dhaen comments

History is written by the victors.

As somebody who has family on both sides of both divides (the war and the pandemic vax), I see his message as on point.

Thank you for your considered thoughts Haruki Murakami.

Japanese manufacturers have missed the boat. They'll keep their home market but Tesla and BYD will take the world.

Having owned our first electric car for 6 months, we are about to trade in our remaining oil-burner for another.

Don't believe the naysayers pushing the old performance issues. Even our electric small car is adequate for rural UK, the new one will have twice the range making it suitable for national UK travel.

Loved all his novels. Hard Boiled Wonderland is my favourite, although A Wild Sheep Chase comes a close second. I got some way into 羊をめぐる冒険 but it was hard going for my level of Japanese.

Looking forward the English translation of the new book!

At last they found someone who knows how to use a computer!

Can't you see they are just getting themselves some free publicity.

Anyone notice the roadways on the picture show driving on the right?

I'll go!

Oh bugger, just realised I'm a guy.

I wonder what choices they have in their lives. I am an an anti-monarchist but do feel some sympathy for those trapped by their situation.

We all came out of Africa and all have different abilities, but not because of the artificial construct "race" but because of our genetic individuality, which is largely down to chance.

People born of parents with diverse parentage are less likely to have genetic defects because faulty DNA is unlikely to be on both strands.

There is tremendous pressure on girls from all media sectors, and most of it is destructive. Personally I admire "non-perfect" girls who have a physical as well as mental personality - i.e. non-perfect.

It's said that the sign of beauty is facial and body symmetry. That's classical beauty.

We should enjoy and rejoice in the beauty of variation of the human form.

I have a daughter and 5 grandaughters who follow this philosophy, and are true to themselves, not to the commercial "image god".

Japan is a country with an ageing population and they should be using that resource wisely.

As a 60-year old myself, I can take risks that I wouldn't allow my younger staff - with their lives ahead and children to bear and raise, to take. It's active people of my age who should be doing this work.

@linkolnman

Russia's European gas turn-off was due to underpayment and theft. The political element was that these countries originally were given subsidised rates which were withdrawn, now they have to pay the market price.

Like the rest of the world, Russia's objective in selling commodities is to raise revenue. They are no more (or less) likely to use this as a political tool than any other supplier.

I can't believe the criticism of "katakana English". Every language basterdizes borrowed words, and English is probably the worst offender. Try using the English pronunciation of our borrowed words to their original owners and watch the blank expressions... Also, it's entirely up to the speaker/writer whether they use the native word or an "import".