Tobias Harris

Dubai’s Army of Influencers Gets Back in Line After briefly playing war correspondents, their tune changed.

The intersection of war and influencers in here sounds almost verbatim like scenes from @shteyngart.bsky.social.

www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Twenty questions (and expert answers) about the Iran war As US-Israeli forces strike Iran and Iran retaliates across the Middle East, Atlantic Council experts bring clarity to the fast-moving events.

Finally, some sense about China's part in all of this. Good contribution here from Melanie Hart: www.atlanticcouncil.org/dispatches/t...

For those keeping score at home. Japan is still on the hook for $550bn in investment -- one way or another -- but the USG isn't honoring its end of the bargain after the Supreme Court ruling and could now be laying the groundwork for more.

I cannot wait for the behind-the-scenes dirt on the summit next week.

Opening the taps | Japan Daily Briefing Government orders large release from oil stockpiles as it looks to curb price hikes

The Japanese government announces a record-large release of oil from stockpiles as it seeks to contain price increases. The Democratic Party for the People offers a possible compromise on the budget. Japan marks the fifteenth anniversary of the 3/11 disasters.

open.substack.com/pub/observin...

Needless to say, elites demand blood sacrifices to Eldritch gods has a bit more versimilitude.

2) I think some of the best stories that play in his sandbox are those that flip things so that it is elites who call upon Eldritch horrors, not the "decadent lower orders" or primitive tribes (thinking of The Invisibles, Stross etc)

I've been revisiting Lovecraft again with my kids and two thoughts occur to me:

1) It's amazing how HPL's terrors of other races produced stories that seem better suited for the nuclear age, which began eight years after he died (the very fabric of the universe turned against human life);

Well, if someone was going to make a ballgame out of it, at least it was PCA. (Extend him Rickettses)

Mexico knocking out the US - favorite against the entire field - would also be very funny.

Italy 7, USA 0 is very funny to me.

BIS STALIN! ::flings pencils::

Also, if the US requests Japan's presence they should say, But Colby says we need to focus on security in the first island chain

During Trump I, S Korea got fucked up by China for deploying THAAD while the US stood pat oblivious. During Trump II, the THAAD got moved to the Middle East for a war that serves less than zero strategic purpose for US.

Is it a surprise that more people are asking what the point of the alliance is?

If the US Navy isn't doing it, I guess Japan doesn't have to worry about getting a request it's not prepared to fulfill.

Idiot plot

Takaichi avoids commitments on Iran war | Japan Daily Briefing Watchful waiting as Japan brings nationals home and tries to mediate

Tokyo avoids strong positions on the war in the Middle East. Opposition parties are trying to pressure the government on debt issuance. More details on the growth strategy. Plus: a political setback and falling approval for Takaichi.

open.substack.com/pub/observin...

Takaichi avoids commitments on Iran war | Japan Daily Briefing Watchful waiting as Japan brings nationals home and tries to mediate

Tokyo avoids strong positions on the war in the Middle East. Opposition parties are trying to pressure the government on debt issuance. More details on the growth strategy. Plus: a political setback and falling approval for Takaichi.

open.substack.com/pub/observin...

I'm at the point where using "lib" as a pejorative is basically grounds for an instant block

This is the first I've heard of this but just why

That's awful and one of my nightmares.

Seriously though, it's the stepping on Legos of eating,

Wishcasting all the way down

New elder millennial problems: when you bite into a prune that still has a pit in it.

"Only in Japan did America gain the peace our arms had won, because Douglas MacArthur-a throwback to the statesmanship of common sense-kept Washington's wise men and the Soviets at bay in Tokyo"

Tell me you know literally nothing about how the US approach to Japan unfolded without telling me.

The response rate figures for the new Kyodo poll are hilarious.

Landlines: 490 calls placed, 423 answered. 86.3% response rate
Mobile: 3892 calls placed, 631 answered. 16.2% response rate

Polling data This data will be regularly updated and accessible to all subscribers.

Takaichi government approval ratings, ten-day weighted moving average, 9 March

APPROVE 63%
DISAPPROVE 25.1%

Adjusted for pollster biases

APPROVE 63.4%
DISAPPROVE 26.5%

More information on methodology here: observingjapan.substack.com/p/tracking-t...