ArtfromArk

China quit buying anthracite coal from Australia because China felt “slighted” by something some Australian said, so they quit buying Australian anthracite, even anthracite that was already in Chinese ports. India said that it would by that anthracite, no problem. As a result, China started scrambling to buy lower-grade coal from Mongolia and…[Read more]

If you buy a brand new car, you get a 3-year inspection. After that, inspections are required every 2 years. Inspections are very rigorous, to keep klunkers off the roads. It used to be that inspections were required every year after a car reached its 11th year, but now it’s every 2 years, no matter how old the car is. However, parts become harder…[Read more]

except, perhaps, mild painkillers for lower back pain. They tend to stay out of the vaccine debate, since no Japanese chiropractors administer any vaccines. I haven’t noticed the need to visit a health care professional since then. They’ve just relieved the restrictions for entering a public gym have been lifted, and I am glad for that. Everyone…[Read more]

Rock mining, and brine mining. Australia is the leader in rock mining, while the “Lithium Triangle” of Chile, Bolivia and Argentine, are the “brine” leaders.  “Brine mining” is probably better for the environment. The thing is, though, if you want electric vehicles (EVs), you’ll probably have to choose between one or the other.

and Suga was some sort of dyed-in-the-wool right-wing Japanese nationalist. Now they’re backing different candidates. LOL!

And for your information, Suga was never any sort of frothing-at-the-mouth right-wing nutcase who was longing for the days of the pre-war Japanese Empire, as you portrayed him to be.

Really, you don’t seem to have a CLUE…[Read more]

Would you rather live in NORTH Korea, or SOUTH Korea?

It’s CHINA that is taking the aggressive approach. China never had a “claim” to the islands, until it found out that there were potential gas fields in the area. Then suddenly, “Those islands are CHINESE”

which makes them fairly easy to detect. The US-UK nuclear subs are much harder to detect. When Australia learned about that, they wanted to get out of their deal with France. I have no idea why Australia signed the deal with France in the first place, but it would be worth looking into how the original deal was made.

A previous Democratic governor, Gray Davis, was “recalled” because he was investigating the then- California “energy crisis” (instigated by Enron and other out-of-state “energy” companies), and he had no chance to run in the recall election. In his place, California got a foreign-born action movie actor as governor, and he promptly shut down…[Read more]

that Douglas MacArthur did a lot for Japan by giving the country a decent constitution.

when he went before the UN holding up a vial of what looked like powdered milk and claiming the Saddam was producing anthrax.

didn’t seem to do too much to keep us out of Afghanistan and Iraq.

and I’ve never had the flu since at least 1968/69 (Hong Kong flu),  although I question whether I even had it then, since I only had a few “flu” symptoms, and the shot of penicillin I get then seemed to take care of all my symptoms.

The Bible talks about having to show the “mark of the Beast” to buy or sell anything, and that applies to almost anyone, in any part of the world. Covid has shut down lots of things around the world, and now New York restaurants and other public venues there are requiring “Covid passports” for admittance, even though Covid inoculations don’t seem…[Read more]

Gray Davis tried to investigate the California Energy Crisis of the early 2000s, and for his efforts was subjected to a recall election that he couldn’t even run in. At a result, California voters got stuck with an action movie actor as governor, and the energy crisis was quietly swept under the rug. This time, since the Republicans couldn’t…[Read more]

I would not be surprised, since getting a “Covid passport” is increasingly looking like a “mark of the Beast” scenario. Hold your Covid passport in your right hand to buy shit. Or better yet, have it embedded in your forehead so we can just scan it with our “reader”.

With that cast of characters, I’d avoid it like the plague! If it’s not the Beatles, it’s not Sgt. Peppers.

As for myself, I have spent the last few decades in “boring” Japan. After reading about all the crap that has happened elsewhere, I’ve really started to appreciate this country.

Of course, my vote didn’t matter since it was in a state that has always voted for the Republican since 1972, unless the Democrat was a Southern governor. And even then, the state went for Reagan versus Carter in 1980.

China is cracking down on democratic protests in Hong Kong despite the conditions set forth in the 1997 handover, and mowed down thousands of protestors for democratic reforms in 1989. China is currently threatening to take democratic Taiwan by force, and has cracked down on minorities in Inner Mongolia and other parts of the country. China is…[Read more]