Japan

[Ben Trovado]

She identifies as a man.

And American.

[Doctor X]

So she is the white supremacists?!

– J.D.

[Ben Trovado]

So she is the white supremacists?!

– J.D.

She claims to fight crime - must be.

[Anaxagoras]

[Ben Trovado]

You think that's bad, if you can't pay, they make you work as one of the girls.


That makeup is horrible for your complexion, too.

[Doctor X]

https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploa ... /HT-16.jpg
https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploa ... 8/HT-5.jpg
"But is it Art?"

https://i.imgur.com/3FmEBDq.gif

– J.D.

[Anaxagoras]

In Japanese wasps are called suzumebachi and bees mitsubachi, but “hachi” often gets tossed around as a catch-all for either.

mitsubachi means a honeybee in particular. And I usually think of suzumebachi as hornets, although I guess it includes wasps. The giant Asian hornet is an oosuzumebachi (オオスズメバチ). Although that could also be written in kanji as 大雀蜂, it seems to be much more common to write it using katakana.

[shuize]

In Japanese wasps are called suzumebachi and bees mitsubachi, but “hachi” often gets tossed around as a catch-all for either.

mitsubachi means a honeybee in particular. And I usually think of suzumebachi as hornets, although I guess it includes wasps. The giant Asian hornet is an oosuzumebachi (オオスズメバチ). Although that could also be written in kanji as 大雀蜂, it seems to be much more common to write it using katakana.

Given that "suzume" means "sparrow" in Japanese, in my opinion, the "oo" ("big") is kind of redundant.


Unrelated, I wondered about the use of "sparrow" kanji in mahjong (雀・麻雀).

Apparently, it's not just for pronunciation. It also has something to do with pictures of sparrows on the tiles.

http://game.okcoram.jp/game9.html

[Anaxagoras]

Some really fucked-up stuff, but not too surprising.

[Doctor X]

I expected some things I know, but he spends the opening decrying how people were arrested for breaking the law.

Now, I suppose having Some Idiot send you illegal drugs is "not your fault," but that will attract attention in most countries.

However, that "we detain you, you get no lawyer, you get no contact," is old. I suspect it comes from the tradition that only criminals get arrested so, since you are arrested, you must be a criminal. I am surprised there were acquittals for, well, being tortured to give a confession.

The old Confessions of a Yakuza basically outlines this.

– J.D.

[shuize]

I expected some things I know, but he spends the opening decrying how people were arrested for breaking the law.

Now, I suppose having Some Idiot send you illegal drugs is "not your fault," but that will attract attention in most countries.

However, that "we detain you, you get no lawyer, you get no contact," is old. I suspect it comes from the tradition that only criminals get arrested so, since you are arrested, you must be a criminal. I am surprised there were acquittals for, well, being tortured to give a confession.

The old Confessions of a Yakuza basically outlines this.

– J.D.

I recently heard a story involving a foreigner who says a friend overseas mailed him a joint.

It's a friend of a friend situation (I've never met the guy) so it may be complete bullshit. However, the story, as related to me, was that the overseas guy did it on his own as a joke. The foreigner in Japan says he told him not fucking funny, never do it again. But the idiot overseas apparently did it again. Now the authorities are involved and it's definitely not funny.

[Doctor X]

If said "friend" is in Freedom, he should contact the USPS.

That will take care of the "friend."

– J.D.

[shuize]

If said "friend" is in Freedom, he should contact the USPS.

That will take care of the "friend."

– J.D.

Reportedly not :freedom:.

I'll keep the rest anonymous.

[Doctor X]

:freedom:

– J.D.

[Pyrrho]

...that time a college friend sent me a letter with paprikash in the envelope and Mom being Mom opened the letter...hilarity ensued...

[Anaxagoras]

Japan population falls by record 726,342 to 125.93 mil. in 2021 amid COVID

It's demographics more than Covid, but it's certainly not helping. People also had fewer children. But the population decrease is also approaching a million per year.

I wonder if the government were serious about reversing this trend if there's anything they could even realistically do to encourage people to have more children? A baby bonus maybe? Give every new mother a cash reward? For each new baby I mean.

[robinson]

Maybe they want a decrease? It is a really crowded island

[robinson]

Unless they are having that mysterious epidemic of healthy young people mysteriously dropping dead

It is old people dying

[shuize]

Japan population falls by record 726,342 to 125.93 mil. in 2021 amid COVID

It's demographics more than Covid, but it's certainly not helping. People also had fewer children. But the population decrease is also approaching a million per year.

I wonder if the government were serious about reversing this trend if there's anything they could even realistically do to encourage people to have more children? A baby bonus maybe? Give every new mother a cash reward? For each new baby I mean.

Having some experience raising kids in Japan, they seem to make it harder than it needs to be.

But I don't have a good answer.

A non trivial part of that is mothers competing against other mothers.

My ex- freaked the fuck out when she thought our older daughter was "behind" other kids in pre-pre school (i.e. four years old) and went on a textbook/study guide buying spree that led to one of our bigger fights.*


* The unnecessary spending on "textbooks" wasn't even the biggest problem. It was signing a contract for one of those book of the month club deals that are a giant pain in the ass to cancel and then fucking lying to me about it. I said, "[Our daughter] is not 'behind,' but whatever. Buy as many books as you want, just don't lock us in to one of those contracts." And then she did.

[Ben Trovado]

Japan population falls by record 726,342 to 125.93 mil. in 2021 amid COVID

It's demographics more than Covid, but it's certainly not helping. People also had fewer children. But the population decrease is also approaching a million per year.

I wonder if the government were serious about reversing this trend if there's anything they could even realistically do to encourage people to have more children? A baby bonus maybe? Give every new mother a cash reward? For each new baby I mean.

Having some experience raising kids in Japan, they seem to make it harder than it needs to be.

No kidding. I have watched a lot of documentaries, and those schools are death traps!

Students carrying swords around, ritual death matches, allowing the school discipline committees beat and kidnap new kids and the transfer students who are deadly assassins . . . It's a rough atmosphere, even before the monster and mecha attacks are taken into consideration.

[Doctor X]

Students carrying swords around, ritual death matches, allowing the school discipline committees beat and kidnap new kids and the transfer students who are deadly assassins . . . It's a rough atmosphere, even before the monster and mecha attacks are taken into consideration.

https://i.imgur.com/aHUXgVc.png
https://i.imgur.com/bunqj6Q.gif
https://i.imgur.com/gelexD7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ujP5dN1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/7gpfFZE.gif

https://c.tenor.com/e61cc8GsKAwAAAAC/ki ... ki-tea.gif

– J.D.

[Anaxagoras]

A non trivial part of that is mothers competing against other mothers.

My ex- freaked the fuck out when she thought our older daughter was "behind" other kids in pre-pre school (i.e. four years old) and went on a textbook/study guide buying spree that led to one of our bigger fights.*

Ain't that the truth. I bet she would also deny being a "kyouiku mama". My wife did much of the same. Not a book-of-the-month club, but certainly lots of extra textbooks. But she got very defensive and angry at the suggestion that she is one of the kyouiku mamas. Apparently this is the bare minimum in Japan. She also hated talking to the other mothers of kids in the same class because they would inevitably try to steer the conversation into prying about how our kids were doing in their classes.

[shuize]

A non trivial part of that is mothers competing against other mothers.

My ex- freaked the fuck out when she thought our older daughter was "behind" other kids in pre-pre school (i.e. four years old) and went on a textbook/study guide buying spree that led to one of our bigger fights.*

Ain't that the truth. I bet she would also deny being a "kyouiku mama". My wife did much of the same. Not a book-of-the-month club, but certainly lots of extra textbooks. But she got very defensive and angry at the suggestion that she is one of the kyouiku mamas. Apparently this is the bare minimum in Japan. She also hated talking to the other mothers of kids in the same class because they would inevitably try to steer the conversation into prying about how our kids were doing in their classes.

I was constantly battling to let the kids have any free time.

I thought two extracurricular activities a week (piano one day/week, swimming two days/week) on top of hours of homework every day starting in first grade* was enough.

Nope.

Because [insert name of other kid] goes to [insert other expensive, time consuming extracurricular activity], so should our kids.

When I would say "No, this is enough," my ex- would play the "depression" card, mope around and act like we were somehow failing as parents.


* Not an exaggeration. And, best of all, my ex- wouldn't make them do any of it. So it got left until I got home from work for me to supervise. Every fucking night.

[Doctor X]

– J.D.

[sparks]

Fuck. Aren't humans just wonderful?

[Doctor X]

Reads as if they learned nothing from WWII.

– J.D.

[Pyrrho]

Twit: https://twitter.com/stevenjgibbons/status/1560159161186455552?t=n8hUYpF2M9rbXTENz40TuQ&s=19

[sparks]

Reads as if they learned nothing from WWII.

– J.D.

I blame lingering radiation...

[Ben Trovado]

Where is Godzilla when you really need him?



(I am assuming their pronouns, which makes me the real monster)

[Anaxagoras]

Well back in the 1990s when I joined the Navy there had just been the Tailhook scandal, which was the US Navy's "come to Jesus" moment on sexual harassment. I remember them making a big deal about it right from boot camp. So they were starting to take it seriously by that point.

But it took outside pressure to make it happen. The Navy didn't just decide on its own that it needed to reform. They were embarrassed. There were hearings in congress about it. Top admirals and generals were raked over the coals, and I think some people lost their jobs over it. Japan hasn't really had anything comparable to the Tailhook scandal, so maybe the problems have just remained under the surface. There hasn't been the same sort of public outcry as of yet to reform. It takes some people to actually speak out and make a fuss to do that, so I don't know if this one woman coming forward will be enough. If there's some sort of code of omerta going on where nobody is willing to corroborate her story, we are left with the question of who to believe. It's one woman's word against many. Unless others who saw it happen are willing to speak out about it publicly.

[Pyrrho]

https://www.reuters.com/business/media- ... 022-08-15/

Tokyo diners nosh on Demogorgon pasta, Eleven's waffles at 'Stranger Things' cafe

[Doctor X]

– J.D.

[Anaxagoras]

Japan to waive PCR-test rule for triple-vaccinated travelers

[Doctor X]

:hyper:

– J.D.

[Anaxagoras]

Three hours of Japanese koto music anyone?

[Doctor X]

More of a review of Japanese Original self-satire:



– J.D.

[Anaxagoras]

This could only be a news story in Japan:

SDF officer punished for gluttony in the chow line

An Air SDF captain in his 50s, who is stationed at Iruma Air Base in Saitama Prefecture, was suspended for three days after he grabbed two savory buns at the base’s cafeteria at around 7:40 a.m. on April 26.

Those two buns, more than he was entitled to, were enough to warrant an apology from the ASDF's highest-ranking officer.

They held a news conference to apologize because an officer took an extra piece of bread at the chow line. WTF? Who cares? :roll:

[Doctor X]

Not like he had his hands in his pockets.

– J.D.

[shuize]

This could only be a news story in Japan:

SDF officer punished for gluttony in the chow line

An Air SDF captain in his 50s, who is stationed at Iruma Air Base in Saitama Prefecture, was suspended for three days after he grabbed two savory buns at the base’s cafeteria at around 7:40 a.m. on April 26.

Those two buns, more than he was entitled to, were enough to warrant an apology from the ASDF's highest-ranking officer.

They held a news conference to apologize because an officer took an extra piece of bread at the chow line. WTF? Who cares? :roll:

I agree, an extra roll or two, who cares.

But there were previous cases which made national news.

From the article:

But it is not an isolated incident, with similar instances reported at MSDF and GSDF facilities.

The Defense Ministry's clerical official was suspended from work for four days in March after treating himself and others to free curry lunches over two years at an MSDF facility, despite not being authorized for the free meals.

And that's how it works in Japan.

It's one of the guiding principles at my job:

Don't do the exact same thing someone else just got in trouble over, especially if it might result in bad PR for the university.*


* I can't emphasize this last part enough.

[Doctor X]

You just have to convince your students that complaining about you shagging them behind the shed will "bring disrepute" upon the university.






I did not write that.

– J.D.