James Dean Jr. comments

This wasn’t artificial intelligence. It wasn’t even intelligent. Just a clunky piece of software built on bad code and blind trust — and yet, it became judge, jury, and executioner for nearly a thousand lives. The Post Office scandal exposes something darker than a tech failure: a cultural addiction to digital authority. We keep pretending that computers are neutral and that automation equals truth. But code reflects the biases of its creators, and institutions are all too eager to hide behind it. Today it’s Horizon. Tomorrow, it’s AI making decisions no one understands, but everyone obeys. The scariest part? We still call it ‘progress.

Well done!

Kanye isn’t stupid—he knows exactly how to exploit outrage for attention. He called himself a Christian to sell Jesus Is King, and now he drops “Heil Hitler” knowing full well it would spark headlines like this. The song itself? Rubbish. Profanity-laced, no artistic depth, just noise and narcissism.

But let’s be honest: this isn’t about real Nazism. It’s about attention. He’s not glorifying Hitler because he believes in that ideology—he’s doing it because he knows saying the most offensive thing possible will get people talking. And here we are.

Australia has every right to deny him a visa, just like they restrict other forms of harmful content—like explicit music or violent games—for protecting young minds. That’s valid. But let’s also recognize: this headline feeds the monster. Controversy is Kanye’s currency. Starve him of oxygen and maybe—just maybe—he fades back into irrelevance where this kind of stunt belongs.

High-profile activists joining the aid boat may help draw attention, but it also shifts focus from the broader humanitarian crisis to the individuals involved. When the story becomes more about who’s on the boat than why it’s sailing, the message risks getting lost in the noise.

Trust America to host the Club World Cup and still think “football” means shoulder pads and halftime shows. Meanwhile, actual fans of the actual sport are stuck in 18-month visa queues or scared off by border agents who think a scarf is contraband. If you're going to host the world's game, maybe start by knowing what it's called.

So Amazon’s new business model is: skip the grid, plug straight into the nuclear core, and call it cloud computing. At this rate, JB is going to need his own containment dome. AI may be the future, but someone should probably check if the lights stay on for everyone else.

Apple: “We’re not late to the AI party… we’re just fashionably cautious.”

Meanwhile, Google’s already changed outfits twice and is dancing with half the guests.

But maybe Cook’s right — in a world obsessed with “first,” being the one who gets it right might still count for something. Just hope Siri doesn’t keep hitting snooze on the future.

Interesting dynamic: exports up nearly 5%, even with a 10% drop to the U.S. That says a lot about China’s ability to pivot. But a $103 billion surplus alongside falling domestic prices? It’s a reminder that strong trade doesn’t always mean a strong economy at home. The numbers look good — the foundation, maybe less so.

Japan’s current account is looking healthier than most of us after Golden Week. Exports up, imports down, and tourists dropping yen like it’s a side quest. Sure, investment income dipped a bit — blame the yen for hitting the gym. But hey, when your trade deficit shrinks by 95%, even Ishiba might call it a win without needing a trillion-yen campaign promise.

Shoot for ¥1,000 trillion by 2040? Why stop there — let’s toss in flying cars, eternal youth, and a Gundam on every street corner while we’re at it. Amazing how economic ambition always peaks right before an election. At this rate, by 2050 we’ll all be rich on paper — just don’t forget to bring your own cash for eggs.

Ah yes, the time-honored ritual: a 25-minute phone call, a pledge of eternal friendship, and boom — stable ties secured! Just in time for the G7 photo ops, too. One leader fresh off an election, the other fresh off declaring martial law. What could possibly go wrong? Here’s to trust, respect, and conveniently short memories.

Forsyth never needed to impress the critics — he wrote with jet fuel and precision, not polish. The Day of the Jackal wasn’t just a thriller; it redefined how fiction could feel like fact. A reporter with a spy’s Rolodex and a novelist’s nerve. Lightweight? Maybe. But he carried a generation of readers with him. Rest well, sir.

@BertieWooster

Because it’s Italian, darling — not your grandma’s pasta night. In Italian, “gh” before “i” makes the soft “j” sound, so Miyazaki wasn’t being cute, he was being cultured. It’s “Jibli,” like a breeze through hand-drawn magic — not “Ghib-lee,” like a typo on your lasagna box.

Studio Ghibli reminded us that animation isn’t just for children — it’s for anyone with a soul. Even if Miyazaki never draws another frame, the worlds he built still breathe. In an era rushing toward AI and speed, Ghibli’s slow, hand-drawn magic is more vital than ever. Let’s not trade wonder for efficiency.

A registry app won’t reverse a century of centralization. People follow opportunity, not push notifications. Want real change? Put jobs, doctors, daycares, and Wi-Fi in the countryside — not just digital certificates. Rural loyalty isn’t built on apps. It’s built on lives worth living.

Over a decade later, and Fukushima’s story still isn’t over — not just cleanup, but the quiet courage of returning home, reopening schools, restarting life. ¥1.9 trillion isn’t just a budget line — it’s a promise. The real test? Whether this money rebuilds more than roads — whether it rebuilds trust, community, and a future people can believe in.

What haunts me most is the silence — how little this was known. A peaceful beach in Onna hides what could have ended the world. Not just history, but a warning in concrete. We remember Hiroshima, we remember Nagasaki… but somehow forgot Okinawa stood on the edge too. Maybe opening this site is not just about the past — maybe it’s a mirror we’ve been avoiding.

Let’s pave the way to the summit — literally and metaphorically — so we can better manage the mess we made by encouraging mass tourism in the first place. But hey, if a ¥60 billion rubber-tired tram is the price of saving Fuji’s soul from buses and bullet climbers, maybe it’s time to ask: is preserving nature possible without monetizing it first?

Turns out rice isn’t the miracle tech healer it’s been cooked up to be—it’s more likely to season your circuits than save them. And “waterproof” often just means “until you do anything remotely real with it.” These myths are all wet, and manufacturers need to stop soaking consumers with fine print. Maybe instead of ads showing phones surviving champagne showers, we should get warranty terms that don’t evaporate the moment things get a little steamy.

The Golden Dome sounds less like a missile shield and more like a vanity umbrella—big, flashy, and full of holes. Japan should be cautious about funding a project that feels more like missile theater than missile defense. At $831 billion, this isn’t a shield, it’s a golden goose... and someone’s hoping Tokyo helps hatch it. Strategic alliances are one thing, but this smells more like tariff diplomacy in a shiny wrapper.

“Women with broken dreams”? No—women with broken trust, broken boundaries, and the guts to face the man who broke them. Weinstein’s defense isn’t just tone-deaf, it’s a masterclass in victim-blaming. These women didn’t lose their dreams—they had them cornered, coerced, and violated. And no courtroom circus can spin that into consent.

Heavy. Somewhere out there, Marty’s guitar is gathering dust instead of melting faces. Let’s get it back where it belongs—center stage, not lost in some alternate timeline. Great Scott, people, the future needs us.

Arnie’s laying it out like only he can—no excuses, no whining, just action. We want a better future? Come with me if you want to live. Because sitting around waiting for someone else to fix the climate isn’t a plan, it’s surrender. It’s in our nature to destroy ourselves, sure—but it doesn’t have to be. Show up. Plant something. Build something. Be something. And to the doubters dragging their feet? Just remember: I’ll be back—with solar panels.

From high school hero to betting scandal—what a waste of talent. If the allegations are true, Danzaki didn’t just disgrace the sport, he sold out every teammate and fan for a payout. Yellow cards? He’s lucky if that’s all he gets.

She wasn’t just drunk—she was multitasking at Olympic levels: biking, fleeing, and vomiting all at once. Funny on paper, sure, but drunk cycling is no punchline in Japan. It’s not a loophole—it’s a crime. Walk it off next time.

Cracking down on illegal online gambling while building a massive casino in Osaka feels like banning home cooking because you're opening a restaurant. If addiction is the concern, the line between legal and illegal should be about harm, not just tax revenue.

Budget Bosozoku doing budget stunts in the middle of Shibuya—peak cringe. If rebellion looks like wheelies at crosswalks, maybe society's doing fine after all.

“Build Back Better” only works if it means people, not just buildings. Japan has world-class systems and infrastructure—but resilience isn’t concrete, it’s community. Let’s hope the future of disaster recovery looks more like that 85-year-old woman in Noto: placed with dignity, not just patched and forgotten.

A moment’s glance away, and a lifetime of grief. No words can carry the weight this family now bears. If this doesn't push every city to fence off open water near parks, what will? Rest in peace, little Saku.

Catching the second-largest mammal on Earth to satisfy a demand that barely exists is not culture—it’s vanity wrapped in subsidy. If whale meat ends up as dog treats or frozen stockpiles, maybe it’s time to ask: who exactly is this for? Certainly not the whales.