going to do about that?"

Romeo: "You want me to kiss you again? Great!" (Kisses her again.)

Juliet: "You don't really need all this artificial argumentation to justify kissing me, you know. Let's get serious."


ne way thats my fav part well there's more but yeh :p

huaaaa i tough i get the disease but the hand that i got the surn burn off before finally start to peeling off : i was so supprise to see it today and i tough i got some disease or something but actually it's only the skin start to peel off : phew :p but it looks weird... like snake changing their skin :

well i just remeber that it's kind of sad when i had to graduate from high school.. i know that when i were still doing it i always feel that i want to graduate quickly and such so i dont have to study again but... when i graduate i relise that it's really sad i feel like i dont want to be separated from my friends... and there are lots of fun memory back in the year and such.... like this feeling being add to u self :/ may b i never relise it when was with my friends how we might some day be seperated and go in our own way and it's true with the saying " you never relise that some thing is imporatnt to you till you actually lost it" and finally for the first time i experience it and it really are sad :/ oh and the reason why i suddenly remember things like this is because of this song by AKB48 called Sakura No Hanabira-tachi i suddenly remeber my friends back in high school when i watch it i miss them... my class.... ahh i wish i can goes back to those time

here's the link to the video if u guys want to watch it:
http://www.jpopasia.com/play/6538/akb48/sakura-no-hanabira-tachi.html

and the lyric if u guys understand japanese which i dont but the video have translation f it so it's ok :/

kyoushitsu no madobe niha
urarakana you damari
ato wazuka no haru no karenda^

jugyouchuu miwatase ba
onaji seifuku kita
nakama tachiga
otona ni mie ru

sorezoreno mirai heto
tabidatte iku ndane
sono senaka ni
yume no tsubasa ( hane ) ga
hae teru

(kigou) sakura no hanabira tachiga saku goro
dokokade kibou no kane ga nari hibiku
watashitachi ni ashita ( asu ) no jiyuu to
yuuki wokureruwa
sakura no hanabira tachiga saku goro
dokokade dareka gakitto inotte ru
atarashi i sekai no doa wo jibun nosono tede hiraku koto (kigou)

kenka shite denwa shite
nai takoto attane
nayan da nichi ga
nazeka natsukashi i

yorokobi mo kanashimi mo
furimuke ba michinori
donna toki mo
hitori janakatta

sotsugyoushashin no naka
watashi ha hohoen de
sugi ru kisetsu
miokuri tai
sayonara

(kigou) namida no hanabira tachigaharahara
kono hoo wo nagare ochi te aruki dasu
aoi sora wo miage ooki ku
shinkokyuu shinagara
namida no hanabira tachigaharahara
omoide nosono fun dake utsukushi ku
menomae no otona no kaidan isshoni nobotte te wo furo u (kigou)


(kigou) sakura no hanabira tachiga saku goro
dokokade kibou no kane ga nari hibiku
watashitachi ni ashita ( asu ) no jiyuu to
yuuki wokureruwa
sakura no hanabira tachiga saku goro
dokokade dareka gakitto inotte ru
atarashi i sekai no doa wo jibun nosono tede hiraku koto (kigou)

(kigou) namida no hanabira tachigaharahara
kono hoo wo nagare ochi te aruki dasu
aoi sora wo miage ooki ku
shinkokyuu shinagara
namida no hanabira tachigaharahara
omoide nosono fun dake utsukushi ku
menomae no otona no kaidan isshoni nobotte te wo furo u (kigou)

i try to find the translated one but couldnt find any :/
hope u guys love the song

i just heard their song called this time and it kind of touch me :/ dunno why but the lyric is really touching imo so here goes the lyric :

I once promised myself that I will never love again
Grazing by of the parting memories
The trust that is now broken again
Upon pain and comfort I erased them

But ever since I first saw you
I began to get courage
When I rest against your shoulder,
My mind becomes comfortable
I want to stay like this forever with you babe

Maybe it will be different this time my love
Maybe it’ll be okay to trust you
Do you now understand my mind that
Never wants the love you show towards me to change?

I love you baby
And I need you babe
Without you the long period of loneliness will repeat itself
Please don’t ever change

My all, I’ll be the same

You don’t doubt me because you trust me right now
But I’m afraid of the times without you
When the night that’s been soaked in black passes
And the sun is shining in my windowsill
If you’re not there, I might cry again

Yes, I hope you don’t become a painful memory to me
Like the men that have grazed by me in the past
Please just hug me like this forever babe

Maybe it will be different this time my love
Maybe it’ll be okay to trust you
Do you now understand my mind that
Never wants the love you show towards me to change?

I love you baby
And I need you babe
Without you the long period of loneliness will repeat itself
Please don’t ever change

My all, I’ll be the same
You are the last hope left for me
The world without you will be like a terrible darkness
Please acknowledge my love towards you more
My love…

Maybe it will be different this time my love
Maybe it’ll be okay to trust you
Do you now understand my mind that
Never wants the love you show towards me to change?

I love you baby
And I need you babe
Without you the long period of loneliness will repeat itself
Please don’t ever change

My all, I’ll be the same

hope u guys like the lyric translation :/

hmmm when i just look at the video clip that i have at my laptop i just realize i got plenty of video clip that i don't remember having or getting..... and now i'm sitting here listening to them = =" well lucky they are a good song but yeh that's funny how i dont recall having them here......

yeh because it's so hot today i went to the pool and swim but when i arrive there the weather get a bit cooler = =" damn i should say... just when i arrive.... lols ne way it's stil cool since there still lots of ppl swimming yeh swimming..... may b i should go to pool more often ahahahha but i'll get worn off every day then i just went to bed after dinner which i should not since i was too thired from swimming but lucky i dont get sour muscle :p

can u believe this when i wake up i feel really hot... all my cloth is wet and when i check the temperature it show that the temp is 32 degree outside..... great... after i got the sun burn today i'm hiding at my home now = =" try to beat the heat xD

i hate cookin the bbq = = it make my hand change colour = ="..... here's the story...
well today i went to have bbq with my friends and for some reason i'm in charge for the cooking without my approval before hand and then yeh i end up standing there cooking all the sausage and steak in a really sunny day while some of them stay under the shade hidig from the heat... well i didnt relie anything change to me till one of my friend ask why my face look so red and i just relise yeh my hand cange colour as well and now my skin is really red... may b i can compete with a tomato or something = =" gah i hate getting sun burn...... >.> and the stupid me forgot to put the sun screen on as well since i didnt plan to cook the bbq today.... since i already prepare it for them = ="

well i end up going out tonight but for some reason i dont enjoy it as much as i used to be may b i'm too old for that now = = or i just not in the mood for a party onight but ye it end up to be a eally boring party i just have to wait and see how the bbq party going tommorow

hmmm well as the title say been busy with cooking today just because we gonna have some bbq tommorow i have to help prepare some of the stuff well it's not like i hate cooking but it take lots of time preparing for it +_+ and stll not sure if i should go out tonight or not ahhhhhhhhh too lazy to think

huhuhuhuhu again while i'm studying, suddenly i remeber about this very old video that i saw about some random japanese tv show well it's a really interesting tv show i should say and you dont see some thing like this quiet often well when i first saw it i cant stop my self from being suprised and i puzzle quiet a lot i think since this is really interesting and kind of funny and weird lols dunno whats the right term for it.....anyway i feel like i want to share it with you guys so u can have a look and may b comment on it if u want lols i want to know if u guys are as suprised as i am when i first watch this show hope u guys enjoy it and heres thelink have fun watching it

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4dqc5_japanprbeupdate_blog?from=rss

PS: it's not a fashion show..... but it's a show where the mother have to wear their daughter school uniform.... just to let u guys know... since some one doesnt know it when they watch it and one more.... they are not as young as they look u should check their age.... they are aroung 30s-40s

hmmmm studying again for exam T_T gosh so annoying but yeh i didnt study that much today actually helpng my sis moving house and then i start helping my cousin making some cheesecake then i start cooking japanese curry for some reason where is uppose to study for my exam gah today is really weird

i think i'll noinate my lecturer to be my new fav singer since i have to start listening to hiserding rom now on to a week onward T_T geeze..... i'm sure i'll have a really interesting week ahead of me now... finish insertin the lecture recording into my ipod xD

uhhhh i'm so P*%$ too many stuff to hand it in and really confusing as well why do i have to do all of that seems like my teacher love t make me suffer oh well... back to study again

ohh btw i'm feeling smexy RED!!!!! i love RED
i hope everything turn into RED