browny1 comments

Not here. Same price.

Trump really needs to show he is more than wind and braggadocio and has substance if he wants to win over the swinging / doubting masses.

His performance may well have energized the maga community - but it did little to convince others, as confirmed by the comments from republican leaders and other leading conservatives.

He used the prizefighter analogy to discredit Harris, stating all losers want a re-fight. But in reality fails to see he was the one punched into the corner and was saved by the bell allowing Harris to win on points.

She's not satisfied with a points victory and wants another chance to land a real KO punch.

Trump knows that, so fantasizes about his great win to the adulation of his fan(atical) base and sees no point in fighting a loser. Some would call him "chicken".

As I said in an earlier chat, this was a chance for Trump to peel off the veneer and put forward substantive proposals in a clear and coherent manner. Displaying such would have won over a few of the doubters - probably enough to guarantee an election win.

But no - Harrises sharp bites grabbed his ego by the throat and he went full throttle rage, blasting off while Harris just watched the breakdown all unfold.

Regardless of what one believes the quality of Harrises performance to be, Trumps was a huge display of weakness if one wants to be leader of the free world.

Toblerone - thanks for your response.

Why I emphasized right wing was as a matter-of-fact he was taken under the wing by Shintaro Ishihara and other rightists of the LDP. They were his life support system during his extended stay in Japan.

Ishihara was, one could almost call a spiritual leader of extreme right wing Nippon Kaigi. They certainly adored him.

Especially the right wing in Japan admired his stance against the communists - Shining Path - and no doubt his heavy handed methods, helped garner their support for him. So much so that he tried to enter politics as a senator in Japan - all with their backing and support.

This was well known and reported - not hearsay.

And yes many ordinary people appreciated him for his success in ending the Japanese embassy hostage conflict in Lima which saved many lives while killing all of the captors.

Most ordinary citizens had no knowledge of his other actions spread over years back in Peru.

But these acts certainly appealed to many right wing extremists.

Asiaman - yes, it was a remarkable public turn around by the govt. here.

They accepted his request for Japanese citizenship while in self-imposed exile here, knowing full well he was a citizen of Peru - naturally, seeing he was Peru's president.

But there was no discussion or requirement for him to renounce his Peruvian status in order to become a Japanese citizen. It seems dual-nationality was accepted as a right - ???

Remarkable!

Then 5 years later he turned his back on Japan and went back with the intention of running for the presidency again - of course as a Peruvian.

Remarkable.

Of course during his stay here he was actively fawned over by the right wing including the likes of Tokyo Governor Ishihara. He was their prize on a pedestal.

Yes, he helped rid Peru of anarchist elements, but so much innocent blood on his hands - the blood of 1,000s of ordinary people swept up in his corrupt manic purges.

Not many tears for him.

Hoping to hear some positive policy comments from both sides.

This is the real test for me.

What detailed proposals can you enunciate that will progress the country?

Whining gets an immediate markdown as a time waster.

As do derogatory terms. Meaningless and contribute nothing.

Both have the chance to showcase their nous with no fawning fans to cheer them on.

Whoever can act accordingly will win in my eyes.

Beerdeliveryguy

Agree with your comments - but I've never heard of eggs being used in udon making. The purists around here - Shikoku - would have a fit.

And yes eggless tempura also is not so rare. Often called Shojin-Age and recipe uses quite a lot of cornstarch or kuzu with light flour.

Funny - when I came to Japan years ago, because of buddhism and shojin ryori, I just assumed true vegetarian dishes were aplenty - but not so.

A bit like how I thought Genmai - brown rice - would be common, but it isn't and in fact is avoided by most folks.

Sergio Mendes and Brazil 66. Who could forget.

Masters of Bosa-Nova, Jazzy Pop.

Kept working his whole life.

His collaboration with Black Eyed Peas with Mas Que Nada was a mark of his love of music across genres.

Great stuff on you tube.

How many biopics over the years have presented a fully rounded, true to life, no holds barred version of a person?

Pretty rare.

No doubt great attempts. The recent Oppenheimer - praised by many, derided by others. Or the epic of epics Lawrence of Arabia. Outstanding cinematography, acting, script etc but how real ?

I won't make judgement on Reagan until I've seen it.

But if it attempts to show Reagan purely as a humble saintly figure trying to rid the world of the cursed commies, then it probably will attract some scorn.

For me as a non-American, the famous Tear down this Wall speech, poignant as it was could never override the Iran - Contra affair. That was a stinking betrayal of freedom and decency. Selling arms to the enemy and using proceeds to fund a guerilla war - Reagans freedom fighters - against an elected govt.

But I guess this may not be a warts and all movie.

I'm waiting.

V campbell -

What bomb?

Oh - you mean the plastic bags with rotten butter (butyric acid) to smell up the deck to prevent cutting up carcasses on.

Could have thrown rotten eggs.

I guess they would have been called "cluster bombs".

Don't necessarily agree with all of Watson's antics, but the attempt to equalize his actions with the likes of terror groups ISIS or Al Qaida is just a govt supported ploy to save face.

If the govt really wanted to stop dangerous acts at sea it would have asked Interpol to issue a red notice to the Chinese govt for its violations in the China/S. China sea.

Oh - that's too real, too tough.

Bob FosseToday  08:32 am JST

It is illegal for 14 year olds to purchase firearms in Georgia. 

There is no minimum age on owning a rifle or shotgun In Georgia. Legal guardians may buy any firearm without restrictions and face no penalties for insecure storage. With legal guardian consent children under 18 may carry a handgun in certain situations.

It is entirely within the boundaries of current Georgia law for children to easily acquire firearms.

Not being up with current gun laws across the states, this just amazes me. Or more to the point just shocks me.

What kind of society in the most "developed" country in human history would allow that???

And Geogia, led by Gov Kemp, that virtuous upholder of conservative rights and freedom - coff, coff - really needs to cut with the prayers and thoughts malarkey and get a grip on his Frankenstein.

wallace -

There are 5 races in Africa

Depends on your concept of race. The traditional notion of similar physical traits defining a race is somewhat dated.

Most scientists, social scientists anthropologists etc view the term as purely a social construct.

And all places have to have names. Historically some could have been more sensitively applied taking into account indigenous characteristics. Native American name for Washington DC pre-colonial days was Nacotchtank ( the largest village). Hard time today to rename that.

But Africa as a monolithic entity never truly existed as it's gigantic breadth from north to south to east to west was never understood in ancient / old times.

And if there is name to be used that has no European connections, then why not use Alkebulan meaning the mother of mankind. This ancient word was used by many different North Africans for millenia.

More appropriate imo than a contrived word coming from Nigerian - Anaesia - which represents only a small part of the continent.

Made a recent trip back to Australia an eye-opening experience.

Costs are way up there, and paying with ￥, seemed like a double hit.

I understand now why millions of tourists are flocking to Japan - it's cheap.

But for those of us here, buying stuff, esp imported like a piece of cheese becomes a can I or can't I / should I or shouldn't I decision.

If Nicole Kidman walked into the rooms of so many learned commentators, they'd probably roll up on the floor like little kittens.

albaleo - Thanks for your comment.

Actually the single greatest purpose of the koban system imo is to keep a level of harmony within the neighbourhood. This will at times involve catching robbers or investigating murders etc but that would be extremely rare.

All of the things I mentioned have laws against them - road traffic laws, environment laws.... - but the police don't seem to want to be involved even though it's their job to uphold the law.

Re the main guy burning - he is the ex head of the jichikai (a number of times) so takes it upon himself to do what he wants. After I got little assistance from the police I contacted the local fire station and they said it's not their duty if he's not burning in the forest (50 meters away) and the city govt said to point him towards the city by-laws banning such. Weak as. But I did print out their official warning poster from their homepage and put in his letter box and under his car wipers a few times but the burning continues.

The koban system exists to maintain proper conduct within the set area and to help citizens with problems and concerns esp those affecting all. But sorry to say my local koban has failed/is failing on a number of accounts.

I could elaborate more - just too tiring.

Can only speak of my experience here.

First 2 places I lived the koban was not a "real koban" and only occasionally manned. Also they had to service a wider area with apartment buildings and I never met a police officer once.

Living now for 20 years in a smaller area and the local koban has a permanent residing officer.

I've met 3 or 4 different officers stationed there over hte years. They do an introductory meet when first placed and sometimes - not often - pop into houses to say "hello, is every thing ok" or tell about some suspicious character being spotted or the like.

When I've put to them certain problems, like inadequate road signage (many people visit the nearby parks) or neighbors who continue to illegally burn rubbish or poor road surface conditions(bad) or heaps of families coming to the parks on weekends with kids hanging out the windows / no seatbelts etc or the illegal dumping of household goods on our quiet narrow streets or giant tour buses negotiating the narrow road to the parks often causing jams because they cannot pass the curves etc etc, nothing has ever come of it. Nothing.

One officer said they will get back to me get a report about the poor signs - but they never did. The officer I recently mentioned about the illegal burning just laughed and said his parents have the same problem in their area. Maybe with his jovial manner he thought he was bonding with me.

I think simply they just don't want any trouble or flak with minor problems - even though that's their reason to be - you know Keep the Wa!

All have been nice guys, but I wonder what they do all day.

Thanks kohakuebisu -

So that kinda confirms that the govt testing centers are a bit of a mockery.

Seeing most of their customers would be commercial drivers - trucks, vans etc - as opposed to private drivers, I guess they're geared up for the quickie "Howyagoin Taro, Yep all ok no probs. Seeya. Yeah cheers mate" style of inspection.

Lots of cracks in the regulatory systems here - don't have to look far.

Witness health checks in restaurant kitchens for one.

High fee paying foreign students are the life-support system of Australian Universities. At least 25% of universities funding comes directly from these OS students representing a $30 billion / year industry. This places it as the 4th largest industry in the country.

While obviously supplying a world class education is of utmost importance, one would be naive to believe it isn't a mega-business.

Currently about 750,000 students are enrolled although there was announcement this week by the govt to cap numbers at 50,000 less with infrastructure problems listed.

To the articles story about raising fees for OS students. It will be inevitable. Tokyo university will introduce full courses in English from 2027 in order to attract OS students as well as cater for local students.

I think the main reasoning is they want a piece of the predominantly Asian foreign student pie which is currently dominated by Australia. If high level courses are offered in English then there will be no shortage of willing high fee paying applicants.

Universities fighting for scraps from the ever dwindling govt fund heap, will be relying on this source from abroad to survive.

kohakuebisu -

Guarantee such things as a broken transmission and a taped up exhaust leak would never pass any shaken test to places I've been.

Don't know where you go to, but you must have a good "wink, wink" relationship with them.

I guess it happens as some of the modified cars I've seen around, always amazes me as to how they pass shaken.

Many commenters have seen the movie.

Where?

I want to see to make my judgement.

Generally shaken is a good thing. It keeps a check on the roadworthiness of vehicles, thereby to a large extent ruling out mechanical failure / poor condition as a reason for accidents.

Just sometimes they nit pick - like sorry you have to change your slightly blue hued front lights ( read - superior) as the law says white lights only. And I know the dealers/mechanics pressure people who know zilch about cars to fix the unbroken - oh your battery is 3 years old, your wipers are a little worn, etc. Showing knowledge and interest goes a long way in getting good service.

But shaken is the simple reason in addition to the make, why 2nd hand Japanese cars are eagerly sought after world wide.

And cost is not unreasonable. If you source a dependable mechanic, the costs will be minimal with most fees being for govt registration taxes and charges.

Interesting that my home state South Australia has no inspection system for private vehicles even with ownership transfers. When questioned about this the govt said it's research into accident causes showed mechanical failure incl tires etc were the cause in only about 1% of cases. Human failure and road conditions were the primary accident cause by far.

The typhoon lost it's typhoon status shortly after making landfall in Kyushu.

Winds subsided considerably as it turned into a slow moving Tropical Depression-TD- and a major rain event.

This morning I was surprised to see the hectoPascal reading as 990 or weak in terms of tropical storms compared to 935 the night before.

Knew then I didn't have to worry about wind, just watch out for dumping rain.

I've noticed over many years, most media reports continue using the term typhoon even when it's lost it's status. I think this is simply to keep people "on alert".

Better to be safe than sorry, but sometimes the lack of media downgrading the storms leads to over worrying.

I've witnessed it often.

As tokyo-m said - how can you talk about ultra-processed foods without mentioning chemical additives in detail.

There's the large number of intended additives or agents incl sweeteners, preservatives, flavorings, emulsifiers, anti-mold agents etc which can include known dangerous chemicals like Aspartame, Nitrites, BHA?BHT etc etc.

Then of course there's the unintended presence of things like environmental contaminants - heavy metals (lead/cadmium....), benzene, dioxin, PFAS etc.

And the chemicals produced by processing like 3-MCPDE, acrylamide, furan etc

Consumers can make choices about what they want to consume and the relative risks of certain chemicals - BUT can only do so when the industry is open about and details the levels of such.

The discussion about chemical toxicity levels in food should be common and not fudged with company-speak.

Agree with divinda, ricky and others.

I was more than surprised when the Sake Viva - drink more alcohol push was started.

Like - how many govts in the world had/have an alcohol drinking promotion platform.

And the endless ads on tv promoting young people, often women alone, chugging down glassfuls.

Has the govt dome an in depth analysis and evaluation of the costs to society in social unrest, medical costs, disease, death via alcohol versus a loss in taxes.

Another dumb as page out of the Japan Tobacco (mainly owned by the govt = Big money) book, with it's Smoking Clean campaign. Please smoke but do it nicely!!!!!!!

Alcohol consumption is a choice adults can make, but society doesn't need the govt aiding in it's use, either directly or indirectly by weak restrictions on advertising.

antique - spot on about Gyomu and spot on about rice availability.

Because there's a shortage of Chateau Rothschild cru classe or Penfolds Grange doesn't mean there's a red wine shortage.

I repeat - this headline is a grab-me and the article focuses on a small aspect of the market.

Been to 3 supermarkets today for weekend grocery shopping.

Local rice of all varieties in abundance.

And price is not expensive.

This article just seems like a grab for clicks.

u-s- & Aoi - so true.

Friends live in Matsue Shimane and protested the removal of the book from school libraries a few years ago.

They were removed not because of graphic scenes but because of right-wing pressure stating the text was leftist propaganda telling lies about Japanese military atrocities and pushing defeatism.

It was later back on shelves.

To this day it is not widely read or promoted essentially because of it's anti-imperialism message as opposed to "not suitable graphics".

In a country where the common folk suffered so much and war memories are still alive in millions, you'd think such an internationally awarded book would be standard reading for youth.

Should put a copy on display in the Yushukan Museum at Yasukuni or sell it at it's bookshop.

Maybe it is.

My biggest concern in my area are the large numbers of stray/feral cats that roam through the bushland and use house gardens, doorsteps, mats etc as their resting/shelter places.

I've had to remove a dead cat from the gutter in front of my house with blood sucking dani the size of peas on it's stomach. Not pretty.

I tell people but I don't think they realize the danger - slight but real and present.

starpunk - yes - too flavoursome an ice cream may well be an overkill.

I've only ever used vanilla

When camping a few years back with the kids(teenagers) we had poached eggs - soft - on rye toast with a big spoon of ice cream on top.

Just so good.

Ice cream has been used by adventurous chefs around the world as a medium for savoury, salty, spicy dishes for some time now.

If you need to chill/cool a dish while adding essentially a "sweet white sauce" to balance textures and flavours, then ice cream is the go.

I recommend a scoop of ice cream on a nice chilled bowl of home made Gazpacho soup, with some sprinles of freshly chopped basil - yummo.

They may well have been wearing seatbelts, but more details are required as the nature of the restraints.

By law some kind of booster seating would be necessary for such young kids and if not by law, common sense would dictate such as necessary - unless they were really big & tall little kids.

Adult sized belts across the neck region would be deadly esp in a front on collision.

That cars crumple zone worked as intended and the mother had only minor injuries. Most of the car is untouched. All points to inadequate restraining.

Maybe more info will come out.