Two years ago, the  BBC said Japan was the future,  but it's now stuck in the past.  I agree. Among the detractions is ownership of real estate.  You buy a home, and after paying off your mortgage in, say, 40 years, it is worth almost nothing. Japan recently had the third-largest economy, is a peaceful and prosperous country with the longest life expectancy in the world, the lowest murder rate, little political conflict, a powerful passport, and the sublime Shinkansen, the world's best high-speed rail network.  Actually, about GDP and the economy, Germany has slipped past Japan into #3, with India in the next few months easing by Japan. When the author of this article, Rupert Wingield-Hayes, first arrived in Tokyo in 1993, a third of a century ago, he was effusive about the country being exquisitely clean and orderly.  Actually still is. But he noted that Hong Kong was an assault on senses and Taipei had horrible air pollution. He could have said...

Before I re-enter the world of diseases, first, a couple of updates on another one, the first cabinet meeting President Donald Trump presided over yesterday: He said he wants school policy to be left to the states, so the  Department of Education will be abolished . Of course, he needs congressional approval to do this, and education secretary, Linda McMahon, was hired to do just that. Like most of Trump's dictatorial announcements, this created confusion and alarm. Democrats expressed huge concern. The Education Department distributes funding for K-12 schools serving more than 50 million students in almost 100,000 public and 32,000 private schools Project 2025 advocated this, and to end  Title 1  funding in phases.  Title 1: Was created in 1965, and reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The act emphasizes equal access to education, aiming to shorten the   achievement gaps   between students by providing federal funding to support schools wi...

  These President Trump actions were reported the past few days by the   New York Times .  The Interior Department says the Gulf of Mexico is now, officially, the   “Gulf of America.”    Is this legal?  Apparently yes .  Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum  earlier this month, JOKINGLY, suggested North America be renamed Mexican America, a name used in early maps. Trump’s retreat from clean energy makes the U.S. an outlier in the world and   risks ceding a global market to China . House Republicans are considering   tariffs and Medicaid cuts   to pay for Trump’s tax cuts and immigration bill. About mass deportation. I've long wondered how people can support Trump when he almost always lies or exaggerates.   For example,  during his presidential campaign, he made it clear that his campaign had little to do with  Project 2025 , the controversial conservative policy blueprint created by the Heritage Foundation....