Len Schoppa

Big upheaval in Japanese politics. Today (Japan time), after a ninety minute meeting between Saitō, head of Komeito, and Takaichi, the LDP politician who recently won her party’s presidency, Saitō announced an end to their parties’ 26-year-long coalition agreement.

for any UVA folks that follow me you should circulate this among your networks balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...

Resolution Opposing the "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" WHEREAS the United States Secretary of Education has requested that the University of Virginia enter into a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”, and WHEREAS the Compact contains provisions antithetical to the mission and traditions of the University, and WHEREAS the Compact contains provisions which endanger the independence and integrity of the University, and WHEREAS the compact likely violates state and federal law, and infringes upon the constitutional rights of members of the University community, and WHEREAS the University of Virginia exemplifies American academic values of the highest standard, including universal right to free speech and the cultivation of academic freedom; therefore BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate of the University of Virginia firmly opposes this Compact as written and calls upon Interim President Mahoney and the Board of Visitors to also reject this Compact outright as well as any similar proposal compromising the mission, values, and independence of the University.

UVA Faculty Senate passed a resolution strongly opposing the Trump “Compact.” We, at least, remain committed to the historic values and mission of the university.

The deductible for a couple is going from $4000 to $6,000, so that is big jump in one year. I will be sharing my analysis of how each plan fairs in a range of scenarios for a Faculty Senate online presentation (open to all faculty) on October 14 at 4:30 pm.

I’ll see if I can work that into a question. The talk is on how to boost fertility rates is the US by restoring marriage and traditional values, or something like that, so that episode is definitely relevant.

UVA is hosting him as a visiting speaker in early October and I’ve invited my students to attend. I hope he has some greater wisdom to impart.

He seems to want the left to find some distractions to take their minds off the way Trump has claimed all power for himself: “If everything feels like power relations, and power has slipped from your fingers, where can you find the good, the beautiful, the true?”

Japanese down 7 million. Foreign population up 1.78 million, so not exactly replacing 1 for 1. Chart not drawn to scale so can be misleading.

The folks wanting to build this should get the Japanese to guarantee it instead. They need to find $550 billion in US projects to invest in, under the deal they just made, and this one makes economic and climate sense.

Right now, Japan is importing Russian LNG and sometimes gets an oil delivery, so if it was applied as advertised would be another blow to the J economy.

Actually 100 percent secondary tariffs on China and India and anyone else who continues to buy oil and other goods from Russia, unless a peace deal in 50 days. If he were to follow through on that, it would actually squeeze Russia quite substantially.

According to Nikkei Asia they accepted a rate of 20 percent in exchange for giving the US tariff free access to the Vietnam market. Not exactly reciprocal, but better for Vietnam than 43%, and better than Chinas rate, likely to end up between 30 to 60%.

More Japanese embracing foreign rice, even before it became a tariff topic A seismic change in mindset for Japanese businesses and consumers could allow Tokyo leeway to relax some restrictions if rice becomes a thorny topic in tariff talks with President Trump, who has called out Japan's high levies on its staple grain.

And he hasn’t seem to have heard that US rice is now being sold in Japan. As usual he’s stuck in the 1980s. www.reuters.com/world/japan/...

The administration has cut off funding to our existing vocational ed and imagines they can set up 1 million apprenticeships from scratch, without unions and trade associations. Was this in Project 2025 too? Who authored that chapter?

Japan PM Ishiba decides to skip NATO summit amid Mideast tensions Cancellation made for 'various reasons,' government says

Here’s the story in Nikkei Asia: Japan PM Ishiba decides to skip NATO summit amid Mideast tensions asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Jap...

Japan PM Ishiba decides to skip NATO summit amid Mideast tensions- Officially he cancelled because Trump bombed Iran, but I suspect a second unstated reason was a desire to avoid Japan being put on the spot as to whether it was willing to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP from 1.8 now.

Japan PM Ishiba decides to skip NATO summit amid Mideast tensions- Officially he cancelled because Trump bombed Iran, but I suspect a second unstated reason was a desire to avoid Japan being put on the spot as to whether it was willing to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP from 1.8 now.

It seems that the Trump admin came up with this number merely to justify imposing tariffs on allies. The US itself doesn't spend anywhere close to 5% (3.4% in 2024) and we cannot afford to grow defense spending to that level, so how does the US think it can bully Japan into accepting such a target?

And they took away his walker. Very sad.

Is poasting like toasting, but on social media? An over-60 wants to know.

E.P.A. Set to Cancel Grants Aimed at Protecting Children From Toxic Chemicals The cancellations, set to apply to pending and active grants, also affect research into “forever chemicals” contaminating the food supply.

The Trump administration is set to cancel tens of millions of dollars in grants to scientists studying environmental hazards faced by children in rural America, among other health issues, according to internal emails written by senior officials at the EPA.

My translation of a viral Japanese meme summarizing decades of U.S. complaints about Japan not buying enough American cars (while not making the kind of cars Japanese consumers actually want):

We know how to challenge tyrants here in Virginia.

When is the media going to press him on his statutory authority when he pitches ideas like this? If he wants to privatize, put it in a bill and see if Congress will pass it. Want to close AID, put it in legislation.

It’s an invitation to grift. What level of donations to Trump and Co will get you an exemption?

Where is the US on the generalized trust metric. Down there with UK?

The Path to American Authoritarianism What comes after democratic breakdown.

There is no clearer voice on democratic erosion than Steven Levitsky.

This piece is perfect. It will help clarify the worried thoughts of those who already know things are bad, but it also explains what is happening to those who don't yet know.

www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

The example of an enduring coalition partnership that occurred to me was the German CDU-CSU, which have partnered for the entire postwar period. They have separate origins and remain technically separate today, but the Union is so enduring that no one can imagine a separation.

Wrote my dissertation on a Kaypro. Advertised as the first portable personal computer when I bought it in 1985, but it actually weighed a ton and was shaped like a giant brick.

A few years ago I helped produce a documentary called "Slow Way Home" that explored this contrast. Here's a link to the film on vimeo, where you can access it with the password "Virginia_22": vimeo.com/video/136897...