Once again I fail to comprehend the vast wierdness of Japan... In this weeks Mainichi Daily News, we have: The World's Most Bizarre Assassination, in which legislator Ishi is killed by a right-wing lobbyist who needs cash for rent. Car crashes into schoolyard and bursts into flames. That one speaks for itself. School principal fired for drunk driving. He was fined 300,000 yen. If I remember correctly, that is ten times the fine imposed on the Japanese elementary principal who used one of his students as a prostitute. They also didn't fire him. But who am I to criticize the ways of another culture...

Lastly: The World's Weakest Opinion. Reading this editorial is sometimes interesting. It says, for example, "the siege in Moscow demonstrates that the quagmire in Chechnya is now emerging as a threat closer to home. It is, in fact, a frontal assault at Putin's policies that give priority to preserving public order. This was no doubt one of the rebels' aims..." So the rebels are attempting to expose a contradiction in Putin's policies, in that his Chechen policy is disturbing public order in Russia.... But beyond that statement the editorial seems to express no clear position on anything. Perhaps that's the etiquette in Japanese editorials?

Oh! And I really liked this ad for some reason...