Palm Sunday

 with some help from Instaisabella:

WaPoo, Thousands cheer on defiant palm tree as Typhoon Shanshan hits Japan

Typhoon Shanshan’s path across Japan has been closely watched by many as it blasts the country with torrential rain and raging winds. But as the deadly storm made landfall this week, others were glued to a live stream featuring a solitary palm tree standing up to the fiercely inclement weather, showing us that not all heroes wear capes — some wear fronds.

As the storm approached, the almost 12-hour stream by a Japanese weather station captured the lanky tree on the coast of Kyushu, the country’s southwestern-most main island, whipping back and forth violently — but never toppling. The dramatic display of resilience won the hearts of thousands online, many of whom flooded the comments to root for the tree — known affectionately as “Yasshi” — to survive.

Linked at The Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Sunday Morning Coffee up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Feds Hand Inside Information to Blackrock and JP Morgan

 Not surprisingly, as the Balmer Sun reports Maryland delegation introduces bill for Congress to fully fund ‘gargantuan task’ of replacing Key Bridge. I would never have thought otherwise. Somebody at the Sun in scandalized that A ship nearly identical to that which collapsed the Key Bridge still sails the seas. Here’s what we know. "Over its seafaring life, the Cezanne has been cited for many more “deficiencies” than the Dali during port inspections, but neither ship had one so significant that it was prevented from sailing." It's a ship. There's something always going wrong on a ship. 

At Twitchy, Democrats Learn What 'FAFO' Means As Two Red States Threaten to Remove Biden From 2024 Ballot. Alabama and Ohio, neither of which are in Biden's column. However, it could deny Biden the coveted "popular vote" victory. Ryan King at NYPo says Biden mocked for shuffling around White House lawn with dazed look during Japanese PM ceremony. Nick Arama at RedState, Biden's 'Weekend at Bernie's' Moment - Also Needs Cheat Sheet for Most Basic Remarks With Japanese PM. Hat Hair's KT notes Japanese Prime Minister Quoted Star Trek in Toast to Biden as Biden Almost Forgot to Raise a Glass.

Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker ♟@PelosiTracker_ "BREAKING: Is this not insider trading? Blackrock and JP Morgan were leaked insider inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, giving their traders an edge on their bets They along with other Hedge Funds were on a special email list called "Super Users."" Ace, Fathomless Corruption: The Bureau of Labor Statistics Shared Confidential Information About the Economy with "Superusers" Like Hedge Funds and Blackrock, Before That Data Was Shared With the Public. "Several points: Hedge funds and giant investment groups like Blackrock are infamously leftwing and Democratic. I guess it just worked out that way! . . . This country is just lie upon lie. The Regime are monsters and they need to be in prison. " At Market Watch there is a ‘Serious possibility’ that Fed’s next rate move is a hike, warns Larry Summers. Hat Hair's Beege Welborn has a Bidenomics Update: Staggering Under the Weight of It All. Hat Hair's John Stossel fears a A Ban on Freelance Work via a Biden executive order. From TAG, Biden: ‘Absolutely’ More ‘Executive Action’ Gun Control Measures Coming. 

From WaEx, Mayorkas admits to Congress that border is in ‘crisis’. Meanwhile, Breitbart reports Democrats Vote Against Bill Adding Citizenship Question to Census. Don't turn on the lights, 'cause I don't want to see. Austin Bay at the Strategy Page On Point: As Israel Crushes Hamas, Aid Ukraine and Secure American Borders " Three invasions with extraordinary global impact and history-shaping consequences have occurred since January 2021 -- the month Joe Biden became America's president and his administration began directing U.S. foreign and federal domestic policy. The invasions in reverse chronological order: 1. Hamas' October 2023 genocidal invasion of Israel. Hamas is committed to Israel's elimination, which means committing genocide. 2. Vladimir Putin-led Russia's February 2022 all-out conventional attack to seize Ukraine. 3. The illegal alien disruption and "political transformation" invasion that began in spring 2021 after Biden, by presidential directive, effectively ended U.S. border controls."

At Hat Hair, Kennedy Stumps Witness When He Asks Her to Back Up Her Own Claims. "Senator John Kennedy has made a fool out of yet another witness, this time, Zorka Millin, policy director at the FACT Coalition."

Kurt Schlichter at TownHall says it's Time to Rethink Your Never Trumpism "Now, this column isn’t directed towards the professional Never Trumper dorks, the treacherous weirdos who make a living off of going on MSNBC and selling out their former allies. This is for the Republicans who have thought about it and have a real problem with Donald Trump. I get it, even if I don’t agree." Never-Anybody-But-Trump sundance at CTH calls him Pragmatic, Always Seeking Optimal Solutions. WaEx reports Trump declares he would not sign national abortion ban, states Arizona Supreme Court abortion ruling went too far. Stephen Kruiser at PJM thinks Republicans Should Refocus on School Choice Amid All of the Dems' Abortion Noise, Jazz Shaw at Hat Hair asks Has Trump Filed for a Divorce From the Pro-Life Movement?   John Davidson at Da Fed whines On Abortion, Donald Trump Goes The Way Of Stephen A. Douglas. Matt Vespa at TownHall asks Is This the Clearest Example of Trump Breaking the Minds of Liberals in Our Newsrooms? Joe Concha@JoeConchaTV "I mean... there's no shot this wasn't intentional. Big Fish@BigFish3000 "LA Times inserts Trump’s name into OJ Simpson story by “mistake”. Has to make corrections."" PJM's Stephen Kruiser presents the Trump Derangement Syndrome Meltdown of the Week—Monumentally Debunked 'Bloodbath' Lie Edition. Becky Noble at RedState sees Pressure From TV Networks for Presidential Debates Mounts - Will Democrats Wiggle Out of It or Can They?  At NYPo, Trump team demands early debates against Biden ‘anytime, anyplace and anywhere’: letter. Hat Hair's Capt Ed comments "It's a smart messaging strategy, even if the media will likely ignore it for a while. Biden's not going to get on stage with Trump under any circumstances; he can't afford to expose his advancing cognitive decline. Instead, he'll declare Trump unworthy of engagement -- and Trump will find ways to call Biden out for cowardice." From WaEx,  Speaker Johnson and Trump to hold joint ‘election integrity’ event at Mar-a-Lago. Jeff Carter at Points and Figures says it's  The Withering and Shrinking Middle Class, It's Why Trump Has Traction, And Why Biden Wants to Crush Them. KT at Hat Hair, Trump Raises Money at Georgia Luncheon After Milkshakes and Chicken at Chick-fil-A  "One young woman told Trump that despite what the media says, black Americans support him. She got a hug from the former president." From RCP, Will Black Voters Back Republicans? A Political Science Perspective. Capt. Ed sees a WSJ Poll that suggests A Democrat Identidämmerung in 2024?. Althouse cites "I myself have long been skeptical of the value of increasing turnout, and am also a longtime opponent of mandatory voting...."

"I think most people do not have a duty to vote, even in high-stakes elections. And I have argued that relatively ignorant citizens can often do more good by abstaining from voting than by casting poorly informed votes (though I am also skeptical of arguments that government should try to weed out ignorant voters, primarily because I doubt that it can be trusted to do so in an unbiased way).... I held those views back when increased turnout was generally believed to benefit Democrats, and I continue to hold them today."

Writes Ilya Somin, in "Increased Voter Turnout Now Benefits Republicans/Survey data shows relatively infrequent voters are significantly more likely to support the Trump-era GOP than those who vote more often. Will this change traditional left and right-wing attitudes towards mandatory voting and other policies intended to increase turnout?" (Reason).

Stephen Kruiser sees RFK Jr.'s X-Factor Cred Is Picking Up Steam. "Once more, with feeling: we're not big fans of the polls here at the Morning Briefing. However, for those who do trust the polls, the numbers get unpleasant for Biden in any state where he and Trump are close when RFK Jr. is added to the mix."

At NewsMax, Prosecutors Agree to Delay Bob Menendez's Corruption Trial Over Wife's Health. From the Free Bacon, Cruz Challenger 'Proud' of Endorsement From Soros-Funded Group That Called To Defund Police "'I am proud to earn the endorsement of Reproductive Freedom for All,' says Colin Allred". I suspect Cruz is safe. 

Ben Whedon at JTN reports Judge rejects another Trump effort to delay April 15 trial in DA Bragg case, "Trump has asked Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself for a second time and Trump attorney Emil Bove had argued that the delay was warranted given Merchan had yet to decide on the request." James Burnham at CJ says  No More Special Counsels. "It’s past time to put an end to one of the most destructive regimes in American law enforcement."

From Twitchy, Christopher Wray SQUIRMS When Pressed on Biden’s Classified Documents, Mar-a-Lago Raid. 

BOMBSHELL.🚨

"Are you aware that there is an audio recording of Joe Biden saying to his ghostwriter in 2016: 'I just found all the classified documents stuff downstairs'?"

Watch FBI Director Chris Wray squirm as Rep. Elise Stefanik grills him on the Biden classified docs… pic.twitter.com/MqtLNHyvxp

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) April 11, 2024

Hat Hair's Dave Strom feigns surprise that The Fed Worked to Take Down Trump? James O'Keefe@JamesOKeefeIII "BREAKING, INSIDE THE FEDERAL RESERVE: Hidden Camera captures Principal Economist @federalreserve talking about Jerome Powell’s legacy as “somebody who held the line against like, Trump.” The influential agency responsible for maintaining a stable monetary system appears to not just be establishing interest rates, but to be setting policies for desired social outcomes." Sundance as a triple on the reauthorization of FISA 702, Tucker Carlson Discusses FISA-702 Reauthorization, President Trump Opposes FISA 702 Reauthorization – Surveillance Authority Expires April 19th and Inside Baseball Stuff on FISA 702 Reauthorization – The Stuff You Never See Explained. Fred Lucas at Da Signal, Weaponization Panel Disappointed With GOP Leadership on FISA Reform. 

Rusty Weiss at PI, Anti-Israel Protesters Shut Down Congressional Cafeteria, Shout ‘Senate Can’t Eat Until Gaza Eats’ That's a little insurrectiony isn't it? Capt. Ed wonders Are Media Orgs *Trying* to Create New Urban Riots Over a Justified Police Shooting? Probably. 

From Twitchy, Catherine Herridge Tells Congress What She Was Working on When CBS Locked Her Out and Seized Files. Collin Rugg @CollinRugg, "JUST IN: Reporter Catherine Herridge testifies that CBS News locked her out of the building and seized all her files, says she was working with sources to "expose government corruption." Nothing at all going on here, folks. "CBS News’ decision to seize my reporting records crossed a red line that I believe should never be crossed by any media organization." "Multiple sources said they were concerned that by working with me to expose government corruption and misconduct they would be identified and exposed.""

The College Fix infers that the Mayo Clinic argues it has legal right to punish professors for voicing unpopular opinions.

From Althouse, "This is my home!"/"I had a home in Palestine too." "I'm watching the video at "'Please leave!' A Jewish UC Berkeley dean confronts pro-Palestinian activist at his home" (L.A. Times)."  Nicole Silvero at Da Caller , ‘I Don’t Talk To Fox News!’: Rep. Rashida Tlaib Blows Fuse When Reporter Confronts Her about some of her constituents calling for "Death to America." Capt. Ed says "I don't talk to Fox News" is code for "I don't have an answer because I agree with those chants." Dave Strom finds there's No Patriotism Allowed in Seattle. It's 'Triggering.'  Christian Toto@HollywoodInToto, "Flag Shirts Get Dance Team Booted From Competition | http://Newsmax.com." From Da Wire, State Dept’s New DEI Official Said America’s Institutions Are ‘Riddled With Racism,’ Based On A ‘Failed Historical Model’ TownHall's Mia Cathell says You Won't Believe What a Federal DEI Office Sent Agency-Wide. You might be surprised at my willingness to believe stuff like this. 'Bonchie' at RedState notices that After Being Completely Exposed by Its Own Editor, NPR Responds in the Worst Possible Fashion. 

At KarlStack, Lisa Cook's new plagiarism scandal was entirely predictable. John Sexton reports Harvard Reinstates the SAT for Admissions. Althouse, "In Sudden Reversal, Harvard To Require Standardized Testing for Next Admissions Cycle." "The Harvard Crimson reports. . . . In its press release, Harvard referenced a study from Harvard-affiliated initiative Opportunity Insights, led by Brown University economist John N. Friedman ’02 and Harvard economists Raj Chetty ’00 and David J. Deming, which found that SAT scores are a particularly strong predictor of college success – much more so than a student’s high school grade point average...."

At Hat Hair, Larry  presents Here’s Who a Memphis City Council Democrat Is Blaming for Violent Crime in Her District "A Memphis City Councilwoman went on quite the rant when discussing the rise in violent crime in her district and who is to blame. Spoiler alert: It’s not the people committing the crimes."

From Evie, J.K. Rowling Won't Forgive Daniel Radcliffe And Emma Watson For Their Stance On Transwomen, "J.K. Rowling says it's "not safe" to forgive Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson for defending transwomen." Capt. Ed, "I don't blame her a bit. Rowling's creation made them into stars, and Radcliffe and Watson s**t all over her in their rush to virtue-signal and bask in the adulation that followed. An apology -- which so far has not yet even been offered -- hardly covers the betrayal." At Wings over Scotland, Trebling down: 

The Cass Review into gender medicine, which has been almost six long years in the making, was finally published this morning, and despite the fears of some – including us – that it was going to be watered down, it’s turned out to be an  absolutely explosive document even on a quick skim. (It’s 388 pages long.) The most damning aspect, though, is almost certainly this one:


Those quotes annihilate any concept of an “innocent good intentions” defence for the gender clinics. Because if you genuinely believe that you’re doing good, you don’t try to bury all the evidence."

At Spiked Why was gender ideology allowed to run amok for so long? "After the Cass Review, we need to recapture our institutions from this cruel, homophobic cult." 
Leah Barkoukis at TownHall, sees a TalkTV Host Gives 'Epic' Response to Guest Who States Preferred Pronouns at Start of Interview

EPIC. LGBTQ activist gets super triggered after being “misgendered.”

"I'm a very special, non-binary, trans person. You chose to use the incorrect pronouns for me.”

Host @JuliaHB1: "Is it disrespectful for me to use correct, factual grammar?"pic.twitter.com/3fUqH8BfWU

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 10, 2024

From Althouse, "In sharing her preferred title and pronouns, Ms Wood celebrates herself and sings herself – not in a disruptive or coercive way, but in a way that subtly vindicates her identity, her dignity, and her humanity." "Wrote federal district judge Mark Walker, quoted in "Florida can’t ban teacher from asking students to use her preferred pronouns, judge rules/Katie Wood, a transgender algebra teacher, has long gone by ‘Ms Wood’ but the law required students to say 'Teacher Wood'" (Guardian)."

Were the First Americans Japanese?

Stone tools suggest the first Americans came from Japan

Evidence from the Cooper's Ferry archaeological site in Western Idaho shows that people lived in the Columbia River Basin around 16,000 years ago. That's well before a corridor between ice sheets opened up, clearing an inland route south from the Bering land bridge. That suggests that people migrated south along the Pacific coast. Stone tools from the site suggest a possible connection between these first Americans and Northeast Asian hunter-gatherers from the same period.

A piece of charcoal unearthed in the lowest layer of sediment that contains artifacts is between 15,945 and 15,335 years old, according to radiocarbon dating. More charcoal, from the remains of an ancient hearth pit, dated to between 14,075 and 15,195 years old. A few other pieces of bone and charcoal returned radiocarbon dates in the 14,000- to 15,500-year-old range. In higher, more recent layers, archaeologists found bone and charcoal as recent as 8,000 years old, with a range of dates in between.

This makes clear that people had been using the Cooper's Ferry site for a very long time, but it's hard to say whether they stuck around or just kept coming back. "Because we did not excavate the entire site, it is difficult to know if people occupied the site continuously starting at 16,000 years ago," Oregon State University archaeologist Loren Davis told Ars. "I expect that this site was used on a seasonal basis, perhaps as a base camp for hunting, gathering, and fishing activities."
. . .
Davis and his colleagues used a statistical model to calculate how old the very oldest layers of artifacts at the site should be. "The Bayesian model makes predictions about the age of the lower portion of [the excavated layers] based on the chronological trend of known radiocarbon ages in the upper and middle third," Davis explained. According to the model, the very oldest artifacts at Nipéhe are probably between 16,560 and 15,280 years old.

That's about 2,000 to 1,500 years before the great continent-spanning ice sheets of the Pleistocene began to break up. That break-up opened an ice-free corridor southward from the Bering land bridge between the towering sides of the Cordilleran and Laurentian ice sheets. According to computer simulations, that corridor was closed and buried under several kilometers of ice until at least 14,800 years ago, and possibly even later. And that has some important implications for when, and how, people first set foot in the Americas.

If the ice-free corridor wasn't open, the only way to get south of the ice sheets would have been to skirt along the Pacific coast on foot or by boat, moving among locations where the edges of the 4km (2.5 miles) thick glaciers didn't quite reach the Pacific Ocean. Much of Ice Age coastline is now underwater, largely thanks to the melting of those huge glaciers. But there have been a few recent archaeological finds that support the idea that the first humans in the Americans moved south along the coast much earlier 

Genetic evidence, which uses predictable rates of genetic mutations to tell how long ago populations separated from each other, suggests that sometime between 17,500 and 14,600 years ago, the people living south of the ice sheets split up into two major groups, which moved generally northward and generally southward. That lines up well with the timing at Nipéhe.

At this point, there's not really much debate about whether people had arrived in the Americas before the rise of the Clovis culture, the collection of tools and weapons once thought to represent the oldest human activity in the Americas. Clovis appears starting around 13,250 years ago, so some groups were clearly present earlier. Most of the debate now is focused on the route these earlier people took to reach the thawed, habitable parts of North America.

Davis and his colleagues say Nipéhe is strong evidence for the coastal route. "This does not preclude subsequent human migrations through the [ice-free corridor] at a later time, as suggested by paleogenomics," they wrote, "but such possible population movements do not represent the initial peopling of the Americas."

Comparison of Cooper’s Ferry projectile points with late Pleistocene age Tachikawa-type stemmed points from the Kamishirataki 2 site on Hokkaido, Japan. (A) Stemmed projectile point haft fragment from LU3 (B) Illustration of Japanese Upper Paleolithic stemmed projectile point from the Kamishiritaki 2 site (C) Blade fragment of projectile point from LU3 (D) Stemmed projectile point haft fragment from LU3 (E) Illustration of Japanese Upper Paleolithic stemmed projectile point from the Kamishiritaki 2 site as one possible comparison for the reconstructed stemmed projectile point shown in (C) and (D). (F) Stemmed projectile point from PFA2 (73-627). (G) Stemmed projectile point from PFA2 (73-628). (H) Stemmed projectile point from PFA2 (73-626). (I to K) Illustrations of Japanese Upper Paleolithic stemmed projectile points from the Kamishiritaki 2 site

Buried in the Ice Age layers at Nipéhe, Davis and his colleagues found animal bones and discarded stone tools, including bifaces (two-sided handaxes; think of them as prehistoric multi-tools), blades, sharp stone flakes, and fragments of two projectile points. The tool collection didn't look a thing like the fluted projectile points that have become the archaeological calling card of the Clovis culture.

To make a Clovis-style projectile point, the flint-knapper has to chip off a flake from one or both faces at a point right at the base of the object. That creates a small groove (also called a flute), which makes it easier to fit the point onto the shaft of a spear or arrow. But at Nipéhe (and at a few other pre-Clovis sites in the Americas), people took the opposite approach: they shaped the base of the point into a stem to attach to the spear or arrow shaft. Some of the younger stone tools from Nipéhe are about the same age as the Clovis culture, but they're clearly a separate technology.

Stemmed projectile points aren't a recent technology, even by archaeological standards; people figured out that stems made points easier to haft by around 50,000 years ago in Africa, Asia, and the Levant. But there are different ways to shape a chunk of flint into a stemmed point, and the ones at Nipéhe look strikingly similar to stemmed points from Northeast Asia. Similarities are especially strong with items from the Japanese island of Hokkaido, which have turned up at sites dating between 16,000 and 13,000 years ago. (As an interesting side note, stemmed projectile points from a 13,500-year-old site in Kamchatka, in east Russia, were made with a distinctly different style.)

Ainu woman

Hokkaido is the homeland of the Ainu people, group of people in Japan with a distinctly different culture and appearance, who were considered to be "natives" of Northern Japan, Hokkaido, the Sakhalin Islands and the Kurile Islands. The Japanese conquered them, and they have, so some extent been intermingled with the Japanese culture. Could the Ainu be descendants of the common ancestor with the early American immigrants? A lot of population movement can happen in 15,000 years.

Other aspects of the stone tools at Nipéhe also resemble the ones being made and used on Hokkaido at around the same time and slightly earlier. Davis and his colleagues claim that similarity is no coincidence. They suggest that the similar stone tool technology is evidence of a cultural link between the earliest Americans—who arrived on the Pacific coast and migrated southward before moving inland south of the ice sheets—and people in Northeastern Asia.

Ainu woman

The dates line up well; many of the Hokkaido sites with stemmed points are older than Nipéhe, while others are around the same age. That suggests that it's possible for the culture to have originated in Japan and then spread to North America—although it's impossible to guess how many generations removed the people of Nipéhe may have been from their relatives in Hokkaido by the time they dug their hearth pit in Western Idaho.

Well, it's a lot more believable than the Solutrean Hypothesis, the theory that European settlers who made Clovis like points in Europe, crossed the Atlantic, probably in the arctic, to found the Clovis culture in America.

When it gets down to it, projectile points aren't proof. Anybody can learn to make one. Until you get some DNA comparisons, it's all just talk. Maybe educated talk, but still talk.

I Like Tuna but This is Ridiculous

Bluefin tuna sells for record $3.1 million at Tokyo market, but scarcity clouds celebration

A bluefin tuna sold for a record $3.1 million at the first auction of the year at Tokyo's new fish market on Saturday, but behind the celebrations hides a worrying tale of overfishing and dwindling stocks.

Kiyoshi Kimura, who owns the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain, paid 333.6 million yen for the 613-lb (278-kg) fish at the first auction of the year, and the first to be held at Tokyo's new Toyosu fish market after last year's the move from the famous Tsukiji market.

Only $5057/lb?  A steal! Especially when you consider that the highly prized fatty belly meat is only a small fraction of the total. Oh sure, they'll eat the rest (and probably boil the head for fish stock), but it's less valuable.

The price at the predawn auction was nearly 10 times higher than the price paid at last year's auction - albeit for a considerably smaller fish - and roughly double the previous record, also set by Kimura, in 2013. There was an intense bidding war with a rival buyer who had won last year.

The winner said he was "very satisfied with the quality" of the fish but admitted he had paid much more than he had expected. "The tuna looks so tasty and very fresh, but I think I did (pay) a little too much," Kimura told reporters outside the market later, according to news agencies.

For that price, it had better be fresh.

 "The celebration surrounding the annual Pacific bluefin auction hides how deeply in trouble this species really is," said Jamie Gibbon, associate manager of global tuna conservation at The Pew Charitable Trusts. "Its population has fallen to less than 3.5 percent of its historic size and overfishing still continues today."

In response to the growing scarcity of the fish, Japan and other governments agreed in 2017 to strict quotas and restrictions on fishing, in an attempt to rebuild stocks from 20 percent of historic levels by 2034.

That has caused considerable unhappiness and some hardship in Oma.

Oma tuna is known as the "black diamond" of tuna, because fishermen still use traditional manual fishing methods, rather than trawling, allowing them to catch the fish intact.

But to stick to the quota, fishermen there said they decided to go slow in the summer and concentrate instead on fishing in the fall and winter, when tuna fetches a higher price. However, when they ventured out, they found tuna harder to find than usual and catches low, leading to fears in November that the Oma tuna could eventually disappear from the nation's sushi bars - although December's catch was better. 

Hundreds of Japanese fishermen also protested against the new quotas outside the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in June, while Oma also canceled its annual tuna festival in October in protest.

But Gibbon lamented that Japan and other countries were already lobbying for higher catch quotas for 2019, just one year into the 16-year recovery plan, while also noting reports of Japanese fishermen discarding and not reporting dead bluefin to avoid exceeding their quotas.

The traditional commercial response to declining fish stocks, try to fish harder, the sure path to destroying the fishery.

Wombat-socho has Rule Five Sunday: Good Night, Sweet Princess ready at The Other McCain.

I've Been Neglecting the Topic of . . .

Japanese weirdness. Here's some:



Wombat-socho snuck in late with "Rule 5 Sunday: Viva Los Lobos!"  Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup" and links.

Wanna Buy Some "Fairy Skulls"?

Japanese Artist Hand-Carves Pearls Into Exquisite ‘Fairy Skulls’

Since 1974, Tokyo-based Shinji Nakaba has been creating unique pieces of jewelry. Unlike some other artists, everything he creates is completely wearable.

In fact, Nakaba calls his creations, “wearable sculptures,” and uses unconventional materials for the majority of them. These intricately carved pearl skulls are just one example of his exceptional work.

This seems like a pretty expensive medium to work in.

After attempting these skull carvings with coral, crystal, ivory, and precious stones, Nakaba discovered pearls without cores. The lack of core allows for a smoother carving, without the issue of shredding or peeling.

On his website, Nakaba says this about his pearl skull carvings:

“I’ve experimented with different type of materials to carve out skulls but the ones I carved out of pearls are by far the best in terms of the durability. I also thought the contradiction between pristine pearls turning into these dark objects seemed even more appealing. I would call them Fairy Skulls.

Very cute, and just a bit macabre.

Trump Mania Reaches Japan

Wombat-socho is only a day late with "Rule 5 Monday: Utes Of America".

New Tokyo Restaurant to Feature Fat, Age Shaming

Japan's New Nude Restaurant Will Weigh You Before Letting You In - Also: no tattoos, touching, or old people

For a naked restaurant, Tokyo's The Amrita is surprisingly uptight. Unlike a new clothing-free restaurant in London, diners at The Amrita will be weighed and measured before being admitted, Mashable reports. If customers are 30 or so pounds heavier than the average weight for their height, they'll be turned away—without having their entrance fee refunded. Diners will also be sent home hungry if they're found to be over the age of 60. And there are more rules: no phones, no "calling out to other customers," and no touching. According to Rocket News 24, tattoos are also strictly forbidden.

Two strikes for me, too heavy and too old. I can live with the no cell phones and no touching rule, unlike the younger crowd, though and I don't have any tattoos.

And should diners meet all these requirements, they still won't get the goods, as it were. Patrons will be given paper underwear bottoms to hide their naughty bits, and staff will wear G-strings. Customers will, however, be treated to organic food, male waiters with "the world's most beautiful bodies," and a stage show featuring male models from America and Europe. The Telegraph states this makes The Amrita sound more like a "Chippendales extravaganza" than a restaurant. But despite the ageist and fat-shaming rules, the lack of full nudity, and the expensive entrance fee—$131 to $748—Japanese diners are still apparently clamoring to eat in the semi-buff. The July 29 opening night is sold out, as are a few other evenings, per the Telegraph.

Yet another restaurant we won't visit.  It just doesn't sound that appealing.

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: EDC Girls" up at The Other McCain.

The Ring vs The Grudge

As envisioned by Japanese baseball:



Swiped from Ace's ONT. Wombat-socho has the grand "Rule 5 Sunday: Hit The Beach (Club)!" ready at The Other McCain.

The Pen May Be Mightier Than the Sword

But the sword is mightier than the baseball:



Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Pre-Halloween Pinups" up at The Other McCain.

More Cat Woman Blogging

Just because we haven't had enough Japanese Weirdness since Hannah Minx dropped off of Youtube:

Japan Loves Women In Cat-Themed Lingerie

‘Girl, you must be a parking ticket because you’ve got fine feline written all over you.’ Sorry, just preparing myself for the sort of pickup lines I might hear the next time I’m visiting Japan. In a country that created a Google Street View for cats, you shouldn’t really be surprised to learn that one of the hottest selling items among women involves felines. What you may not have expected, however, is that this product doesn’t involve cat cafes or kitty hotels. Rather, the purring is over some of the sexy cat-themed lingerie for sale at one of Japan’s online boutiques.

On the surface, the Japanese underwear looks like a regular pair of bra and panties. What gives it a distinctive touch is the subtle texture around the seams, which is designed to resemble cat fur. Currently, the most popular styles are black cat, Tabby, and Siamese. In addition to the fur texture, the most noticeable aspects of the lingerie are the cat tail that ties to the back of the underwear and the included set of cat ears. The tails tie onto the underwear with silk and match the bows decorating the intimate apparel. The Tabby set even comes with its own choker that resembles a collar.

Kind of tame for Japanese weirdness; I was expect hoping something more like:

For those women interested in exporting this weird Japanese fashion trend to other countries, a set of cat-themed lingerie will cost you around $30. They come in a range of sizes and represent over twelve different cat species. Me-ow.

Wombat-socho has the big "Rule 5 Sunday: Roll Tide!"  post up at the The Other McCain.

He Does it His Way

The drummer that is.

Now That's Fast Food

I try not to steal too much from Ace's ONT, but I couldn't resist it.

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

The 6 AM Eye Opener - "Gimme Chocolate!"

But some good news; despite recent reports, it appears a chocolate shortage is not imminent.

Despite reports that the world's supply of cocoa is running thin, you may not need to worry about stockpiling your chocolate reserves quite yet.

Candy manufacturers Mars Inc. and Barry Callebaut recently warned that consumer demand for chocolate will exceed cocoa supply by 2020, creating a gap in supply and demand of 1 million metric tons, according to a Bloomberg report.

The predicted shortage is attributed to myriad factors such as "disease, drought, rapacious new markets and the displacement of cacao by more-productive crops such as corn and rubber," Bloomberg reported.

However, the International Cocoa Organization, a global group made up of cocoa producing and consuming countries, told USA TODAY Network that the prediction is not correct.

While acknowledging there are problems that could affect production, small deficits and surpluses in cocoa supply are normal, according to Michael Segal, spokesman for the organization, which forecasts cocoa supply and production. The organization is not predicting anything out of the ordinary for the next five years.

Wombat-socho has the grand "Rule 5 Sunday: Wax Ecstatic" up and running at The Other McCain.

Midnite Jazz - "Lover Come Back To Me"

Wombat-socho chose to hold Rule Five Sunday on Monday this week.

Does This Pass the Sniff Test?

Tokyo cops bust school-girl sniff parlor in Takadanobaba

Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Thursday announced the bust of a parlor in Shinjuku Ward that allows male customers to sniff odors of school girls in private rooms, reports TBS News (Oct. 16).

Officers took Keiten Izuchi, the 33-year-old manager of parlor Pure Doll JK Community, and one other employee into custody for allegedly employing minors in violation of the Labor Standards Act by allowing a male customer smell the body of a 17-year-old girl employee attired in her underwear on October 2.

Pure Doll JK Community, located near JR Takadanobaba Station, is a so-called joshi kosei, or high-school girl (abbreviated as “JK“), parlor in which the female employees change clothing in what is termed “costume play,” or cosplay.

In recent years, police have been cracking down on such parlors in the Akihabara district of Chiyoda Ward.

Izuchi has reportedly admitted to the allegations. “With the police and media making noise (about Akihabara), I thought I’d try Takadanobaba,” the suspect is quoted by police.

The menu for the establishment indicates that conversation is the basic service provided. However, options allow customers to select costumes, sniff the odor of the attendant’s hair and receive a slap in the face.

Fees at the parlor are priced at 1,000 yen for every five minutes.

1,000 yen! Why, that's (google pause) almost $10 American! I wouldn't pay more than five! I mean, how good can a girl smell? But remember, these are the same people who think that raw fish should sell for up to $3600 a lb!

But they seem to have the time about right.  Five minutes should be enough for olfactory fatigue to set in. Maybe they could use the coffee bean trick to stimulate repeat sales. Or combine the business with a Starbucks franchise.

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts "Rule 5 Sunday: Ricochet"  posted at The Other McCain.

A Shot of Japanese Weirdness

From a band I never heard of "Tokyo Ghetto Pussy", which, astonishingly enough, is German.



If that inspires you, you can listen to a whole album of it here (I don't suggest it). A belated acknowledgement of the Wombat-socho's giant Rule 5 manifesto: "Rule 5 Sunday: Floating."

Time to Top Off The Japanese Weirdness Content

Linked by Wombat-Socho in the catch up edition of "Rule 5 Monday" at The Other McCain.

Midnite Music - Volume Up

Haven't had any Japanese Korean weirdness in a while.



Wombat-socho was on schedule with "Rule 5 Sunday - Stardancer." 

It's a Tough Job...

...but the fringe benefits make it all worthwhile.



And it's Rule 5 Wednesday over at Wombat-Socho's lair at the Other McCain.