Kottke is back!!!
It was a very long 7-month sabbatical.
11 Likes
22 Likes
The details will matter for this one - if all they do is fold the morality police into the regular police it might not make any difference at all. But, Iâm hopeful this is a step in the right direction.
18 Likes
I think the government was quite scared with the proportion that the protests took. They must have remembered what happened in North Africa and the Middle East a few years ago and thought that sometimes itâs better to lose a ring than to have fingers cut offâŚ
12 Likes
14 Likes
13 Likes
This is very well done.
I know this thread is devoted to encouraging content, but maybe youâll agree that the high level of craft and cleverness will be an adequate compensation for the to-be-expected grim report from Tom Waits.
5 Likes
Speaking of WaitsâŚ
7 Likes
⌠she didnât expect that some of the worldâs most famous authors, including Stephen King, Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman, would respond with tales of their own nightmare public appearances.
19 Likes
18 Likes
Itâs still reassuring she has at least two friends she knows she can rely on.
7 Likes
15 Likes
15 Likes
14 Likes
Some good news from Japan today!
The lower house of the Japanese Diet passed a bill that will make it illegal for religious organizations to pressure people into making donations through âmind controlâ (defined as putting people into a state wherein they are unable to make rational decisions through fear or superstition, etc.). The bill will also make it illegal for religious organizations to demand that believers go into debt or sell property to make donations. This bill has teeth, and provides for a penalty of up to one year in prison for violations occurring after warnings to stop.
Although the bill does not apply solely to the Unification Church, it is clearly a response to the allegations that came to light in the wake of the assassination of Shinzo Abe.
The bill also provides mechanisms for victims of predatory religious organizations to reclaim forced donations, and victims here is defined as believers and the children of believers. A lot of the debate around the Unification Church and other predatory religious organizations has focused on the children of believers as the true victims, and this framing has helped to move this legislation forward. The bill is also expected to pass the upper house of the Diet.
It is really great to see action on this kind of sham religion here in Japan.
17 Likes
When it overtakes natural gas, THEN weâre talking!
13 Likes
Wawa announces expansion to Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio
10 Likes
13 Likes
I know all those characters, except Teleporno. 
Meanwhile:
14 Likes
Celeborn.
14 Likes
