Japan

Eirik Bjørn Olson played a central role in introducing the Japanese to Salmon. He saw a opportunity for the Norwegian Salmon export and started ‘Project Japan’, where he promoted all kinds of seafood to Japanese people. Initially, Japanese said the Japanese wouldn’t eat raw salmon. The Norwegians pushed for ten years and never expected it was going to be that big. Now you can eat Salmon Nigiri in every city. ? Youtube - Is salmon nigiri sushi from norway?

Cameron Hatheway writes; Ah, that age of rebellion; the teenage years. It doesn’t matter how you try and reason with teens, they think they’re the bees-knees, and you ain’t too hip on the upswing, daddio! With all their YOLOing and texting going on nowadays, it’s a miracle that teenagers are focused enough to read graphic novels, let alone ongoing series. Pretty soon (like with their food) they’ll be taking pictures of what comics they’re reading and uploading it to Instagram or Twitter, with the appropriate hashtag conveying their thoughts on the matter. Before they start rolling their eyes, today I’ll be focusing on the Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17) category. If you need a reminder of what’s been nominated, you can find the entire list right here, and see what I chose last time right here. Keep in mind I cannot vote for who wins (nor can you, probably), as per the rules. However, that’s not keeping me from being vocal regardless! Who is not eligible to vote? Comics press or reviewers (unless they are nominees) Non-creative publisher staff members (PR, marketing, assistants, etc.) Fans Before I get back to work on my Bluewater one-shot Katy Perry: Teenage Dream so I can be eligible for next year, let the games begin! Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17) Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens, by Meredith Gran (kaboom!) Marceline and her band the Scream Queens go on a rock n’ roll tour of Ooo, with Princess Bubblegum acting as band manager. Featuring several familiar faces from the Adventure Time series, Marceline and Princess Bubblegum run into constant problems on tour, while at the same time growing a much larger fanbase with their music. Meredith Gran is able to keep the tone of the comic pretty rock n’ roll and rebellious, while maintaining the playful Adventure Time look and feel. Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller, by Joseph Lambert (Center for Cartoon Studies/Disney Hyperion) Joseph Lambert illustrates the famous story of how Helen Keller learned language thanks to her teacher Annie Sullivan. The use of art conveying how Keller eventually came to absorb and understand language and communication is extremely well executed. While Keller’s story is the more well-known of the two, Sullivan’s story was a lot more fascinating when learning of her harsh and troubled upbringing. Ichiro, by Ryan Inzana (Houghton Mifflin) Ichiro thinks he’s in for a boring vacation when he has to leave New York to travel to Japan with his mother. While she works, Ichiro stays with his grandfather as he learns all about Japan’s rich culture. With his mom Japanese and his father American, Ichiro has a hard time figuring out where exactly he fits in. After capturing an ancient tanuki, Ichiro is taken on a wild ride to the realm of the gods he’s recently learned so much about. Ryan Inzana does a fabulous job illustrating Ichiro’s journey, as well as retelling the Japanese mythologies with his unique Japanese influenced style. Spera, vol. 1, by Josh Tierney et al. (Archaia) Princesses Pira and Lono embark on an adventure to Spera after Pira discovers her mother’s sinister plans to lay ruin to every kingdom she touches. With a loyal fire spirit named Yonder as their guide, the princesses quickly make their way to Spera through the countryside to avoid detection in this first volume. Josh Tierney does a wonderful job telling his epic fantasy adventure, while making sure every chapter has a different artist. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle, adapted by Hope Larson (FSG) Review copy unavailable. Who I think should win: Spera, vol. 1, by Josh Tierney et al. (Archaia) The main thing I loved about this graphic novel was the diversity of artists who contributed, and their fascinating different takes on the characters. You have the main story of Pira, Lono, and Yonder making their way to Spera, but then you have several mini-adventures in the back pages. The introduction to new beasts and companions made for a rea

A Chicago-area naval officer gave his two small daughters an amazing Memorial Day surprise during a scavenger hunt at the Lewis Joliet Mall Friday night.First Class Petty Officer Aaron Haines reunited with his girls after more than a year and a half at sea near Japan, according to CBS Chicago.More...

Filed under: Budget, Europe, Japan, Recalls, Safety, Hatchback, Nissan, Australia, UK, Middle East, South America A possible issue with a steering wheel bolt in the Nissan Micra (shown) and Cube from the 2002 to 2006 model years has Nissan recalling roughly 841,000 units on four continents, as well as Oceania and the Middle East. On the affected cars, the bolt may not have been tightened properly, which could lead to a loss of steering in a worst-case scenario. According to Reuters, there haven't been any reports of accidents or injuries due to the fault, however. The Micras affected were built in the UK and Japan, the Cubes in Japan. Nissan has yet to say when the recall will begin, but when it does, owners can take their cars to dealers for repairs; the bolt with either be tightened or, if necessary, a new steering wheel installed.Nissan recalling 841k vehicles overseas for steering wheel trouble originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 25 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Associated Press coverage of Hewlett-Packard's quarterly earnings report on Wednesday opened with this statement: "Hewlett-Packard's slump is deepening as the world's largest personal computer maker scrambles to meet the growing demand for more versatile and less expensive mobile devices." The AP's coverage of the earnings report buried the fact that HP actually beat earnings expectations and raised its outlook for the current fiscal year. Moreover, while it's factually accurate that HP is the world's largest personal-computer maker, PCs are actually a minor component of HP's overall business from a profit perspective. Based on HP's strong stock performance on Thursday -- shares rose 17% to close at $24.86, after hitting a new 52-week high of $24.95 -- investors are starting to see past the weak PC business. As I have previously written, while the PC group is the largest HP business segment by revenue, it is no longer a major profit driver for the company. Instead, investors should value HP based on its opportunities in other business segments, such as printing and enterprise IT. PC decline is overblownAfter IDC reported last month that HP's PC unit shipments had declined 23.7% in Q1, a flurry of concern about HP's PC business (re)surfaced. Many investors worried that HP was bearing the brunt of the PC market's weakness. Last week, key competitor Dell reported a decline in PC sales and massive margin erosion for last quarter, which further heightened concerns about HP's PC results. However, while HP saw a larger decline in PC revenues than Dell last quarter, it was because the two companies adopted opposite strategies. Dell chose to cut prices in an attempt to gain market share. As a result, its "End User Computing" division's operating margin dropped from 6.5% to 2.5%. Meanwhile, HP decided to prioritize profitability over market share. PC segment operating margin fell more modestly year over year, from 5.4% to 3.2%. That drop led to a 54% decline in the division's operating income, compared with 2012. That said, PC operating income actually improved by $16 million compared with the previous quarter. In short, HP's apparently disastrous PC results were actually the result of a conscious decision to pursue profitability rather than market share in the PC business. Since the PC market will continue to decline over time, emphasizing profitability over market share seems like a very good strategy. Profit comes from elsewhereInvestors also need to put the PC business in perspective compared with HP as a whole. The segment's operating income of $239 million last quarter represented less than 10% of total segment operating income across the company (which excludes unallocated costs). Since the PC business involves minimal fixed costs, HP should be able to manage future PC revenue declines without bleeding red ink. For example, PC segment profitability increased sequentially last quarter in spite of an 8% revenue decline. By contrast, the printing division produced operating income of $958 million last quarter: quadruple that of the PC group. The printer business has rebounded strongly this year because of HP's industry-leading position and new initiatives to improve sales and profitability. Looking forward, the yen's depreciation will lead to lower costs for HP's laser printers in the second half of 2013, because HP sources many components from Canon in Japan. This may be offset somewhat by stronger price competition from Japanese printer manufacturers such as Brother and Canon, but the net effect will probably be positive for HP. Foolish bottom lineHP's turnaround is not yet complete, but it is starting to make visible progress in areas such as printing. Moreover, the company trades for less than seven times projected earnings for the current year. Investors need to recognize HP's PC business for what it is: a small (though highly visible) component of HP. With the PC group already providing a very modest contribution to HP's ov

Over the past few years, the U.S. has seen a veritable renaissance in oil production. Sustained high oil prices since 2008 and radical improvements in drilling technology have allowed energy companies to unlock a previously inaccessible bounty of shale oil, trapped beneath rock formations several thousands of feet deep. As a result of this so-called shale boom, U.S. crude oil production is currently at a multi-decade high, while total oil imports last year fell to their lowest level since 1997. Industries ranging from chemical manufacturing to oil refining have all benefited from the cheap domestic energy provided by shale oil and gas. But the boom's impact isn't just confined to the nation's borders. In fact, it has far-reaching consequences for the entire global economy, energy security, and -- perhaps most importantly -- oil prices. Let's take a closer look at why some experts are arguing that the shale boom could lead to lower oil prices by the close of this decade. Shale's impact on oil prices According to the International Energy Agency's recently released five-year outlook, the staggering growth in U.S. crude oil output has practically removed the threat of global supply shortages, leading to a more balanced market -- a development few would have predicted just five years ago. This has one resounding implication: It drastically reduces the threat of a sustained spike in oil prices. Indeed, PIMCO portfolio managers Greg Sharenow and Mihir Worah have even characterized the growth in U.S. shale oil production as "the major factor in rebalancing future expectations of supply and demand," even adding that it could have "the most significant impact on oil prices of any supply event in recent decades." So just how severe will shale's impact on oil prices be? According to a recent report by PwC, the expected increase in shale oil production could reduce prices to as low as $80 in 2035, meaning that oil would be cheaper two decades from now than it is today -- a truly bewildering thought. Citigroup has offered an even more bearish outlook, forecasting that oil prices are "likely to hover within a range of $80-90/bbl" by as early as 2020. Winner and losers If these pessimistic projections are borne out over the next several years and oil prices do fall below $90 a barrel, the impact would be distributed extremely unevenly across the world. For instance, large oil-importing countries would stand to benefit handsomely, since lower oil prices would help them reduce their oil import bills and improve their current account balances. PwC reckons India and Japan could see a boost to GDP of around 4%-7% by 2035 if their oil price forecast proves correct, while the U.S., the eurozone, China, and the U.K. could see gains of 2%-5% in economic output.  On the other hand, a sustained period of low oil prices would be bad news for large oil exporters, such as OPEC -- whose member countries' national budgets are dependent on oil prices around $100 a barrel -- and Russia. According to PwC, Russia and OPEC's Middle Eastern members could see their trade balances fall by between 4%-10% of GDP in the long run if they fail to exploit their own shale resources.  Lower oil prices will also obviously have negative implications for the companies that explore for and produce oil, including large integrated oil companies, as well as small and mid-sized exploration and production firms. For them, the price of oil is often the single most important consideration as they assess future capital spending. Implications for energy companies If the oil price falls below its marginal cost of production, drilling activity in costlier locations, such as Canada's oil sands and deepwater prospects offshore Brazil and Africa, could quickly become uneconomical. Mining projects in Alberta's oil sands, for instance, have breakeven costs in the $90-$100 per barrel range, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie, leaving them especially vulnerable to lower prices. Already

The upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is using a process that is rigged from the start. It is not being negotiated by governments for the benefit of their people, it is being negotiated by executives (or future executives/lobbyists currently in government) largely for the benefit of the giant corporations they serve. The process has these giant corporations "in the loop" but groups citizens, working people, consumers, the environment, human rights groups and especially democracy are not part of the process. That can only go one way: if you don't have a seat at the table you are on the table -- the meal. Chile's TPP Negotiator Quits, Warns Citizens Rodrigo Contreras, Chile's lead TPP negotiator recently up and quit to warn people of the dangers this agreement poses to everyone except the giant multinational corporations. In The New Chessboard, (English translation) Contreras warns that the TPP is solidifying multinational corporate control over the Internet, copyrights, patents (especially drug patents), and in particular warns that the giant financial interests are solidifying their current control over the regulatory process. He writes that this will block countries that are trying to "restore the space for applying financial safeguards. In these circumstances it does not makes sense to further liberalize capital flows, depriving us of legitimate tools to safeguard financial stability." In particular, Contreras warns that smaller countries face a threat from this agreement's solidifying of the con trol of the giant multinationals, concluding, It is critical to reject the imposition of a model designed according to realities of high-income countries, which are very different from the other participating countries.Otherwise, this agreement will become a threat for our countries: it will restrict our developmentoptions in health and education, in biological and cultural diversity, and in the design of public policiesand the transformation of our economies. It will also generate pressures from increasingly active socialmovements, who are not willing to grant a pass to governments that accept an outcome of the TPPnegotiations that limits possibilities to increase the prosperity and well-being of our countries. Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism, in Chile’s Recent Lead Negotiator on Trans-Pacific Partnership Warns It Could Be a “Threat to Our Countries”, gives us a look at the context of what it means for a country's TPP negotiator to quit and sound the alarms. She writes that this is "a statement of principle that comes at considerable personal cost" and that "his call to Latin American negotiators has deep-sixed his chances of getting another senior government role or being retained by large companies as a lobbyist or advisor." A job as a lobbyist or advisor to the multinationals is the golden goose that drives the negotiators. The last US negotiator, Ron Kirk, recently left that post to join the law firm Gibson Dunn where he will advise giant multinationals, probably for free. (Just kidding, he isn't doing it for free.) The Financial Times notes that "Other former US trade representatives, including Charlene Barshefsky and Mickey Cantor under President Bill Clinton, also joined law firms after their tenures in government." They probably also are not advising giant multinationals for free, either., Smith at Naked Capitalism notes that, "Some of Asian participants in the negotiations (particularly Japan) are also believed to have serious reservations about the provisions of the TPP that would weaken national sovereignity by allowing corporations to challenge laws and regulations as violations of the TPP." Americans are also reacting to the threat that the TPP poses to national sovereignty -- government's ability to control the wealth and power of the giant multinationals. Bloomberg News yesterday, in Wall Street Seeks Dodd-Frank Changes Through Trade Talks warns that, "U.S. bankers and insurers are trying to

            Blobs were first discovered about six years ago by visible-light telescopes, located billions of light-years away in ancient galactic structures or filaments, where thousands of young galaxies are clustered together. These large, fuzzy galactic halos are made up of hot hydrogen gas and are about 10 times as large as the galaxies they encompass. Astronomers can see glowing blobs, but they don't know what provides the energy to light them up. But they have a hunch. The Image below shows the immesity of a Lyman alpha blob compared to the Andromeda Galaxy in the upper right corner, scaled as if were at the same distance as the blob. The red circle indicates a bubble like structure discovered with the Subaru telescope, the 8.2 metre flagship telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, located at the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii.                Lyman-alpha blobs are so called because they strongly emit radiation due to the Lyman-alpha emission line of hydrogen gas. Normally, Lyman-alpha emission is in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, but Lyman-apha blobs are so distant, their light is redshifted to (longer) optical wavelengths. These huge bodies of gas may be precursors to galaxies. One of these objects, named Himiko (see below) for a legendary, mysterious Japanese queen, stretches for 55 thousand light years, a record for that early point in time. Himiko is located at a transition point in the evolution of the universe called the reionization epoch -- it's as far back as we can see to date. "It is possible that extremely bright galactic mergers (image above) lie at the center of all the mysterious blobs, but we still don't know how they fuel the blobs themselves," said Dr. Harry Teplitz, Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology. "It's like seeing smoke in the distance and now discovering that it's a forest fire, not a house or car fire, but still not knowing whether it was caused by lightning or arson." The findings will ultimately provide a better understanding of how galaxies, including ones like our own Milky Way, form. Using its heat-seeking infrared eyes, Spitzer was able to see the dusty galaxies tucked inside one well-known blob located 11 billion light-years away. The findings reveal three monstrously bright galaxies, trillions of times brighter than the Sun, in the process of merging together (image below). Spitzer also observed three other blobs located in the same cosmic neighborhood, all of which were found to be glaringly bright. One of these blobs is also known to be a galactic merger, only between two galaxies instead of three. It remains to be seen whether the final two blobs studied also contain mergers. "To figure out what's going on, we need to better characterize the galaxies at the center of the blobs," said Dr. James Colbert, Spitzer Science Center. That's where Spitzer comes in. Spitzer can sense the infrared glow from the dusty galaxies inside the blobs. When Colbert and colleagues used Spitzer to look at four well-known blobs located in a galactic filament 11 billion light-years away, they discovered that one of them appears to be made up of three galaxies falling into each other -- an unusual cosmic event (image above,right). The finding is intriguing because previous observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope found that another one of the four blobs surrounds a merger between two galaxies. The astronomers speculate that all blobs might share this trait; however, more evidence is needed to close the case. One clue that the scientists might be on the right track has to do with the infrared brightness of the blob galaxies. To visible-light telescopes, these galaxies appear unremarkable. Spitzer measurements revealed that all four of the galaxies studied are among the brightest in the universe, giving off the equivalent light of trillions o

Nissan has announced a recall of about 841,000 vehicles globally, 763,000 of which are Micra subcompacts (also known as the March), due to a steering wheel glitch. The models involved in the recall are the Micra produced in Britain and Japan between 2002 and 2006, as well as the Cube (78,000 units), built in Japan around the same period. Japan’s second-largest automaker said it is recalling vehicles in its home country, as well as in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Read more »

via vagary.tv Metal Gear Solid (Japanese: メタルギアソリッド Hepburn: Metaru Gia Soriddo?, commonly abbreviated as MGS) is an action-adventure stealth video game directed by Hideo Kojima.[4] The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStationvideo game console. It is the sequel to Kojima's MSX2 computer game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The game featured cinematic cutscenes rendered using the in-game engine and graphics, as well as voice acting in numerous codec sequences.[5] Metal Gear Solid follows Solid Snake, a soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from FOXHOUND, a renegade special forces unit.[6] Snake must liberate two hostages, the head of DARPA and the president of a major arms manufacturer, confront the terrorists, and stop them from launching a nuclear strike.[7] Metal Gear Solid was very well received, shipping more than six million copies,[8] and scoring an average of 94/100 on the aggregate website Metacritic.[9] It is recognized by many critics as one of the best and most important games of all time,[10][11] and heralded as the game which made the stealth genre popular. The commercial success of the title prompted the release of an expanded version for the PlayStation and PC, titled Metal Gear Solid: Integral;[12] and a remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was later released for the Nintendo GameCube.[13][14] The game has also spawned numerous sequels, prequelsand spin-offs, including several games, a radio drama, comics, and novels. via vagary.tv Metal Gear Solid (Japanese: メタルギアソリッド Hepburn: Metaru Gia Soriddo?, commonly abbreviated as MGS) is an action-adventure stealth video game directed by Hideo Kojima.[4] The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStationvideo game console. It is the sequel to Kojima's MSX2 computer game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The game featured cinematic cutscenes rendered using the in-game engine and graphics, as well as voice acting in numerous codec sequences.[5] Metal Gear Solid follows Solid Snake, a soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from FOXHOUND, a renegade special forces unit.[6] Snake must liberate two hostages, the head of DARPA and the president of a major arms manufacturer, confront the terrorists, and stop them from launching a nuclear strike.[7] Metal Gear Solid was very well received, shipping more than six million copies,[8] and scoring an average of 94/100 on the aggregate website Metacritic.[9] It is recognized by many critics as one of the best and most important games of all time,[10][11] and heralded as the game which made the stealth genre popular. The commercial success of the title prompted the release of an expanded version for the PlayStation and PC, titled Metal Gear Solid: Integral;[12] and a remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was later released for the Nintendo GameCube.[13][14] The game has also spawned numerous sequels, prequelsand spin-offs, including several games, a radio drama, comics, and novels.