Returned Tuesday from two weeks of cycling around the country, making sure all is in order. A fave encounter was near Hamamatsu, where the coastal cycle path was blocked for massive embankment works. Diverting through a golf course where a "no entry" sign had been set aside, I was accosted by a groundskeeper, crossing his forearms and hollering "no-no-no-no!" Calmly offered to converse in Japanese, and we were instantly on good terms, with helpful guidance on a detour.
#bikeTooter #Japan

Political rhetoric does the rounds internationally, and I really look forward to this particular exercise in xenophobic cruelty finding its way to Japan. Boy, I just can't wait.

Once again, the entire Trump cabinet of craven monsters need to be put on trial by a successor government. Minimum passing effort.

(Edit: The linked post on the establishment of a "remigration" bureau in the State Department is from May, 2025. So not a new horror. An old horror.)
#USpol
https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/117311569551375752

An Asahi Shimbun backgrounder on Takaichi immigration policy this morning reads with an echo. The gist is that the center-right party of power looked at a radical right-wing insurgency fueled by xenophobic hysteria and thought "to save the center, we must give vent to our own inner xenophobe." And of course the stricter, mostly self-destructive immigration policies that have followed are not enough to satisfy the fasc, who want to have their cake and eat it too, in a world that never was.

Sicklepod seed harvest from the back garden, grown from seeds gifted by the proprietress of the Monpemaruke cafe on Sakushima in Nagoya Bay. (The harvest of seeds is larger than shown here!) To make "habu-cha tea", the seeds are roasted, then some are boiled and the pot set aside to steep for a caffeine free infusion similar to ulon tea. (The husks will be composted.)
#tea #Japan #cooking #gardening

If all this fumbling about by the US "Secretary of War" ultimately triggers a global confrontation, the English can humorously call it the War of Hegseth's Bottle.

Saudi East-West pipeline attacked, currently shut down, extent of damage as yet unconfirmed.

This seems … pretty bad. That's another 5 million barrels per day (!) offline, and a reply to Treasury Secretary Bessent's declaration that pipelines will make the Strait "irrelevant."

Maybe gateway tolls aren't such an awful idea. On reflection, you know. Transactionally speaking.
#USpol
https://www.newsweek.com/saudi-arabias-east-west-oil-pipeline-hit-by-houthis-photos-appear-to-show-12430311

I muddled through last year hampered by a bottleneck in the slimming down enterprise.

Backing up a bit, two years ago I planted winter wheat, for the first time since Mieko passed away. IIRC it was harvested in a rush before a storm, and I chucked it into the upstairs room I use to sort things for sale etc. It's a tangled mess, and threshing it means pulling out individual stems. I didn't want to face it I guess. I'm not getting any younger, so I'm no longer putting it off.
#gardening #grieving

A story from my meagre academic career in Japan.

I had a colleague (A) who was whip-smart and something of a bully, a wild man, and a practical joker. Another colleague (B) taught ethics and was proud administrator of the faculty email service (on a Sun box that was still running when I joined). A, ever suspicious, asked B point-blank if he read mail, and A naturally said no. So during a (boring) faculty meeting, A mailed C to say B was a fat bastard, and happily watched A turn purple.
#privacy

Donald Trump is slipping with age and it's costing his country, his party, and his family.

In renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, he missed the opportunity to give each of the Great Lakes a name from what3words and then charge for their use.
#USpol #humor #monopoly #privatisation

Really looking forward to Mitch McConnell's cadaver presiding as chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration—the one that deals with election matters.

What are we even doing here.
#USpol
https://legisletter.org/legislator/mitch-mcconnell-M000355/committees

どうしよ～
Armloads of basil and sage for processing into pesto and dried spice respectively.
#gardening #Japan

Ooh, that's some 生命力. I started the 25 tomato seeds from a packet in small starter pockets, nut I used the wrong soil, I think, and after sprouting they haven't grown. Today I moved one to a new home with proper potting soil. The transfer was … not great, there was no root structure and the soil "cube" fell apart. But I stuffed it in the pot anyway and gave it some water, and this evening it's raising its head! Might be able to save most of these. 🤞
#gardening #Japan

Since the US has given itself a Department of War it can have a Department of Disease, as a treat.
#USpol

There is a potted laurel tree at the house that died back through neglect a couple of summers ago. With rain and watering it sprouted suckers, I encouraged one of them, and it's come back nicely. So forgiving.

I've been eating very simply for the past few months, but spices are building up in the cupboard, and today I cut leaves from the recovered tree. I'd forgotten just how beautifully aromatic bay leaves are! Looking forward to much improved fried vegetables.
#gardening #cooking #Japan

I look forward to hearing more about communism in America over the next few months. I must say it sounds very exciting indeed.
#USpol

Seeking matcha advice. I've pretty well shifted from espresso to strong black tea as morning brew, and I'd like to give matcha a try.

For those who know, what paraphernalia and procedures are involved, not for the ceremony, but for ordinary consumption as a civilian?
#matcha #Japan

Maybe I can help the press corps.

"Mr President, can you tell us how spending time in the evenings looking at pictures of yourself online and asking the computer to make new ones contributes to resolving the Strait of Hormuz crisis?"
#USpol #IranWar

There are a few Teslas in town. This afternoon riding home from shopping, a Tesla came up behind and slowed to tail me as I approached the outside turn into our street. Cars sometimes do that, it's annoying, and I'll normally pull to the curb until it's clear. This time, with the car lagging back, I half thought to signal a turn in front of him, but as I glanced back he finally accelerated past. Plenty of margin, no worries. But I later thought: Oh shit, I wonder if that was autopilot?
#bikeNite

It's time the Trump Administration abandon its self-imposed restraint and explore fresh options to break the stalemate over the Strait of Hormuz. Available measures are burnings in effigy, stabbing of pins into voodoo dolls, coordinated pulpit condemnations, particularly nasty gossip, emphatic stamping of feet and, as a measure held in reserve, hamburgers with special sauce hurled at the wall with overwhelming force.
#USpol #humor

I recently rolled through a screen of roadside weeds in our neighborhood, catapulted over the handlebars, and landed face first in a concrete-lined ditch, resulting in eight stitches and a scar that friends tell me isn't noticeable—no, really it isn't.

What single-bike-accident hazards attract your special attention?
#bikeNitePQ