This is my last post about Japan, and it contains a few random thoughts tied to my visit to Kyoto and Osaka. And when I say random, I do mean random…. Japan is exquisite — and its people compulsive. There are a few obvious things to say about Japan. It [Read More]
Veterans’ Tales by Vassar Bushmills You already know the story of my first visit to Manos, the Russian spy-restaurant in Tokyo. It was 1972. It was run by two brothers from Pittsburgh, former OSS officers during WWII, and within shouting distance of the Soviet embassy, where, at the end of every visit, I’d [Read More]
Trump’s decision to change the paradigm with North Korea illustrates the precept in my annual Passover post: Tyrannies must be decapitated, not placated. Starting with Bill Clinton, America fawned over North Korea’s tyrannical rulers, sending them money and promising not to hurt them. In those same years, North Korea’s rulers [Read More]
Vassar Bushmills Donald Trump has a habit of heading down a rabbit hole where only he knows he hopes it will lead. He keeps friend and foe alike guessing, so even when he comes out of that hole smelling like a rose, no one can be sure whether he just [Read More]
The horror in Florida hasn’t shattered my faith in the Second Amendment. Let me explain why — and please join in the discussion. I came home from a scintillating talk by Evan Sayet (which I’ll write about later) to find awaiting me the news that there was a shooting at [Read More]
I believe evil exists, but I fear I’ll miss it when it’s present or, worse, find evil where none exists. How do you define evil to avoid such mistakes? I was listening to Dennis Prager this morning (something I can do now that I signed up for Pragertopia, which has [Read More]
President Trump is in Japan and CNN Fake News. is working overtime to manufacture lies about it. The frenetic reach by CNN for ratings from an ever-shrinking anti-Trump base embarrassed the Washington Post to the point where Aaron Blake called the nutty network out. The first was a feeding frenzy literally. [Read More]
For a different perspective, today’s Bookworm Beat arrives at your computer thanks to Wolf Howling, who likes serious news with a touch of the surreal. Arab construction worker writes “good morning” on FB in Arabic. Facebook auto translator translates it as “attack them.” Israeli police arrest him before noting the [Read More]
Tonight marks the beginning of Passover 5778. Donald Trump’s targeted attack on Syria indicates that he understands the import of this timeless story. In mid-2009, a few months into Barack Obama’s presidency, Iran had its Green Revolution, when tens of thousands of brave Iranians took to the streets in Tehran [Read More]
Japan has a new growth industry that would have made the Samurai lose their composure totally…clubs and agencies featuring what amounts to male geishas for lonely women! There are a growing number of wealthy, successful Japanese women that have all but given up on traditional dating and would rather spend [Read More]
One of my friends sent me a joke about care for the elderly. Then I read the news and discovered that, thanks to demographic decline, it’s no joke in Japan. My email and my news reading converged today. In the morning, I discovered a very funny joke in my inbox [Read More]
By Scott Kirwin, cross posted at TheRazor.org Series links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5 This month marks the 20th anniversary of my return to the United States after 5 years spent living abroad, mostly in Kyoto Japan. To mark this anniversary and to explore what I learned [Read More]
By Scott Kirwin, cross-posted at TheRazor.org Series links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5 This month marks the 20th anniversary of my return to the United States after 5 years spent living abroad, mostly in Kyoto Japan. To mark this anniversary and to explore what I learned from [Read More]
By Scott Kirwin, cross posted at TheRazor.org Series links: Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 This month marks the 20th anniversary of my return to the United States after 5 years spent living abroad, mostly in Kyoto Japan. To mark this anniversary and to explore what I learned [Read More]
By Scott Kirwin, cross-posted at TheRazor.org Series links: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 This month marks the 20th anniversary of my return to the United States after 5 years spent living abroad, mostly in Kyoto Japan. To mark this anniversary and to explore what I learned from [Read More]
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