quercetum comments

Wow! What law was broken?

No laws were broken, officer, we were just... enthusiastically assembling!" If we stretch the definition of peaceful just far enough, we might just convince ourselves that smashing a window is simply an aggressive form of ventilation.

And blocking roads? Well, that’s just an impromptu traffic experiment, ensuring Californians get a refresher course on patience.

From Hong Kong, I can tell you that you don't just wake up one day and start throwing bricks and molotov cocktails. These are organized and paid insurrectionists.

The thugs have stumbled upon a rather enviable side hustle—a profession so lucrative, it might just make the average wage earner reconsider their career choices. Instead of the dull grind of office work or retail drudgery, one might opt for the exhilarating life of waving placards, chanting slogans, setting cars on fire or maybe even inadvertently putting MAGA Trump stickers on the bumpers of EV's liberals drive.

Who is funding these people? Wake up America. Anna Paulina suggests the Communist Party of China.

Nothing like the blame game to go along with your flame claim.

China is pursuing a vast military modernization program including ambitions of a true “blue-water” naval force capable of operating at long ranges for extended periods.

Need to consult the resident naval expert Desert Tortoise but the US does not have the ship manufacturing capacity as China.

China churns out warships like biscuits at a British tea party. The numbers don’t lie: China’s shipyards are booming.

The Americans may even outsource to Japan and shipshape and savvy South Korea who can deliver warships at half the price and twice the speed of their American counterparts.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/07/17/should_the_us_navy_outsource_shipbuilding_to_japan_and_south_korea_966473.html

Why Japan is worried

China's military buildup and expanding area of activity have raised tensions in the region.

Again it’s the guilty conscience that comes with invasions. 1937 is producing people with insomnia.

Payback is always a perpetual possibility in perpetrators’ ponderings.

China is a bully. Time to stop accepting students from communist China at Japanese and Australian universities too.

Shaping the next generation’s worldview might prove more potent than simply shutting the door.

China has the same problem as Trump, except it wants to rename the entire Pacific Ocean and change its name to the Great Sea of China.

Perhaps you’d do well to recall that the South China Sea predates not only America but even the Bard himself. 

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet so mused Shakespeare, who, incidentally , arrived on this earth centuries after the South China Sea had already been called precisely that.

What do you think guarantees the peace?

Exactly, it’s what the J-15 Chinese jets were doing. There hasn’t been war in Asia has there?

Imagine the world going to war for these maverick top gun idiots. Deliberately provoking, flying way too close

Proximity alone doesn’t define culpability—unless, of course, one is committed to the time-honored art of outrage manufacturing.

China wouldn't follow these guidelines and would make up some excuse as usual. Look at what is happening in the South China Seas, China has several disputes with countries in the region.

China won't even agree to a Code of Conduct with ASEAN!!

This is the indication of superpower status. Only the U.S. and China have this privilege. Both bullies are proud to be bullies.

Not so much a charm offensive as offensive harm," Glass said.

The American ambassador—ever the preacher of peace, while merrily overseeing a globe dotted with military bases.

One might gently suggest that before wagging fingers at maritime mischief, it would be wise to remove the plank from one's own eye—lest it accidentally be mistaken for a diplomatic baton.

Japan's close tracking and monitoring is very dangerous and can easily lead to misunderstandings, misjudgments and accidents at sea and in the air. We urge Japan to stop these meaningless interferences.

Chinese shills are working overtime to try to justify this. Remember, they would NEVER give the same leniency if it was the U.S. doing this to a Chinese aircraft. Never forget that the CCP is the worlds biggest bully

It's inevitable the US is given a taste of its own cough syrup. China, cool as a cucumber, says “Right, mate, let’s see how you like it when someone pokes around your backyard.”

Chinese pilots are being told to do this by their commanders.

Not their mothers or wives?

Unsafe flying is the new harassment model. No way would a Chinese pilot fly like that without permission or orders.

Testing Response Times - by operating near Japan’s EEZ and the J jets, China might be gauging how quickly Japan scrambles jets or deploys ships.

Hopefully Princess Kako is permitted to retain her title and privileges - pending government law changes of course - when she does get married.

While other monarchies have embraced the idea that women can, in fact, rule without plunging their nations into chaos (see: Belgium, Britain, China, Denmark, Korea, Sweden, Vietnam), Japan continues its unwavering commitment to tradition. It’s almost as if someone keeps sending reforms via fax and they mysteriously never make it through.

Japan’s tradition does not allow women to take the throne.

Traditions are thrown like rice water. Japan’s tradition allowed the emperor to perform rice-planting ceremonies personally, but no longer so, which is a real shame—there’s nothing quite like seeing royalty ankle-deep in mud to remind us that even divine descendants are subject to agricultural inconveniences.

And let’s not forget the era when emperors were considered literal deities. That little policy shift after World War II must have come as quite the shock—imagine being told one day, "Actually, Your Majesty, you're not a god. We checked. Sorry about that. Moushi wake nei.”

If you don't want to be racially profiled, why not transfer your citizenship to America, a country of immigrants?

This is the classic “if you don’t like it, leave” argument—the intellectual equivalent of flipping the board when losing at chess. The majority of Japanese are of higher intelligence in my opinion.

Nothing guilty about it: Hokkaido would not be Japanese without the atomic bombings. Just like South Korea wouldn't exist without the Korean War.

Thank heavens for mushroom clouds—history’s most misunderstood peacekeepers. Honestly, what a smashing way to wrap up a global conflict.

Blame Europe for Russia’s historical paranoia about invasions (thanks, Napoleon and Hitler) which has left it with the geopolitical equivalent of a homeowner who keeps buying bigger and bigger fences and more and more guns.

Time to call Putin's bluff. Inform Russia that its forces must leave all Ukraine territory by a certain date or a "coalition of the willing" will send forces to push them back to their borders. 

Coalition of the Willing to Call Putin’s Bluff – Russia Told to Leave Ukraine or Face Mildly Coordinated Consequences - Japan Today headline?

No need to apologize for ending Japan's war.

The US has been apologizing with military bases and fast food franchises ever since.

why shouldnt the USA apologized for nuking Japan ?

Because the nuclear bombs saved thousands and even millions of lives according to the American guilty conscience.

You have to understand American logic: “We dropped two nuclear bombs, but it was actually a kindness, you see!” A bit like saying, “I burned down your house to save you from the draft.”

They meant well though.

The biggest warmonger and troublemaker on earth is America. Has been for 80 years. Fortunately, they've lost most wars they've been involved in and started during that time.

While Britain once built an empire on which the sun never set, America has perfected the art of starting wars it can’t quite finish. Vietnam was a bit of a jungle-themed misadventure, Iraq turned into a decade-long treasure hunt for weapons that were about as real as Bigfoot, and Afghanistan… well, let’s just say the Taliban now has better gear than most NATO countries.

"The devil will be in the details, but the lack of reaction suggests this outcome was fully expected," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone in Melbourne.

 The devil’s taken up permanent residence and is redecorating with spreadsheets and export licenses.

Bill Maher, bless his Hollywood heart—he’s gone and said California might turn red. That’s like saying the Queen might trade Buckingham Palace for a bungalow in Bakersfield.

Imagine Los Angeles swapping oat milk for oil rigs, San Francisco replacing rainbow flags with red hats, and Malibu beachgoers quoting Ronald Reagan between surf sessions.

Blame Trump for everything until the city falls and CA turns red.

California is nothing even a little bit like the rest of the US and with the world's fourth largest GDP richly deserves to be rid of the rest of the US and not restrained by the bigotry, misogyny and backwardness.

Yes indeed.  California is the land where the sun never sets on self-confidence. Where every avocado is ethically sourced, every yoga pose is a spiritual awakening, and every Prius driver believes they’re single-handedly saving the planet.

With the world’s fourth largest GDP, Californians don’t just think they’re better than the rest of the U.S.—they’re convinced they’re better than most small countries. “We’re not like the rest of America,” they say, while importing their kale from Oregon and their spiritual guidance from Bali.

That said California will be red when Palm trees sway to country music, Berkeley students quote Ayn Rand, And Tesla Cybertrucks have “Don’t Tread on Me” bumper stickers.

When do you think we'll see the Hollywood sign spell out “Make America Great Again,” and Gavin Newsom trade his hair gel for a cowboy hat?

Governments, whether in Washington or Beijing, are not in the habit of unleashing fire and fury upon peaceful citizens waving placards and singing folk songs. The real fuss tends to arise when bricks fly, Molotov cocktails light up the night, and someone mistakes a protest for a demolition derby. One mustn’t confuse the clatter of a few unruly individuals with the symphony of civic expression. 

Governments are like parents who overreact. You would know if you grew up with Chinese parents or black parents and never be entitled. A Confucian authoritarian father and a black mother, who "does not play" nor spoil, is a deadly combo.

Authorities try, rather clumsily, to restore order. While you may cry “authoritarianism!” at the sight of riot gear, I see it as an sad attempt to keep peace like using a sledgehammer to swat a fly:

Tanks tore through Tiananmen, Hong Kong held umbrellas, hope hidden in handkerchiefs

Kent St. cried crimson and college kids caught in crossfire

Watts went up in wildfire with wrath rising from racial wounds

ICE ignites indignation with Infants in iron cages; Immigrants isolated, interrogated, incarcerated

Sure, they might guzzle fuel like a marathon runner reaching for a drink, but let’s not be too hasty in dismissing them. Perhaps it’s not entirely down to fuel consumption or quality— but a matter of restrictions and tariffs used to protect domestic industry?

To our Jaoanese friends, be honest or “be real”: no amount of obsequiousness will make Trump forget about the trade deficit. Picking up garbage at the stadium after World Cup matches is nice but the world respects strength, not servility.

If Japan wants a fair trade deal, it might consider standing its ground rather than offering up its domestic market as a sacrificial lamb.

In a racist country, racial profiling is not merely a matter of misguided policing tactics; it is an institutionalized assumption masquerading as security logic.

The reasoning is laughably simplistic: visible foreignness equals heightened suspicion. It’s is a formula that ignores legal status, cultural integration, or actual behavior in favor of a crude, aesthetic shortcut.

Nothing quite like a good old-fashioned panic over foreign protests to send bureaucrats into a tizzy. The advisory reads like a nostalgic throwback to wartime paranoia—except instead of internment camps, it’s just a polite suggestion to avoid getting caught in a riot while shopping for overpriced oat milk in downtown LA.