A Reaction to the Royal Weddings & Royal Condoms from Tokyo

A good friend, Marc Abela, commented about my posting of yesterday, Golden Week, the News and Nuclear Holocaust... Just a Regular Day Like any Other in Tokyo. Marc writes:


Hi Mike,
You're not covering the "royal wedding"...? :)


Thanks Marc. Nope. For your edification, here's three reasons why I do not "cover" important things like the "Royal Wedding." First off, fine publications like Yahoo have already asked the important questions in their online blog. They asked:


Why didn't Prince William watch his bride walk down the aisle? 
Who was that little girl covering her ears and frowning while the newlyweds kissed on the balcony? 


And, finally, Yahoo asked the question that we were all wondering;


Where can I get those gorgeous earrings Kate wore to her wedding? 


Oh, yes! Where can I get those gorgeous earrings Kate wore to her wedding? Last time I inquired at my local Walmart, they had nothing of the sort.


The second reason why I don't write about the Royal Wedding can be summed up in this short video (that was not funded by taxes):

THE HOLY GRAIL - KING ARTHUR

May I quote?


"How'd you become king then?"


"The Lady of the Lake...Her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite...
held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water... signifying by Divine Providence...
that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur.... That is why I am your king!"


"Listen, Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses not from some farcical aquatic ceremony...


You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you."


In a nutshell, that's why I can't even tell you the names of who is getting married and I don't care. 


The third, and final reason, why I don't cover, write about, nor even care about any Royal Wedding is due to pressing matters at home that must be attended to immediately; the weeds in the back garden.

Weeds versus Royal Wedding? Tough to decide which is more exciting.

Toss a can of beer in with pulling weeds and it's an easy call.

When you add up these three factors listed above, then, I'm sure you'll agree, that we all have much more important things to take care of than spending a day on front of the TV watching a wedding ceremony that is heavily funded by the local taxpayers. Why, it's even more boring than watching the local tax-funded funeral of some long dead king. 


I mean, really, why even care about the Royal Wedding? They are just going to wind up getting a tax-funded divorce in a few years anyway.


Don't they always?


BREAKING NEWS! IMPORTANT UPDATE!: With Royal Wedding Condoms, British Taxpayers Won't be the Only Ones Getting Screwed!


Royal wedding memorabilia has reached a new level of 
tastelessness: Crown Jewels Condoms of Distinction 
is selling Prince William and Kate Middleton-themed condoms! 

Instructing randy Brits to “lie back and think of England” 
because “like a royal wedding, intercourse with a loved 
one is an unforgettable occasion,” The condoms are 
sold in royal purple packages with a picture of the 
happy couple on the front. But some folks are not 
amused. “This is completely tasteless and rather 
hurtful,” Ingrid Deward, editor of Majesty magazine, 
told Orange News. 


I wonder if the Royal couple get paid "royalties" on each pack sold?

Idiots in Government Waste Thousands of Dollars Buying Super-Hero Capes

Yesterday, I wrote a blog complaining how the clowns in the government in Japan wanted to raise sales tax - in the middle of some of the worst economic conditions and after the worst natural disaster in Japan's history. It was one of the few blog posts that I had written recently that readers completely agreed with. In Japan's Tax-At-All-Costs Political Class, I wrote:


As usual, when it comes to doing something about the economy, the government cannot admit its errors and try to strip them away. As is the case now, and has always been the case, the government of Japan's answer to financial problems is not to cut spending or to sell poorly valued and foolishly bought US government backed securities (that lose value every day), but the answer is, and always will be to spend and raise taxes.

STEVIE WONDER - YOU HAVEN'T DONE NOTHING

Well, here's a story from the USA that takes the cake. It's about how idiots in government are spending $75,000 in tax monies on a campaign to puts Super-hero capes on the unemployed. Residents of Central Florida can win cash prizes if they follow the unemployment office's Twitter or Facebook account.

Adventures of Unemployed Man? 

What's next? "Horror Stories of Homelessness Man?"

How's that for putting a dent in unemployment? They start a Social Network service and give out cash prizes like a lottery to winners.


How in the world is that going to help unemployment!?


From Raw Story:

The jobs agency plans to distribute the superhero capes to residents taking part in the agency's "Cape-A-Bility Challenge" by trying to vanquish "Dr. Evil Unemployment." 

From the Daily Bail: 

Before you do anything else watch this idiotic video that was financed completely by tax dollars...

• WFC Cape Video

WCF or Workforce Central Florida gets $24 million annually from federal taxpayers and accomplishes virtually nothing based on their own statistics.

Residents of central Florida can win a cape by becoming a Workforce Central Florida fan on Facebook, taking a Facebook quiz, having a photo taken with a foam cutout of Dr. Evil Unemployment, tweeting a job posting, or using LinkedIn to recommend someone using the word "super."

The boss of the unemployment campaign in question defended the campaign, saying it will spread the agency's message. The capes, she said, are a direct tie-in to the larger effort.

"Some people will wear them, and others will ask 'How do I get one?'" she said.

"Everyone," she said, "is a superhero in the fight against unemployment."

This is just one more example - in a long line of millions - trillions - that will never end that show how the government wastes money. Remember, whether it is idiocy like this, doing "something" about the economy or helping the poor or suffering, the government will always waste money and make the situation worse. History proves it.

Then on top of that, they take their cut of the monies for salaries and vacations all the while giving no bid contracts to their friends. I wonder if they had a fair bidding process for the job to manufacture $25,000 worth of Super-Hero capes?

I'll bet you a huge office full of glazed donuts for unemployed workers that they didn't.

"Everyone is a Superhero in the fight against unemployment?" Indeed....

Japan's Insane Tax-At-All-Costs Political Class

This will be my 800th posting on this blog. I think it is fitting that, after all that has happened, as through the short history of this blog, the economy of Japan and most western nations are close to collapse, as Japan's national debt is over 200% of GDP, as the US government has surpassed the legal limit on the debt ceiling for that nation and into de facto bankruptcy, as silver hits a new 31 year high to nearly $44 USD an ounce and gold is knocking at the door of $1500 dollars an ounce, that this 800th blog should be about taxes and the economy.

BEATLES CARTOON - TAXMAN

Once again, the news shows that our rulers never learn their lessons when it comes to taxation and debt. After the disastrous events of the last month starting on March 11th and continuing today, once again, the government of this country shows that their only answer to our financial problems is to raise taxes.

Jiji Press reports:

Tokyo, April 18 (Jiji Press)--Japan is considering raising the consumption tax by 3 percentage points for a limited period of some three years to secure funds to rebuild areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, officials said Monday.

   Japan will be able to secure 7.5 trillion in annual tax revenue by raising the tax rate to 8 pct from 5 pct, government and Democratic Party of Japan officials said.

   The nation is preparing the first supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 with the spending amount of some 4 trillion yen. The budget will be covered without new debt issuance.

   Tokyo is likely to compile more budgets for the current year, as many in the government and the ruling party believe that more than 10 trillion yen should be spent in total on the reconstruction of the disaster-devastated areas.

   To finance the second and later budgets, the government will issue reconstruction bonds. Many think that the revenue from the envisioned tax hike should be used entirely to redeem the reconstruction bonds, the officials said.

It says in the first paragraph, "Japan is considering raising the consumption tax by 3 percentage points for a limited period of some three years..." Sure. Only three years, right? And after that, we're supposed to believe that the Japanese government will have their financial house in such good order and fine shape that they can cut taxes? What planet are these people living on? Has the Japanese government ever cut taxes? How, pray tell, are they supposed to be able to do that when the economy is so bad and, as I mentioned, our public debt has surpassed 200% of GDP?

History also shows us what happens when sales taxes are raised. There will be a correlating drop in sales equal to the percentage of the sales tax; raise taxes by three percent and sales will drop by three percent. And who winds up paying for this kind of sales tax hike? Not the ultra-rich or corporations who have all sorts built-in tax advantages. The rich only have to spend a few percentage points of their income for basic foodstuffs. The average middle class household is spending 15~25% or more just for survival. Hit them with a sales tax increase and you hit them below the belt. 

The good example goes like this: Say, average millionaire wants to buy a new yacht? No problem. It's needed to entertain guest so it is a business and tax write-off. But, say, the single mother with a two kids whose husband has run off and doesn't pay any alimony, is not buying yachts and diamond necklaces, she is scrimping and saving to buy milk, eggs and rice. and the basics she needs to survive.

A 3% hike in her grocery bill hits hard. 

The average household is is also expected to carry the burden of massive public debt created by the government. It is this government who arbitrarily decides to tax one class of poor people to give to another class of poor people (in this case, the average Japanese family gets taxed to pay for the suffering and reconstruction of the poor who suffered in the Tohoku disaster) all the while the government takes a margin for delivering these services and gives no-bid reconstruction contracts to their cronies.

Nikkei 225 at ¥9441 on April 19, 2011

The economy is already in desperate shape. Japan's credit rating has been downgraded in the last year and the Nikkei 225 is wheezing away at under 9,500 (it is at 1/4 the amount it was at the height of the bubble economy) and it has also been reported that 15.7% of Japan's population now live below the poverty level. Think about that. 

And, with all of that, with all of this suffering and misery caused by badly thought out government policies, these people want to raise taxes? They must be completely insane.


Japan owns trillions of dollars in US government bonds that were bought with tax monies taken from the public. The value of these bonds have lost some 40% over these last 10 years due to the rapid decline of the US dollar, yet, even with this, the Japanese government has painted Japan into a corner whereby we cannot unload this debt without causing a quick rise in the yen and hurting Japan's export economy.

Silver & gold price explosion is flashing warning signs about the economy

Gold breaks new record to $1503 the day of the posting of this article

Not only that, at least twice in the last 365 days, Japan (and most recently foreign central banks) has intervened in the dollar x yen rate and flushed billion of yen (billions of US dollars) in foolish attempts (that haven't worked) in order to lower the value of then yen.


The fact of the matter is that, for reconstruction, as Peter Schiff points out, Japan should want a stronger yen as that would make our buying of oil and raw materials as well as other items needed to rebuild the ravaged areas cheaper.


But, no! As usual, when it comes to doing something about the economy, the government cannot admit its errors and try to strip them away. As is the case now, and has always been the case, the government of Japan's answer to financial problems is not to cut spending or to sell poorly valued and foolishly bought US government backed securities (that lose value every day), but the answer is, and always will be to spend and raise taxes.


That is why our economy has been so messed up for this last 20 years and that's why is is so easily predictable that our economy will be messed up for at least the next decade or more as Mish Shedlock so skillfully points out.


The politicians who live on dead and proven failure Keynesian economic policies are leading this country down the road to ruin. It will be soon enough, at this rate, that Japan will be like the Philippines. Throw this situation in with how the youth of this country have no where near the dedicated and hard work ethics of their fathers and grandfathers and you have a chemistry that spells out for a very grim economic future indeed


When we look back at what happened in twenty years from now, we'll not be surprised for a second that Japan will be jokingly referred to as the Northern Philippine archipelago. 

Wasting More Tax Money on Useless Space Exploration

In any effort to capture the public's imagination so that they are sympathetic to wasting billions upon billions of dollars - Japanese yen - for continued space research, the folks at NASA and NASDA (Japan's own version of NASA) are always trying to do something to make space travel exciting and fun and not, I repeat not, a cover for sending rockets and satellites into space for military purposes.


It doesn't matter that we are taxed out to the limit or debt at over 200% of GDP, space exploration is exciting and fun so we must do it. It is not a waste of money like other things the government wastes money on. This one is different. Really.


That some dead-enders and party-poopers would claim that those Communications Satellites we keep sending up have military uses and can - and are - used for spying. We deny that completely. 

Ah! Space travel. I remember the heady days when I was a kid and it was rumored that the USA spent several million dollars developing a ball point pen while the Russians used a pencil... The story is not exactly true but it illustrates what might be going on behind the scenes...


We do know that, for example, Japan spent $78 billion dollars on 212 some environmental programs in 2010 concerning Global Warming that were all miserable failures.


Now, we find out that Japan is going to send up a robot that can use Twitter.... 


Techeye.net reports:

A report said that Japan will launch a robot resembling a human being that can is so like a human that it will even use Twitter.

According to the report, on nikkei.com, the robot is the result of a collaboration between the University of Tokyo, Dentsu and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.

This robot is some clever robot, because the report suggests that it will be kitted out with a camera and look closely at the faces of human beings to see if they’re getting stressed out. It will then, presumably, tweet this information down to this planet. (emphasis mine).

It is all a little bit 2001ish but it’s going to be with us soon, because nikkei.com says that a prototype will be on the next space shuttle later this month.

The article ends with a humorous question that I like but think doesn't go to the logical conclusion:

There’s a case, isn’t there, for not bothering to send humans into space at all, just robots and caseloads of defunct mobile phones. 

The ending should say, "There's a case, isn't there, for not bothering to do any of this at all as it is just another huge waste of taxpayer monies that we don't have. For one, the government can't even repair potholes in the streets on time and within budget. What's makes anyone think the space program is not a huge waste of money? And, two; if space exploration were profitable and useful then private industry could and would do a much better job and it wouldn't put the burden on taxpayers."

"Danger! Danger! Dr. Smith has gone mad! 
Must Tweet! Must Tweet!"

Some people will argue that "Someday space exploration will yield great results and be very profitable. Oh really? Where is the evidence for that kind of thinking? Supposedly we've been doing this, at least in America, for over 40 years and we've lost hundreds of billions of dollars. 

Just when is this going to be profitable?

Also, we don't even understand our own planet; we have more than 1/2 the planet starving; we have problems of pollution; wars; running out of energy; etc. etc.... I'm not saying that the government should do something about those problems. No! I think the government should just get out of the way. 


But if someone wants to take the argument that we need to explore space for the "benefit of mankind" then I will counter that there are many more efficient ways to achieve such ends closer to home. 

Or are photos of comets that pass by the earth all that important to our daily life?

Anyhow, ploys like sending this stupid robot up in space "that can use Twitter" (as if important messages about astronauts help would be left to an Internet service that is often down and certainly not private) or picking a Japanese to be captain of the International Space Station are all media tricks to pull at people's emotions and get those people to approve of this waste of money and to support it... 


Seriously, if they want to capture the imagination of people for space travel, we'd best leave it to private organizations and hope that someone makes more movies like Star Wars or TV shows like Lost in Space or Star Trek.

The government-run space program should be killed immediately. 

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Japan Wasted $78 Billion on Global Warming Research

Don't even get me started on this. (Click on "play" for the video then read on to the story.)

Spinal Tap- Gimme Some Money

The Business Insider reports:

Japan spent an impressive $78 billion on global warming research in the past six years. However, none of 214 projects produced effective results, according to an official report featured in Japan Times.

This "fruitless" spending is under scrutiny as the government suffers under a heavy debt burden.

For one, the government shouldn't be in the business of "science." For two, they need to cut spending. Here's an excellent example of how AGW does fuel a big business scam to take our tax money and waste it on useless government projects:

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry spent about ¥1.6 billion on a project to produce livestock feedstuff from unsold boxed lunches from convenience stores. The project was abandoned after its management firm collapsed, the report says.

Yeah. Yeah... AGW deniers are all in the employ of the oil companies, right? Well, who needs oil companies when the government steals our money through taxes and then wastes it on nonsense like this?

Of course we should care for the environment and try to preserve it for future generations. But when the government tells us that they need to tax us more for such purposes, that should raise a red flag to any person who is not brain-dead.

Protect the environment for our children! Think globally, act locally. We don't need the government to interfere.

Hell, they can't even repair a pothole in the road without being late and way over budget. What makes anyone think they could protect the entire  earth?

Hasn't the government screwed everything up enough as it is?

The Japanese government wastes money on this sort of nonsense and then wants to raise taxes to pay for government debt? I hope the Japanese have the energy for some Egyptian style demonstrations.

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What Did I Tell Ya? Here Comes a New Japanese Prime Minister

Well, we're not even into the 3rd week of January and it looks like one of my New Year's predictions (#6 to be exact) is coming true even sooner than I expected.


I wrote that current Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan would be booted from office by June... Well, it looks like I merely got the date wrong. This guy is toast. Give him until April. He's gone.


Xinhua reports:


Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is going on the offensive with an ambitious tax plan that could see the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) sent further into a downward spiral and Kan exiting the same revolving door that whisked him in last year. A number of notable political pundits believe that Kan, with the public support rate for his Cabinet hovering at around 20 percent -- a perilously low level that has forced a number of Kan' s predecessors to throw in the towel -- is strategizing to stay in office with his recent aggressive bid to try to boost his ratings, take control of his fractious party and cajole opposition parties to help tackle policy problems in a divided parliament. ....


Support for Kan, who took office in June as Japan's fifth premier since 2006, and his ruling cabinet took a monumental hammering, leading to the DPJ's loss in July's upper house elections, after Kan previously floated the idea of raising its 5 percent sales tax to as high as 10 percent -- a move which Kan himself admitted was responsible for his party's defeat in the upper house election.


See? You really have to wonder about this guy. He thinks that he can increase his popularity with the public by raising our taxes!? He's only got a 20% approval rating as it is, and he thinks he can raise taxes without getting booted from office? 


What was it that Einstein said about insanity? Something about repeating a behavior yet expecting a different result each time?

"The strategy is inherently flawed and not without risk," political commentator and Shizuoka-based author Philip McNeil told Xinhua.

You call this "strategy"? I call it a drowning man flailing at straws. 

"Kan's lofty ideas of boosting Japan's 5 percent sales tax to offset social welfare costs and rein-in public debt twice the size of Japan's 5 trillion U.S. dollar economy will not impress the electorate," he said.

"Will not impress the electorate"!? Yes. Yes, indeed. It won't impress the electorate. Impress is not the word we're looking for.... Piss off? No, that's not journalistic enough...Infuriate! That's it. It will infuriate them.... 

Are you kidding me? Where do these newspapers find these mealy mouthed political commentators?

Conversely, they "have already annoyed not just opposition parties who are known set to cause havoc blocking bills at will now the DPJ don't control both Houses of Parliament, but members from his own party too," he added.

Throw on top of that, his party doesn't even control the Japanese Parliament. What a tool! No, not only does this fool need to get kicked out of office, he needs to have his head examined. 

Blogger's rendition of Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan

No. No. No. Not raising taxes!.... Cut spending and raise interest rates you clowns!

Here Japanese Government: A Painless Way to Cut Spending

I often complain about the government. I consistently complain about government debt and how the government's only answer to budget deficits is to raise taxes.

We absolutely do not need more taxes. What we need is a smaller government and for government to "Do no harm."

Sometimes you'll meet mini-anarchists who say that they are against the government but they still think we need the government for things like traffic control garbage collection, etc.

Rubbish! (Pun intended!) First off, the government doesn't collect our rubbish anyway - private firms do... And I have something to show you to consider about other areas where the government can be cut.

Watch the video below. Is is about a city in England that turned off the traffic signals as an experiment... They have decided that they will not turn them on again.



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