Ah_so comments

Japanese roads are very narrow with at times very tight curves. I find driving in California far much easier

Just like a country lane in the UK (except in the UK it comes with a 60mph/96kmh speed limit).

I think if you come from a place where driving is very easy, some mandatory testing would be appropriate, especially if driving on the left for the first time.

"She basically looked at the direction of the sun and tried to head west

Good thinking

She hasn't made it over to the east coast yet

But she might eventually make it to the west coast

Tariffs are a lose lose - a de facto tax on American companies and consumers.

Let Americans pay higher prices and the rest of the world can buy what Japan makes.

The Japanese (in)justice system is a stain on the country - an uncivilised element on an otherwise civilised country.

It is what you'd expect to see in a brutal dictatorship rather than a first world democracy.

It took some time for Trump to realise that Putin was playing him for a fool and he's not too happy about it.

However he got there, he's not on the right side of history. The MAGS supporters who bought his pro-Kremlin line will also switch position shortly.

The Kremlin-banked mouthpieces will continue with pro-Putin propaganda.

It's summer. Act accordingly.

How is this meant to be a helpful contribution to the discussion?

And what is it even meant to mean?

Your most recent contribution to a discussion on temperature, posted earlier in July, was equally confusing:

 Japan has hottest June on record: weather agency 

Just open the window and look out the door. Objectively untrue

Cold baths and cold showers work great.

Of course, they lower the body temperature and do literally cool you down, particularly if there is a dangerously hot heatwave, but I also find that the effect is short-lived - no sooner am I dry and the effect is lost.

A hot bath can actually make you feel cooler because there differential between you and the air around is less, so there is a cooling sensation, albeit not an actual cooling.

Don't take holidays during the summer.

Good advice!

Take holidays during summer

Also good advice!

54 year old Mr Yamashita would be lucky to make it to 60 in a UK prison.

They segregate molesters in UK prisons to prevent attacks

Yes, No curriculum, no syllabus, no teaching competence, no clear learning goal, just ordinary citizen want to make friends with foreigners or hangout with foreigners.

Yes, if you take this option, the chances are that you will learn very little, or at least at a slower pace than if you had a qualified teacher.

The article is about people whining about volunteer teachers. Talk about lack of gratitude.

It is not whining, it is just the reality - their intentions are good, but they just do not have the skills and experience. After all, you wouldn't want surgery from someone on you who was not a qualified surgeon, no matter how good their intentions.

Volunteering is a badge of honor, it shows good character. But why demonize such a good sweet thing if no vested special interest involved?

Good interactions, badge of honour, good character, yes, yes, yes. Practical way to learn Japanese? No.

I spent time with a volunteer teacher when I arrived in Japan - there was no other resource in the town. She was very kind, well-intentioned etc, but ultimately did not know what she was doing. We spent a lot of time plodding through Japanese for Busy People 2, until I eventually got a car and could drive to a city where real classes were held.

I buy both ebooks and physical books. And there are large numbers of people who collect physical books too.

I doubt that physical books will ever die out, but it won't be a for the most popular airport fiction, but for more serious readers.

And as we have seen with vinyl, old formats don't die out.

It is weird that despite the dusting existence that he was a MAGA fanatic, some are still clinging onto the hope that he is a Democrat.

You can see above that a couple of the voices have gone quiet about this now, but others are still pushing what they must know by now it's a lie.

With leftlets found in his bag and supporting No Kings movement. A Democrat who's also a Tim Walz appointee and No Kings protestor

Wrong. He's a registered Republican, a MAGA fanatic and evangelical Christian, who supports all the usual Christo fascist causes.

I don't know why people are panic buying when it's been reported that there was a good harvest and that more rice will be coming via government at cheaper price

That's because people are idiots. And selfish.

Yes, these panics are usually illogical, but ironically, it can also be illogical not to participate or you'll find that you're the one without rice.

Far right terrorism, encouraged by the rhetoric of Donald Trump.

Naturally the far right comment machine based in lairs in Russia will soon have a pro-fascist line out to justify this in someway.

And if they can't, it will be some kind of whataboutary.

And if not that, obfuscation.

But it will never change that this fascist murderer was whipped up by the MAGA movement to hate "the Dems" and believe that they are deserving of death.

Trump's deployment of the National Guard and Marines was an overkill and probably escalated the protests into something worse.

Escalation was the intention

on day 1 we saw on LIVE TV:

Protesters spraying graffiti

Call the marines!

While there are quite a few cricket clubs in Japan, they seem to mostly be for South Asian residents of Japan. But it would be great if cricket caught on - something about the spirit of cricket seems more atuned to the Japanese aesthetic than the relentless cacophony of a baseball match.

The dictatorial take over is nearly complete in only 150 days.

The US Constitution was shown shwn to be just a facade that could be known away by the first authoritarian who was elected to office.

And he will be cheered on by those who like the opportunity to spew hate and who deep down don't value freedom, but who wants to be ruled.

Don't be like them.

So last year being hotter than this year is a trend.

a downward one.

You obviously know that this is not a serious argument, given that you obviously are aware that trends form over decades, not a couple of years.

I know you know this Plastic, but that narrative has been resoundingly debunked. People at the Capitol were let in by police, with video evidence showing doors being opened and barriers removed, and protesters seen chatting and shaking hands with police:

This narrative is such balloney - anyone who has seen footage of the windows being broken as the first rioters entered, or the battle of tunnel will know this.

Yes, after the small force protecting the Capitol there was overwhelmed, others just walked in. But just as you can see old photos of German officers enjoying coffee in cafés in occupied Paris, they weren't welcomed in.

What I don't know is whether you really haven't seen footage of the assault or you are pushing a misinformation narrative.

While this might be seen as a little off-topic, it is relevant, because they're still be a huge misinformation narrative pushed by the right to justify whatever Trump does next.

But I imagine that Trump will try to pardon the rioters, because that's what he does - he's pardoned a lot of rioters this year.

Marines are now being deployed in California - the first military occupation of a state by the army, I think. And all over some relatively minor riots in the grand scheme of things (which Trump partially engineered).

And with that, I think it's pretty safe to say that the nearly 250 years of comstitional democracy, with all its checks and balances; a constitution that everyone on the US pledges allegiance to at some point, is pretty much dead.

It has taken Trump about 5 months to turn the US into a dictatorship. And this is just the start.

But of course there will be patriotic Americans who will cheer this on, not realising that it is they who have betrayed the constitution.

The problem is Trump is really threatening the American people with his bumbling.

The problem is that Trump (like Musk) is not a mature and serious person.

A genuine friendship must include the freedom to offer honest criticism.

But this isn't a genuine friendship. Both exhibited narcissistic personality disorders. Trump doesn't have any genuine friends and their criticism of each other goes beyond anything normal or healthy.

Anyone who enters Trump's orbit eventually suffers - sacked and humiliated, imprisoned for loyalty or raped. The difference here is that Musk has enormous financial power, even if some of his brands are now quite toxic.

DOGE was a huge failure and likely to cost more than the small amount it saved.

A Trump is again adding record amounts of debt - no surprise given that house whole life has been about spending borrowed money. He is the face of economic irresponsibility.

Given that the bill makes tax cuts for the rich by increasing tax on the poor and by growing government borrowing to record levels, you'd think Elon would like it.

Perhaps that gives an indication of just how insane this bill is.

The UK has nearly as many top research universities as the USA, so is the obvious choice for those who want name recognition.

Israel don't want peace, they just want to kill, and the US endorses the killing, so it's not going to happen.

I don't see a lot of evidence that Hamas want peace either. They should release the remaining hostages and Israel's remaining excuses for continuing the war will diminish.

activist liberal appointed judges claim it’s the law, but it’s not.

It's great to hear an internet armchair lawyer be confidently wrong.

It's almost like you don't actually understand how they legal system works at all.