Kuribozu comments

Religion vs a cult: what's the difference? Might it be that decent religious believers should be able retain a personal sense of morality and responsibility, and be able to resist when, for example, their leader prompts them to do something morally wrong? Whereas with a cult... If you find yourself devoted to a leader to the point that your own moral principles begin to deteriorate, and you begin to echo immoral positions of the leader, you might be on a slippery slope.

Putin is an arrogant, ungrateful brat. Glad Macron, Starmer and other real leaders called him out.

Putin has gotten too used to being gushed and fawned over by the whole MAGA/QAnon world. That ends now.

Looks like Trump is really taking the US over to the Russian side this time, and in the process betraying not just Ukraine but 80 years of common cause with the free nations of the world. Trump has confirmed he is a true lickspittle for Putin, so I guess the question is, how many Republicans will continue to suck up to Trump now? I don't imagine "Lickspittle to a Lickspittle" was the kind of epitaph most of them were hoping for, but there it is. Since they confirmed the likes of Hegseth, Gabbard, Patel, Bondi, Kennedy and the rest, putting dangerous extremists in charge of justice, the military, law enforcement, national security and intel, the erratic, enraged monarch in the White House now holds all the cards. Here we go.

These insane cults continue to spread poison in Japanese society. Happy Science (幸福の科学) has morphed into a right-wing Russia/Trump propaganda empire on YouTube. One of its former leaders, Oikawa Yukihisa (及川幸久) continues his work converting gullible followers, this time with the aim of establishing an earthly dictatorship instead of a heavenly one. He emits daily videos promoting the most vile anti-semitic, anti-liberal, anti-media, anti-science, anti-Ukraine and anti-democratic garbage, intended to stir up a nihilistic MAGA-style revolution in Japan. These cults are indeed a curse.

CephusToday  11:16 am JST

It's laughable when people claim President DJT is on the Russian side.

Well he's not on Ukraine's side. He belittles and insults Zelensky, the democratically elected leader of a democracy, while trying to extort trillions of dollars from a war-shattered Ukraine, and while simultaneously slobbering all over Putin -- the ruthless dictator and murderer of journalists and rivals of all stripes, who's now into his 3rd decade of one-man rule over an increasingly dystopian Russia. But you go ahead and keep laughing.

So, about that whole Russia, Russia, Russia collusion thing, maybe it wasn't so far fetched after all? Drump certainly has gone over to their side in a big way now. He made Russia's favorite media girlfriend the Director of National Intelligence, and has set about emasculating both the US military AND counterintelligence under the DEI hire Ka$h Patel and the rabid MAGA cultist Dan Bongino. The champagne corks must be a poppin' in Moscow.

Remember, Trump pardoned hundreds of violent criminals who attacked police and vandalized the Capital for his sake. He was happy to let them all off without serving their rightful sentences, with no regard to the impact his actions would have on the rule of law and the health of American democracy. Well, he's trying to do the same thing with Putin and the criminal Russian kleptocracy. Trump doesn't understand or care about the effect he has on international rule of law. He is willing to trade the peace and security of the whole world, and abandon the innocent victims in Ukraine to the tender mercies of Putins orcs, just to indulge his own bizarre ego. Truly evil.

In light of the US's latest vote in the UN siding with Russia (and China, North Korea, Belarus, etc.), the rest of the civilized world has to realize that Trump has gone over to the Russian side. He is abandoning the post-WWII framework among the free nations that has kept the peace, and protected free nations from ruthless aggression by brutal dictators like Putin. The US may rise up and throw off the corrupt, immoral Trump regime when Americans come to their senses, but until that happens we're on our own.

Some day Putin will face responsibility for launching this brutal, unjustified, illegal and immoral war. The name Bucha will be back in the news when Putin's crimes are eventually prosecuted, and Russia will end up paying for Ukraine's rebuilding. Ukraine will be free, and yes, one day even Russia will be free. Putin and Trump will be remembered as 21st century counterparts to the great global criminals of the 20th century. Those braying support for them in this comments section will have to live with that support for the rest of their lives. Shame.

The Embarrassment of Wretches is nearly complete. What a clown show of a cabinet. Suits Donny Two Scoops to a tee.

Hegseth is a walking, talking advertisement for DEI. Any reasonably qualified minority or woman nominee would be preferable to this feckless, loud-mouthed weekend talk-show host with a penchant for getting drunk and abusing women. In MAGA world, that profile qualifies him for a "merit-based" position, even though he is completely unqualified and completely unfit.

Trump is such an embarrassing fool. The only people who like and support him are professional wrestlers and people with similarly deformed personalities. The only world leaders who like him are the same. Sadly, it's not just Americans who will suffer under his 'rule' for the next four years. The long term impact of his foolish 'policies' will damage Japan and help China and Russia for decades to come.

Message to violent Trump supporters: Your violence on my behalf is... perfectly legal! Now stand by until I figure out where to sic you fine thugs next. Trump has his very own Brownshirt army now.

Happy Science has aligned itself with MAGA and posts daily YouTube videos by Oikawa Yukihisa that parrot extreme alt right conspiracies. They promote Jan 6 trutherism, Q Anon nonsense about liberals murdering children for their bodily fluids, basically every piece of lunacy that Trump World emits. Happy Science are radically pro-Putin and anti-Ukraine. In that sense, they are not too different than a lot of so-called Christian fundamentalists in the US who seem to have fallen into the thrall of the Trump cult. It's just a short stone's throw from here to Jonestown for some of these people. Just a crying shame this insipid disease is spreading to Japan.

Whatever Trump does relating to Ukraine and Russia, you can be sure it will be because he thinks there's something in it for him personally. That is, if Musk doesn't move first and force Trump to follow along, like he did with the spending package last week. We are in the hands of corrupt oligarchs everywhere we look.

TamaramaToday  08:40 am JST

The American military is drawing down its forces in Okinawa, not building them up.

Do you know how many military facilities the US has in Okinawa?

32, over nearly 19,000 hectares, manned by 25,000 odd people.

I don't know what their rate of reduction is, but the number of US aircraft flying around that island is wild.

If I were Chinese, I'd be very concerned about that.

Those US forces have been there for almost 80 years, and have been crucial to delivering peace, freedom and great prosperity to societies that had be wracked by destructive war for a generation, including Japan. Why is China only now "very concerned" about them? They haven't piped up until lately. In fact, those US forces are still guaranteeing freedom and prosperity to the nation where you live and pay taxes. Some people understand that freedom is not free, and appeasing a brutal one-party dictatorship has never worked out well. Some people don't understand that very well.

TamaramaToday  08:15 am JST

As a Japanese resident and tax payer, I object to the American military buildup in Okinawa.

The American military is drawing down its forces in Okinawa, not building them up.

TaiwanIsNotChina has it right. In the past every town could boast one or two wingnuts who might stand up on a soapbox (literally) and spout nonsense in the public square. Most of the town could ignore them, and life would go on as normal. Now those odd wingnuts find each other on the internet and appear more numerous, as if hundreds of them are now speaking in the public square. Algorithms feed vast audiences of viewers the angro-tainment that results, the wingnuts garner thousands of views and suddenly you have Wingnuts On Parade. Their wingnut ideas take on an aura of legitimacy they would never have had in a pre-Internet age. That's how we've been "blessed" with the likes of Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, JFK Jr, and of course Donald Trump.

Mr KiplingToday  05:09 am JST

The UK ruled HK for 156 years from 1841 to 1997. There was no "democracy" at any point. There was no voting, HK was ruled by UK appointed rulers. But now they want democracy? Hilarious or pitiful? Or both?

And yet the people of Hong Kong have made clear they prefer the lawful system they inherited from the UK over the tender mercies of Xi's CCP and its brutal, lawless dystopia. Defenders of Xi's gulag regime in comments sections like this one are shameless. Or worse.

The CCP is a single-party dictatorship, staffed by lickspittles and small-time grifters, and run by mafia thugs. The Chinese people deserve better. The people of Hong Kong were substantially free, and now they aren't anymore. You can now be arrested for a social media post. Sent to prison for singing a song. It's just another CCP ghetto now.

Brain size alone is not a measure of intelligence. 

Intelligence as defined by who? Humans? Humans have evolved capabilities arising from their opposable thumbs that allow them to create technology in their terrestrial environment. Which is why we have the capability to, for example, kill whales on an industrial scale. Whales have no comparable capability, because they are not technological beings. But we know whales do have complex social structures and evolved capabilities for echolocation, navigation and for thriving in a marine environment consisting of huge, deep oceans that span the globe. Humans and whales have evolved to the top of their respective, but radically different evolutionary environments. Whale brains process information in a completely different way and for different purposes that ours do. Whales probably have the highest number of cortical neurons among mammals, including humans. There is certainly a moral case to be made for not killing and eating such mysterious creatures, whose intelligence and culture must be profound in ways we are not able to grasp.

I have not seen one comment here talking about the moral (as opposed to ecological) case against whaling. Whales have the largest brains of any animal on earth. A Sperm Whale's brain is six times the weight of a human brain. They are not technological beings, because they don't have opposable thumbs like us, but they may well be more intelligent than us, and more advanced socially, morally and even spiritually. They communicate with each other across vast distances, in a language we don't understand. Surely we can make space in this world to avoid killing and eating such mysterious creatures, who might just be our older brothers and sisters.

So he blows off the PM Japan saying he's not allowed to meet with foreign leaders, and then he goes ahead and meets with (other!) foreign leaders. What a slap in the face to the people of Japan. Won't be forgotten.

I've seen too many mistreated dogs in Japan, chained up outdoors 24/7 in all weather. Rescuing these poor creatures should be a priority. And the cruel human culprits really need to be held accountable.

Not one BLM violent protestor was jailed, causing billions and billions in damage across many cities and yet J-6 marches were persecuted, even old ladies!

HopeSpringsEternal, you are dead wrong. More than 10,000 BLM protesters were arrested for actions related to the summer 2020 protests. Your precious J6 heroes have been treated correctly according to the law.

Haven't seen any comments about the morality argument: Whales have brains much larger than ours, may well communicate in languages every bit as complex and rich as ours within deeply intelligent societies, and though not technologically evolved (they don't have opposable thumbs like we do and can't make tools), they may be spiritually and emotionally more advanced than us. I can't see why we should kill and eat such creatures when these possibilities exist.

“You who live on this large island in the Pacific Ocean may sometimes have thought of yourselves as a far away and distant land, situated at the edge of the world,” Francis said. 

What an odd thing to say. Who thinks of their homeland as "far away", or "situated at the end of the world"?

The KMT carried out what came to be called the White Terror. Martial law lasted from 1949 to 1987.

(Bellflower)

Yes, all true. And the brave people of Taiwan have since shamed their oppressors and gained their freedom. They now live in a true democracy with full human rights, civil rights and the rule of law, and are an inspirational example to the world. Now, please tell us the corresponding story of how their brethren on the mainland have fared since, oh, say, June 1989?

Lots of cults use media-friendly frontmen to appear friendly and acceptable. The Scientologists have a particularly good one in Tom Cruise, but the damage they do to normal 'followers', and the reasons they do it (to take your money and amass power), are somewhat different than the rationales of most mainstream religions, which mostly started as genuine selfless movements. It's easy to recognize a cult founded by a true charlatan, like L Ron Hubbard (Scientology) or Okawa Ryuho (Happy Science).

"And still not voting for Trump or Biden. Can not take anymore division. Its crazy. We all used to be able to get things done."

That makes absolutely no sense. One (Trump) pulled the US out of the Paris climate accords and is committed to doing nothing other than supporting Big Oil to the very end. The other (Biden) is engaged with the issue and advocating policies to address it. The choice is clear and stark.