Blackstar comments

*Krasinski, 45, told People that his immediate reaction to the honor was “just immediate blackout, actually. Zero thoughts.” *He added that he thought he might be getting pranked.

Have to give the guy a bit of credit for having some self-awareness at least. Not that I'm a connoisseur in these matters, but I imagine if you dragged a chair to a busy location in any major world city you'd spot 10 sexier men within half an hour. It's all a matter of taste I suppose, but really...?

⁠Oh! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,

⁠O'er the land of the 1% and the home of the slave?

YOU ...HAVE...BEEN...CONNED

He is the enemy within.

@Jay

The Sea Candle is a stunning reminder of the power of natural beauty 

Natural beauty? Are you joking? That's an ugly tower. Natural beauty = a waterfall or some other majestic sight in nature. Come on!!!

"With the U.S. divided it helps to have a stable Japan."

There are few countries more stable than Japan. New faces in power clearly wouldn't change that. The author apparently favors deeply conservative governments (as opposed to the "somewhat conservative" leadership an anti-LDP government would almost certainly constitute).

I live in Tokyo and we have lots of of trees in our neighborhood and nobody is demanding to cut down the trees.

How would you know? Are you monitoring the phone calls of everyone in your neighborhood to the local government office? In any case, you must live in an area with limited appeal to "developers" (for the moment).

Geeter Mckluskie

Our enemies aren't dumb enough to fall for swagger like the MAGA.

Well Kim Jong Un was smart enough not to antagonize Trump further after his "I've got a red button" threat. That threat resumed when Biden took office

Actually, no it didn't. Kim has been very quiet in recent years. The odd missile test. Big deal. Don't let the facts get in the way of your fantasies though.

@Gaijinjland

Why do women always get a free pass?

So she's guilty of something, according to you? What is that exactly?

@Moonraker

On the other hand, it is Man Utd. It's all a situation schadenfreude was created for.

I'm loving it while it lasts. I was worried when they mentioned Thomas Frank as no. 1 likely choice. Now it's the "up & coming" Amorim, who has no experience in the Prem. Good times to continue for a while?

Unless Trump is somehow installed in the White House, in which case Stewart could find himself in a gulag somewhere in the New Mexico desert along with Nancy Pelosi and anyone else the thug might have a grievance against.

@Some dude

"the usual pollarded stumps found along streets all other parts of the city".

Well put. Substitute "all cities in the country" for "the city" and you have a perfect summation of the situation. Have you ever been to Nagoya or Kita Kyushu? If you see a single tree anywhere above head height it feels like winning the lottery. These people are environmental vandals who call themselves nature lovers. Yes, that's right. The truth hurts.

@Some dude

Tokyo is already a depressing place, full of concrete and they want to add more?

I was in London a while back and I was amazed how much greenery there seemed to be compared to Tokyo.

I was in Beijing recently, and I was amazed at how much greenery there was there compared to Japanese cities. No kidding! 100% electric cars too, so clean air as well. I could go on at length about this, but it would raise my blood pressure. J-city = concrete desert. Put that in your textbooks, MEXT.

The chairman of the Japan Business Federation on Sunday urged political parties to focus on policies to grow the economy and overcome current challenges.

"It is difficult to say that sufficient discussions have been made on a mountain of important issues, and it has to be said that issues have been postponed," the head of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives said.

This is the problem. Aside from minor fringe lunatics, there is no sense of competing visions for the future of the country. Whoever steers the ship, it's always just a case of muddling along as usual. No wonder voters are apathetic.

@OssanAmerica

Well trained and well equipped. Probably very effective at defense on home turf. Which of course is what they were created for.

Hard to argue with that. Plenty of potential to cause serious problems to any force reckless enough to attack them. And the defence budget has recently been ramped up significantly. Up to date systems count for a lot.

@Peter14

Thanks as always for your sane and thoughtful comments.

@Gene Hennigh

Still don't quite understand the fantasy, but it's real. Ask any Asian woman in the US. 

Maybe it hasn't quite occurred to you yet Gene, but yes, many people do have particular preferences when it comes to potential or fantasy love interests. "Asian" can be one. On the other hand, some people are into very "heavy" types of any ethnic background. We could draw up a list, but surely that's not necessary.

@Jimizo

He certainly knows the zeitgeist and sells well to to it.

Certainly no idiot.

If you define a person's intelligence solely on their ability to milk profit from an intellectually impoverished market, then yes, Rogan is no idiot. I judge people on their actual intelligence though. Therefore, Rogan gets a big, fat F, of course.

Mr. Johnson is merely stating the blatantly obvious, but I suspect even **that is lost on large swathes of the masses, clubbed into a sense of hopelessness and servility as they are.**

@Moonraker

This is how capital works and has been working since it began to take power from the feudal landed gentry.

Sweeping statement and by no means true in many cases, even in relatively recent history.

Governments do its bidding now.

So you're reconciled to that, are you? Justice is dead?

And while it would be a good idea if companies were taxed based on the wider damage they do to minds, community, politics and nature (thus balancing the apparent good they do, which is all you hear about when they control the news and the minds), you would find that very few would make any profits at all then AND no governments, bought and paid for by capital, is ever going to be able to implement such measures.

Normally you write sensible posts, but this time you disappoint me. So, according to you elite corporate scumbags and the corrupt worms they've bought make a combination too powerful to fight? We all just have to get used to it? Roll over and die? I suggest you think again.

Election time! 'Tis the season of promises destined for the bin as soon as normal service is resumed. ("Oh yes, we really wanted to raise wages! But it is difficult. We deeply regret the inconvenience to our woolly flock".)

*Over the weekend, a U.S. and a Canadian warship passed through the 180-kilometer Taiwan Strait, part of regular passages by Washington and its allies meant to reinforce its status as an international waterway.*

Yes, international. China is a nation. Need we say more? It's not smart for posters to fan the flames of hatred unnecessarily. Shocked to find myself in agreement with Blacklabel & Zaphod about something. Everyone needs to try a bit harder to stay calm these days.

@OssanAmericaOct. 19  08:24 pm JST

BlackstarToday  07:56 pm JST

@OssanAmerica

Trump needs to lose the election and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and be incarcerated and kicked out of US politics for the rest of his insurrectionist life.

Sure. No doubt about it. But I think you and others here might be missing the bigger picture. Trump is just the front man, the "charismatic face" (god help us all) for a really sinister, deep-lying, racist, ultra-conservative movement. If a bullet were to finally find it's mark, the big picture wouldn't change. 

No I think you are the one missing the big picture. Exactly as you say, there will always be a portion of the country (hopefully small) who are a sinister deep-lying racist ultra-conservative movement. But they are powerless without a political leader who commands an entire Political Party of sycophants and enablers willing to justify and excuse his criminal and insane behavior.

Let's Make America Great Again by permanently removing Donald Trump from US politics. Not all Judges and Prosecutors are in his MAGA pocket. The rule of Law will ultimately prevail.

I hope with all my heart that you're right, but don't overlook the weirdness of the US electoral system that potentially allows "electors" in a state to overturn a result. A couple of states in recent times, I forget which...check yourself... Georgia?, Arizona? have been officially stacked with MAGA type operatives who will act as the "electors" and are potentially/most likely willing to overturn the democratic vote if it doesn't go their way. This is what they tried in 2020 but didn't have things set up in advance. Even then democracy only narrowly prevailed because of a few heroic figures. Now the fascists are better prepared.

@OssanAmerica

Trump needs to lose the election and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and be incarcerated and kicked out of US politics for the rest of his insurrectionist life.

Sure. No doubt about it. But I think you and others here might be missing the bigger picture. Trump is just the front man, the "charismatic face" (god help us all) for a really sinister, deep-lying, racist, ultra-conservative movement. If a bullet were to finally find it's mark, the big picture wouldn't change. There's a determined push by white supremacists, whether they be wearing suits & ties (e.g. Stephen Miller & co) working to take voting rights away from people they don't like, or your garden variety, assault rifle-toting thugs who just want to put "darky" in his place, to hijack democracy in the US...and they're winning.

They are part of a 4 country alliance with you to maintain security (as you would like to see it) in this region, so I suggest that you trust them, regardless of minor imperfections (from which no country or person is immune).

@Wasabi

I do not really care about this. I just say if you have an history of breaking a contract you lose my trust. This rule is valid in my daily work. What about you, will you still trust such a person / country?

You have to get over some things and move on. Where would Japan be if no country chose to move on from its vicious crimes circa 1931-1945? You would still have no friends in the world.

Most of the world has chosen to move on and trust the "new" Japan (although those most horrifically affected still struggle with it to some extent).

@Gareth Myles

In any case, the allocation of servicing to WA is a textbook example of pork-barrel politics. Hand round the pork by building in SA and servicing in WA, and who cares if this is rational?

Oh yeah? And how should it have been done then? Building in NSW and servicing in Qld? Please enlighten us on your advanced level understanding of where such activities are ideally suited to take place.

Or do you just have no idea what you're talking about and feel like taking an empty pot shot at the national government? Hmm...which could it be??

Agreed. Sensible move. It might help, but I fear for America (and by extension, us all!). Right wing loonies armed to the teeth are not going to accept a verdict against their twisted, bigoted hero. The insurrection of Jan 6, 2021 was probably just a taste of the madness yet to come.

(To prospective Trump voters: Have you really thought about the consequences of what you're preparing to do?? This is not funny anymore.)

The article is about where Australia will do maintenance on their subs. None of these comments are on topic.

But..."share" with India? I'd be very cautious about that, given the high volume of scams/cons run by Indians in Australia. (I've experienced it. I know what I'm talking about.) Trust needs to be earned.

"but we can’t live alone"

Except more and more people are choosing to, not only in Japan.

Really dumb article. No sympathy here for stupid actions. We all make mistakes, but... (Can't be bothered to say more).

What kind of school are you talking about?