Just a quick note to declare that I am officially retired. This does not mean anything to other people, but to me it means I am not doing any for-pay work. Have not done any so far this year and do not plan to do any in the remaining two months. I am keeping busy with other things, but not work to earn money. Drawing down assets instead. After all, at 80, I doubt I have many more than two decades left anyway.
Now that I have lost your attention, I want to mention the Unification Church. As everyone knows, former Prime Minister Abe was shot by a male who felt the UC had ruined his chances in life (by draining his family fortunes) and considered Abe a major figure lending credence to it. He said he really wanted to kill the church leaders, but Abe was as close as he could get. This murder highlighted the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ties to the UC and unleashed a backlash that reverberates even now with LDP figures, for the most part, apologizing for their coziness and vowing to do better (“better” in this case meaning cutting ties with the UC). Indeed, there are strong calls for the government to void the UC’s status (tax exemptions) as a religious organization. But, but, the LDP and its apologists say, the government should not be meddling in religious affairs. But, but, but UC critics say, the UC should be stripped of status not because of its religious beliefs but because it is a criminal organization. This is still playing out.
Many other things are also in play, but that is enough for today.