Cheradenine Zakalwe comments

carefully engineered by Le Pen who had sough to clean up her party's image and tap the grievances of voters angry over living costs, strained public services, and immigration.

All things which neo-liberal and conservative and alt-right forces push, and which the left addresses with focused policies, sans the illogical xenophobia.

A triumph for French rationality!

Ahead of the debate, Biden confined himself to nearly a week of "debate camp" with top advisers at the Camp David presidential retreat in the mountains of western Maryland, an indication of how important his campaign considered Thursday night. It didn't reflect on his performance, critics said.

It seemed over-preparation in that trying to get through his talking points and being exasperated trying to respond to Trump's stream of consciousness alternate reality was too much for Biden.

While Biden struggled, Trump rattled off a series of well-worn falsehoods like migrants carrying out a crime wave and Democrats supporting infanticide.

If sticking with all your obvious lies and doubling down were a virtue, Trump still has that in . His supporters seem to follow this style too.

"Trump is Trump, every word out of his mouth is bs. But Biden sounds old. And lost. And that’s going to matter more than anything. So far, this is an absolute nightmare for Biden," Joe Walsh, a former 2020 Republican presidential candidate who has been critical of Trump, said on X.

It seems Republicans and Democrats have found some consensus about this debate.

Trump is an existential threat to American democracy and on the record as wanting to wield authoritarian powers to set up a fundamentalist corporate backed rogue state.

https://www.americanprogress.org/series/project-2025-exposing-the-far-right-assault-on-america/

He showed the dangers of his chaotic incompetence during his administration and it is astonishing to me that he is steps away from the White House again.

President Biden is the so-called leader of the free world but he is not the man to oppose Trump.

It is time for some deep soul-searching amongst the American political establishment.

The four foreign nationals and one Japanese in their 30s to 60s are suspected of scribbling, "Let's protect everyone's Jingu Gaien," on temporary walls surrounding a work site near the Jingu baseball stadium early in the morning on July 12 last year, according to the police.

Make a nice stencil like Banksy and you might get paid for that.

They certainly should not be punished worse than the many corporate and political defrauders of the public who get away with suspended sentences and bows.

But I am not hopeful.

Japan's household spending rose in April for the first time in 14 months, official data showed Friday, as wages grow at the fastest pace in three decades.

Yesterday:

https://japantoday.com/category/business/update2-japan%27s-real-wages-fall-for-record-25th-straight-month-in-april#comment-4237480

The figure was up 0.5 percent on-year with more money spent on education, clothes and transport, including cars, according to the internal affairs ministry.

The economic wizards at the Ministry see going back to school expenses as the sign of a rebounding consumer market.

Masamichi Adachi and Go Kurihara at UBS said last month that in Japan, the "prospect of consumption looks rather good" as "nominal wage growth is expected to accelerate".

Great use of the word 'nominal' meaning 'very small; far below the real value or cost' or 'existing in name only'.

The economic propaganda has truly reached pathetic levels.

> Kishida, however, agreed to Komeito's demand to lower the line to 50,000 yen to enhance transparency during his meeting with the party's chief, Natsuo Yamaguchi, at the prime minister's office last week.

Many LDP lawmakers have opposed reducing the threshold, as they believe the move would discourage companies and individuals who do not want their support for specific parties to be unveiled from buying fundraising party tickets, pundits said.

Don't worry! These bigwigs and corporates who want their influence on the levers of power hidden can still buy party tickets in batches up to 49,999 yen!

Just a little more extra work for those accountants who end up taking the fall when the LDP graft hits the headlines.

I'm focusing on issues that cannot be put off, such as political reforms and the declining birthrate

And his signature issue, "New Capitalism" , lies forgotten as wages continue their negative slide and labor is squeezed by rising prices.

Not that he was going to move forward with any of these issues.

The last couple of PMs have exhorted them repeatedly to pay more, but they refuse. Blame them.

You answered the quandary yourself. Exhort. Urge

That is not how a government acts when it wants things to get done.

The LDP controls the purse strings to the lavish corporate welfare and subsidies and tax breaks they give to Japan Inc.

Make them contingent on a greater share of profits going to labor.

That is if the government is sincere in its push for higher wages, which I am not sure about.

Many social media users expressed skepticism over the plans, with one saying, "is this something the government should be doing with our tax?"

Old news socialism for the rich deja vu ; they have been doing it for a while.

Dentsu needs that corporate welfare. Most certainly the results will be the same.

https://www.businessinsider.com/japanese-government-dating-services-2016-10

https://www.economist.com/asia/2019/10/03/japans-state-owned-version-of-tinder

The series I drew, 'Fist of the North Star,' took inspirations from your film, 'Mad Max 2.' I never imagined that, 40 years later, I’d be able to meet you, and I am truly grateful to you. It is an honor to be able to meet you.”

As a fan of Fist of the North Star and George Miller, the manga wore this influence on Kenshiro's sleeveless gauntlets.

Earlier this month, Komeito, whose slogan is "clean politics," rejected the LDP's proposals to amend the political funds control law, saying Kishida lacks seriousness in reforming rules on money in politics despite the recent fundraising scandal.

Ironic that collusion with tax exempt religious orgs and under the table contributions was all the rage last year in the wake of former PM Abe's assassination; yet this year a religiously affiliated political party is pushing for reform of the LDP's tax evading under the table campaign contributions.

The LDP has also been urged to review the rules on how to report the usage of the so-called policy activity funds provided by parties to their senior lawmakers. The funds are not subject to disclosure, even when expenditures reach hundreds of millions of yen.

There should be a study on the efficacy of 'urges' when done to those in wealth in power. It must be very low.

That is why when the powerful want results, they use the forces of coercion and compulsion, not urges.

Trump has portrayed himself as a passionate supporter of law enforcement and has even talked favorably of officers handling suspects roughly. But he has spent the last two years attacking parts of the criminal justice system as it applies to him and raising questions about the honesty and motives of agents and prosecutors.

Trump loves hanging judges when they quickly round up and sentence minority youth.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65197862

Trump loves FBI G-men except when they are investigating him. Then the FBI are all deep state far left Marxists.

Trump loves the police except when they are fighting against a mob of his riled up supporters trying to overturn an election result.

The comments here from the MAGA supporters are not calling for violence.

But you see echoes of the same rhetoric by Trump magnified by some supporters.

You see the decision must have come from a 'rigged' court. from a 'dishonest Dem judge and prosecutors'.

Promising vague 'retribution' to' liberals and the left' come a Trump second term.

Though the article is just quoting some online MAGA site sources, the comments from MAGA are proving the general thrust of the article.

AOC had a good take for those thinking trump is a special snowflake martyr of a two-tier justice system.

She pointed out Trump's own lawyers screened the jurors who returned a unanimous verdict! But they will always have their excuses.

“Until and unless he accepts the process, the extremist reaction to his legal troubles will be militant,” said Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Trump may be able to continue campaigning and accept the GOP nomination, evading jail time for the charges in this case.

But ironically it seems his pronouncements and the extreme reactions of his followers lend more credence to the much more serious charges related to Jan. 6th Capitol attack.

His dog whistles are more like klaxons.

Those with a My Number will be able to use their smartphone in place of the card when interacting with public service providers like their municipal or tax office.

All a person's transactions including commuting data and other cashless transactions could be increasingly scraped. The possibilities for data leakage are endless.

Not good news for the many who are getting by in this economy with labor that is more or less off the books and already have to deal with a more and more granular invoice system.

Meanwhile , LDP bigwigs and corporate insiders will continue to do things the old-fashioned way with envelopes of cash passed individually or through intermediaries, avoiding all those troublesome bureaucratic tax hassles.

Yoshihiko Ogawa, who runs a more than half-century-old rice shop in the Fujikawaguchiko area, said the overcrowding worsened in the past few months, with tourists gathering from around 4-5 a.m. and talking loudly. He sometimes struggles to get his car in and out of garage.

“We’ve never thought we'd face a situation like this,” Ogawa said, adding he is unsure what the solution might be. “I suppose we all just need to get use to it.”

It is easy to "get used to it" and just cluck with disapproval at the uncouth foreign wad when you are directly profiting from the weak yen, tourist economy and LDP/BOJ policies.

But what about the people who work at these shops and who actually have to deal with tourists on a daily basis for a minimum, non-living poverty wage?

He said Trump was a fixture on the National Enquirer's front pages, and a survey found 80% of the magazine's readers said they would back him if he ran for president.

Colour me not surprised.

Especially given the sources of the citations, links and evidence the MAGA mob always uses to back up their "claims."

If Trump lawyers rely on the same insight and logic...

I imagine if he had a legal ace up his sleeve he could get away with a slap on the wrist in this case of a hush money payment; it is not like it is unheard of in a case of a politician's infidelity.

Election tampering and insurrection on the other hand...

“When I was President, I spent a good deal of time telling Japan and China, in particular, you can’t do that,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “It sounds good to stupid people, but it is a disaster for our manufacturers and others.”

"When my good friend Taroo Asu was Prime Minister of Japan, look at this sharp-dressed man, the economy of Japan was never better. With the weak yen and Asoo's leadership the people of Japan never were so winning, they almost got tired of winning.

Like here in America, which I made great again,before the big steal, Mr. Aso had to suffer a witch hunt by the woke mob, the leftists who hate when everyone is prosperous. "

Trump was close with Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese prime minister who was assassinated in 2022, and their relationship underscored the premium Trump puts on personal ties when it comes to foreign affairs.

Telling that the leaders of nations that have strong democratic socialist traditions and egalitarian, broad based prosperity were almost universally repulsed by Trump.

Wonderful!

Article is a nice bit of Japan Inc. propaganda which like other recent issues has little bearing to the economic landscape of Japaneses labour.

Japanese companies have long stuck to a commodity deflation and BOJ QE policy asset inflation : hoard cash from record profits and cut costs form labour benefits and wages. That left the labour economy in a vicious cycle of moribund growth and falling wages versus real cost of living.

Fixed it for you.

The reality is:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2016/sep/28/quantitative-easing-qe-pernicious-effects-favour-wealthy-tax-middle-class

The average annual household income for people on a tight budget was calculated to be 7.12 million yen, compared with 8.78 million yen for households who are not under stress,

I reckon a large % of people are not making near that but still being fully taxed. And having to access food banks while hustling for work.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230710/p2a/00m/0na/020000c

Add up all this % of the disaffected and the % making out in this economy is vanishingly small.

That is Neo-feudalism.

Communism demand elevation of the party above all else, above hunanity, above god, above self.

He affiliated with groups supporting civil rights for African-Americans and immigrants in racist 30's and 40's America.

And union members being oppressed by capitalists even though he came from a wealthy family.

It mad him a good and humane man, and even his development of the A-bomb came from a desire to oppose evil regimes.

Quite a contribution to humanity.

Oppenheimer was a flawed, brilliant genius and truly an "American Prometheus".

https://time.com/6898636/robert-oppenheimer-communist/

As such his contributions that will go down in history deserve to be examined and discussed.

"Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country," he said, compelling viewers to "protect content that is pro-God. We love God.

JC railed against the Pharisees interpretation of Gospel

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/americas-first-post-text-president/549794/

And given that Trump doesn't read ; his interpretation of the Bible probably comes from televangelists like Kenneth Copeland who campaigns for him and begs his followers for donations for a second private jet to "spread the gospel".

https://www.thelancasterpatriot.com/kenneth-copeland-speaks-at-trump-rally-in-pennsylvania/

Experts say the proliferation of players in the industry due to a wave of deregulation in the 1990s was partly to blame for the sector's unique strains.

As in other nations the wave of neo-liberal "reforms" labeled deregulation in the 80's and 90's had the effect of ensuring a race to the bottom for labor and increasing the share of gains going to stock-holding capitalists.

The government is counting on such wage hikes to trickle down to smaller and medium-sized firms, which account for a whopping 99.7% of all enterprises and about 70% of the country's workforce.

Because trickle down has ever worked? Corporate tax breaks , incentives, subsidies and corporate welfare always end up in stock buybacks, dividends and executive bonuses.

Despite facing some of the country's tightest labour markets and no shortage of demand, small delivery companies like Sakata's can barely afford to make ends meet.

Cry me a river. Sakata's companies and larger ilk refuse to pay living wages according to the hours worked.

They are trying to relax language requirements for licensing and opening up the market to more low wage foreign labor.

They are trying to profit disproportionately as demand remains high and wages low, despite the labor crunch, before the inevitable shift to automation which will require significant capital investment in infrastructure that will finally weed out the smaller players in the business.

I doubt firm owner Ikuko Sakata will be having to visit soup kitchens like other Japanese workers though.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230710/p2a/00m/0na/020000c

Kim Yo Jong -- who is one of the regime's key spokespeople -- had hinted last month at a possible future invitation for the Japanese leader to visit North Korea.

When Yo Jung summons; thou shalt come.

I mean they have barred far lesser things, it’s quiet amazing the authorities let this one slide

Like the foreign touts physically harassing people in certain zones, or pachinko and the DPRK remittance of funds or even scamming English teaching businesses there are certain businesses which are allowed to cause social disruption and exploitation because there are connections between criminal enterprises and business and political interests which are very profitable for a select few and must be protected.

Although no injuries were reported, there were 12 accidents involving rear-end collisions and 10 other violations, including parking fines. In February, the police department handed out written requests to go-kart operators asking them to strengthen safety measures.

Compared to the horrendous deaths caused by senior Japanese drivers in their nice cars it does not seem like much cause to panic.

Instead, you’ll want to meet at one of the landmarks outside the station, and the most useful has been the Shinjuku Alta building. Immediately recognizable by its giant video screen, “in front of Alta,” or Aruta mae if you’re speaking Japanese, has been the go-to answer for “Where in Shinjuku should we meet?” for decades.

Lots of memories as I am sure other expats in Japan have.

'Time' by Hans Zimmer is a good track to reflect.

Hopefully it will not be replaced by another soulless Mori et al creation filled with empty boutiques with bored staff and posh brands catering to mostly foreign tourists now.

In sign of the conservative frustration, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., initiated an effort to oust Johnson as the House began the vote but held off on further action until the House returns in two weeks. It's the same tool that was used last year to remove McCarthy.

Extremism is a regressive force on the US but it is not the centrist cop-out of its on "both sides".

The US is being dragged to the right by Citizen's United liberated corporate money and tax-free evangelical churches as a "left" which is not really very leftist, more a half-hearted Nordic model, is more marginalized.

Pols the like of MTG infesting American politics need to be driven out and have no base of funding.

Japan will introduce a new national accreditation system for Japanese-language schools from April in an effort to ensure their quality meets the needs of the country's growing foreign population.

If it matches the accreditation and assurance for the quality of the English language instruction then it is DOA.