Inside the Asylum

It's not just the Koreans who have a weird thing going with school uniforms. Japan embarks on a dangerous course that could lead to an arms race of ever shorter very short skirts. Huba huba huba.

Three female "ambassadors of cute" appointed by the Foreign Ministry have started traveling abroad to introduce Japanese pop culture to young people overseas.

"I'd like you to be careful about unwarranted criticism against overseas tours by 'pretty ambassadors' wearing very short skirts," Maruya said at a session of the Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee on April 24.

Remember what I said about the Uighurs going to Palau, and the Great Game between Beijing and Taipei? Well ... take a look at this.

China's top legislator Wu Bangguo pledged Wednesday to increase exchanges and cooperation with parliaments from Pacific island nations... "We actively support Pacific island nations' efforts in safeguarding national sovereignty and independence, promoting economic and social development, improving living standards and equally participating in international affairs," Wu said.

Uighurs on Palau... don't be in too much of a hurry to unpack your bags.

[Update] Some Uighurs also went to Bermuda (ironically, one of Obama's Axis of Evil), another region where China and Taiwan play their game. And what do you know, the number two man in China, Wen Jiabao, just happens to be in the region at the moment (in Granada).

During talks with Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, Wen said China attached importance to relations with the Caribbean countries from a strategic perspective.

Hmmm.

This really shows how little support Ahmadinejad has in Iran. When you have to photoshop crowds to make it look like you have more people ... then you're in real trouble. Everyone basically seems to be assuming that the Iranian regime is ultimately going to win this one ... but ... maybe not?

(via Harry's Place)

KCNA does it again. They're an endless source of blog posts. Keep going guys!

Such jugglery as burying one's head in the sand like an ostrich can never work in the bright world today. It is the ulterior intention of the Japanese reactionaries to speed up the beefing of modern armed forces under the pretext of "coping with" someone's "military threat" in an effort to convert Japan into a military giant and kick off reinvasion anytime...Japan would be well advised to stop such suicidal act as jumping into the fire with faggots on its back.

I've refrained from commenting on the Iranian election up until now, because I really don't know enough to say what's going on. Most of what I've read has been by "talking heads" or even worse, "journalists". For once I found a report that is mostly an Iranian ... here's what he had to say.

Dubai: Dubai resident Ehsan, a 36-year-old Iranian... Gulf News spoke to Ehsan who described the situation...

"People were scared on the first day of riots, but their numbers grew on the second day, I could guess about 1 million people filled the streets. They aren't afraid any more, they are just more and more angry," he said.

''I asked the police officer who was trying to keep order, why were the police acting this way? We are both Iranians. We are brothers. It was then when he pulled out a green piece of paper from his pocket which meant he was himself a Mousavi supporter," Ehsan said.

French Polynesia may change its name to Maohi Nui. That's fine if you're from Tahiti, but in another language in the island group, "maohi" means "touching a woman's private parts." Well, it may bring a lot of extra tourists ...

Get your t-shirt now.

(via Rene's Apple)

[Update] More on the "Welcome back, Carter" meme over at Transterrestrial Musings.