wolfshine comments

Even after guaranteeing Japan's protection, even after the US locking down entire bases when Japan blamed them for Covid spikes, even after the goodwill gesture of purchasing their seafood after they got on China's badside, Japan is still absurdly ungrateful to the US military presence in their country.

At this point, maybe the US should just pull out, save some money, defend the homefront, and feed them to the wolves.

Japan is not a good ally and a terrible host for foreign laborers, IT professionals, abroad students, English teachers, military, ect. Japan is essentially carried and propped up by foreign influences and yet they act like foreign people on their soil are some kind of nuisance and are always in the way. It's absolutely disgusting and lacking in self-awareness. They are duplicitous and unworthy of trust.

Unless you can prove this accusation it is still valueless and empty.

It's not a conspiracy; it's literally just how pharmaceutical research works. Pharma lobbies congress. Government funds research. Universities and labs get more grant money for research if their conclusions can generate profit.

Why are you going to such great lengths to deny this? Just acknowledge the objective fact, and argue for it's merits. But acting like this isn't the case is just silly and dishonest.

If you think this is possible that only means you don't understand scientific publications and post publication peer review

Modified Excel spreadsheets are exactly how Harvard got into trouble. That's how Francesca Gino got exposed. She literally modified spreadsheets containing data for studies. It passed the peer review process and wasn't discovered until much later on.

Within the field of data analysis more broadly, without even modifying data maliciously, information is so easy to manipulate.

I agree Attila. American Football is a wonderful and unique sport unlike any other, barring rugby, which still has it's fair share of differences.

I am always delighted to see and hear about what's going in the underground world of Japanese football. The X-League is a bit goofy but I still appreciate the fact that people here are actually playing this sport.

At the same time, I'd actually rather it not become a global phenomenon. It's best as it is, a cornerstone of American culture in the fall and winter seasons.

Which is irrelevant when you are trying to contradict evidence produced by scientist that are NOT in the pharmaceutical companies.

It is relevant because the pharmaceutical industry and government (their pals) have bankrolled the studies and research through their grants. That's literally what Operation Warp Speed was. The funding needed to undertake such endeavors doesn't just appear out of nowhere.

Even Harvard University has been caught faking/manipulating studies and research. It is literally as easy as editing Excel spreadsheets, and that is the dumb way of doing it. Likely, the bigger players involved, the more sophisticated the tools and methodologies are. I imagine the reason they threw that Italian-American sociology professor under the bus was because the implications of her getting exposed were relatively low risk, and they needed a sacrificial lamb. But people in pharma? We're talking trillions of dollars at play, entire industries.

If you want to be the last person on Earth defending mRNA shots, well, I guess that's your call. But from the way things look, public perception and reputation is at an all time low for the people that pushed these vaccines on all of us and got rich in the process.

Daiichi Sankyo is a day late and a dollar short. Nothing new for a Japanese corporation.

Nobody cares about Covid vaccines anymore. Even people who have had several boosters are now saying, "Naw, I'm good".

The whole premise behind these things is incredibly bizarre. You take a shot which likely knocks you out for a day, some people have less severe side effects, some people get absolutely wrecked. It is supposed to grant you some undisclosed degree of immunity, but most people who take it still get Covid anyway. But Omicron is not particularly intense to begin with. Even original 2020 Covid, which I had before there were even vaccines, was generally a pretty uneventful experience for me. I don't think we will ever truly discover the real efficacy of the vaccines, as Covid had already declined massively in deadliness after the first year, then even more so the second year.

My guess is, as is usually the case, Daiichi Sankyo has a very nice relationship with the folks in the LDP. Most of the "scientists" in the pharmaceutical industry aren't even scientists so much as they business people, and most of the "science" is just advertising. The system is so unbelievably corrupt, and the lack of transparency is not surprising. What is surprising is the extent to which people aren't pushing back and demanding accountability from those that made this endless merry-go-round of cash possible.

Japan out there trying to make an example out of people that use cannabis, but if we're being honest, it's not working.

There are CBD shops on every corner selling legal highs. Every major train station in Tokyo has one nearby now. If these products weren't selling, how would these entities be able to expand to such a large extent?

Their moral crusade against HHCH, although successful in the short term, is also still a failure. They set up an entire elaborate media hoax to get it banned, but new alternatives became available the second they did that.

American Football is not a sacred cow to the Japanese, more just another foreign nuisance, so it makes sense they would sacrifice it at the altar of anti drug hysteria. They wouldn't do this if it were a soccer or baseball team.

Sounds like another reason not to move to Singapore. From everything I understand about that place, it is very expensive, has an incredibly rough and competitive work culture, excessively strict on crime and punishment especially as far cannabis is concerned, and lacking in the realm of personal freedoms. The government is corrupt but often gets a pass because people tend to think of Singapore as though it is some corporate paradise. It sounds boring, as well. Not enough fun things to do for people in their twenties and thirties. It's like Japan in some ways, but somehow way more soulless. Just another concrete Asian jungle, but without any of the dazzle Tokyo or Seoul have to offer. More like Dubai if you ask me.

I do like Switzerland. At the very least, that country is breathtakingly beautiful. It makes sense why it is so expensive. Though, it seems like quite an inaccessible place.

New York is bleeding residents and tax revenue, but somehow prices never seem to go down. And the taxes are awful. I personally like NYC but that place is utterly filthy. That and every time you hop on the subway you're likely to encounter either a literal maniac or a clout chaser. A better place to visit than to live.

Hong Kong is basically just another Chinese city now. I've always wanted to go to Hong Kong but due to the circumstances, I just wouldn't feel safe doing so, let alone living and working there.

Tokyo starts to seem a lot more reasonable than all the others in comparison.

Foreign worker issues notwithstanding, Japan strengthening ties with Vietnam is absolutely a move that makes sense from an economic perspective.

Vietnam has demonstrated superb GDP growth in recent decades. I believe their economy has grown some sixty-fold in the past twenty years or so. There are echoes of Japan's massive growth between the 60s and 80s, or China's prior to Covid. This is a great time for Japan to make investments in the developing country, as returns are all but guaranteed. While Vietnam's status is still a far cry from some of the other East Asian giants, it's likely that it won't take very long before they are knocking on the doors of the one-trillion+ GDP club.

Now... from a military partnership standpoint, I think we should have tempered expectations.

Vietnam is out for Vietnam's best interests, as they should be. As far as it comes to China, they don't want China to hinder or suppress them, that's for sure. But it's hard to say whether Vietnam feels they have a lot of skin in the game as far as Taiwan is concerned. Moreover, in the case of a war, it is very hard for me to imagine Vietnam directly aligning itself with the US. Relations have improved, but they likely have not forgotten what we did to their country, seeing as how the effects of agent orange and scattered landmines still negatively affect them to this day.

Hopefully the Japanese can make a good sales pitch, though - that the dream of wealth and economic prosperity is within their grasp, but China may try to take that away from them if Vietnam doesn't align itself with the West.

France is a disaster.

It's not just a problem of open borders and Islamification. It's also the fact that decadent and degenerate social practices masquerading as a kind of "C'est La Vie" liberal philosophy have caused their culture to rot. Paris is rife with oversexualization in media, adulterous behavior, drug abuse, homelessness, violent crime, frequent riots, obsessive consumerism, ect. Meanwhile, one has to ask themself: what actually constitutes "French values"? What does that mean?

Some predatory groups of people in the Islamic world, particularly former French colonies, see this crackhouse of a society as an easy target. Even the British, for all their issues, have done somewhat of a better job of preserving their cultural identity than the French have.

France is a good blueprint for how not to run your civilization. As evil as the actions of those teenagers were, the government is also responsible for their lack of concern for the safety of their citizens or the safeguarding of their nations ideals. Charlie Hebdo, the Bataclan Massacre, the killing of Samuel Paty - a generation of failure and decline.

It seems as though the area has opened to lukewarm reception at best, and outright mockery at worst. Pretty unceremonious overall.

I don't think it is a terribly ugly building - definitely have seen worse. The smaller buildings surrounding the skyscraper as well as the "green space" are ridiculously goofy looking, though. I think if you want to have "green space" you should just open a park. The messaging is really weird overall.

I think the long term success of the project depends on if it can attract dynamic global firms as tenants. The whole ad campaign seems to be a giant sales pitch for that. If it winds up as another Sumitomo satellite, one must wonder if that purpose couldn't have been achieved efficiently and cheaper some other way.

They also need to bring in cool shops and restaurants, because for those that aren't going to work in that behemoth, they're going to need to give people a reason to actually go there. Can Azabudai provide space for things that aren't easily obtainable in other parts of the city? That matters.

Looks like local governments are certainly confident about their ability to conduct crowd control when it comes to one of their sacred cows. I didn't see the mayor of Osaka telling people to stay away. Guess Osakans should be relieved Ken Hasebe isn't one of theirs.

All that being said, I am happy for the fans - a well earned championship.

That was quick. Can’t get them to investigate their own strange numbers for accounting but if it’s to look tough and decisive about a completely innocuous thing, super fast!

Yeh, it's insane how misplaced their priorities are. Though to be fair, it's not as though Kishida or the Diet are passing this edict down from above. That process might at least posses some legitimacy. Instead, they are not legislating and having their mad dog, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare do it.

Moreover, with regard to said Ministry's title, they really haven't done very much in the "Labor and Welfare" realms of activities recently. Their agenda for the past four years has been almost entirely Covid hysteria, and now mostly anti-weed stuff. They really are not putting any effort into curbing issues like toxic workplace culture or overtime. Like I said, they're just a bunch of shills for the pharmaceutical industry, and considering how little they actually contribute to society... I say it should be abolished and everyone there fired. Or, at least, their funds massively slashed.

But why say many? It was like 9 people. 9 people dumb enough to take random candy from a stranger. And only had a tummy ache

So, from my perspective, this entire thing could also literally just be a hoax.

How hard would it be? Pay a handful of people to put on a giant show in the park, and have media people ready to run a story on it asap. Narrative is pre-packaged, and once it gets enough attention/reporting, then the Ministry can add another substance to their kill list.

These are not honest or good people. They are opportunistic and want control.

We were told the taxes on the pot would make our state rich.

According to the data, your state collected half a billion dollars in taxes from cannabis. If your state government is distributing that money poorly, that is not the fault of legalization.

We were told it was NOT a gateway drug.

There is no such thing as a gateway drug. There are gateway lifestyles, gateway behaviors, certainly gateway personalities that may lead people down the path of drug addiction. But there is no concrete evidence that people try cannabis and then rush off to do heroin or meth.

Billboards all over the place advertising weed and pot shops on every other corner.

So what this essentially comes down to, is you being triggered? I am certainly okay with stricter regulations on how these kinds of products are marketed, but let's face it, the advertising of cannabis in popular culture predates legalization.

There is no disaster. I would be willing to agree with you that the United States has deep cultural and societal issues, and drug addiction certainly factors into that. But the necessary actions needed to stop the opioid epidemic have repeatedly been stonewalled by people in the state and federal governments. Also it doesn't help that the pharmaceutical industry literally does not care how many die, as long as they can continue getting richer off of it.

It's not just Kishida or the LDP! The whole system, the entire bureaucratic apparatus, is corrupt from top to bottom. Meanwhile the economy is collapsing and Japanese people should seriously be concerned about their country's future. Even Germany is beating Japan right now, and they have as many if not more problems.

As is the case with poorly performing sports franchises, wherein talent is wasted by office drones, middle managers, and owners, there is only one solution:

FIRE EVERYONE!

Wolfshine, may be I missed it but there didn’t appear to be any plan to ban CBD only the synthetic equivalents to THC.

Many of the CBD shops in Tokyo did sell HHCH. I can't speak for all of the entities that exist. But at one of the CBD shops I support, they told me that they would only sell HHCH and not other analogs because the others may be too strong for new users. It's not like they haven't considered the risks involved. These aren't stupid or irrational people, they run legitimate businesses. I would argue, they have probably done more scientific research than the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has.

Admittedly banning psychoactive drugs without addressing the psychological causes or other stressors and problems leading to people seeking this route to cope with their situation is pointless and ultimately a failure. The Portuguese model should be applied far more widely.

I mean, I could understand them strictly enforcing penalties, but only on actually hard, dangerous drugs. The most widely used drug in Japan still remains shabu (meth), not weed or the analogs.

The thing is that isn't really their true goal. Their goal is controlling young people. Keeping them in line. Keep them chasing a fake path up the corporate ladder that will supposedly, eventually, lead them to prosperity. Don't rock the boat, respect authority and hierarchy. In reality, this is a terrible lifestyle. Quality of life is declining here and the economy is shriveling up.

Has anyone else noticed the monthly pattern of the media and bureaucrats finding a new moral crisis for the sake of drumming up public paranoia and hysteria?

In September, they went on a crusade against THC-B and THC-V. Then, in October, Ken Hasebe spent an entire month making him the center of media attention and harassing Halloween enthusiasts, telling them not to come to Shibuya, even though he has no right or authority to make such commands. And now, they've found the new object of moral panic: HHCH, even though it is a relatively weak substance, all because a few people who mistakenly took a high dose had a weak tolerance and didn't realize that if you lie down or go for a walk, any anxiety will eventually subside? That's how stupid this whole thing is. Next month, it will be a new stupid controversy that makes the front page even though there are seriously bigger issues and concerns in Japan and in the world.

People in the media also need to be held accountable for their role in doing the bureaucrat's dirty work. All it took was one minor incident, a ton of dishonest reporting, and the Ministry can immediately make major, massive changes that negatively affects a growing industry in Japan.

It will not change until the young people realize how hard they're being screwed, and start making some noise.

Abolish the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare! It is nothing more than a worthless, bloated institution of bureaucrats lining their pockets with funds from their friends in big pharma. Their policies have not reduced the risk of drugs and are as ineffective/foolish as their Covid ideology.

They have lied repeatedly about the risks of these substances without doing their due diligence via research and testing. There is a legislative process that should be employed for the prohibition of dangerous drugs. Allowing an incompetent body to frivolously make changes to the law whenever they want goes well outside of the bounds of reasonable and responsible governance.

All CBD shops and dispensaries across the country should lawyer up and sue - I think they have a good case.

I am sure that he is either being taken out of context, or being misquoted. Outright fabrication is another possibility.

In recent years, there is no group more self-righteous, embellishing, opportunistic, and downright morally vacuous than the quarantine warriors. Their philosophy ravaged a generation of culture, economic stability, and the notion of individual rights.

So having done all that, why wouldn't they just lie or exaggerate their claims? They were willing to make use of just about every other dirty trick in the book, so why stop at those?

They can ban HHCH but another way around will be soon found.

That's true, although, I think at a certain point, the government will probably get bored of playing whack-a-mole with derivative substances, and eventually just try going full on draconian. As in, anybody could be arrested at any time under the suspicion they are intoxicated not under the effects of alcohol. Anything that could be perceived as a mind-altering substance can be treated that way from a legal perspective.

The silly part is, the government already opened Pandora's box by legalizing CBD. Many CBD vape carts, particularly the terpene flavored ones, smell like weed. So if someone is hitting a vape that may have something other than the typical ingredients, what do they plan to do, test every single person they come across vaping?

For those that want to employ harm reduction strategies while also discouraging stoner culture, ultimately the best compromise would be legalizing THC-containing products, while prohibiting the smoking of cannabis. In other words, people can be allowed to responsibly do it, but in a way that is discreet, unnoticable, and doesn't promote it's use.

Once HHCH, or hexahydrocannabihexol, is designated as a psychoactive drug, its possession, use and distribution in Japan will be illegal, health minister Keizo Takemi said in a press conference.

The really crazy thing about this is that HHCH, unlike THC, especially at low doses, is barely even psychoactive in my opinion. Unlike with straight cannabis, which does very much induce psychological effects, HHCH does not strongly affect mood or put the user in an altered state of consciousness. Rather, the feeling of HHCH is comparable to that which one feels after spending half an hour on the treadmill.

The health ministry is also considering banning all substances with structures similar to HHCH, which can cause hallucinations and memory impairment.

It does not produce hallucinations at low doses. You could probably make yourself hallucinate from drinking ten cups of coffee, that doesn't mean that coffee is dangerous.

I reject the notion that this substance poses actual danger. The health ministry is on a power trip. What gives them the power to wave a magic wand and make things illegal whenever they feel like it, without any reasonable testing or analysis? Abolish this worthless bureaucratic institution and all their works; I guarantee you all these problems disappear.

Electing this far-right nutjob, a studied, clownish mishmash of Trump, Bolsonaro and Bullingdon Boris, but smarter than all three combined, exposes the Achilles heel of democracy, as did Germany's 1933 election.

This is so unbelievably unhinged. Is it really necessary to compare every election result you disagree with to that which brought us Hitler?

In any event, regarding Argentina's future, the most important thing here, we'll see how it goes. I've learned from past experiences not to get my hopes up too high.

However, more often than not, it is pretty obvious that the end result of socialist policies is that eventually the people in charge end up abandoning socialism. You can look to China, Vietnam, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere. Centrally planned economies always fail right on cue.

I'm definitely glad this is back. I'm hoping they are able to fit even more exhibits into the new complex. It is kind of sad though that Odaiba lost a lot of it's appeal after so many attractions have closed down. I basically have no reason to go there anymore. Also, the official redevelopment plans for Odaiba aren't exciting in the slightest.

It was a pretty smart move for the people behind Azabudai to get their hands on TeamLab, considering in just about every other regard, nobody seemed interested in the project.

However, your doomsday vision of the future is absurd

Nope. What is happening right now is exactly what myself and many others started predicting like some eight years ago around the time of Bataclan. Before that even. We were dismissed then and somehow we are still being dismissed even though we keep getting proven right time and time again.

Chechnya - it was an Islamic majority area before Russia conquered it and incorporated it into the country.

Doesn't matter. The cause of how Islam ended up in what is now Russia doesn't matter. This is what many European countries are bound to eventually look like. That is, unless they become majority muslim, in which case they are more likely to look like Kazakhstan.

Sweden messed up big time. I believe Muslims now represent some ten percent of their national population.

Several countries in Europe are about to go the way of Russia, with their own versions of Chechenya. There will be intermittent civil wars and conflicts, and the Islamified areas of these countries will be run by local warlords. That is probably the best case scenario.

Based and Phopilled.

Rarely have I come across Vietnamese people that don't conduct themselves with pride and dignity. As an American, I am grateful for the way in which they humbled us almost fifty years ago. It was a wake up call we desperately needed, unfortunately our leaders did not learn the historical lesson.

Asia is NOT Sino-centric and if the Chinese mess around they will find out. It is time for a new generation of Asian powers to rise and establish the foundations of their futures.

I do not consider myself a Kishida fan. He has shown himself time and time again to be seemingly oblivious, unambitious, and generally sluggish when it comes to making necessary changes or setting policy. Inflation, high taxes, lack of post-Covid recovery, poor GDP growth, and worsening trade relations with China seem to be the overarching themes of his administration.

Having said all that, I do not know what the immediate alternative is. The position of PM has become something of a revolving door. None of the major figures or parties seem to be putting forth any radical or dynamic proposals to get things on track.

What needs to happen for anything to change is a massive organizing of the youth. Strikes to address poor working conditions and pay; boycotting of malicious corporate entities; school walkouts in protest of bad administration. And, I think a new party is needed, one that distinctly exists for the explicit purpose of addressing young peoples needs, not the elderly's. That would make the current political apparatus more competitive. Until then, the LDP won't do anything because their voter base is essentially captured business.

Yoon is definitely the MVP of East Asian political affairs right now.

It's not even that he is some visionary or an extremely effective leader. More so that his predecessor, Moon Jae-In, was an absolute clown who went to great lengths to sabotage years of progress in relations with Japan, and Yoon has done a good job of cleaning up the mess.

Kishida needs to use this opportunity to make any deals available that could help his country. Maybe see if he can get some foreign investment from Samsung, or an SK-Hynix fab, for example. Anything. The Japanese economy is not dynamic at all and things are falling apart fast here.

I don't think it was inexperience or dosage. Synthetic cannabis makes people go crazy, I'm not surprised the people felt sick. Just look up a video or story of someone trying synthetic cannabis called 'Spice' or 'K2'. Experience cannabis users will say they felt like they were dying or losing their mind. The synthetic stuff isn't properly tested and it's really nothing like organic cannabis.

So while I agree with you that Spice and K2 are definitely complete trash and very much awful/dangerous for your body, HHCH is not comparable to those.

It's worth pointing out, Spice and K2 arrived on the scene almost twenty years ago overseas, when the anti-weed drug war in the States was very much still in full swing. Things did not begin to loosen up until California legalized medical and Colorado eventually legalized recreational. The process for developing the designer drugs was very much a crude one, and as we eventually found out, the results were not good.

Since legalization in many parts of the world, a kind of "cannabis science" has emerged, leading to the creation of what could be considered "true synthetic cannabinoids". There is a lot more information and data available now than there was before, and thanks to that, we don't see the same levels of danger with substances that fit into the "barely legal" category.

That is to say, what we saw two decades ago weren't really synthetic cannabinoids so much as they were mock cannabinoids. HHCH on the other hand is in the same family of chemicals as THC. A thorough investigation and study would probably uncover that it poses minimal risk as does THC, unfortunately the game is rigged. I say let people enjoy what they want to.

Ridiculous the way this reads.

9 fall ill

And

they felt ill

Like what does this even mean? "They fell ill". In what way did they fall ill? Seizure? Heart attack? Something really serious?

No, actually, it's just the typical miniscule nonsense we've always known about. Some dizziness and probably anxiety. The funny thing is, it's probably not even the chemical that is making them feel that way; it's probably the environment. You have an insane culture of neuroticism that is endlessly making people more paranoid all the time.

We know what this will lead to. The authorities will use this as an excuse to label HHCH as a "kiken drug", which is false, and then they will ban it. The market will eventually come up with a new solution, and then that will be the new thing for three months until the cycle repeats.

Meanwhile the pharmaceutical industry rakes in trillions off of experimental drugs and practices as well! Totally corrupt.

Another bonfire of tax revenue in the form of a hollow, worthless, unproductive summit. Why are we even doing these?

The irony of the location is palpable. San Francisco is plagued by homelessness, crime, drug addiction, feces on sidewalks, high rent, and high taxes. People are leaving California in droves. A Czech news crew just got robbed live on air as they were doing a report in San Francisco. Nancy Pelosi is not helping this city. Joe Biden isn't helping this city either.

On to Japan, a country in the midst of economic and cultural decline. In terms of GDP, they have lost their coveted third place spot to Germany in global rankings. Young people are exhausted and worn out. The Japanese corporate model of work culture has been a failure. It is a rat race to social oblivion. There's no innovation. The yen is falling - everyone is poor. Kishida has not done anything for Japan except for allowing tourism to resume. Sadly it took too long and that industry had already been wiped out.

China is in the midst of a serious real estate crisis. Their country has been absolutely battered by dashed economic hopes, natural disasters, and Covid lockdowns that basically just ended a year ago. Also, if we are actually under the impression that they will seriously invade Taiwan, why are we wasting time inviting them to a summit?

South Korea is the only country that appears to be in a favorable position, and I personally like Yoon, he is certainly the most dynamic out of these four. But they have their own problems and the only reason they look good is because the other three are such an absolute clownshow.

Stop wasting time and money on worthless international forums all for the purpose of show - put your countries first and fix your own issues!

I literally said this would happen like a month ago when they changed the law regarding legally recognized gender.