… well not down here in Australia, since it’s bloody winter at the moment. (Very nice weather most days, and there’s a beautiful sunset again, as I look out of the window, east towards the Dangdenong Ranges).

Seems like it’s hot though in the UK. Once again, the UK has no idea with how to cope with the heat. In fact, it’s all creaking at the seems it seems, with more system failures. What’s worrying is that the UK seems to be adopting the Japanese/US style of running AirCon at home now, which is ramping up our energy usage. Last summer in Japan, despite the heat, we made a point of not running AC. It wasn’t that bad, as long as the windows are all left open.
The UK heatwave is actually making news in the English-language Japanese media too.

In the bizarre world of economics, I read this about China’s growth figures. That’s just crazy!!! Completely unsustainable.
If you really want to understand how it’s unsustainable, have a listen to the MP3 you can find here, at a presentation done by Dr. Albert Bartlett..

Finally, to finish off, some Japanese related stuff.
First off all, it seems that good old Emporor Hirohito (before his death) was not happy about 14 A-Class Criminals being enshrined at Yasukuni Jinja (Shrine). It’s somewhat bizarre on a few counts. First, what will the crazy Japanese Nationalists think now, given that Kami-sama (“God”, as the Emperor is in traditionalist circles) disapproved of what Nationalists like to rever? Also, from a Western point of view, it’s somewhat hypocritical for him to have commented, given there is some argument that he himself should have been classed as a War Criminal too?

Mean, once again, the Japanese tabloid media gives me a good laugh. This time with this story. Pretty impressive… “Ogoto’s infamy goes back decades, but is perhaps most notable because a special road had to be built around it in the ’70s so that the Emperor could bypass it and continue on a nationwide tour without his eyes being sullied by its sordid sights”. I can’t believe they built a special road for just one occaision… then again I can.