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Screen Shot, not a Video This ingenious revolver was made to fire blanks in Japan.  The inventor, Yoshitomo Imura, was recently arrested.  He claimed that he did not believe that he was doing anything illegal.  The video at this site shows the construction of the revolver and shows it firing blanks.   This validates my earlier suspicions that it was firing blanks, and not real ammunition.  From the earlier article: They appear to be firing crude blanks, or perhaps homemade ammunition of some kind.  The recoil in the video is suspiciously straight back, with virtually no rotation, indicating that it...

Did you hear the true story of the Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors? Fr. Hubert Schiffer, SJ and at least four other Jesuits were living in quarters eight blocks away from the epicenter of the bomb. They miraculously survived the bomb blast and Fr. Schiffer lived for at least fifty more years without a trace of radioactive side effects. Fr. Schiffer attributes the miracle in his own words as related by Fr. Paul Ruge O.F.M.I, “We believe that we survived because we lived the message of Fatima. We lived and prayed the rosary daily in that home.”The Message of Fatima ‘Fatima’...

China's CJ-10 cruise missiles. (Internet photo) China's CJ-10 "Long Sword" cruise missile has capabilities that match those of the American Block-IV Tomahawk and could be devastating in a potential naval conflict against the US, Japan or Taiwan, according to a report published in US-based political magazine The National Interest. The May 12 article, jointly written by military experts Dennis Gormley from the University of Pittsburgh, Andrew S Erickson from the Naval War College in Newport and Jingdong Yuan from the University of Sydney, claims that China's cruise missile development has been advancing rapidly under the radar while the US Navy...

(CNN) -- Anti-Chinese protests in Vietnam have turned violent with demonstrators setting on fire a number of factories in a southern Vietnamese industrial park. Properties in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) I & II in Binh Duong were targeted Tuesday by thousands of protesters demonstrating over China's deployment of an oil rig into waters that both countries claim as sovereign territory. Reports suggest the demonstrators targeted factories owned by Chinese firms, although CNN received a report that the arson was indiscriminate, with Korean-, Taiwanese- and Japanese-owned properties also torched by the angry mob.

A cat that vanished three years ago during Japan’s 2011 tsunami disaster has been unexpectedly reunited with its owners. The black cat, called Suika, was thought to have died after disappearing on March 11, 2011 – the day of the earthquake and tsunami – from his home in Ofunato, Iwate prefecture.

Nicholas Wade, a British-born science reporter and editor for more than 30 years with The New York Times, is no longer with the newspaper — just days after the release of his latest book, in which he depicts blacks with roots in sub-Saharan Africa as genetically less adapted to modern life than whites and Asians. Was The New York Times uncomfortable with Wade’s science or his conclusions? It’s unclear. Neither Wade nor his former employer returned requests for comment. Wade’s last Times article appeared April 24. His Penguin Press book “A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History” arrived in...

A 3D printing hobbyist, Yoshitomo Imura, was arrested in Japan for suspicion of possessing crude guns that had been printed from plans available on the Internet.  He had posted videos on the Internet showing him demonstrating the items.  They appear to be firing crude blanks, or perhaps homemade ammunition of some kind.  The recoil in the video is suspiciously straight back, with virtually no rotation, indicating that it may be simulated. .   From thebangladeshtoday.com: Mr Imura reportedly said he had not realised printing the guns was illegal. No ammunition was found for the crude, plastic guns.    At...

Police found five plastic guns, 3D printer and gun-making blueprints in suspect's home in first such case in Japan Share 194A 27-year-old Japanese man has been arrested for illegally possessing handguns made by a 3D printer, local media has said, marking the first such case in Japan, a country that takes pride in its low crime rate. Police in April found five plastic guns and a 3D printer at the suspect's home in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo. Two of the handguns were later proved capable of killing or wounding people, although no bullets were found at his home, public broadcaster...

TOKYO: A Japanese man suspected of possessing guns made with a 3-D printer has been arrested, reports said Thursday, in what was said to be the country's first such detention. Officers who raided the home of Yoshitomo Imura, a 27-year-old college employee, confiscated five weapons, two of which had the potential to fire lethal bullets, broadcaster NHK said. They also recovered a 3-D printer from the home in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, but did not find any ammunition for the guns, Jiji Press reported. It is the first time Japan's firearm control law has been applied to the possession of guns...

Japan's karoshi (death from overwork) problem is finally getting the attention it deserves. Thanks to a determined group of activists, who have worked tirelessly for more than 30 years to combat excessive work hours, a bill that aims to stop karoshi is about to be introduced in the Diet (parliament). Starting in the late 1970s, these activists identified the karoshi problem and then sought recognition and compensation from the state for workers' compensation claims for death or disability related to overwork. If they were turned away by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare they often found remedy in the...

Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe and NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen agreed Tuesday the Ukraine crisis was a threat to global security which must be addressed. As Russia rejected a new peace initiative and fears of open war mounted in Ukraine, Rasmussen said the situation amounted to the "gravest crisis to European security since the end of the Cold War." The crisis is deepening in the run-up to May 25 elections, with some 40,000 Russian troops massed on the border with eastern Ukraine where the Kiev government is under pressure from pro-Kremlin militias. "This is not just about Ukraine," Rasmussen said....

For most commentators, President Barack Obama’s biggest achievement in his four-nation tour of Asia was the enhanced defense treaty he signed with Philippine President Benigno Aquino. The pact permits US forces to operate on Philippine military bases and sets the conditions for joint training of US and Philippine forces, among other things. There are two problems with the treaty, however. And they reflect the basic problem with US foreign policy generally, five-and-a-half years into the Obama presidency. First, there is the reason that the treaty became necessary. The Philippines has been under attack by China since 2012 when China seized...

North Korea has developed nuclear weapons capable of being launched on its ballistic missile forces, according to a new report by a defense analyst. The Obama administration is seeking to hide the fact that North Korea possesses nuclear missile warheads, according to a report by Mark Schneider, a former Pentagon strategic analyst and director for forces policy at the office of the secretary of defense. Schneider’s statement came in a report published April 28 in the journal Comparative Strategy. According to the 16-page report, “The North Korean Nuclear Threat to the United States,” the Defense Intelligence Agency stated in an...

France will ban imports of live pigs, pork-based byproducts and pig sperm from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan to protect against a virus that has killed millions of piglets in North America and Asia, a farm ministry official said on Friday. The ban, which is due to be introduced on Saturday and does not include pork meat for human consumption, aims to ward off Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDv), which has killed around 7 million young pigs since first identified in the United States almost a year ago. The disease has reduced hog supplies in the United States...

I thought Mika was going to cry as she presented the bad news in this new poll that basically shows that people are fed up with Democrats:

TOKYO — Fans of monster movies or big Hollywood blockbusters are no doubt aware that a reboot of the famous Godzilla franchise is due to hit theaters this summer. As you might imagine for a movie featuring one of their most beloved pop culture icons, the Japanese are deeply interested in how America is going to bring their national monster to the screen. When clear pictures of the creature hit the Internet this week, the response was probably not what studio execs were hoping for. Some Japanese fans are apparently calling this incarnation of Godzilla “fat”. The pictures, released by...

An earthquake with preliminary magnitude of 6.2 jolted Tokyo and vicinity early Monday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There was no tsunami warning and no immediate reports of major damage.

North Korean Missile Warhead Found in AlaskaThe warhead of a long range missile test fired by North Korea was found in the US state of Alaska, a report to the National Assembly revealed yesterday. According to a United States document, 'The last piece of a missile warhead fired by North Korea was found in Alaska,' former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Nakayama was quoted as saying in the report.'Washington, as well as Toyko, has so far underrated Pyongyang's missile capabilities.'

Coca-Cola is dropping a controversial ingredient from its Powerade sports drink, after a similar move by PepsiCo’s Gatorade last year. The ingredient, brominated vegetable oil, had been the target of a petition by a Mississippi teenager, who questioned why it was being used in a drink marketed toward health-conscious athletes. The petition on Change.org noted that the ingredient is linked to a flame retardant and is not approved for use in Japan or the European Union. In response to customer feedback, PepsiCo said last year it would drop the ingredient from Gatorade. At the time, Coca-Cola declined to say whether...

The most terrifying aspect of the collapse of US power worldwide is the US’s indifferent response to it. In Europe, in Asia, in the Middle East and beyond, America’s most dangerous foes are engaging in aggression and brinkmanship unseen in decades. As Gordon Chang noted at a symposium in Los Angeles last month hosted by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, since President Barack Obama entered office in 2009, the Chinese have responded to his overtures of goodwill and appeasement with intensified aggression against the US’s Asian allies and against US warships. In 2012, China seized the Scarborough Shoal from the...