@QMS "Keeping it in the family" means different things to different families, so it seems. How will the kids reconcile ti situation where their Dad is their half-sibling's G'pa? And their uncle is their half-sibling's Dad? Family gatherings will forever be weird!
I do not like Trump's use of Sombrero's to make fun of people he hates. The Peace Prize officials who didn't give him the Nobel deserve his scorn, so he posts pictures of them wearing one. There was a time when Sombrero wearing banditos were feared and respected. Trump's racism is pretty pronounced.
I am being visited by the exterminators who are going for Round Two to kill the ant hordes.
Please wish them luck!

.
Who is on first, what is on second and where
is probably on third. Or so the old joke goes.

Thanks for tunes and OT!
Y'all have a good one ya hear?
Or as J. Prine would croon
Hello in there.

@Lookout When that song came out, I couldn't follow the diagram, but I can damn sure do it now! Lol!
We are gonna try to get our shopping done today, with an emphasis on otc drugs, such as Allergy Relief and Bayer aspirin. I am reading more and more about such items and common prescriptions being very hard to find. It is due to the China tariffs.
Fwiw, Benedryl was refined and improved by second generation antihistamine Claritin. $40 for a bottle of pills. Equate is the equivalent of Claritin, $9 per bottle. With ants everywhere, I will not allow myself to run out of Equate allergy relief!
Enjoy your day, dear friend!

Your story reminds me of this song...

the most confusing song ever! but it is possible to just use the diagram to help you!

Lovely and cool this morning. Trees are beginning to color. A thin but enjoyable trade day with plenty of visits and stories.

Y'all have a good weekend! Thanks for the OT!

@soryang and the world wide trend of solving world problems and achieving world peace by trending toward right wing authoritarianism hasn't turned out well before, so why believe that this time it will work?That new ICBM looks damn scary to me. We should be devoting our talents toward curing diseases, but there is no power or money to be gained from good health, is there?
The rejection of China's trillion dollars to leave Taiwan alone demonstrates there are trillions to be made from a conflict.
The kids joining the military because there are no jobs can easily be replaced by more kids who can't find a job. In our lifetime, those jobs will never return.
Well, I am gonna have fun right up to the moment the first shot is fired, my friend. I hope you do the same, my friend!

早上好 Good morning OTC!

Sanae Takaichi probably represents just about the worst Japan and the LDP have to offer in the way of political leadership. So when LDP ally Komeito said they wouldn't support her bid for the office, her prospects dimmed somewhat. I scoured the English language papers and tweets on this subject and found that Chosun Ilbo had the clearest write up, which is surprising because they are usually way off base on political topics of the South Korean media.

LDP-Komeito Coalition Collapse Clouds Takaichi's Prime Minister Bid

Komeito’s President Saito Tetsuo said immediately after meeting with President Takaichi on the 10th, “We will nullify the LDP-Komeito coalition and end the relationship that has existed until now,” and added, “There will be no instance of writing the name ‘Takaichi Sanae’ on the ballot in the prime minister nomination election.” Komeito stated that it had demanded President Takaichi to strengthen regulations on political donations, sponsorships from corporations and organizations but failed to reach an agreement. President Takaichi said, “We were unilaterally informed of the coalition’s withdrawal,” and expressed hope for further discussions to continue the coalition.

Currently, in the House of Representatives, the LDP holds 196 seats, far short of the minimum majority of 233 seats required for prime minister nomination, and the withdrawal of Komeito, 24 seats, has made the situation even more difficult. Although the opposition parties remain divided, making it still likely for President Takaichi of the LDP, the first party, to become prime minister, there are observations that if opposition parties such as the Constitutional Democratic Party, Japan Innovation Party, and Democratic Party for the People dramatically form a coalition, the LDP government could collapse.

The opposition coalition's potential bid for power looks somewhat shaky, even if they win.

Jake Adelstein on Takaichi:

The Rise of Japan’s Female Trump: Why Takaichi Sanae Is the Worst Thing to Happen to Japanese Democracy Since Abe 2.0

Takaichi endorsed “Hitler’s Election Strategy” in the ‘90s, threatened TV networks as communications minister, claims foreigners abuse Nara’s deer without evidence and speaks to the Gods #InsaneSanae

The Rise of Japan's Female Trump

Good write up, especially on her Unification Church and Shinto ties. She hates foreigners, immigrants, etc., and loves low interest rates. Japan has an aging population and shaky economy. She's a Pacific War war crime denialist.

Not sure how this will work out.

I did read that Japan had achieved a certain amount of independence from China on rare earth minerals. They started preparing 15 years ago to find alternative sources, and otherwise reduce dependence on China. It is alleged by Chosun Ilbo that South Korea is completely unprepared for any kind of rare metals embargo whether imposed from without by China, or alternatively by the Trump, with secondary tariffs. The US isn't prepared for it either from what I've read.

I've already mentioned the national data center fire in South Korea. The damage is reportedly worse than than initially reported. In addition, Rashid reported in a very vague report that either North Korean or Chinese hackers had exploited South Korean national security data bases in South Korea and gotten everything. I find the report unreliable, lacking specifics, and other probative indicia.

So now that Xi and Trump are having a spat, will they both go to the APEC conference in South Korea at the end of this month? China cancelled its offer to lease an entire Silla hotel building for Xi's entourage. I don't think he's going.

North Korea and South Korea manufacture a lot of armaments. They provided artillery shells for both sides in the Ukraine war. South Korea manufactures tanks, motorized artillery, and a cheap F-35 looking knockoff, KF-21 Boramae, (Eurasian Goshawk) that it is marketing abroad and in Europe. They call it a 4.5 generation aircraft because of external racks, no internal bay, (yields a radar signature, different electronics, etc.). Last but not least:

North Korea has unveiled a new Hwasong-20 ICBM at a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party.

The parade also featured a unit said to have fought alongside Russian forces in Kursk, marching under both North Korean and Russian flags. https://t.co/TZYGKnb0Nh pic.twitter.com/axWKEFTQsq

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) October 11, 2025

There was a rumor going around that Xi had offered to invest 1 trillion dollars US in the US, if the US would just get off its trade war and Taiwan belligerence. Hey, join the BRI! I guess that's was just a joke.

@Cassiodorus And accurate!

@soryang @QMS the Constitution was designed to be a response mechanism for the landed gentry, a very small population of people within the country.
There has never been a day in the existence of the USA where rich people did not have a bigger say than the 99%.

I tried to listen to some of Mearsheimer's overbearing application of his pet theory of geopolitics to China. I couldn't really sit still for the whole thing. This was part of some APEC presentation. The speakers were both from the west, UK, and US. JM: "security always trumps economics." This notion is why we are in the fix we are in today. Thinking like this. He cited Bruce Cummings in support of his historical analysis of the Korean war, which I think was in error as a matter of fact. I wouldn't expect Cummings to agree with much of Mearsheimer's approach to South Korea.

This is fresh perspective on China, technology, and competition. 12 min, if you don't have time, the last six minutes are remarkable. He's got another video on the same channel also good. I'm not an AI expert. I heard Schmidt on another panel saying China will lose in the AI competition:

How China Aced the AI Race?| Louis-Vincent Gave

#11.2
.
which would make us responsible somehow?
The original effort at making govt. work
was to make it responsive to the governed.