Moonraker comments

Posted in: Police officer busted for stealing women’s underwear from several residences See in context

Another one for the collection.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Posted in: Paris caters for Olympic romance with 220,000 free condoms See in context

Einhorn?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Is the National Guard a solution to school violence in U.S.? See in context

For example, school police departments have gone so far as to acquire grenade launchers and mine-resistant armored vehicles.

Wow! That is one screwed-up society these people have built for themselves. Do they imagine this is universal? Or that they are leading the world in creating the good society?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Posted in: Japan sees record cannabis cases in 2023; 70% among young people See in context

Well you can blame America for the laws, they were enacted by GHQ during the occupation, before that it was legal.

This is an old trope that needs to be put to rest. Do you imagine that Japanese were stoned all the time until those baddies in SCAP stopped it? And therefore have a natural or cultural affinity for smoking weed? Even if it were true, 70 years have passed during which all kinds of cultural and legal changes have taken place. It could have been reversed at almost any time. Yes, perhaps hemp production was undermined for the sake of the US cotton industry but what was that hemp used for. It was not for smoking, that's for sure.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Posted in: Derelict hotels See in context

There are an awful lot of post-bubble ruins blighting the countryside, from coffee shops upwards. Some comically say "jumbi-chuu" outside.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Posted in: Over 50% of car drivers in Japan do not stop for pedestrians at crosswalks, according to a survey by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF). Why do you think that is? See in context

I once stopped at a crossing for an old lady in a small village in Hokkaido and the Ossan behind me in a kei car went around me and crossed over the crossing in front of the old lady. Yet he seemed in no hurry when I eventually caught up with him again.

It's dangerous behaviour and it's the law to stop and everyone learns this. Japanese are not necessarily law-abiding. It depends on what others do, or what they are perceived or believed to do.

0 ( +15 / -15 )

Posted in: Want to enjoy sakura season but have allergies? Tokyo indoor park offers the perfect solution See in context

Japan's completely artificial future realised.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Posted in: Japan sees record cannabis cases in 2023; 70% among young people See in context

"The widespread use of smartphones has led to greater exposure to incorrect information about marijuana, potentially reducing the psychological barriers to its use," an agency official said.

Wonder if this official has ever tried it. I always wonder if those who pontificate against it have tried it and really know what they are talking about. Don't they think, "well, in some places it is legal for a reason and it has a long history of use, so I should be open-minded"? Nah, of course not. A joint might even make him more open-minded but we can't have that.

-2 ( +12 / -14 )

Posted in: Japan aiming for wealthy Asians to visit rural areas near 2025 Expo See in context

That may well be so, EvilBuddha but I was denying that everyone in SE Asia aspires to be like Japan or that Japan is any longer in advance of SE Asia. I was not spruiking for SIngapore as a destination, as you appear to believe. Perhaps I was being too subtle. Indeed there are people who want to visit Japan. But, for me with my personal opinion, there is very little that is authentic in Japan either. Indeed the world and its inhabitants get increasingly inauthentic and as tourism takes over, the authenticity dies even more. But then we get into what authenticity might be. But I don't even believe the postmodern tourist seeks authenticity anyway, they seek a caricature, the consumption of a manufactured, inauthentic experience. Watch the tourists in Japan. It's like they want to take selfies of themselves in some kind of manga or in the very one spot they have seen repeated in their (social) media. Even the tea reference here is because "the scenery of tea fields will be popular among Thai people who like taking pictures." It's trite. It's branding. And we become increasingly stupid.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Posted in: Global fertility rate to keep plummeting, major study warns See in context

During this century, fertility rates will continue to increase in developing countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, even as they tumble in wealthier, aging nations.

Looks like I know who will replace me, albeit temporarily, then. Good luck to them. Can the make a worse job of running the place than the recent incumbents?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Posted in: Global fertility rate to keep plummeting, major study warns See in context

Today we report about "plummeting" birth rates.

Tomorrow we report about global overpopulation.

It's all so confusing, isn't it? I don't know if I should be coming or going.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: Finland is world's happiest country for 7th straight year: study See in context

Amazing what people want their politicians to provide them.

Your little soundbite reveals your debating style. And it, sadly, is part of the problem. Who else is or should be involved in providing the conditions for happiness? Can you share your wisdom? It's clear the market or consumerism don't provide happiness even though maximising utility is the stated aim of the market. What do we have a government for if not to help set the tone or parameters of the sort of society we would like? Do you imagine Finland relies purely on the market to maximise its happiness? Wouldn't you be proud to come from a country where happiness is high? How do you propose your inadequate country enables that?

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Posted in: South Korean scientists tout 'beef rice' as source of protein for the future See in context

Just the job for those who don't want to eat crickets.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Finland is world's happiest country for 7th straight year: study See in context

It reveals something about all our societies that they cannot provide at least the happiness of Finland, much less far beyond that. Another way of seeing it is that Finland (and Iceland and Denmark, which both also score above 7) is the least worst among our hopelessly inept, corrupt, failing and miserable societies. What is the point of all the cr@p we have to put up with, day in day out, if there is not happiness at the end of it? Why don't our governments maximise happiness? It's clear our economies don't even if maximising happiness is the great deceit of capitalism. We just have to toil to pile up the riches for the alpha exploiters who, themselves, are barely happier than the rest? Are we happy with that? These figures should be a wake up call to take a long, hard look at ourselves and who we are and what we want to achieve. Good for Finland but you still only get a B minus from me.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Posted in: I hope that bookstores will also become not only places that have new titles but attractive places where people who once stopped reading will be encouraged to restart through efforts like events. See in context

"Bases for promoting cultures in local communities" sounds nice. Depends on what the "culture" is, I suppose. I am all for the promotion of arts - our societies have become far too left-brain-centric, lacking context and nuance, concentrating on irrelevant details and losing sight of any bigger picture - but why do I always get suspicious that when some ministry bureaucracy is involved, it just becomes a way to funnel taxpayers' money to companies like, in this case, Junkudo or Kinokuniya, and any real merits are lost?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan aiming for wealthy Asians to visit rural areas near 2025 Expo See in context

The reality is Japan will remain the nation these SE Asians aspire to.

That might have been the case in the past but I don't think so now. Japan was long ago surpassed by one of their own, in Singapore, on virtually every metric. Japan does offer a relatively cheap, apparently developed-nation destination while Europe and North America are still far and more expensive. Japan does a pretty good job of selling its brand to aspirational types - SE Asians like a selfie even more than most - but tends to believe that everything it does is of profound interest to outsiders, including making ink or learning how to grow tea leaves. Watch NHK World for examples of endless promotion of the banal.

-7 ( +7 / -14 )

Posted in: Australia defends its U.S. ambassador, Kevin Rudd, after Trump attack See in context

Trump said, adding that Rudd is “not the brightest bulb.”

Trump projecting again. I mean, he doesn't even know who Rudd is.

22 ( +28 / -6 )

Posted in: China tells U.S. to not take sides on South China Sea issue See in context

China wants to be able to bully its neighbours without interference.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

Posted in: Trump asks Supreme Court to dismiss case charging him with plotting to overturn 2020 election See in context

Trump must hope he doesn't win, otherwise Biden could have him secretly scooped up and sent to Guantanamo with no consequences for Biden.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Posted in: Google, Meta and others face tough questions in Australia over cyber extremism threats See in context

"For only love can conquer hate." M. Gaye.

The paradox is that a positive response to that involves some self-reflection which those who can only hate will be mostly incapable of. But this is still essentially our only hope.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan to study health impact of PFAS chemicals See in context

Must be all the frying pan coatings and water-repellent clothing they make at those sites, sakurasaki. I think you will find it is a worldwide problem and Japanese companies are just as complicit.

From Wikipedia (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances):

Chemical corporations that produce PFAS generate approximately US$4 billion in annual profits from the production of this chemical, but it is estimated that they impose much larger costs on taxpayers and the health of the planet's population (i.e. as external costs).

This, once again, is the way of the world: private profits, socialised costs.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Report says famine 'imminent' in northern Gaza as Israel launches another raid on main hospital See in context

How long will it be until a heroic whistle blower reveals unimpeachable documentary evidence that successive American and Israeli governments have been planning for years on how to leverage a Hamas attack into the total ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank?

And, if they don't, will you go on believing it? On what grounds?

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Posted in: No plan to call election before scandal-hit figures punished: Kishida See in context

Does it even matter anyway, whether they are punished for any moral reasons (there seems to be no longer any judicial reasons) or to the chances of LDP re-election? It's like some very silly and pointless soap opera.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Posted in: Bernie Sanders wants U.S. to adopt a 32-hour workweek See in context

Maybe it is not even about future productivity gains, maybe shorter hours should be reward or reparations for the denied benefits of 50 years of past productivity gains.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: N Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles toward eastern waters See in context

Experts say North Korea likely believes a bigger weapons arsenal would increase its leverage in future diplomacy with the United States.

Kim Jong Un would be better off honing his love-letter-writing skills in case his easily-flattered paramour gets in again. It's cheaper and it easily worked before.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Posted in: Bernie Sanders wants U.S. to adopt a 32-hour workweek See in context

Until people get used to 32 hours then they will stop working harder and expect 24 hour work week at same pay.

Yeah, good idea; let's skip the 32 and jump straight to 24.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Posted in: Bernie Sanders wants U.S. to adopt a 32-hour workweek See in context

Sorry, that was "mighty micro" - it referred to the microprocessor (integrated circuits); what are now basically microchips.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Salty foods are making people sick − in part by poisoning their microbiomes See in context

We hear a lot about limiting intake of salt to 2g a day but there is also surely a regular utilisation or elimination of salt. How much is it? Does it count against the intake? If I spend time at the gym, outside walking or running, sitting in a sauna or simply living in a tropical environment I expel salt all over my skin. How much does it amount to? Can I run off my 2g? People who live sedentary lives without sweating much would presumably retain more salt.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Posted in: Bernie Sanders wants U.S. to adopt a 32-hour workweek See in context

I am old enough to remember the great promises of automation and the "might micro" in the 1970s. Then it was gonna be, like, 10 hours a week - two hours a day - by 2000. A quarter-century beyond that and somehow the glorious future didn't quite seem to materialise, did it? Wonder why... Well, I know why: the benefits have not been shared around. The US worker has been cheated more than many: around US$47 trillion dollars has been scammed from the bottom 90% since the 1970s and median workers now earn $42,000 less in a year than they would have done if equality had remained as it had been in the three decades after World War II. But, hell, just wave the flag or get a plutocrat to hug it and all will be fine.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Posted in: Inflation dents budgets for cherry blossom viewing in Japan See in context

I think plum blossom was originally a Chinese thing. But give me plum blossom over garish cherry blossom any day.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

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