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Japan has passed legislation paving the way for 83-year-old Emperor Akihito to abdicate. The law sets the stage for the first abdication of a reigning monarch in two centuries, in a royal family which has a history stretching back 2,600 years.
[...] According to the 1947 Imperial House Law that regulates the line of imperial succession, the emperor cannot step down. The last Japanese monarch to abdicate was Emperor Kokaku, who left in favor of his son back in 1817.
Another issue the Japanese government will discuss is the continuity of the heirs, as women are not allowed to inherit the throne. Additionally, a woman from the imperial family who marries outside the family is then excluded. Akihito has another son, Prince Akishino, and a grandson, Hisahito, aged just 10. All the other members of the royal family are female.
Source: RT
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday June 12 2017, @04:05PM (23 children)
So next we're going to drop a nuke on Britain then? Or is their monarchy somehow exempt from this rule?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 12 2017, @04:48PM (22 children)
As an American, we should all strive to eliminate monarchies. Some are better than others, but the very concept of a royal class is anathema to democracy. Nuke the UK? Ehhh, I don't mind. But, first, you've gotta have some kind of cassus belli. Since we haven't been at war with the UK for a couple hundred years, I'm not about to make up some reason to bomb them.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday June 12 2017, @05:11PM (21 children)
So your principles are firm and inviolate, except when you don't feel like upholding them. Gotcha. Jesus, you're a piece of work ain't'cha...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 12 2017, @05:26PM (20 children)
Alright, the ball is in your court. Just what the FUCK makes a monarchy and a royal class so damned attractive? That is, anywhere from one to a dozen families have all the rights to a nation's wealth, while all the commoners are merely "subjects", or chattel, to be done with as those royal families decree. Bring it on, Zumi, I'm waiting breathlessly to learn why royalty is a "good thing".
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday June 12 2017, @05:38PM (18 children)
What the fuck makes you think I like the idea? I'm something of a left-libertarian, though I can't help but notice that several constitutional monarchies are doing better than us. Britain and Canada for example.
Also, please explain how "anywhere from one to a dozen families have all the rights to a nation's wealth, while all the commoners are merely "subjects", or chattel, to be done with as those royal families decree" substantially differs from the present situation in the US. Royalty doesn't always wear a crown.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 12 2017, @05:47PM (17 children)
Perhaps you should re-read some history. Where did royalty come from? Royalty has always had rights. Commoners, not so much. Try this idea on for size - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_the_first_night [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday June 12 2017, @06:46PM (16 children)
Umm...did you even read the lede of that article?
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday June 12 2017, @07:07PM
Of course he didn't. He's gone completely off the rails, like he always does.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @12:21AM (14 children)
Of course I read it. And, the usual disclaimer that the wiki isn't authoritative. The fact that the article exists, the fact that discussions have taken place regarding those "rights", support the idea that the "rights" were exercised at various times in history. All of which supports my position that all royalty should have had their heads chopped off while the French were having their mass hysteria moments.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday June 13 2017, @12:23AM (9 children)
Ol' Blighty's just one plane ride away, m'boy. What's stopping you? Go on, try and chop the head off Queen Elizabeth.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @12:33AM (8 children)
As a good American serviceman, I properly conveyed the US Armed Forces contempt for royalty to the Queen, years ago, at the Silver Jubilee. I did NOT bend my knee for the Queen when she passed in the street.
Wonder if you were aware that US Servicement are forbidden from bowing to foreign royalty? Did you have any idea how much Obama broke with protocol when he groveled for King Abdullah?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday June 13 2017, @03:38AM (6 children)
Indeed I did, and that raised an eyebrow. It didn't, however, trigger me...as it seems to have done to you.
Runaway, you have some serious unresolved fucking daddy issues, you know that? This weird, slavish authoritarianism coupled with an almost unconscious reactive insistence that you're not actually an authoritarian looks baffling from the outside.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @01:51PM (4 children)
Obama didn't trigger you, but Runaway does? ROFLMAO Daddy issues? Huh? I thought that was a girl thing. I don't even know what a daddy issue is. You could explain, but I'll probably not listen.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:01PM (3 children)
Remember that series of posts a few months ago where you bawwwww'd all over us about how your father used to give you the belt? That's what I mean.
And your ridiculous blustering and misdirection here is not only not fooling anyone, it's making everyone reading this exchange painfully aware of how on the nose that was. Do you think we're all stupid? You must. Somehow people with your mindset always think they're the smartest folks in the room...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:16PM (2 children)
Guys don't do "daddy issues" like girls do. I left, and left it behind. I never felt the need to kiss and make up, thank you very much. Again, that's a girl thing.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday June 13 2017, @06:50PM (1 child)
The hell it is. You've been so scarred by this it affects everything you do, and the more you insist otherwise, the more you show it. Your responses are equal parts bizarre and deliberately deflecting, and you *keep replying* with a lot of force. Who do you think you're fooling?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 14 2017, @12:31AM
*sigh*
I'm so glad that Soylent has a psychoanalyst available to help the permanently scarred people who visit. Your work must be really rewarding. I might even consider donating something to keep your work going. Would you like me to email you a bottle of wine, or some donuts? Or, bagels might be more to your liking, donuts are fattening.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @01:54PM
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=WTF+are+daddy+issues%3F&atb=v63-6__&ia=web [duckduckgo.com]
I see three hits that might be legitimate, then porn, more porn, more porn, something about tinder which may or may not be pornographic. Please, don't explain this shit to me. It's probably something that I'll never un-see or un-imagine again.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday June 14 2017, @12:10AM
> groveled
He also bent for the Emperor of Japan. He understands that good relations start with respect.
Neither the Saudi King nor the Japanese Emperor thought for one second that Obama wasn't the most powerful guy in the room, just because he offered a traditional greeting.
Speak softly, carry a big stick.
(Score: 2) by Soylentbob on Tuesday June 13 2017, @12:24PM (3 children)
A bit like guys inheriting the right (via money) to rape and pay off the victim instead of being prosecuted. Or the power of rich-born kids to go to some poor country and sexually exploit the women there in exchange for the money the inherited and didn't need to work for. When did the last really rich guy go to the chair for murder, or to prison for rape?
Royalty is inherited, unjust power. Money often is basically the same shit under a different brand. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @01:43PM (2 children)
Exactly right! Maybe we should pass laws preventing people from inheriting money. Rich daddy dies, government takes all his assets, and distributes them among the poor. No more little rich bastards running around, exploiting all the rest of us!
(Score: 2) by Soylentbob on Tuesday June 13 2017, @02:23PM (1 child)
Not sure if you are sarcastic or not. Explicitly not being sarcastic and trying to be a little between pitch-black and blazing-white, I'd like to see the inheritance beyond a certain threshold being strongly taxed, exact taxation also taking into account the age of the offspring; for minors, there should be some extra budget allowed to make sure they don't grow up in poverty. I think it is a strong driving factor for people to make sure their offspring is financially safe, and a home does have some sentimental value as well. If it is an ordinary house ("ordinary" still open for specification and to fight over), I think it should be OK to leave it to the kids. Or if the offspring wants to pursue a higher education, either the state should invest the newly collected tax to provide for a *decent* basic education for everyone plus free scholarship for capable students.
Not sure if this makes me a communist. I think, chances in live should be earned, and everyone should get the opportunity to earn them. I don't mind competition for adults.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday June 13 2017, @02:27PM
Above a certain point split it 50-50 between the kids and the taxman. We'd sure as hell pay off some government debts fast that way.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 12 2017, @06:57PM
I think VLM still owes us a good answer to this one.