I wrote a post about three months ago talking about the absurd life expectancy of the Japanese Prime Minister.  It is with great sorrow that I report to you today that my favourite onion-man has stepped down from office.  The reason for Hatoyama's resignation was because he failed to live up to a campaign promise to get the Americans to move their military base in Okinawa.  That is the main reason but his coalition government has been deeply unpopular in recent months.  I must say that I'm surprised because he won a landmark election and had a 70% approval rating only eight months ago.  Far be it from me to call the Japanese population fickle in regards to politics... but the number of resignations and near constant low approval ratings is just ridiculous.  Who knows what the problem is.  Are the politics of Japan really just run by old men hiding in the smoke filled corridors of parliament?  Are the population so apathetic that they need this constant scapegoat and booster shot to appease the slowly emerging reality of their democratic system?  Who knows.  Personally, I think the campaign pledge was absolutely insane.  From what I've read... there was never any proper plan to put into the practice and the Americans were never approached to get feelers.  Understandably, the Americans did not exactly like this move and have snubbed Hatoyama and the Japanese government in recent months.  It's another matter to argue about the legitimacy of the American bases but surely you'd need to confront the manner with a great deal of respect... especially since America has been Japan's best buddy for a number of decades.  Incidentally, there are a few Japanese  people who (a bit stupidly) like the bases because they're terrified of China and North Korea but the majority want to get rid of them.

Anyway, I went off on another tangent of saturated assumptions so I'll end this brief political update with a funny picture.  And to link this with the overall post... here's a young, (possibly) homosexual version of Winston Churchill.