Opus 2019-083: Headlines: How Dare You

When you travel you pass through points of broadcast but don’t always get the whole story.  Since it is questionable that the Fake News and Semi-Fake news outlets ever had the whole story you can imagine how little we really know.

Most of us have heard about the fire at Notre Dame cathedral.  You may have heard about how the pledges and donations are pouring in to the tune of a billion dollars.  I find that encouraging.  There are people in the world who are willing to do what they can to restore a world, historical and spiritual landmark. 

Then things get murky.  It seems that the “yellow vests” of Paris are not happy about all this generosity.  They seem to be upset that people are giving their own money to support their own concerns and none of it is being syphoned off by the government to the people in yellow vests.  Here is where it gets into the Land of the Fake.  How much of what we are hearing is true or even half-truth? 

I have not taken a position on the yellow vest protestors.  It is a French thing.  I do know I have expressed the point that people who protest this way are not so much against high taxes as they are against any kind of demand that they pay their way.  I would say that if they are really angry that people are giving to rebuild the church then they are simply snowflakes in yellow vests.  We know that we are to be leery of yellow snow.  Maybe the same goes for yellow vests. 

Why do people want to donate to rebuild the cathedral?  There could be many reasons but a big one for a Frenchman is insurance.  Keep in mind that the French are culturally and historically Roman Catholic but they don’t go to church much.  They like to have it there in case there is an emergency.  They make big donations because they believe it will make a difference.  Historically we would call them indulgences.  When I was young it was demonstrated in a movie called Lilies of the Field.  The main character played by Sidney Poitier was asking a businessman why he had donated a big item in rebuilding the local church.  The business man had already said he did not believe the religious stuff.  His reason, “Insurance”.  If you believe in hell you could call it fire insurance.

I hope they get the damage repaired without any tax money involved.  I won’t be donating but I wish them well.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-082: Firsts: Japanese Trains

When you travel by airplane local transportation is always an issue.  If you are going to a small English town and staying at a bed and breakfast with a lot of hiking trails around, all you need is a pair of good shoes.  In rural Japan where we will end up you need a car to get anywhere because of distances.  In Tokyo it seems that you follow the old, “When in Rome...” mantra because most people here get around on trains. 

In Tokyo there are trains everywhere and to everywhere.  They run on time.  The stations are clean with all kinds of maps and aids to reaching destinations.  It is a system that works if you like that kind of thing.  Tokyo is a big city in area as well as population.  In Boston, where I lived for three years, the population was not large but the area was small so mass transit worked well.  In Los Angeles you have an area larger than Tokyo with a large population but I can’t see mass transit working as it does in Japan.  The Japanese seem to thrive on the situation. 

In American subway systems you have masses of people crowding on the platforms.  When the train pulls in it is a winner takes all kind of attitude.  Not so in Tokyo.  When you come into the station you see people quietly lined up and waiting patiently.  They have arrows on the floor and labels for feet where the first person lines up.  Others patiently line up behind.  When the train pulls up they wait for people to get off and then file on without pushing or shoving.  The Japanese are a very orderly bunch, at least on the metro. 

Signs are usually in four languages: Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English.  On some lines they make announcements in English.  It is designed for large groups of foreign travelers.

You still have to do a lot of walking.  At the end of the day we are feeling it.  Or it could just be that I am getting old and am out of shape.  Or it could be both.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-081: Election 2020, Looking Good

I don’t know what Joe Biden is taking but I think I want some.  Lest you think I have totally gone around the bend, I am not talking about what he has to say.  My default on my computer is to have the sound turned off, so I don’t know what he is talking about.  I am not sure he knows either but that is another issue.

I am talking about the Fountain of Youth that he seems to have found.  I don’t have any idea if it is a face lift, botox, an Academy Award make up man or a sudden commitment to clean living.  The man could be mistaken for his grandson. 

It tells us some things.  One, it tells us he is serious about running for president.  Often you hear that one way to judge whether someone is going for it is to watch and see if they lose weight.  With Biden it took the form of a youth pill.  Another thing it tells us is his ego is alive.  When I look in a store window I wonder who the old man is.  The question has never driven me to color my hair or buy news clothes.  Nothing will make me younger.  Evidently Biden feels different.

The critics have talked about his behavior being creepy.  That may be true but I can see that his youthful glow makes him look that way.  No matter what he does he is still an old, white dude.  That is not a problem in my book.  The problem is that he still has old, Democrat ideas.

The primaries are almost on us.  Time to wake up and smell the botox.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-080: Principles and Promises

If I were ever foolish enough to run for elected office I would make sure that my campaign was based on principles and not promises.  One of the current hot topics is immigration.  A promise to close the border is almost impossible to achieve.  Saying that we should build the wall shows where your heart is.  Saying abortion is wrong is not the same as promising to make it illegal. 

One of the problems with campaign promises is that there is often a lot you don’t know about an issue.  Suppose I was running for city council in San Francisco.  If I were making promises I would claim that I would rid the streets of feces.  Since it is a constantly renewable resource, that would really be impossible.  Instead I would say that I believe the streets could be much cleaner than they are.  Press me and I would give more principles but when any one of the city workers’ unions could put a veto to a program, details would be useless.

We need to focus on principles.  I realize that it is not an instant cure.  Promising “transparency” in government didn’t do much to make things clear.  Like any move to improve our lives and our country it requires constant attention by individual citizens.  Sometimes that will involve being the one who calls “foul” and other times simply supporting that prophet.  It has been a long time since I read “The Kings New Clothes” but if I remember correctly it was not the child calling out the king was naked that embarrassed the king.  It was the adults that were shaken out of their stupor, looked at each other and saw the truth in other eyes.  That was the moment things began to change.

So even if you can’t be the child, be the adult.  Look for opportunities to stand on principle.  You and I may disagree on when life begins but we can agree that killing innocent children is not the answer to pregnancy.

At least I hope we can.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-079: Dating Game

One of the strange things about traveling half way around the world is posting on one day and seeing it dated by Blogger the day before.  It is something that plays with your head.

I should have expected it.  When we would connect from Texas to Japan we had to get used to the idea that it might be a different day.  Generally I would ignore the day an just concentrate on the time.  If it was 5:00 P.M. in Texas then it was going to be somewhere in the 5:00 A.M. stretch in Japan.  If you cared it was the next day there but generally I did not pay that much attention to detail.

I am used to looking for certain things on certain days.  For instance Stilton’s Place posted on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  In Japan it comes on different days.  Power Line has “The Week in Pictures” on Saturday morning.  Not on Saturday morning in Japan.

You learn to adjust.  When I get home I will need to unadjust.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-078: Firsts: Air Raid

To you it would have been just another headline.  Rocket Man launched another missile.  Ho, Hum.  The news article said it was short range, meaning a maximum of 120 miles.  I wonder what’s for dinner.

It is a little different when you are on an Air Force base in Japan.  Suddenly the speakers start blaring something about “Real World!  Incoming missile!”  It definitely gets your attention.  Or it would have if they had repeated it a few times.  Our first real clue about what was in the announcement was when the playground across the street suddenly emptied.  There wasn’t much that could be done.  We closed the windows and pulled the shades.  I found out that the best source of information was Facebook.

Although most of the posters were just as confused as we were, we at least knew that something was up.  It was also the first place we knew that there was an “all clear”.  At last Facebook has a reason to exist.  One comment also directed us to a news article about the launch on the internet.  It was a great illustration of government efficiency.  The news article was posted an hour before the alert.  By the time we were told to duck, the missile had been in the ocean for 40 minutes. 

It was an interesting day.  It was a good reminder of what our military and their families go through around the world.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-077: Firsts: Anonymous

One of the adventures of travel is trying new foods.  In Japan there is usually an English subtitle or special menu for foreigners.  Sometimes you have to ask but it is there somewhere.  Of course part of the adventure is trying mystery foods.  Yesterday after coming back from a sushi restaurant we stopped at Family Mart. 

In Japan there are three large chains of stores for a quick bite: Seven-Eleven, Lawson Station and Family Mart.  They are all similar to a 7/11 in the states with different specialties.  For the 100 yen snack crowd it is Family Mart.  One reason I like it is the selection.  The other reason is that they have more frequent English sub titles.  You need to stay alert.  My son showed me one that I thought said cheese-somethings.  He told me to look again and it was cheese-fish-somethings.  I thought I had learned the lesson last time I was here when I went to Mr. Donut and picked out what looked like a cream filled pastry.  The first bite told me that the filling was creamed fish.  Surprise!  Surprise! 

Many of the things you buy only give you a cute picture.  We got what we thought was a lemon meringue cream puff.  All the label told us was “Happy Taste”.  It was not what we expected.  We are not sure what it was.  It was good, but a mystery. 

We went to the Cherry Blossom Festival.  The blooms were beautiful.  At night they had them lit up so the entire park glowed and the glow was often reflected in pools and moats.  The second attraction was the food stalls.  It was like going to the state fair and everyone with a rice cooker showed up.  We tried all kinds of things.  Some we really enjoyed.  Some were one bite wonders. 
If you are really bored you can find McDonald’s on occasion but don’t count on the menu being the same. 

I had a lot of firsts but I don’t know what they were.

homo unius libri