Learning from the Japanese
The life expectancy of Japanese people exceeds that of Americans by seven full years (84 vs. 77). Seven months would have been statistically significant, but seven years? How is this even remotely possible?
We don’t know, and in truth, we probably never will, since all we have are data that speak to correlation, rather than causation. They eat better. They have fewer toxins in their environment. They have very few guns, and therefore almost no gun-related deaths. They’re not monotheistic, and thus they don’t live in fear of eternal punishment. They live honest lives with very little corruption.
Contrast this with the United States, where all these features are completely different. Take corruption. We don’t dabble in it; we bathe ourselves in it. Might not be good for the soul.
All this said, one thing that should most certainly be kept in mind is the set of life attitudes shown at left. It seems completely plausible that a harmonious approach to life in general creates less stress and greater spiritual, emotion, and perhaps physical health.
Re: the photo here, a reader notes, “Personally I’d prefer JD Clampett over JD Vance.”
The phrase “doubling down” might be cliché, but it certainly applies to what the Republicans are doing with respect to their extreme right-wing political positions.
Young readers may not recognize this scene from 1975’s “Blazing Saddles,” where the black dude has been appointed the new sheriff of a town on the western frontier. The bigoted white folks are extremely resentful, and here, the amiable town drunk is consoling him:
I almost clicked on this, then suddenly noticed that it’s sponsored by Chevron.
I highly doubt that Facebook gives a rat’s ass about your campaign, just like the vast majority of other Americans.
Here’s a new concept in electric transportation that I don’t expect to catch on. Imagine you park your car somewhere on a sunny day, you unlock a roof-mounted container, and pull out an array of solar PV that you then unfold and drape over your car. You plug the array into your car’s charge port. When you’re ready to leave, you reverse the process.
Why on Earth would anyone have expected anything else? Concern for others is so far off-brand for Trump, it would be like McDonalds serving fresh-squeezed turmeric juice and wheat germ.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Trumpism is that the top people who worked for the former president during his term in the White House refuse to support him for re-election, including our top military officers, but that the typical Republican voter does not seem to care a whit.
