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Guys! What you drink says a lot about you to the ladies!

Guys and ladies! Here’s some great stuff for you about drinking and what drinking means to your relationship with the opposite sex!

I love reading Lew Rockwell.com. I read it religiously everyday. From reading Lew’s blog everyday I’ve come to really understand just how messed up our government’s are and how, in spite of those government’s propaganda, the people’s real enemy is their own government.

Those who have been paying attention should probably already know this but it bears repeating as much as possible.

I also like reading Lew Rockwell for the great articles on life and ‘how things are or how they should be.’ I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get their head on straight and start filtering through all the crap and understand economics, manners and how this world really (or should but doesn’t) works. Besides Lew’s own articles, he has on board, some of the best writers in the USA and Canada today.

In today’s Lew Rockwell, I found an article that, as a drinking man, was very interesting to me. It was an article that states the opinion (I think it is absolutely correct) that what you drink says a lot about you. It also says that ladies are judging you by what you drink! (If so, I got troubles!)

This article was definitely written for an American audience. In Japan some things are different so I’ll add on a “Japan addendum” at the end…

Here’s the article in yellow highlight (with my comments, in white, of course!):

What your cocktail says about you

Ever wonder why women always seem to be eavesdropping on your chats with the bartender? Well, the truth is, she’s probably judging your drink.

Well, no. When does that ever happen? I think this guy watches too much TV! In Japan, She’s probably hopping to the bar because the bartendar is a much more interesting guy than the rest of us guy customers are put together! Come on you guys! Get with the program here!

Maybe she knows, for example, what drinking whiskey says about you, even more than you do. Or what drinking beer says about you. Or what–shudder–drinking screwdrivers says about you.

Perhaps it’s time to revamp your glass. Or at least evaluate what your cocktail says about you. Here’s what she’s hearing…

What drinking whiskey says about you

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Whiskey draws to mind a burly sort. This means that however well-groomed and well-versed you are, you’ve got the soul of a backwoodsman. What does drinking whiskey say about you? Whiskey implies to a woman that you’ve got the chutzpah to hammer down a door and hang a ceiling fan or, at least, ride a horse. It’s not important that you’re capable of any of these things. It matters more that you’ve got the dark mind, isolated heart and gritted teeth to bear the bitter taste; this is what a woman expects from whiskey. And it’s generally acknowledged that bosses respect whiskey drinkers more so than drinkers of almost any other sort.

You know… I never really thought about this… I can drink whiskey but prefer not to. I don’t like the smell and I really don’t like the taste… Good thing too. I hate carpentry work. Though I can say that I have two cases of this stuff in my cellar in case the end of the world comes. I bought whisky because I know that I won’t touch it unless I really have to! Great idea, eh? In Japan, I think only older guys with some money drink this stuff.

What drinking martinis says about you

If you order a martini, you’re practically plastering a sign on your face that reads, “I have good taste. I have good money. I’m exhausted from my high-paying, suit-requiring career.” Martinis are no little thing. It’s not often a woman hears a young man ordering a martini. A martini means specificity, style and a small desire to be James Bond. In fact, it’s wise to only drink martinis straight up if you’ve got such broad shoulders, dashing suits and natural charm. Otherwise, go for on-the-rocks (and non-fruity-flavored types), which will slightly tone down the bold statement and relieve you of feeling watched while you’re sipping. Martinis are a general hit with executives and clients of any kind.

Hey! I like drinking martinis (make sure it is Tanqueray Gin only!)! I used to order a double martini at my favorite Italian restaurant here in Tokyo before dinner every time we went there (it’s not there anymore)… Then, after a second, I’d slither off my chair like a glob of half melted jello and my wife would have to drive us home. Good times! Good times! I can’t say that I have ever seen any Japanese person order one of these.

What drinking mojitos says about you

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Mojitos can be tricky, because mojitos served at various restaurant often resemble different drinks. If the glass is simply prepped with mint leaves, a lime slice, ice and the drink itself, you should be fine. In fact, this would give an impression of relaxed exoticism (i.e. confident and intriguingly adventurous.) However, if the glass arrives and seems to steal attention from your appearance rather than add to it, meaning that it magnetizes eyes over its frilly, brightly colored features, go the bathroom and drain it as quickly as possible. There’s no need to subject yourself to whispers for sipping what seems to be a peculiar cocktail too flavored to get you favored by onlookers. Unless you are vacationing at a vast beach resort or lunching at an ethnic restaurant, try to avoid the mojito if you want to meet women.

Mojitos!? With a name like this that sounds like it must be a Tequila based drink! If so, no thank you! When I graduated from college, my roommate Pete and Toru Taguchi drank 3 quarts of tequila by ourselves and I fell down two flights of stairs and cracked my head open. I had a massive hangover for three days after that. My hair even hurt! Good times! Good times!

I’ll never drink tequila again as long as I live… Oh, but I have been seeing pre-mixed mojitos in bottles at night clubs here in Tokyo… Pre-mixed cocktails!? Yuck! Tastes awful!

What drinking screwdrivers says about you

No beautiful woman ever starts the story of how she met her husband with these words. “I saw him across the bar, drinking a screwdriver…” No boss ever clasped his prize employee’s shoulder and toasted their screwdrivers.

I thought screwdrivers were only good in the mornings at home alone (after a heavy night drinking) and with only fresh squeezed orange juice… This writer doesn’t say it, but if you want to drink and not wind up “screaming for O’rourke” then don’t be drinking stuff like screwdrivers… In Japan, real fresh squeezed orange juice is hard to find. It’s always that concentrated stuff. Bleech! So you don’t see too many Japanese drinking this stuff either.

Also! Important! Real men don’t drink things like screw drivers or margarita’s or, for that matter, go to Starbucks and order Cafe Ole or sissy drinks like Frappucino or Crappucino either!

What drinking gin and tonic says about you

Gin and tonics are definitely a step up from the screwdriver. Even if only because they do not contain a fruit juice but instead a bitter liquor and seltzer water, because they look elegant and are served in stylishly simple glasses, and because they call to mind a man who appreciates an easy time inebriating himself without under-appreciating the process. Gin and tonics are the B version James Bond (or James Bond on his day off in a dark saloon.) Gin and tonics are fairly nondescript, because a large collection of younger kids, women, ancient men and even depressed mothers drink them. This means you aren’t trapped in anyway, but you also haven’t made any kind of dashing statement, which means more work for you.

This seems to me to be the cocktail of choice for young Japanese women. In Japan, the choices are completely different (as I will show in a bit). Japanese girls like sweet drinks like this or what we call “Lemon Sour.”

What drinking a godfather says about you

There’s not much explanation necessary for the godfather. When women discover what’s in the drink they’ll raise an eyebrow, and maybe later their skirts.

They’ll raise their skirts just because of your drink!? What a bunch of loose hussys you have in the USA! On the other hand, this drink, if translated correctly could have huge potential in the Asian market. If you know what I mean (wink! wink!)

When your boss hears you order it, he’ll raise an eyebrow and possibly your position in the company.

No kidding? That easy?

The godfather, a solid and simple combination of one part scotch, one part amaretto, says you like it strong, with a kick and close to ‘much too intense for everybody else.’ The godfather makes you a standalone man, not only because many people rarely order them these days, but because you’ve managed to put a classic (scotch), with a semi-eccentric (amaretto). This means good things all around.

Not in Japan it don’t. In Japan the team is important. We don’t need too many nails. As in “The nails that sticks out gets hammered down.”

Moreover, you can drink a godfather in a tux, tattered jeans or denim jacket and it won’t matter. The drink itself speaks so highly of you and your undeniable, masculine strengths, that to fret over your clothes would undermine everything.

Undeniable masculine strengths? tux? No wonder I’ve never heard of this drink. I’m just a wimpy guy trying to stay out of trouble!

What drinking beer says about you
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Founding Father Ben Franklin is quoted as saying, “Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” That’s what women see in handsome guys drinking brews. They see proof that God exists. And that he wants everyone in the bar to be happy. Sooner, rather than later.

Really? God wants everyone in the bar to be happy sooner rather than later? If that’s true then people should drink something stronger, no? It’s takes me a long time to get drunk on beer. I like it but if you want me to get really happy, really quickly, then I have bring out some heavier artillery than just plain old beer (even though Japanese beer is really strong). Let me now tell you about the Japanese booze that I drink regularly… But before that, maybe this comment is true. If so that just shows that, while there might be a God, the USA is definitely not God’s country… Why? USA beers all suck and taste like watered down donkey piss. Those poor people! You’d think the country that could land on the moon could come out with a decent beer. But they don’t. Weird, eh?

Now, to localize this article for the Japanese crowd or us folks in Japan. Since the writer didn’t mention about wine, I too, will avoid mentioning Japanese sake as, if I drink that stuff, I wind up singing and dancing on top of the tables. Good times. Good times.

What drinking Korean Sho-chu says about youjinro+korean+liquor.gif.png

For one, it says, “I’m in Japan (or Korea)!” Because I’ve looked for this stuff in the USA several times. Couldn’t find it. Shochu must be in the top 5 alcohols that the discerning – as well as non discerning – Japanese drink. The Japanese usually drink, beer, happoshu (like beer only low calories and cheaper), rice sake, whiskey (scotch) and shochu.

Shochu is just about all I ever drink anymore. I mentioned before that I have gout so the wine, beer and whiskey are out. shochu doesn’t have the ingredients that cause gout attacks, so it’s safe to drink in moderation for gout sufferers! That’s fine by me as beer makes you fat, I already told you that I don’t like the taste of whiskey, and I go crazy drinking sake… So shochu it is! shochu is strong (25% alcohol) and so it gets the job done right. And there’s all sorts from the good stuff to the rot gut. There’s expensive shochu and really cheap Shochu…

4 1/2 stars!

I’ll give you one guess which I drink usually…

What drinking Hoppy says about you

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Hoppy is a non alcohol beer that was the drink of choice back in the 1950′s ~ 1970′s. But has had a mighty revival in Japan these past 5 years or so. Why? it tastes pretty good and the stuff is cheap. I mean dirt cheap. When guys would go out to drink, they’d usually treat themselves to one beer then follow that with a shochu tanked Hoppy to get themselves inebriated. For example, at most bars and  Izakaya today in Tokyo, a beer runs anywhere between ¥500 ~ ¥800. But a Hoppy with a large shot of shochu in it runs about ¥400 ~ ¥450… And, since both Hoppy and shochu are better for guys with gout… In a country like Japan where far too many of us drink far too much in excess, Hoppy it is on a hot summer day.

4 stars!

What drinking lemon sours says about you

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No. Guys, don’t drink this. This is a girl’s drink or it says that you don’t drink at all…If you guys are going to drink this sweet cocktail, stick with ice water… At least you won’t be throwing up in the street later on because you are a rookie and can’t hold your liquor…. Good times. Good times.

2 stars!

What drinking one cup shochu says about you

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This is the bottom of the barrel in Japan. This is a disgrace. Never drink this stuff in public. This says that you are already married or you were married and got a divorce because your wife couldn’t handle your drunken ass all the time. Drinking one cup shochu says that you been in Japan so long that you are nearly destitute or your wife gives you an allowance so you haven’t any money so you want to get the biggest bang for your buck, in the quickest way possible. Of course, you’d love to go to the Izakaya and have yaki-tori with the friends, but how can you do that with only ¥250 yen in your pocket? You can’t. But you can buy one of these! Stop off on the grocery store on the way home from work and buy one of these, chug it down on the way home (make sure the neighbors don’t see you!) and you have a nice light buzz when you walk in and say, “Tadaima!” (I’m home!)… Good times! Good Times!

Takara one cup shochu? 1.5 stars, but for ¥150 yen a bottle at OK store, what can you expect? (about ¥225 at a convenience store!)

What drinking Happoshu says about you

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There’s also one more category of drink that is popular called Happoshu. This is a sort of light beer. It’s really cheap. Some brands even advertise that theirs has a slight metallic taste (as if that’s a plus! Yeech!)… College students and poor people drink this stuff… Good Times!

Happoshu? 1.2 stars.

Well, that’s it. I hope you enjoyed this informative article. What does your alcohol say about you?

I know what mine says about me and, frankly speaking, it’s not a pretty picture!

Dolphin Hunters and the People Who Hunt Them

As if Japan doesn’t have enough problems as it is! Now we actually have the police preparing to protect the dolphin hunters from possible attacks from lunatics!



“Over 90% of all species that have ever lived on this planet are gone.

Extinct… We didn’t kill them all…” – GEORGE CARLIN – SAVE THE PLANET


Remember a while back when that Kiwi lunatic attacked the Japanese fishermen? Yeah, well the Japanese police are now preparing for just another such incident and is getting ready to make sure that it doesn’t happen.


It’s the same people who also claim AGW is destroying the world along with whale and dolphin hunting (those dolphins are not an endangered species, by the way). And by killing those dolphins those fishermen are all somehow ruining the environment.


We now have the parade of idiots growing as the Japanese government is sending out the SWAT teams to protect the fishermen from psychotic left wing fruitcakes.


Thanks to Tokyo Reporter for comic!


I’ve already written what I think about this nonsense in Japan Bans the Cove and Other Atrocities.

But really? Police protection for dolphin hunters!?


Is this for real?

The Associated Press reports that the Japan police hold security drill for dolphin hunt:

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese police and coast guard officers have held a security drill to practice protecting a village from protesters during its annual dolphin hunt.

A Wakayama prefectural police official says Wednesday’s drill was aimed at guarding the southwestern town of Taiji from protesters before hunting season starts in September. About 100 law enforcement officers gathered in the bay where the Oscar-winning film “The Cove” was filmed.

The officers practiced responding to a ship carrying several activists intruding the bay and damaging afishnet. The official said the drill ended safely without incident.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Japan allows about 20,000 dolphins to be caught each year. Most Japanese have never eaten dolphin meat but the government defends the hunts as tradition.


As if Japan doesn’t already have enough trouble as it is. Now we have to worry about, dare I say? Pro-dolphin terrorists? This is ridiculous…


The pro side to the hunting argument says that Whale and dolphin hunting in Japan go back centuries. The anti-side says that whale hunting is depleting the species. Well, you don’t hear Japanese complaining about westerners hunting, say, deer (which are rapidly disappearing from the United States)… Maybe it’s because not enough Japanese have seen Bambi.


The dolphin hunting? Well, those aren’t an endangered species at all but, I guess some people think they are cute so they don’t want them killed. You can be sure that many westerners have seen Flipper on TV! Or the crowd against dolphin hunting (in their twisted logic) say that the dolphins shouldn’t be killed and eaten as the meat is pumped full of mercury and so it is poisonous to eat. If so, then that’s great, isn’t it? Then let these people kill the dolphins, eat the meat and then they die. Problem solved!


My thinking? If dolphin hunting is so important and so profitable, let the dolphin hunters pay for their own protection. Why does the average tax payer have to pay for this? As for the lunatics who would attack these fishermen, they should be arrested and put in prison as any criminal would be who commits a felony.


But the police actually having drills to protect the fishermen in case of an attack? What utter insanity from start to finish. This world is quickly going nuts.

Japan Freedom of the Press Ranks Higher Than USA

After three articles arguing that Japan is a much freer nation than today’s USA and getting many positive and negative reactions from readers such as this comment:


Actually, when you stop and think about it, it is a pretty damning statement when a guy can argue that Japan is freer than the USA. Japan? A nation that was extremely poor just 60 years ago and couldn’t feed her people – as well as being completely destroyed by WWII – is a freer country than America today? AND THIS GUY CAN ACTUALLY WIN THAT ARGUMENT?… That’s speaks volumes about the sad state of the USA today. The other thing that speaks volumes is how many American ex-pats seem to agree with him.

Sad days for the US.


Today, I plan on continuing with flogging a dead horse. Last night I got another article sent to me from my friend Ken Nishikawa that verifies what I have been saying all along; when it comes to personal freedoms, Japan blows away today’s USA.


Ken sends an survey from an organization called “Reporters Without Borders” who, in the 2010 survey rate Japan much higher than the USA is press freedoms (dare I say, “Freedom of speech”?) Ken writes:


It’s actually called “press-freedom index.” Japan is #11 whilst US is #20… And Eritrea has less press-freedom than North Korea.

From Reporters Without Borders:


“Our latest world press freedom index contains welcome surprises, highlights sombre realities and confirms certain trends,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said as his organisation issued its ninth annual index today. “More than ever before, we see that economic development, institutional reform and respect for fundamental rights do not necessarily go hand in hand. The defence of media freedom continues to be a battle, a battle of vigilance in the democracies of old Europe and a battle against oppression and injustice in the totalitarian regimes still scattered across the globe.


Reporters Without Borders Lists Japan at #11 for press freedom and the USA languishes at #20. For shame to the so-called beacon of democracy!

“We must salute the engines of press freedom, with Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland at their head. We must also pay homage to the human rights activists, journalists and bloggers throughout the world who bravely defend the right to speak out. Their fate is our constant concern. We reiterate our call for the release of Liu Xiaobo, the symbol of the pressure for free speech building up in China, which censorship for the time being is still managing to contain. And we warn the Chinese authorities against taking a road from which there is no way out.

“It is disturbing to see several European Union member countries continuing to fall in the index. If it does not pull itself together, the European Union risks losing its position as world leader in respect for human rights. And if that were to happen, how could it be convincing when it asked authoritarian regimes to make improvements? There is an urgent need for the European countries to recover their exemplary status.

“We are also worried by the harsher line being taken by governments at the other end of the index. Rwanda, Yemen and Syria have joined Burma and North Korea in the group of the world’s most repressive countries towards journalists. This does not bode well for 2011. Unfortunately, the trend in the most authoritarian countries is not one of improvement.”

Funny, but, if you go to the article in question and check, you’ll see that the United States has gone from #17 to #20 since 2002, when the survey of reporters began. Talk about a trend from an authoritarian country that is not one of improvement.

That the self-appointed defender of freedom and the country that is supposedly bringing democracy to the world is listed at a lowly #20 is a damned disgrace and embarrassment… After World War II, the USA taught freedom of thought, speech, and press to the Japanese. Now, in 2010, it seems the student has much to teach the teacher.

Sex, Sensationalism and the Truth About Blogging

“If the truth is that ugly — which it is — then we do have to be careful about the way that we tell the truth. But to somehow say that telling the truth should be avoided because people may respond badly to the truth seems bizarre to me.” –Chuck Skoro, Deacon, St. Paul’s Catholic Church


Up to my ears in stuff to do and the pressure is really on. Just wanted to jot down and observation about blogging that I’ve made this week… With one tip on how you bloggers can increase access to your blog. Are you sitting down? OK. Here goes:


Sex and sensationalism sells.


No big surprise there. It could be, though, a bit of a let down for some people. I’m sure there are lots of bloggers who were hoping the the perceived younger generation of people that use the internet more frequently than older people who seem to use the old mass media more often might be more interested in truth and details and facts.


Maybe not. I see from several news sources that I frequent, that they are always running funding campaigns because they are always short of money. These are news and opinion sites that, if you delve deeply enough, you can find news and political and economic thought that will change your life. It’s such common sense.


But, alas. From judging what has gone on through doing this exercise that I call a “my blog” I can see from experience that:


1) “Sex” in titles of blog posts do well

2) Sensationalistic titles do well

3) Inflammatory titles do pretty well

4) Humor does pretty well

5) Humor performs awesomely well when I add “Sex” with a sensationalist, inflammatory title! Yesterday’s Olympics and Sex story was one of the most read posts I’ve had in a week!


I suppose that this is not a lament. I started this blog as an experiment and it remains that way.


Blogger Hint:

Here’s a way to increase hits to your blog when adding photos.

Never use photos with non-decscript titles.

For example: Photo002.jpg is a “No-No!”

I pulled this photo off the internet and renamed it

“Sexy Japanese Babe” that way, when someone searches that,

they will be directed to this blog. No one searches, “Photo002!”

Doing this will increase accesses to your blog.


I guess that with the failing economy and a poor employment situation people look for an escape… I reckon that guys, as they have since the dawn of time, think often with their hormones and not with their brains…


That’s OK. Bloggers should understand this. Do we want to be like a politician and go for populist policies? Or do we do what we wanna do?


For this blog, I will be populist as if the title were, “The Truth and Blogging” I would get few readers. Seriously, I’d predict between 30 to 50 in one day for this post. But since I added, “Sex” to the title, I might expect 200 or more. I think many bloggers could benefit from this information.


Just a fact and a truth about blogging in 2011.


Thanks to What Really Happened for the quote

War! Japan Defeats USA!

The headline read:

WAR!

SECOND PEARL HARBOUR!

War!? Again? I had to find out more. I clicked the link at the It’s a Wonderful Rife Blog. It said:


Japan Wins Women’s World Cup of Soccer

Women’s World Cup soccer final between the USA and Japan in Frankfurt, Germany, July 17, 2011. The game started off with a flurry of USA activity, hard strikes and bad luck and some fine tending by the Japanese goalie…. (snip)

The result – a Japanese tying goal. I believe it was at the 84th minute. For two minutes after that, Japan pressured the USA driving forward like they were attacking Pearl Harbour (what – too soon for that joke?)… but the Americans held them off and starting pressure on their own… Japan was good to hold off the USA. At the end of 90 minutes (plus 2 minutes of extra time), Japan and the USA played…..

Read more at the: It’s a Wonderful Rife Blog. I see from the URL that good old Andrew who runs the Wonderful Rife blog was getting ready to be the first blogger in the world to post about Japan’s loss by looking at the URL title: http://wonderfulrife.blogspot.com/2011/07/japan-loses-at-womens-world-cup-of.html?

See? That’s dedication from a blogger for you! The guy is getting ready to post as the game is going on!


Take that old school media!

Actually, I had no idea that this game was even going on and had no idea that Japan was in the finals. I was at a restaurant Sports-Bar type of place and was wondering why it was so crowded. Maybe it was because of this game. I don’t really pay too much attention to stuff like this. I left way before the game started.


I don’t like crowded places.

If anyone cares, here’s what I think of this professional sports stuff in general as I wrote in “Confessions of a Pro Wrestling Announcer” (Yes. I really was a professional wresting announcer):

People pay big money to go watch pro-wrestling; it’s a spectacle. But I’ll tell you what, it’s no more or less fixed or a spectacle than any other professional sport; It’s no more or less fixed than any other “game.”

My dear sister-in-law wrote a congratulatory note on Facebook to congratulating me on the win by Japan at the “big game”. “What big game?” I thought. She said she didn’t know I wasn’t a soccer fan. I wrote back:


Generally speaking I hate all professional sports (Olympics too) as they are all too nationalistic and involved with money.


If I want to see real sports I go watch kids play. They truly play for the love of the sport and really cry when they lose.


Oh but going to a pro game and eating hotdogs and drinking beer can be fun too because that is an event. Watching on TV is just a game… Boring… Nothing to care about. Just a game… I also don’t like how people sometimes get pissed off if “their team” loses. Who cares? If Japan (or USA) wins, it doesn’t make me better or enrich my life. It’s just big money entertainment.


I could see someone owning, say, McDonald’s stock getting excited and yelling if they “win” and their stock goes up. But what “stock” goes up if some team wins or loses?

See? People who really like sports think I am no fun. They are right. I think pro sports are Bread and Circuses for the masses. Wikipedia describes it well:

the phrase has become an adjective to describe a populace that no longer values civic virtues and the public life. To many across the political spectrum, left and right, it connotes the triviality and frivolity that characterized the Roman Empire prior to its decline.




But, in my way twisted mind, there is one reason that I am happy whenever the Japanese women’s team wins. I love it that, in a such a male dominated society, that it is the ladies team that often wins in the world arena!


So I’m glad the ladies team won! Go ladies!… Whatever team you are on and whatever country you are from!


NOTE: Forgive the cheesy newspaper front page I made. It’s a complete ripoff of a newspaper that I was told about when Germany defeated France in the World Cup. That one said something along the lines of “Blitzkrieg! German Forces Crush French Defense for Second Time in 60 Years!” Chuckle! Sports can be fun as long as people don’t take this stuff seriously. As you can see, I don’t take them seriously at all!


UPDATE! The Japanese men’s Olympics and national teams always fly first-class. But they never win. The girl’s teams, on the other hand, win – yet they always fly economy class. This time, after winning, the girl’s team coach and players were begging to fly back at least Business class! Now that you know this sexist BS, ask me why I always want the Japanese men’s teams to lose and the women’s teams to win! Read more on how the world champs are treated like second-class citizens at  Nikkan Gendai


Thanks to Michele Rogers!

The Worst Restaurant in All of Japan?

You know, it’s pretty hard, nearly impossible, to be the very best. Many strive for it, few can accomplish it. Being the best takes years of arduous effort, determination and talent. Our society glorifies the best, as we should. It must be wonderful to be called the “best.”


Professional male model Ken Nishikawa posing in front

of “the worst restaurant in Eastern Asia”


But what about the worst? You know, if you really stop to think about it, it is pretty darned hard to be the worst too. I mean, thee worst. The epitome of awful. The dungest of the dungheap. The absolute pits. A real shister-meister!


Like the best, it takes a real effort and a special “talent” to be the worst. But I think I found one example of the worst. Oh yes. And today, I submit to you a restaurant that I vote for the “Worst restaurant in Japan!”


I believe that I have found the worst ramen restaurant in all of Japan. Possibly the worst restaurant in all of Asia. Nay! This could be the very worst restaurant in the entire free world.


Funny thing is, even though I walked in to take these fine gravures that are eye-candy to even the most passive observer, I have never eaten at this restaurant. I don’t think I have to. Just by looking at it, I can imagine the taste of the establishment’s fine fare. In fact, I’ll bet that, after reading this article, you won’t have to go to the restaurant to see for yourself either. I’ll bet nearly everyone will agree that this place must be the dregs.


I wonder if those are wax displays?


If you ever go to Shibuya station on the platform heading towards Shinjuku, towards the rear of the train, you’ll see a restaurant called “Donbei”(どん浜街). “Don” means “bowl”. “Bei” is an old word from the Edo period that doesn’t really mean anything. It’s like the “ko” in girls names. “Bei” is a friendly name for something that is for “regular people.”


The part that is so “special” about this restaurant is that “Donbei” is actually the name for an instant ramen product. Yeah, that’s it. You know, like in instant ramen that you just pour hot water into.


I always look for an immaculate kitchen. Usually the

sign of a great restaurant… But there are exceptions.


And that’s the “appeal” of Donbei. Because that’s what Donbei serves: Instant ramen. Just like the same stuff you buy at the convenience store excepting that this fine eatery, they pour the hot water into the Styrofoam container for you! Then they pour it into a proper bowl so that, ostensibly, it will “taste better.”


Ummmm. I can smell it now! Piping hot water into the instant ramen Styrofoam container. Let it steep for one minute and you’ve got a real meal right there!


This place has been packed with customers

every time I’ve been by… Oh look! There’s one now!


Ugh! Now, like I said, I’ve never eaten at this place and doubt that I ever will. Instant food like this is poison. I’ll bet that their secret formula can even be worse for your health than that other fine eatery you westerners have, what’s it called, “McDonald’s”?


Wow! This article is making me hungry and looking at these pictures of this fine repast make my mouth water.


Anyhow, you’ve been forewarned. The worst restaurant in Japan has been located and it is probably a safe bet that, just like the Fukushima nuclear reactors, you should probably keep a safe distance away.


Notice the line of people waiting for a table!


But, then again, maybe you should go there and eat it at least once. It’s not everyday that you can say that you’ve eaten at the worst restaurant in the entire free world. And, if you do eat there, it might just make you appreciate the fact that there are many other places that are crappy too…. But never as crappy as this. After all, you only live once. Eating at Donbei might just make you appreciate life a bit more.

Online Petitions are BS

I’m going to lose my fans with today’s blog post (both of them) but some things need to be said. So, I’m going to say one right now.

People today have been so totally indoctrinated by public schooling into believing that government is here to help them that they seem to completely forget recent history that shows that this is definitely not the case. I’ve written before that for every crisis or disaster – that happens while on the watch of the government, by the way -  the knee-jerk reaction from that government is to expand upon itself and increase our taxes.

It doesn’t matter if we are talking about a so-called democracy or socialist or fascist or communist government; the purpose of all government is expansion of itself. It was a famous US politician who said, “The government can never let a good crisis go to waste.

People who think that they can depend on the government for real help are dreaming.

If expansion of the government; expansion of government duties along with the costs of paying for those duties were the answer to our problems, then the Soviet Union would have been a very successful country.

But, it wasn’t. It was a disaster.

I got an email the other day from a nice lady who wishes for me to promote an online petition for a group called, “Appeal for Fukushima”. It is an online campaign to petition the UN to take over the Fukushima nuclear reactors. I will write about it, but I have nothing flattering to say about these people nor the UN.

To be exact, I have nothing good to say about what these people want in their online appeal. I just think it is confused. It ignores history and is, frankly speaking, a huge waste of time. I also think is is self-serving and dishonest that these people claim to want to “protect the Japanese people”. The fact of the matter is that I suspect that that is a ruse and they selfishly want to protect themselves and make it look like they are being magnanimous. Why? Well, if they were really sincere in wanting to protect people, and take care of humanity, how about orphaned and starving kids in Rwanda or Darfur?… Or, hell, orphaned kids in Northern Japan?

Oh, no. That would require a sincere and conscientious effort. They don’t want to do that. Sitting on their fat a*ses and acting like they are doing something important is a lot less work, but it feels better than doing nothing. Though, for all practical purposes, they might as well do nothing.

If these people were really sincere, they’d get off their lazy a*ses and donate money or make some sort of real effort instead of sitting in their sofa at home making online “petitions” to a useless organization like the United Nations in some bizarre attempt to make themselves feel like they are actually doing something useful.

Online petition? Pfffft! What a waste of time. Like George Carlin once said, “At least when I sit at home and masturbate, I have something to show for it when it’s over.”

Like the Atlantic Wire wrote about useless online petitions. They are basically a scam to collect people’s email addresses:

Back away from the keyboard. That online petition you’re about to sign is “pretty much a sham.”…

It’s the great lie of online organizing: that your voice to Congress or your voice to whomever can make a difference. It can, it should, but not through them. Nearly every organization in Washington is focused on one thing–inventing new and interesting ways to get your email address. And they want your email address so that they can ask you for money.

The truth is: my.barackobama.com was and still is, the most sophisticated suite of tools designed primarily to capture your email address and ask you for money.
Online organizers for political groups are trained to recognize “strategic moments”–to find events in the media and in the national narrative that they can use to their advantage. … The most basic and common method for political organizations to get your email address is via a petition.

The “Appeal for Fukushima” is another of many in a long line of online petitions to the United Nations launched by some people for the expressed purposes of having the UN take over the nuclear reactors “under UN mandate” in order to “protect the people of Japan.” But they just want your email address.

Hate to break it to you well-meaning folks, but, besides wasting your time and effort, the UN doesn’t really have any mandates. It never has and never will. This is just another scam.

But, let’s say it is real and honest, so what? If anyone has been paying attention to the history of the UN over these years since its inception the idea of the UN taking over anything “in order to protect people” should be a massive red flag. When has the UN successfully taken over anything or protected anyone?

The UN is a huge organization that includes a host of smaller organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO). Generally speaking, even though the UN was set up to prevent war and conflicts, it has done nothing of the sort. To its credit, though, it has helped to eradicate disease and has been somewhat useful on that front. For example, in a world wide campaign, mostly financed by the USA, the WHO has successfully eliminated Small Pox.

But when it comes to “protecting people” the UN has been an even more miserable failure than the League of Nations before it. The UN was created to stop conflicts. It hasn’t stopped even one. Everyone knows the reason the UN was created in the first place was to act as a global body that would stop all conflicts. And since the inception of the UN in 1945, we’ve had countless wars, civil wars and genocides.

The UN is not a state. It hasn’t the power to order any country to do anything. One need only look at 50 years of ignoring at least 66 UN resolutions by the Israeli government to see proof of that. The UN is not a state, it is an international organization. It cannot control the actions of any state, member or not, it can only try to convince the state to change it’s actions. If a state commits aggression, the UN can only take actions against it if the other members of the UN decide to – which is nearly impossible as the UN is used as a political tool to advance the interests – both politically and economically – of the major player imperialist nations.

De facto the UN has been a tool of mostly US imperialism since its inception. It was used to cover US military actions in North Korea, and as a cover for numerable US actions and crimes concerning Southeast Asia, South America and, most recently, the Middle East. Remember how the UN was fooled into supporting US actions when Iraq invaded Kuwait? There’s been many other hot spots that the UN miserably failed to intervene and save lives. The Bosnian war and genocide in Rwanda to name a few.

And, once again, let’s not forget the total failures of the UN to do anything about US and NATO led wars in the Middle East over these last 20 + years.

Oh, and did I forget Palestine? No? OK, I’ll say that again too. Let’s hear what the Palestine Telegraph has to say about the warm support those people have received from the UN all these years:

Since its inception the United Nations has failed the people of Palestine, especially those living in the Gaza Strip. It predecessor, the League of Nations, also had many failings which eventually led to its demise and collapse. It is obvious that the UN of today is clearly not working and in many cases has no strength or accountability. We frequently see a majority vote take place but then when it gets into the hands of the Security Council (the elite few) it fizzles out, either by someone abstaining or using their trump card, the dreaded veto.

But enough about my total disregard for the United Nations. When I asked for an explanation of this petition for the completely illegal and impossible task of the UN taking over a private company, this is the document I was sent.

The text of the petition is online in English and in Japanese (and it can be signed) at http://www.appealforfukushima.com:

“APPEAL FOR FUKUSHIMA”

Considering the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states:

Article 1 : All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 3 : Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Considering the current situation of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which endangers the Japanese population and the rest of the world, and considering the inability of the utility TEPCO and the Japanese government to manage the situation,

We, the peoples of the Earth, appeal to the UN, WHO and all international organizations and governments. We ask:

1. The establishment of an international, interdisciplinary team with authority to take over management of the plant in Fukushima Daiichi and its consequences, under a UN mandate

2. The establishment of a crisis team within the UN responsible for implementing all measures necessary to protect the Japanese people at any price whatsoever.

We are human beings born free and equal. With reason and conscience, we act in a spirit of brotherhood. We are concerned for the life, liberty and security of our Japanese brothers and our children.

This sounds wonderful. The idea that the UN could or should take over in a situation like this is completely illegal and a wild pipe-dream. I hope these people can become more realistic and use their efforts and energy for more practical and useful endeavors in the future. This is nothing short of socialist day-dreaming.

I think petitions and fax campaigns, especially to an organization like the UN, are a total and complete waste of time. Why don’t these folks do something for real like making an effort or donating time or money.

Clicking a mouse is BS.

But, hey! Don’t listen to me. Good luck with the campaign.

Japan is Much Freer than the USA

Recently, I went back to the USA. I briefly mentioned it in passing on this blog as I went there to help a dear old friend take care of business because his wife passed away. Bless her soul. I wasn’t there for vacation.


I didn’t write about “that place” (USA) because, after living in a peaceful and civilized country (Japan) for so many years, and watching the USA turn from the world’s worst aggressor nation into the world’s worst aggressor nation and fascist police state, I’ve come to despise everything about the USA. And make no mistake about it, America has become what it has and that is the fault of average Joe-blow Mr. & Mrs. America.


As Ted Rall writes:

“For all the admirable qualities of the American people – love of rock ‘n’ roll, deep-fried food, and hugely impractical cars, and ridiculous movies featuring numerous explosions – Americans are not the smartest. They are an easily confused lot.”


They’ve also let their country go to hell while still believing that everything is OK.


My friend asked me why I didn’t write about my visit in detail this time and I thought to myself, “what can I say that I haven’t already said?” In 2005, I wrote an article entitled “America is Bankrupt” which Lew Rockwell told me was the #2 most read article on his web site for that year... When I wrote that article, I got blasted by many Americans saying that I was wrong. If you read that article now, it sounds like “same old same old” nothing special or nothing new. I told him that I have nothing good to say about America so it’s just best for me to ignore the dead.


Japan blows the USA away for a great place to live. There’s a million and one things about Japan that is better than the USA and much more free than the USA. The USA is a busybody nanny state.


I won’t go into specifics. Why bother? I’ve done that a hundred times.


Here’s a short vignette by my friend who is from San Francisco and living in northern Japan. Read this and think deeply about what is being said. It is about freedom and the fabric of society. If you understand this, then you can see why Japan is a much better place to live than the USA.


Here is his letter:


Dear Mike,


Went to the beach with my 9 year old and 2 of her friends this Sunday afternoon.  It was a warm day and the beach wasn’t crowded.  No cops anywhere in sight;  the lifeguard was there, but hidden from view and totally unobtrusive.


I drank a can of ice cold beer that I bought at the corner liquor store a block from the beach.  Just one can.  No one said a word about it.


The children went in the ocean and I kept an eye on them.  Everyone was well behaved on the entire beach.  No loud radios, drunks, bums, or slobs.  No trash. No one allowing their dog to run around unleashed and harass people.



An 8-ish year old girl shows up with a 2-ish year old looking child, probably siblings.  The 8-year-old wraps the child up in towels just like a Japanese mother would do, to keep the sun off the child’s skin.  I looked closely to see, yet no parents are in sight.  The older child places the younger child in an inner tube and they spend several hours floating around and enjoying themselves.  Another Dad and I take turns keeping an eye on the nearby children, but they never need to be admonished, playing respectfully together and laughing.  When I go in the water I leave my valuables in a waist pouch on the beach, with no fear at all that anyone would steal anything.


We all wash off at the public beach shower and walk home.  Stopping for ice cream along the way.   At 5PM, a friend of my 9-year-old rides her bike home, about a 15 minute ride to the other side of town.


Admittedly, it’s not exciting like Tokyo and I hope you are still awake.     If you read between the lines, you may understand how this vignette represents a very particular way of life in many respects.  It would be easy to contrast this to my experiences in America, many of which were good as I lived in San Francisco, a most beautiful part of the world.


There’s more to this letter, but in each paragraph, there’s a list of mundane everyday things that are done in civilized, sane countries yet they cannot be done in the USA anymore.


The USA the freest nation on earth? How wonderful it is to be overweight, drugged out, addicted to TV and seeing the world through rose-colored glasses.



Read the rest of this letter and more wonderful insight at Andy’s Japan Adventures: http://andysjapanadventures.blogspot.com/

In Japan, Men are King, but the Women are the Boss

Japan is often thought of as a heaven for men. Japan is thee Man’s Country. There’s lots of things here that are very, for lack of a better term, “beneficial” for men. Just a few off the top of my head are the fact that it isn’t unusual at all for a 45-year-old or 50-year-old man to have a 20-something-year-old wife; while it is frowned upon, it is also often allowed, that married men have affairs with various women and having a mistress is still common. It is also not considered as “having an affair” by many women when her man goes to a sex parlor or so called hostess club and has his frustrations, er, “relieved.”


In my old age, I’ve come to realize that these types of frivolities are not a benefit but a curse. They just cost money and surely, one woman is trouble enough. Also, at my house, even though I am the boss and Lord King of all I survey, my wife is chief financier and she controls the money and budget.


But I digress…


So, in this country, that has the image of a man’s paradise – paradise where a man’s virility is often showcased; where the women walk two steps behind the men, it makes me chuckle whenever I see a Japanese men’s team getting beat in any world sports game. It doesn’t matter if it is baseball, soccer, volleyball, whatever, I’ve always take secret pleasure in seeing the Japan men’s team get beat.


It must be some sort of psychological screw-up in my brain. It’s been that way since I was a kid. I’ve always loved Japan, but I always wanted the Japan men’s teams to lose. It didn’t matter what it was, but it was usually the Olympics, and the Japanese men’s team would consistently come in as an “also ran.” I was happy when they lost.


Which is weird in one way, I always wanted the USA men’s and women’s teams to lose too, but that wasn’t because of the way society is, it’s because I want to always cheer for the underdog, and the USA is never the underdog… Ever! I mean, how could you possibly be the underdog when you have all the money, the best facilities, the best trainers, dietitians, drugs, er, I mean, “sports rehabilitation techniques.”


But this always wanting the Japan men’s teams to lose confused me inside. I mean, if I loved Japan so much, then why did I want their men’s teams to always lose?


I concluded it was because my mom was Japanese and I had this idea that Japan is a very chauvinistic country and that the men dominate the women. I’m sure that I am not the only one with that image in my head either. It must be that everyone thinks so…. Especially us half-Japanese kids who have a Japanese mother that we love dearly…


I guess growing up with the image of a Japanese man treating women as second rate citizens leaves a bad image in the minds of us kids. It isn’t always true, of course, I have to deal with my phobias and stereotypes on my own I suppose.


So, it’s been OK cheering against the Japanese men’s teams because they always lose anyway. Sometimes, I’ve even felt sorry for them…


But there is a Japanese team who I always cheer for and I always am extremely happy when they win. Can you guess which team that is?


It’s the Japanese women’s national team. It doesn’t matter what the sport is, I always want the Japanese women’s national teams to win. And they do! Last night they knocked out two-time defending champion  Germany out of the World Cup 1 – 0! It was the German Women’s Team’s first World Cup defeat since 1999! Woo-Hoo! Go Japan!


Japanese forces penetrate deeply into German territory!


The Japanese national women’s teams win and they win often. Recently, just to name a few, they won at Olympic Softball, Volleyball, Marathon, and they’ve done OK at other sports like table tennis and synchronized swimming (arguably not a sport!)… So I enjoy it when the women’s teams win.


Perhaps it is a twisted satisfaction that I get from watching these poor ladies, as representatives of the female half of their society, actually showing the guys how to win…. Something that the guy’s teams rarely do (excepting the two times they lucked out in baseball). Perhaps it is because I feel a sort of revenge for my mother.


I don’t know what it is. But, when the Japan women’s teams win, it feels good just because I get some sort of childish feeling of revenge or satisfaction (even though I don’t really care about any sports).


So the Japan women’s teams showing the men’s teams how to win is great fun. It proves that times they are a changin’ and that women are taking their place, slowly but surely, in Japan….


That, and the fact that in 80% of all Japanese households, the wife holds the purse strings and controls all the money and finances it makes me wonder if this really is a man’s country or is it that the men are all children and the women are the adults and are de facto controlling them!


Of course, that is nonsense and poppycocky. In Japan, men are king. The wives merely win all the time and control the money.


That’s all.

More New Taxes Disguised as Laws to Protect the Public

The Japanese government keeps enacting new laws to “protect the public” but they are actually new taxes to help municipal governments cover their fast growing red-ink. Here is another story about a new law that was just enacted about two months ago..


In yesterday’s news report, Japan took a huge jump towards the victor in the title of Nanny State of 2011 by ticketing a cyclist for viewing photos on a cell phone! She wasn’t talking on a cell phone, she was viewing photos!!!???… This is really getting ridiculous. But the devil is even worse in the details. Read on!



Japan Today reports


KANAGAWA —

Police have charged a teenager for using a cell phone while cycling, in the first such case of its kind in Japan, Nikkan Gendai reported on Wednesday.

Around 9:30 p.m. last Sunday, a patrolman in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, cited a 15-year-old female high school student for a traffic offense. The girl had been riding her bicycle while viewing images on a cell phone and repeatedly disregarded warnings to desist viewing the phone.

The cop was yelling at this girl to stop looking at her cell phone? Hell yes, she’d ignore the cop. Who wouldn’t? I’d think he was nuts.


“Don’t look at me! Don’t you F*cking look at me!”


The incident marked the first time for Kanagawa police to invoke the revised traffic ordinance, aimed at discouraging so-called “nagara unten” by cyclists who talk on cell phones or listen to music players while in motion. It went into effect on May 1.

“She apparently thought cyclists were not subject to traffic regulations,” the source was quoted as saying, adding that violators may be fined up to 50,000 yen.

Catch that part: “…listen to music players while in motion….” This means drivers of cars, bikes, whatever. Next obvious step is to make it a fine to wear headphones while jogging or walking on crowded public sidewalks. But wait a minute!!! What law did this girl violate? She wasn’t listening to music and she wasn’t talking on a cell phone. She was allegedly looking at photos!!!


Any competent lawyer should be able to throw this crap out in a second… But it won’t go to that. This girl will pay the fine and the cop will go on his merry way interpreting the law anyway he sees fit. Is this arbitrary or what?


And, get serious, ¥50,000 yen (about $600 USD) for looking at a cellphone or listening to an ipod while driving or riding a bike? Really? This is “protecting the public”? Doubtful.


This is beginning to sound a lot like the stupid arbitrary laws in the USA. Like the new law that, if enacted, will make it illegal to upload a song to Youtube that has you lip-syncing to a track sung by a famous artist… That would include your eight-year-old girl who does a great Lady Gaga impression too.

Still, Japan only fines people for dumb laws. The penalty for uploading a lip sync video to Youtube in the USA would be a maximum five years in prison. Japan may be f’ed up with these idiotic laws too, but we’re still way behind – and a much freer nation – than the USA is.

But being a freer nation than the USA is not much to brag about these days. This cell phone while cycling law is ridiculous.

These kinds of stupid laws are supposedly enacted by the government to “protect” the public but they are defacto another tax and a new way for the government to collect monies from us.

It is the same with seat belt laws, motorcycle helmet laws, smoking laws, and a whole litany of other ridiculous laws that the government creates ostensibly to protect us (From who? ourselves, of course).

In the case of seat belt laws or helmet laws, it should be obvious to anyone who is still awake that we don’t need these types of laws to “protect us” as there is such a thing as “insurance” in case something happens to us… And if some guy wants to drive his car without a seat belt, is he hurting you or me? Why are we being taxed to stop a guy like that? It’s absurd.

Everyone knows that not waring a seat belt or a helmet might be dangerous. Everyone knows that using a cell phone while riding a bike might be risky, but – with or without these laws – people will still do it. And why not? It is their life. Putting a fine on this girl, for example, certainly will not stop her from riding her bike and using her cellphone, she’ll just be more careful to make sure the gestapo doesn’t see her doing it next time.

“Papers please!”


If we really want to prevent accidents, then let’s take this type of nanny state mentality to its logical conclusion and outlaw all behavior that is even a tiny bit risky as that way we can alleviate all accidents and abolish accident, car, boat and fire insurance forever.

Of course, that is an impossibility…. But it is an excellent way to raise revenues!

People who do not see the absurdity of these taxes disguised as laws to protect society shouldn’t be surprised when the new taxes come in on other ridiculous stuff, like, say, using a headphone or iPod like device in a public place.

Say, great idea! In order to “protect” us the government institutes a new tax on little white earbud headphones and uses the money for research to prevent hearing loss!

Laugh now, if you will, but you “heard” it here first.