Finally a FB Business Model That is Profitable? Prostitution, Online Porn Site and Dating Service?

There's something weird going on at Facebook... Well, who doesn't know that? But recently I've noticed something really strange.

You know that if you send out "Friend" requests to people you don't know, Facebook will lock your account, or even delete it. Before, I've had my account locked so that I couldn't add "friends" even though I hadn't been sending out requests.

But now? Something is really fishy!

In the last several weeks, I've been shown "offers" from Facebook to "friend" people I don't know, have no mutual friends with, nor can I even read their names! Lots of these "People You May Know" photos show pretty girls and they often show impressive cleavage and are in very seductive poses...

You know, like ads you'd see for online porn or "dating" sites? 

I'm wondering if this is some sort of trick? Is Facebook trying to get me to "Add Friend" to these people so that they can shut down my account? Or is the CIA trying to trick me into some sort of international money-laundering sting? Is this some sort of trap for a prostitution ring? Or, is it more likely, just some smart Russian Pimp using Facebook to get his girls customers? Are these photos of these girls even those real women?

Anyway, I've been wanting to screen capture these for a while but keep forgetting... But I did last night. Here, look for yourself:

I'm sure they are all very nice girls. We've got seductive poses and even the "girl next door!" Oh! And there's even other nice girls who look like the "marrying type." I've blocked out their names because, well, maybe this is just a coincidence that this looks like a dating or mating or prostitution ad... But, then again, NO! I wasn't born yesterday! (I intentionally blurred out the name and these ladies eyes - Mike)

I am not insinuating at all that any of these women are prostitutes. That is not my intention at all. What I'd like to point out is how Facebook is presenting them. Why in the world is Facebook showing me a menu of people with the words, "People You Might Know" written above them when it is obvious we have no mutual friends and many of them don't even use the English language?

What sort of kooky algorithm is that? It's not me that is saying these women are prostitutes, all I'm saying is that they should be pretty pissed off at Facebook as to how they are presented to complete strangers. 

I also have nothing against Russian women. In fact, I think Russian women are quite beautiful! But I also know that there is a worldwide Russian prostitution ring running and it isn't a well-kept secret (gee, I guess if you are running a prostitution ring, then you wouldn't want it to be so secret that even customers can't find you!) And, probably most westerners don't know this, but, Russian prostitutes are very popular in Japan... You can see them everywhere in Tokyo on any night of the week and my friend, Kevin, who lives in Osaka tells me it's the same thing there.

Could the FB algorithm be set up to show these to men in Japan?

Could this be another use of Facebook that we're going to see much much more of in the future? Maybe. If Facebook started being used for dating and prostitution, then maybe they would have finally found a profit model that works!

* Note: Come to think of it, since I rail on Facebook so much as in Facebook Shares Plunge After Lock-Up Expires, maybe FB is looking for an excuse to cut off my account!!!...

We Cannot Depend on the Police or the Government - They Are Lazy and Out of Touch With Reality and Common Sense

A couple of stories that caught my eye that really make me wonder about what people are thinking about how the government keeps getting bigger and bigger and getting more and more involved with our daily lives.

Japanese motorcycle police drones... Do not protect the public... 

They are a tax racketeering group on wheels

On the one hand, average Joe-Happoshu thinks that we need the government to take care of all sorts of things in our lives like retirement, health insurance, rules on wearing seat belts, smoking in public - oh I could go on and on... (I won't talk today about how there is nothing written in the constitution about the government running things like health care)...But, at the same time Joe-Happoshu wants to government to babysit him and his family, he fails to recognize that these very same people are constantly doing things that are the height of incompetence or of questionable judgement.


I want the police and government out of our lives... But can understand the desire of people to have the police protecting us (Duh! That's what they are supposed to do!) Ostensibly that's what they are here for. But here's a story about how the police took a vacation that probably helped contribute to two people getting murdered - a rare occurrence in this country and big news all over the media for these last few months:


Here's a story from the Japan Times: Cops took trip rather than probe stalker - Days later, two women were stabbed to death

CHIBA — Police officers from a Chiba Prefecture station postponed investigating a suspected case of assault and stalking and instead took a three-day pleasure trip to Hokkaido, shortly before the suspect allegedly killed two people, officials said Thursday.

Makoto Yamashita, 58, whose daughter was living in Chiba Prefecture, went to Narashino Police Station on Dec. 6 to file a complaint about a man he claimed had stalked and assaulted his daughter. He was asked to wait a week before submitting his request for an investigation.

Yamashita's wife, Mitsuko, 56, and mother, Hisae, 77, were stabbed to death at their home in Saikai, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Dec. 16.

The suspect is Gota Tsutsui, 27, of Mie Prefecture, the man whom Yamashita wanted to target with the complaint. Tsutsui had sent emails to many friends of Yamashita's daughter that he would retrieve her after murdering her family. The woman had left Chiba and moved in with her parents in Nagasaki Prefecture.

So the dad goes to the police to ask for help after getting death threats from a stalker. The cops ho-hum and suck air through their teeth and the guy is told to come back later... Why he was asked to wait a week is anyone's guess... I guess that it was because the police were too busy protecting the public by handing out parking tickets to prevent a murder (gotta pay for the year-end policeman's party, ya know!)

Then when the news gets out that the police screwed up, they lie about it and try to cover up for themselves:

The Chiba police had earlier said the officers postponed an investigation because they were busy looking into other cases.

The officers traveled to Hokkaido two days after seeing Yamashita, according to the latest findings by the Chiba police.

Riiiiiight. These are the people who we need to increase their annual budget because they are protecting us from evil Yakuza gangsters by raiding prostitution parlors or S&M clubs? Yes. There's dangers everywhere! We can never be too careful!

Damn the budget constraints and red ink. We need to increase police department budgets and increase staffing!


The other story involves a well-known Japanese politician who used artificial insemination to have a baby at 50-years-old. This story is also from the Japan Times: Lawmaker Has No Regrets About Giving Birth at 50

Seiko Noda, a 51-year-old Lower House lawmaker, drew wide public attention and controversy by bearing a child at age 50 through artificial insemination. During an interview in February, about a year after giving birth to a boy using ova from a third party in the United States, Noda said she has no regrets. She says her son, Masaki, who has never left the hospital since birth due to serious medical problems, is her "mentor" who trains her as a politician...

...Her private life has been filled with constant travails, however, because she had enormous difficulty having a child. At age 44 she published a book titled "Watashi wa Umitai" ("I Want to Give Birth"), in which she poured her heart out about her burning desire to somehow produce offspring and discussed her experience with fertility techniques.

As a firm believer in private property rights, I believe that the ultimate private property is a person's body. While I think it is odd and perhaps a bit selfish that a 50-year-old woman would want to have a baby, I suppose it would be wrong for me to condemn her just for that.

I also feel very sorry for her and especially that poor baby who lingers in the hospital and hope that he can recover quickly and lead a normal life...  Well, as normal as a kid could when his mom will be 66-years-old and a senior citizen when he is 15!

Like I said, I cannot criticize her for wanting and having a child. I think, though, I can criticize her for doing it while on the public dime and I can criticize her for doing it at 50-years-old while a public figure. Having a child at 50 is risky enough. Doing it while still working is idiocy.

And, on that point, why wait until 50? She even wrote a book about it! Why didn't she do this sooner? The chances of complications with the child and birth defects greatly increase after age 35. Why didn't this woman act sooner for the betterment of her child? 

I think that is irresponsible.

I wonder how a person who is this lacking in judgement and responsibility when it comes to her own body and offspring could be depended upon to care for the well being of society at large? And don't call me a hypocrite! When my own daughter was hospitalized, as this woman's child is, my wife and I decided that she would quit her job and go live in the hospital with that child to care for her. She did that; we did that for 2.5 years. This politician? I'm sure she tries to visit whenever her schedule allows. If she were a dedicated mom, she'd quit her job and go take care of this child. But, like I said, I suspect this is an ego problem.

Sorry of I scoff and this story disgusts me. That poor child didn't deserve this.

Truly, as the days go by, the ruling class become farther and farther out of touch with reality and the common sense of the common man.

Is depending on these sorts of people any way to take care of your family? Is depending on these sorts of people anything less than gross irresponsibility? 

Japan: A Nation of Incorrigible and Depraved Criminals - If you masturbate and view pornography in Japan, you are supporting yakuza gangster activities and can go to jail! Stop it now!

It's difficult for me to admit, but admit I must. Japan is a nation full of law-breaking criminals and desperadoes. Oh sure, not all of them are robbing banks, committing grand larceny, breaking fingers and ankles, trading women in human trafficking, promoting gambling, drug use, sex, prostitution and all sorts of morally wicked deeds. But, well, the proof is in the pudding as they say: Most men in Japan (Japanese nationals and foreigners) are breaking the law with shocking regularity and that includes you if you live in Japan!

"Mukashi no Uta" (昔の歌) 1939 film. Allegedly, this film was financed with yakuza money (like many films in Japan). If you've seen this film or even if you look at this photo, you are supporting yakuza activities! Look away! Save yourself!

You're either with us or you're with the criminals. And, from where I sit, it looks like every male in Japan is a law breaker and should be apprehended and incarcerated until the end of time. 


If you are a male residing in Japan, Japanese national or not (the law is, after all, fair and color blind) then you are a criminal lawbreaker as you support the yakuza most likely on a daily basis!


You should be ashamed of yourself! You despicable low-life scum! How do you sleep at night?


What I mean to say is that roughly 100% of the male population of Japan are eagerly supporting the criminal activities of yakuza gangsters merely by association and, as such, according to new laws on the books of Japan, must be arrested and made an example of in order to protect society. If I were the chief of police in your neighborhood, you'd be the first person whose butt I locked up and threw away the key!

Give you one guess what those circles mean. So if I were, say, the beer vendor at this boxing match, or even this venue owner, or the guy cleaning the toilets, I would be committing criminal acts under the new law by selling these guys tickets to this event or even a beer or popcorn or making them feel like guests. Genius!

This comes as a deep and profound shock to me as I was under the impression that most guys in Japan were regular Joes going to work and trying to earn a living. Little did I know that every male in Japan over 16 years of age is supporting Yakuza activities. Let me repeat that for you so the gravity of the situation really sinks in: Every single male in Japan over 16 years of age is supporting Yakuza activities and therefore needs to be arrested.


As always, the Tokyo Reporter has the story. I will add my comments in between paragraphs. Please refer to: How to Spot a Yakuza Front Company

On October 5, the National Police Agency announced a revision to the Anti-Organized Crime Law to be submitted to the ordinary session of the Diet. The initiative follows anti-gang ordinances adopted by all prefectures and administrative divisions that same month.

Crucially to the general public, the latter legislation prohibits ordinary citizens from assisting the business activities of criminal organizations.


So what these morons are saying is that if I take my dirty laundry to the corner dry cleaner, which I am unaware of is actually a front for a Yakuza company, I can get fined and in trouble and eventually jailed. What bullocks! 


My question is: what's to stop some cop from abusing his power and use this law to take revenge on former business partners and people he doesn't like? What's to stop him from coming down on a legitimate dry cleaning business when it just so happens that his family owns the other dry cleaners in the same neighborhood? 


But I digress...

Media outlets, celebrities, and the sporting world have subsequently been monitoring their own activities.

No. They haven't. They've been pissing and moaning about how stupid these new laws are and an obstruction of business.

Shukan Taishu Venus (Feb. 22) sets about determining what commoners can do to protect themselves from unknowingly associating with crime syndicates.

There are thousands of yakuza front companies operating in Japan, says the tabloid. “I used to work at such an organization,” confesses a freelance writer. “Many other employees did not know, however, that a gang group was behind it.”

Hello!? Did they say, "commoners?" How about peasantry? Then they go on and say that the employees didn't even know the company was owned by yakuza so how in the hell are the customers supposed to know? Jeez!

To avoid working for such a firm, the writer suggests research. “You should at least check the company’s name on the net,” the source says. “While it is important to see what users on bulletin boards say, what’s crucial is to know the number of years it has been in business and its history.”

Idiocy! Check the company's name on the Internet? Riiiiiiiight. If it says "A yakuza corporation" on their web page, then you'll know something might not be kosher. This writer is a moron too. Since when is it the employees job to make sure that company shareholders aren't up to hijinks?


As one friend told me, "If I put my money into any bank in Japan, I cannot be sure that the yakuza are not involved... After all, all big banks the world over are corrupt, dishonest businesses!"

Companies that change their names and lines of businesses frequently are suspect, says the writer, adding: “Companies that use simple English words such as ‘consultant’ or ‘create’ following a name is certainly dubious as it is an attempt to establish a good image just from the sound of the name.”

English words? Heavens! Consultant? Create? My god! Just to show you how incredibly dumb this is, I did a Google search using the words, (コンサルタント 東京　株式会社) "consultant," "Tokyo," "corporation" to see how many companies, or references to those companies, in Tokyo I could find. I received a total of 38,000,000 hits! Thirty-eight million!

The only straight line these people who wrote this law could write is if their brains were hooked up to an electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure their brain activity. That should be plenty to prove to anyone who has any trace of cranial activity that this article and this law is complete and total bullsh*t!

Now, let's take this nonsense even one step further and I will prove to you why every man in Japan over 16 is, according to the new law, a criminal or supporting criminal activities. And that includes you, pal!


♫ Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? ♫

I wrote about this just the other day. Please refer to Anti-Crime (Anti-Yakuza) Laws in Japan Completely Insane - Yakuza Gangsters (or those suspected of ties) can't play golf, go to Disneyland, eat at McDonald's or order Domino's Pizza either! Idiotic Laws!:

The asinine laws that went into effect last October make associating with Yakuza a crime. Yes, yes, blah, blah... But what does, "associating with Yakuza" mean? I checked Merriam-Webster dictionary for "Associate" it said:

Associate: (transitive verb)

1) to join as partner or friend

2) to join or connect together

3) to bring together into a relationship in any of various intangible ways (as in memory or imagination)

Ah! Number 3 is the tricky one. So, if you are living outside of Japan, and I live here and if you and I were to meet, you could associate me with the Yakuza because the Yakuza are from Japan too! See how this works?

Under these new laws, obviously written by people with the intelligence of chimpanzees, "associating with a Yakuza" is not limited to things like you being a card-holding gang member or their "friend" and hanging around with them at the billiard room; it's not limited to your driving in their getaway cars while they rob banks or standing around as watch out while they have "a problem in communication" and wind up roughing up uncooperative, er, "customers." It means that if you suspect that someone is a Yakuza, yet you treat them like anyone else, you could be fined or sent to prison.

If contact with the yakuza continues despite all this, a person risks up to one year in the hoosegow and a fine of ¥500,000 ($6,400).

It hit the golf industry hard.

“If customers are yakuza, we ask them to leave even if they're in the middle of playing," said the general manager of Akabane Golf Club (Mainichi newspaper article in Japanese). He is also the chairman of the Council of Golf Clubs for the Expulsion of Organized Crime in Tokyo. How would he know if someone is a yakuza? "We refer the names of suspicious people to the police,” he said.

And the pizza delivery industry is in uproar. 

"We don't know if the address we deliver to is the place of a yakuza," said the Delivery Business Safety Driving Council. But don't panic. "One or two pizzas are OK,” the Council said, “but delivering a huge amount of pizza, knowing that the customer is a yakuza is a no-no." They're planning to invite police officers to a study meeting with restaurant owners.

So it's not rocket science; if you do anything or support anything or any business run by the yakuza, then you are guilty of aiding, abetting and supporting criminal organizations and, as such, violating the new laws on the books.

Stop! You are violating the law! Close your eyes right now. This is your last warning!

Now let me show you how it is that, if you are a male in Japan, then you are guilty of supporting the yakuza and should be arrested. Everyone knows that, in Japan, the yakuza have their hand in the entertainment business. Nowhere else is this hand more evident than in the "adult entertainment" business. That means hostess clubs, dating services, prostitution and pornography. 


Yes, that's right: Pornography. Is there anyone who thinks that the yakuza do not control the pornography industry in Japan? 


Now, what's that got to do with you, you ask? Don't lie to me. Everyone knows that 98% of all men admit to masturbating and the other 2% are liars. I know what you are doing! You might say that it is nobody's business what your right hand does while viewing pictures like the one above, but, let's face it; you are a normal red-blooded guy, right?


According to the Healthy Strokes web site, 100% of all men masturbate:


Some authorities say 100% and that there are no exceptions. According to a survey of more than 10,000 males by the web site HealthyStrokes.com in the second half of 2007, 99.15 percent reported masturbating currently. Limiting the scope to those over 18 (your question refers to "men"), 99 percent report masturbating currently. All of those males report having masturbated in the past.


Okay, so it's not 100%. It's 99% (and the other 1% are liars). So, like I said, everyone knows the Yakuza control the porno industry in Japan. And what's the problem with that? Someone has to do it. It's not like your local bank, postal service or hospital is going to diversify their businesses and get into the porn industry (although there's always more openings for nurses!) 


So that means every time you view photos of sexy Japanese girls or Japanese porn, you are supporting a business run by the yakuza and, in turn, violating the new laws.


So, ultimately that means when you view porn (that is most likely created by yakuza run organizations) that includes sexy Japanese girls, you are a criminal...


Or, if you don't masturbate, then you are a liar. Which is it? 


We definitely need more intelligent laws like this on the books, wouldn't you agree?

Go to jail. Go immediately to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200!

Japanese Prime Minister Says He Can Get Sales Tax Doubled - I Predict He Will Be Out of a Job by September 2012

This just came out on Bloomberg. The current Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda says he can get a consensus and coalition on doubling the sales tax rate.

Bloomberg reports in Noda Says Deal Possible With Opposition to Double Consumption Tax:

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said he thinks he can reach a deal with the opposition to double the 5 percent consumption tax in order to shore up the country’s social security system.

“I believe we can come to an understanding,” Noda told journalists from overseas media organizations today in Tokyo. “I sense that our debate is beginning to jibe.”

This guy is a goner

The combination of an aging society and a declining birthrate has put Japan in an “unprecedented situation” as the government seeks to rein in soaring welfare costs, Noda said. All political parties understand the urgency and must work together as “the question is how to secure stable financing for a sustainable social security system.”

Ha! Ha! Ha! That just shows how delusional this Noda guy is... He has to say stuff like this to the foreign press. Back at home, to the Japanese press, he'd get laughed at. 

Sadakazu Tanigaki, head of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, yesterday said on NHK Television that “it would be best” for Noda to seek a new mandate before submitting his tax legislation. He denied media reports that he and Noda met on Feb. 25 to discuss the situation.

Translation: The LDP doesn't want to seem responsible for raising taxes or not being able to fund social security, so they know that if they can force an election in summer, Noda will be out of office and they can keep kicking the can down the road - in the same way as we they been doing for twenty years.

The LDP has it right too. Noda hasn't even been prime minister for a year yet his popularity ratings are already weak enough that he could never stand a chance of winning any kind of election at all. Twenty seven percent approval rating is disastrous. Especially if you stand on an election platform of raising people's taxes!

Why don't they take a page out of Ron Paul's playbook? Cut spending first before even talking about raising taxes and maybe you'll get public sympathy.

Forty percent of voters oppose Noda’s tax plan, compared with 46 percent who support it, according to an Asahi newspaper poll published Feb. 14. Noda’s approval rating fell to 27 percent from 29 percent the previous month. The paper provided no margin of error for its survey of 1,741 people on Feb. 11-12.

Former DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa, who is on trial for violating campaign financing laws, today on TV Tokyo reiterated his opposition to Noda’s tax plan. Nine lawmakers left the ruling party after it approved the proposal to raise the consumption tax to 8 percent in April 2014 and 10 percent in October 2015.

Really, what's the point of this nonsense article? There won't be any sales tax increase under this prime minister. He will be out of office if he really tries to do so. The crisis amongst the public and the political circles hasn't come to a boiling point (because people don't understand how exponential growth of our debts and interest rates on those debts are going to affect us). And, until this really hits home, people will not tolerate a sales tax increase.

We're way past that anyway. Even with a tax increase, if it is not coupled with a massive decrease in government spending, it will not matter because our debts will continue to accumulate along with the interest on those debts. Past history has shown that tax increases will not help as the government will deficit spend any increase in revenues it gets. When Noboru Takeshita was prime minister and instituted sales tax in 1988, he claimed that it would end our debt problem. It didn't. It couldn't without a cut in spending. After years of borrowing, we are already well past double the GDP in debt. We need to begin paying down that debt before any talk of a sales tax increase will even matter. That means we must massively cut spending right now. 

This is basic mathematics, folks. 

We need to cut spending, including interest on our debt - as well as paying down that debt to under what is received in revenue - as well as having tax increases to fix the problem we are in. I am against any and all tax increases especially if they aren't coupled with massive cuts in spending - and that's not cuts in future proposed spending, that's cuts in today's current budget.

It's simple. If you get five, you cannot spend seven. Once you owe fourteen, even if you start getting six, you still cannot spend seven. You will have to lower your spending to under all income in order to start paying back past debt and interest or you will never get out of the hole. 

Where to cut? Well. I'm sure we can start with cutting government waste and ridiculous spending on prevention of victimless crimes like prostitution, gambling, drugs, and ridiculous police raids on establishments that have waitresses sitting at tables with customers or arresting owners because people are drinking and dancing at restaurants on Saturday nights!   

Anyway, Noda will be gone by September because he doesn't understand these basic concepts and can't do simple first grade math... 

The best thing that could happen is a massive across the board cut in government services, but, in a country that changes prime ministers every year and has elections every summer, that isn't going to happen as politicians won't cut services because they want to give away our money so that people vote for them.

Our current system is ruined and there is no way to fix it. We are sliding down a steep slope into insolvency. 

The good news is that we won't have a sales tax increase this year. The bad news is that none of these other Japanese politicians are able to grasp first grade mathematics either.... Nor will our next prime minister.

Japan's SM Police! Why in the World are the Japanese Police Raiding SM Clubs? A Policeman is Caught Naked in One of Them! Ridiculous Laws Must Stop!

I hate to sound like a broken record, but why in the world are the police wasting time and taxpayers monies on chasing people around for victimless "crimes" like smoking herbs, prostitution, gambling, paying for sex and other "favors," and now standing around naked at a Sadomasochist club? You got to be kidding me!

Japanese Dominatrix: Beautiful and sexy Japanese girl? Yes... But not my type... 

Different strokes for different folks, I guess... Me? I've never been one for pain. 

Pain hurts. Funny that; I don't like things that hurt... 

(Probably wouldn't kick her outta bed for eating rice crackers, tho')  

It gets worse and just shows how stupid and hypocritical our masters and the police are in that, at this particular raid on said SM club, one of the 15 patrons arrested was an off-duty police officer! (I wonder how many of those other tax-feeding cops are involved in other so-called "illegal" past-times when they are not busy crashing parties and bizarre past times that other people are involved in?)


Hell, they arrest people for getting their jollies at an SM club? What the heck? Why don't they arrest people for going out and wasting a full day at a golf course too? If you ask me, that is a waste of time. As Mark Twain said, "Golf is a good walk spoiled."

I don't know, honey... You sure a nice dinner 

and a glass of wine wouldn't be more fun?

The Tokyo Reporter has the story that makes me want to pull my hair out: Sapporo cop busted for nudity during raid of SM club:

TOKYO (TR) – Sapporo police early Saturday arrested a fellow officer for public indecency during a raid of a SM club in the Susukino entertainment district, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Feb. 11).

Naotoshi Okuzawa, a 28-year-old senior patrol officer from the Atsubetsu Police Station, was taken into custody after officers entered Club Patio and found the officer on the stage naked and in the company of female employee, who had tied him with a red rope.

“There is no question that I was naked,” Okuzawa is quoted in admitting to the allegations.

When officers entered the premises at 1:15 a.m., 15 customers were present. Initially, Ozawa did not reveal his occupation, but later investigators discovered that he is a fellow officer.

“We seriously apologize for arrest of a policeman,” said Minoru Okumura, a spokesperson for the Hokkaido prefectural police. “All the facts will be investigated, and we will deal with this matter in a very strict manner.” 

"We seriously apologize for the arrest of a policeman"??? Yeah, what he really means is that "We made a mistake. If we'd have known he was a policeman, we'd have never arrested him. We only arrest mundanes and peasants (regular people like you). We promise to make sure that it doesn't happen again..."


Pardon me for being so stupid, but what is it that they are arresting these people and this cop for? Being stupid? Having weird hobbies? Being a bit twisted (who isn't a bit twisted?) Being naked inside a building? Well, funny that, I have a strange notion that it is inside of buildings and not outside of buildings that people are supposed to be naked when that dress (or lack thereof) situation occurs.

"Hands up! I'm taking you in... Dead or alive! Your call!"

Great. Just great. Japan's total debt is 492% of GDP and our national financial situation is desperate and these clowns are chasing around people with fetishisms and other silly habits. It is even stupider when you realize that the government wants to make laws that are supposed to make us "better people"!!!??? As I wrote in: Man Dies Smoking "Legal Herb"? Japan's Newest Drug Craze and More Unnecessary Drug Laws

The government has no business passing laws on what people wish to put into their bodies. If people are stupid enough to want to huff airplane fuel, drive without a seat belt, drink until they kill themselves, or eat junk food all the time, will we pass laws making that illegal too? (Look at the idiocy in England whereby teapots must be labeled, "Sugar leads to diabetics." (sic))

This comes down to private property rights. The poor guy who died, as with you or me, are the owners of our own bodies. There is no one who has the right to tell us what we can and cannot consume. Guidelines are welcomed, but these draconian laws are a waste of taxpayers money.

These idiotic laws are passed, but our lords, masters and politicians get caught doing the very same things that they don't want the mundanes, peasants and  public (that's where you and I come in) to do because of their hypocritical public stance. Remember: "Don't do as I do. Do as I say!"

Cops? Out of control everywhere!

When is the public going to finally stand up and say, "Enough is enough!" of this nonsense.

Man Dies Smoking "Legal Herb"? Japan's Newest Drug Craze and More Unnecessary Drug Laws

Interestingly enough, just after I finished my series on drug rehabilitation in Japan, the news is out that a young man was smoking 脱法ハーブ (Dappo herb) "legal herb" and died in his apartment in Nagoya. It also seems that there is some confusion as to whether or not this Dappo Herb is legal or not. Shop owners have been circumventing the law by selling the herbs as "incense." It seems that if the shop owners tell the customers that they should smoke the herb, then that would be breaking the law.


This is confusing as, with, say Marijuana, Japanese law is specific; smoking marijuana is not illegal in Japan. Possession of marijuana is illegal. Possession precedes use. Makes sense. So, then why isn't possession of these laced herbs not illegal? It is just more on the madness of these laws... But more on that later.

This news has come to the forefront last night and today as, day before yesterday, a young man in Nagoya was alleged to have been smoking the Dappo Herb and then he died. It is not yet sure the reasons for his death but police suspect it has something to do with an overdose concerning Dappo Herb.


Here is a news story about the incident:

Quick explanation & translation:  

The video talks about a 24-year-old guy named Miura, a restaurant employee, who was smoking this Dappo Herb with a friend and died on February 6th, 2012. The friend told police that they were smoking when Miura grew silent. Soon after, his friend checked him and Miura's body was cold. The police said they found the Dappo Herb in Muira's pocket along with a pipe. Many shops are selling Dappo Herb as "legal herbs" but this is not true. The police say they will start enforcing the law in a more vigorous manner.

The rise in popularity of Dappo Herb has gone from two shops selling it in Tokyo in 2009 to at least 89 this year. 

Japan Times reports:

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government identified two shops selling such products in fiscal 2009. As of last Friday, 89 such shops were in existence, many of them in Shinjuku and Shibuya, areas popular with young people.

"Even if (herbs) do not include chemicals designated (as illegal) by law, you can't say they are safe. (Inhaling them) is like conducting a human experiment with your own body," said Masahiko Funada, who heads a team researching addictive drugs at the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has been locked in a race with dealers as it keeps adding new stimulants to its list of illegal drugs while dealers keep marketing new products, including new chemicals they say are not covered by drug regulations. 

Well, that's the news; and now the commentary: 

That last paragraph of this quote from the Japan Times should demonstrate to anyone the futility of these sorts of laws prohibiting victimless crimes. There will always be new chemicals coming up that are outside the law. Will we keep expanding the laws forever and ever? We need less government in our lives, not more. It doesn't matter whether it is gambling, prostitution, or drug use, victimless crimes should be decriminalized. 


It is true that this guy died in Nagoya but there is no proof that Dappo Herb caused his death. If he is stupid enough to be smoking some sort of chemical concoction that he doesn't even know what it is, then let him. There is no way to outlaw stupidity.

The government has no business passing laws on what people wish to put into their bodies. If people are stupid enough to want to huff airplane fuel, drive without a seat belt, drink until they kill themselves, or eat junk food all the time, will we pass laws making that illegal too? (Look at the idiocy in England whereby teapots must be labeled, "Sugar leads to diabetics." (sic))

This comes down to private property rights. The poor guy who died, as with you or me, are the owners of our own bodies. There is no one who has the right to tell us what we can and cannot consume. Guidelines are welcomed, but these draconian laws are a waste of taxpayers money.

Some will say that decriminalizing, say, heroin or cocaine will cause a boom in its use. That's total nonsense. Five years after decriminalizing many of these drugs, Portugal enjoyed seeing their use cut in half as reported by Forbes magazine. But you don't need to read Forbes to realize that decriminalizing drugs would not lead to a boom in their use... If heroin were decriminalized tomorrow, would you go out and start doing it; your friends or family? I didn't think so.

Like I said, we need less government in our lives, not more. The expansion of laws and these sorts of actions only serve to increase the size of government and the tax burden on the average Japanese citizen. The politicians want to increase our sales tax to 10% - even, some say, 25%! but what they fail to realize is that they can raise the taxes forever and it won't matter.

It won't matter because, no matter how mathematically challenged the Japanese government is, you cannot forever continue to spend more than you take in. That should be the lesson learned over these last 20 years, going on 30, but it's not. 

We need to shrink the size of government and government duties and with it, our tax burden. A great place to start is the ridiculous policing of victimless crimes. 

A quick and easy way to do that would be to decriminalize victimless crimes like prostitution, gambling and smoking of recreational drugs. We've regulated and decriminalized one of the most dangerous, addictive and deadly drugs known to man; alcohol, and that seems to be working out okay.

Cutting down on the number of laws on the books will only serve to cut costs. We should decrease, not increase the number of laws governing the public.