Cat

Damn. I honestly thought messy Noella was staying. I guess Heather got her way.

I've watched Somewhere Street! And Kabuki Kool. And myriad shows celebrating Japan's food and landscape. During Covid when I couldn't travel.... NHK World traveled for me. Your friend's dissertation must have been a fascinating, if heartbreaking, read. These women were also shamed by their own governments to stay silent (until it suited that government to take up their cause) and were denied acknowledgement of the trauma they suffered. People are asserting their hyphenated selves more and more. It was already starting before Covid (and Trump n Boris likely played a part in that) but Covid and the BLM protests triggered something where people felt they didn't want to subdue entire identities of themselves anymore. As an economic analyst, I'd be interested in hearing more of this. These global supply chain bottlenecks started as economies slowly climbed out of Covid; in October, Putin started putting the squeeze on gas supplies as a taster of what was to come after February 24, 2022. His blockade of Ukrainian ports hasn't helped. And of course Shanghai's wholesale lockdown for almost 3 months. Nevertheless, it did make me wonder why the globe was unable to dig itself out of some of these supply chain issues which have entered a second straight year. Had global trade really collapsed? Are these bottlenecks really structural and entrenched? And who stands to benefit from putting the break on our economies? Because the rush to tighten monetary policy has become a domino effect -- and now everyone is suddenly talking about the risk of a recession in 2023. Wow, you really have encountered the world in your work! It would be interesting to hear your Japanese friends' view on Abe. Though right now they must be in total shock and disbelief.

OMG! I watch NHK World (which has English-language news). Outside of the news, I find its shows about Japan very relaxing in an old-fashioned, comforting way, but the news is notable for its scrupulous 'just the facts' coverage and no apparent editorializing or It's Just MY Opinion stuff. They also have journalists spread across the world, and so a breadth of coverage on little-covered countries like Cambodia or Bangladesh, for example. I cannot believe I didn't think about its news stream earlier. Abe was polarising and controversial as you say for his more assertive stance on all things related to military and Japan's atrocities during WW2 and its empire-building era. The Comfort Women issue related to Korea and China will always be a sore spot between all 4 nations, because Japan absolutely refuses to acknowledge its crimes in this era (apart from offering the women themselves some backdoor pay-offs over the years, which many refused). Until this is resolved, I don't know if these 4 countries (NK and SK both have beef with Japan about this) can ever go forward together. The issue runs deep because I know young Koreans and Chinese mention this a lot when talking about Japan. I think Abe might have felt his stance on Japan re-militarizing was the right one. The US is still Japan's #1 ally, but there is a feeling that the bond has weakened. The is a small flicker of distrust over whether the US, post-Iraq, post-Afghanistan and post-Trump, would swoop in militarily if China were to actually invade Taiwan or NK were to launch a rocket aimed at a Japanese city. The feeling Abe and his cohorts would have is 'Better to be prepared in case Plan A falls through.' Abe definitely felt the rise of an all-powerful China was bad for the region and bad for Japan unless Japan asserted its own power also. The perpetrator having military training is very interesting. It begs the question what his beef with Abe actually was if it wasn't related to his policies/political direction. I can only imagine how traumatic that incident must have been if you blocked it out for decades! 😥 I'm sorry you and your Bangladeshi housemate were confronted with such aggression. I have seen incidents transpire on public transport here that have been absolutely shocking over the years, and people would just look straight ahead and pretend it's not happening. It is only more recently that other people step in and put a stop to it -- most of those that tend to be young people, to their credit, a lot of whom actually do want to change the world for the better. That post-war mentality you talk about is embedded so deep. I call it post-Empire, because there is a similar thing going on in France and other countries. The UK never confronted its colonial past. The 'colonies' devolved into 'commonwealth' and while most people felt that was a sop to the UK's declining power in the world, it helped to prop up nationalist pride and the feeling of 'we are still better than them! We used to kick em around.' Now, of course, rising powers of black and brown excellence across the world are kicking the UK around on the economic front. I honestly don't know what the solution is. Having witnessed the collective self-suicide of Brexit, where poor white voters (pauperized by a decade of crippling austerity imposed by the Tory government) decided to punish "foreign workers" instead whilst simultaneously doffing their hats to their Tory 'betters' and giving Boris Johnson a massive mandate... I lost confidence in people and their propensity for rationality.

You really know how to sell a show! I'm going to tune into this tonight. I too have been loving the show thus far. Like being reunited with people you haven't seen in years. They keep things moving fast and breezy. Too bad about Taylor. I'd be interested to see how Jill comes across.

I've only seen this clip from the episode thus far LOL. Something about this seems spontaneous and unplanned -- I really like that about RHUGT2. Especially Marco laughing uncontrollably behind his mask.

Very shocking for a country where access to guns is very restricted, and which is pretty safe. Abe was a defining figure in Japanese politics for at least two decades. He had an entire economic policy ethos names after him ('Abenomics'). He was only forced to step down in 2020 because of personal ill-health and criticism over early COVID policy missteps. Japan does have a few lone wolf incidents, which can be horrifying in of themselves -- carried out by young or middle-aged men oftentimes. The Financial Times article I read (below) had a picture of the suspect being brought down by a security guard (both wearing Covid masks, I note). Apparently the gun was handmade by the suspect. Hope you guys can get past the FT paywall to access. https://www.ft.com/content/de7116d5-f68b-46c9-9681-368f97f7ad15 ETA: Another article with perhaps easier access: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/08/shinzo-abe-japans-former-prime-minister-dies-after-being-shot

@DRW50 has put it perfectly. I would only add that it was a cumulative effect. One more scandal on top of a mountain of scandals, big and small, and no effort made to meaningfully deal with serious problems plaguing the country. The straw that breaks the camel's back, as it were. And in a parliamentary system, MPs sense quickly when the tide turns against the leader because they are the front line in the constituencies and could lose their seat. Taking the fall for Boris's awful decisions.

And now for a palette-cleanser.... RHOA MID-SEASON TRAILER!!!

I'm glad your Aunt parted ways with the UK on her own terms (but not before having likely gone through many indignities). I thought for sure the UK had entered a new era in the 90s and mentalities were slowly changing, but that was clearly a superficial mirage. Enoch Powell looms large over the current populist lot of self-enriching chancers (Farage, Patel, etc). The mask that hid some of Britain's worst faults from the world has been more-or-less ripped off now. Exactly this. She doesn't want to be seen to be holding the knife that stabs him in the back, because she thinks that would work against her in a leadership contest. The vainglorious coward jumped onto a plane to Indonesia on Tuesday on the pretext of 'foreign office business,' but as soon as she landed over there, she jumped on another plane to come back. Oil deal with Indonesia be damned! Truss never wastes a moment to remind the general public how vain and incompetent she is at all times. And yet she is one of the favorites going into this possible leadership race. That says something about the Tory party members. Truss parrots the hard-Brexit line, so she's already a contender. Another hard Brexiteer, Steve Baker, is a climate-change denier. Priti Patel is exceptionally cruel and nasty, so obviously they adore her. It would be nice to think semi-adults like Sajid Javid and Rushi Sunak might sweep this, but the party faithful voted for Boris in droves so... Basically, the UK Tories and US RP could be defined as 'kissing cousins born of twin sisters.' There are some scary similarities.

Still selfishly holding the UK hostage. What a great PM! And this waiting until autumn BS could be code for MPs going on their summer vacations and not wanting a leadership contest disrupt that. They could easily elect a new leader by early-to-mid August if they wanted. Speaking of leadership contenders, the list of loons vying for the top job is actually quite chilling. Johnson purged the party of anyone with brains, because it would show him up for the hollow do-nothing he is. He also packed it with (what he thought were) yes-men loyalists. So now we have someone as vapid and incompetent as Liz Truss being spoken about as a contender. Really? Would they be able to drag her away from her mirror long enough to campaign?

Nothing should surprise me anymore given the Pandemic of Stupid we're all living in. And yet I remain shocked that THIS is the hill these BH women want to die on. Anything to own Garcelle, right? Mixing prescription pills with alcohol brings out Erika's fun side! You need to stop being such a party-pooper, GarCELLE. Oh Kyle. It's fun until it's your sister Kim. She is truly dumb thinking this would score points with Erika. Even Rinna isn't looking like she's fully down with Erika's party persona. On a superficial note, I wish Erika had taken off her sunglasses to look Garcelle in the eye. I guess we must be grateful that Her Lowness even offered up an apology, but she had to be asked to give it and sits there thinking she's some movie star with the indoor-sunglasses.

@DynamiteKiddo it wasn't long winded like Dorit, it was very interesting! I personally feel the same way as you about Sutton, in that i am on the fence and she cannot have it both ways. She got herself in this mess. Nevertheless, I do think Diana goaded her like a spider, she is targeting her and wants a reaction from her -- a reaction she knows will land Sutton in trouble. The irony was that Kyle was ready to help drag Sutton in that direction but completely effed up. She laid hands on Sutton and dismissed her own claims of having miscarried. And now the focus is on what Kyle did (as well it should because that scene was pretty awful). Totally agree with everything you wrote about Crystal. I love her family scenes and Rob seems like a fun, lighthearted RH husband, with legit Hollywood pedigree. But she messed up with her insinuation about Sutton. It was a clear embellishment. Leaning into her feelings is one thing, but when the facts are laid out coldly, Sutton is not a predator. I think Crystal thought Twitter would back her up, and that did not transpire. BTW has anyone noticed? Amid the slew of non-apology apologies, zero from Erika apologising for her language towards Jax.

I am rooting for Nadal because I think he's generally amazing, but I felt bad for Fritz who was devastated by the loss. Nevertheless, Fritz can come back again. He played quite an incredible game and I feel like this game changed him in some way, marked a new chapter for him. I don't know. Probably reading too much into it and too soon.

That Fritz-Nadal has been so stressful to watch OMG. Both players turning in epic performances against the odds.

I hope your Aunt never experienced the heinous injustice that is the Windrush scandal -- where members of the West Indies diaspora (and their families) who worked in hugely-important public services were forcibly deported as an F You for their decades of service. She would have been truly heart-broken by this final insult. And just to be clear -- deported by the current callous, cruel and nasty government. Why am I not surprised in the least by this. He thinks he is entitled to power by near-birthright.

Kyle issued a statement about the Sutton scene and the Mauricio/PK scene.

@DramatistDreamer As a resident of the city where he was mayor, I can confirm that he always was an oaf. More than that: venal, corrupt, completely bereft of ideas or direction -- he just wants to stay in power for power's sake. A disastrous PM at a time when the world desperately needs competency and imagination. The UK is crumbling under some serious problems, many similar to the US (almost-10% inflation, bottlenecks in jobs, goods and services, the poor getting further squeezed by inflation after over a decade of austerity cuts and hollowed-out life options, legal/policing/health systems at breaking point). Boris has zero policy ideas to solve problems. He just does not care. He and his cabinet of braying idiots (Sunak and Javid at least have two braincells to rub together) are a disaster. He will cling onto power as long as he can, and maybe his successor will be even worse because BJ purged the Tory party of actual brains and promoted ass-kissers who would never overshadow him on the brain-trust front.

This is so wrong. No need to bring Portia into it, she's a child like Jax. I cannot imagine how traumatic it must be for this young girl to have hoardes of crazy strangers come at you on Twitter. It does sound pretty good and a solid mix-up of previous cast dynamics. As you say, though, I don't need to see the Tr*mp fangirl celebrating the opening salvo of a wholesale removal of my autonomous decision-making rights. I get that enough with the real time news cycle.

@DRW50 Your description of Diana is creepily on point. I didnt think Sutton covered herself in glory with the way she treated Diana in Mexico, but her revelling in Sutton being questioned about her miscarriages is like a spider watching a fly get tangled in its web.

@Taoboi it's a whole ass mess. Honestly, a fulsome apology from Kyle and Erika (saying they were hopelessly drunk) to Garcelle and one from Kyle to Sutton would have reined this mess in. But nothing for a couple of days, and now this is truly A Thing. They are complete fools to think this was somehow going to 'show up' Garcelle or Sutton.

Oh, Rinna (or should I say her PR) is already starting the damage control (see below). No direct apology to Garcelle or the Dubai women, though. We'll see if Kyle issues some kind of apology in the coming days saying she didn't realize how bad the scene(S) came across. Honestly, given how much I am enjoying the vibe in RHUGT2, I'd be ok with testing a Toxic Long-Legs, aka Brandi, return. Kim absolutely has to return, as does Camille. So if it's any of those three (Brandi, Kim, Camille) returning, then Bravo will want Kyle and Rinna (and Kathy?) to stay because of their ties to them. I mean Kim vs Rinna? No way Bravo is going to pass that up. I don't think either Bravo or the BH cast is it currently stands want LVP back, and they will do their utmost to make sure she stays cast out from the show. IA that Diana, Crystal, and maybe Dorit and Erika are in trouble. BTW shout-out to Crystal who instinctively went into Mama Mode, put her arm around Jax and steered him away from the coked-up one.

Mauricio looked a complete tool. "I think it's great what she said." Oh? Really? How is "get the f*ck outta here" great exactly? He's never been the sharpest tool in the shed. Also Dorit "one hundred percent" making it clear that as it was someone else's kid, it was a-ok, but not her own, of course. One rule for the clique, another for everyone else. Erika has these women running scared. But mostly it's about working an angle, and currently it suits Kyle and Dorit to back Diana and Erika if it means sticking it to Sutton / Garcelle. Fools. Like @Chris B I also think Kyle got advance word. She said when this season started that this might be her last, and I wondered whether something was coming up which made her look bad. Well, now we know. And it's two different scenes in the same episode. Oh well. There go our theories of Kyle and Garcelle quietly working together, lol.

...And BH just gets ever more toxic. All this to tear down Sutton and Garcelle.

The Warlocks of Eastwick cackling over this. Dorit was "sick to my stomach" over what Erika said but now it's a-ok? You know if either Erika or Garcelle ever cussed out Portia or Jagger, the Kemsleys and Umanskys would be in an uproar over how unacceptable that is. Erika's pick-up technique is almost identical to her 'reprimanding children' technique. In other words, pretty bone-chilling. For me, it was Erika's swearing at 14-year old Jax -- who did absolutely nothing wrong and was very sweet to say it was NBD. Erika's drunkenness was probably why Garcelle kept it cool and brief. Erika does need to apologize for talking that way to him. The actual incident could be easily resolved with a sincere apology, but no doubt Erika's bad attitude will turn this A Thing. A rude non-apology-apology beckons, and probably some sneer about how kids are already f**king at 12 and know all the swear-words. Erika will act like Garcelle asking for an apology is the biggest, most personal insult against her ever. Lest we forget how Erika reacted when Eileen dared mention her son:

@Chris B Like you, I think Kyle is waiting to see how the Kathy allegations are received and if Kathy can defend herself adequately in the court of public opinion. Then she will decide if she sides with one over the other. My guess is she is kind of over the Coven and Rinna, and if there were no scandal and she had to choose, it would be Kathy, Garcelle and Sutton. Kyle can see where the popularity winds are blowing currently, and Kathy's addition last year really cemented Kyle's position on the show and brought some goodwill her way. @NothinButAttitude Your news that Kathy will be attending was a complete surprise! It suggests that she wants to fight the allegations. I was so sure she would fold in order to try to make the scandal disappear. Also the leaking to the press about Rinna. I never considered it might be Kathy, but to see this Rinna mess written about on major media sites, outside of the usual RH blogs, is pretty significant. This scandal is attempting to go mainstream and Rinna may find that not all publicity is good publicity. Kyle mentioned something about 2 months ago how this might be her last season, so she could go if the backlash gets too hot. From the POV of the show, I think Kyle leaving would be a major loss. I also think that she would miss it. I have always viewed her as chief villain, but she and her sisters' stories have completely shaped the show since Day One, and I have to acknowledge that. BH would be bereft of that Old Hollywood secrets/New Reality Stardom glamour. Kyle still has the best house and connections out of all the cast. She is practically the narrator of the show. Who can fill that splits-shaped hole? Not Dorit, Erika or Rinna, that's for sure.