Tu_triky wrote:

Yeah that's the case even on the state level. For every dollar of federal taxes that flows to Washington, California only gets 78 cents back in federal spending.

Sounds like the Yen-to-Dollar exchange rate.

bmwracer wrote:

Sounds like the Yen-to-Dollar exchange rate.

Haha. Good one! Except we ain't getting any sushi or Nodame Cantabile goods in exchange.

Tu_triky wrote:

Haha. Good one! Except we ain't getting any sushi or Nodame Cantabile goods in exchange.

For sure.

bmwracer wrote:

For sure.

Thank goodness for bitTorrent at least!

On topic, I bet Los Angeles will be a buzz in a few weeks when the All Star Game comes to Staples Center. I bet it will be nuts.

Tu_triky wrote:

On topic, I bet Los Angeles will be a buzz in a few weeks when the All Star Game comes to Staples Center. I bet it will be nuts.

Yeah, it'll be a madhouse... I'm not going to be anywhere near there: traffic'll be the ubiquitous nightmare.

bmwracer wrote:

Yeah, it'll be a madhouse... I'm not going to be anywhere near there: traffic'll be the ubiquitous nightmare.

You said it. It will be pandemonium, man.

Japanese troops train at Camp Pendleton for island defense
February 20, 2011 | 8:39 am

Japanese troops at Camp Pendleton


Japanese troops from the Western Area Infantry Regiment are assaulting the green hills of Camp Pendleton in operation Iron Fist.

For a month, about 200 Japanese troops are training with Marines -- leading to a �gfinal exam�h where together they will launch a mock amphibious assault against a common enemy.

�gBoth sides are teaching and learning from each other,�h said Marine Col. Michael Hudson, commander of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

This is not the first time Japan has sent troops here for training, but this year�fs exercise appears larger, more militarily robust. Tanks are being used for the first time.

Japan�fs latest defense policy calls for a new concept, called �gdynamic proactive defense,�h said Akihisa Nagashima, lower house member of the Democratic Party of Japan and former parliamentary vice minister of defense.

Japanese troops, he said, will need to be �gmobile, flexible and ready to respond quickly�h -- the kinds of skills that Marines are known for. More training exercises with Marines are likely, Nagashima said.

Although Japan�fs Cold War strategy focused on the Hokkaido region of northern Japan, the new policy includes a greater focus on the South China Sea and the western Pacific, including sending troops to Japan�fs southernmost island of Yonaguni to �greclaim control of any island should the need arise,�h Nagashima said.

Japan�fs post-World War II reluctance to develop a military is waning in light of increased tension with North Korea and China, said Ellis Krauss, professor and Japan expert at the graduate school of international relations and Pacific studies at UC San Diego.

The amphibious assault training, Krauss said, is most likely preparing Japan to �grush to the defense of its many relatively unprotected southern islands in case the Chinese or North Koreans try to take them back.�h

For Iron Fist, the Japanese brought their own Toyota-built trucks and Humvees. The Marines are supplying tanks and rotary-wing aircraft. Officers receive a combined briefing each morning, with translation. The two forces eat in the same chow hall.

The Japanese troops went to San Clemente Island for live-fire training and also deployed to the �gInfantry Immersion Trainer�h on Camp Pendleton, a faux Afghan village complete with role players and simulated roadside bombs.

The final exam, set for early March, will be a weeklong, ship-based exercise involving troops from both countries coming ashore at the beaches where Marines trained for the World War II landings.

It is the kind of training that would be useful if the Japanese needed to move quickly to one of their islands and set up a defensive perimeter to repel an assault, Hudson said.

The Japanese �gwant to develop the capability to deal with any threat to defend our country,�h said Maj. Kuzuya Ono as he watched his troops working in coordination with Marines driving tanks.

-- Tony Perry at Camp Pendleton and Yuriko Nagano in Tokyo

Photo: Marines and Japanese troops training at Camp Pendleton. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

$1.50 for most yakitori at Shinsengumi for all the remaining tuesdays in May. In case anyone was interested and didn't know already.

krim wrote:

$1.50 for most yakitori at Shinsengumi for all the remaining tuesdays in May. In case anyone was interested and didn't know already.

Must make note of said deal. Good looking out.

Technically, it's a Thanksgiving Day thing, but since it only applies L.A., I'll put it here.

Twilight Zone Marathon on channel 5

Starting at 9 a.m., here's the episodes:

9:00 AM "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You"

9:30 AM "People Are Alike All Over"

10:00 AM "The Trade-ins"

10:30 AM "Stopover in a Quiet Town"

11:00 AM "On Thursday We Leave for Home"

12:00 PM "The Lonely"

12:30 PM "The Invaders"

1:00 PM "The Odyssey of Flight 33"

1:30 PM "And When the Sky Was Opened"

2:00 PM "Valley of the Shadow"

3:00 PM "The Fugitive"

3:30 PM "Third From the Sun"

4:00 PM "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street"

4:30 PM "The Long Morrow"

5:00 PM "To Serve Man"

5:30 PM "The Eye of the Beholder"

^ But what about all that football?

bmwracer wrote:

^ But what about all that football?

I can watch football anytime. The Twilight Zone marathon comes but twice a year!

(They do it again on the 4th of July.)

gaijinmark wrote:

I can watch football anytime. The Twilight Zone marathon comes but twice a year!

I'll probably flip back and forth between the two...

Took the Metro to meet my friend for dinner. It's only the third time I've taken it in L.A.

Union Station

Tu_triky wrote:

Took the Metro to meet my friend for dinner. It's only the third time I've taken it in L.A. Union Station

I've never taken the Metro Link. I have to say it looks pretty nice though!

Sengo wrote:

I've never taken the Metro Link. I have to say it looks pretty nice though!

It is pretty nice. I wish there were more lines though. Perhaps more importantly I wish there was a stop near my house. There isn't unfortunately.

I had to take a cab to Union Station and then from there I was able to hop on the Metro Link Purple/Red Line to Koreatown.

As I'm sure you know Union Station is very close to Little Tokyo. From Union Station to Wilshire/Vermont Station in Koreatown it only takes 9 minutes! $1.50 for a one way fare.

Tu_triky wrote:

It is pretty nice. I wish there were more lines though. Perhaps more importantly I wish there was a stop near my house. There isn't unfortunately. I had to take a cab to Union Station and then from there I was able to hop on the Metro Link Purple/Red Line to Koreatown. As I'm sure you know Union Station is very close to Little Tokyo. From Union Station to Wilshire/Vermont Station in Koreatown it only takes 9 minutes! $1.50 for a one way fare.

Aren't cabs expensive? (Haven't ridden in one in decades...) Seems inconvenient to have to take a cab. I do like to eat in Korea town, though!

Rolling through L.A. this morning I snapped a couple of couple shots in the relative solitude of Sunday morning's light traffic.


Downtown Los Angeles

The Wiltern Theatre

Tu_triky wrote:

The Wiltern Theatre

Haven't been there in ages... I used to catch double features there as a kid.

bmwracer wrote:

Haven't been there in ages... I used to catch double features there as a kid.

Wow, how cool. I think it's mostly a music venue now if I'm not mistaken.