Japanese Stealth Fighter Airplane

Japan has unveiled a stealth fighter airplane, the Mitsubishi X-2. It proves Japan has the knowledge to build a stealth plane, invisible to radar, just like neighbouring Russia and China has already done.

The unveiled airplane is small for a fighter, underpowered and yet unarmed. It is still proof that Japan has the knowledge needed. With this knowledge, Japan could be a partner of an international development of new fighter airplanes more siutable for actual conflicts than the X-2 would be in its present form.

It is reassuring to read that Japan does what it has got to do, to boost its capacity to defend itself against aggressive neighbours. Unfortunately, Japan has neighbours which has an aggressive foreign policy. Japan has to be prepared. The X-2 shows the capacity to be prepared, which is good.

Sweden has a military aircraft company too, Saab. I wonder if Sweden and Saab will develop a modern stealth fighter plane. It could be necessary in order to replace the current Saab JAS 39 Gripen airplanes in the future.

Extra

Hello, Karstuhl here!

When Mommy is away for the weekend, I rule at home, as well as ruling the blog.

Not everybody believes I rule. There are some of the other dogs who do not think I have the authority, so they do more as they please. Granted, I do not quite have the natural authority that Mommy has, but I am in charge of Mommy's blog. If you rule the blog, you rule what news go out from here. If I write that I am a highly benevolent ruler, this is what every blog reader will read. They will not hear the stories from the other dogs. My story is the true story, of course. The others will recognise this, eventually. Then they will accept my authority. It is fun discussing this with the others,  no matter what they say.

Away for the Weekend

This weekend, I am visiting friends of the family. They are considering getting a Shiba. I believe I am quite good at promoting our breed. We will see, the next time we have a puppy litter at home.

Hindersmässan

The last week in January, there is always a big fair in central Örebro. It is called Hindersmässan, Hinder Mass. Hinder is a version of the name Henry, which is celebrated on the 19th of January. The weather is normally very cold on this fair, but not this year. Paula and her sister, mother and nephew visited the fair today. They bought some pastry, this is about the best with the fair.

I am glad I was not at the fair. It is usually crowded in the streets, not an ideal place for a dog of such an ideal but small size as a Shiba. I rather visit central Örebro in the summer, when I can visit one of the restaurants that serve food on the main square Stortorget. Maybe Paula and Daniel will take me there this summer, as they have done before.

Building on the Moon

German scientists are conceiving methods to build settlements on the Moon. They want to use local materials, to avoid shipping so much from Earth. Moon rock and Moon dust may become building material. Solar panels may provide energy, it is easier there than on Earth, because the Moon has hardly any atmosphere. It seems promising. Humans and dogs may very well live on the Moon in the future.

Cuddling

How do I have time to post blog entries, if I cuddle with my humans? I just have to write a short entry very quickly, don't I?

Updates

Sometimes, I borrow Daniel's Ipad to write my blog entries. The apps on the Ipad often needs to be updated. It is almost as common not recognising any improvements on the updated app. It makes you wonder whether all of these updates are really necessary. They are usually free of any costs, so there is no financial harm in them. Still, they occupy the Ipad while the download is made. I wonder whether it would not be better with fewer updates, but larger ones.

I do not think this would make apps which are not updated too old. I update my blog every day, but there is a difference: you can see a tanglble result in my daily blog entry. This makes the update worthwhile. These updates does not take long to download, either. Blog updates are good in that way. I hope my readers like everyone of them. Stay tuned, and there will be more.

Thaw

It is still January, but temperatures above the freezing point. Snow is thawing. I do not like this. It is still so dark in the mornings and afternoons, that the snow is welcome to make the world brighter. I also like running in snow. I can complain about the weather, but we have to take it as it is, because we cannot change it. A little complaint makes me calmer, however, and that is a good thing.

I would have written this blog entry earlier, but I did not keep my eyes on the clock. This is the blog entry for Sunday, but written a couple of minutes after midnight. I do not like it when this happens, but it is as it is. I can only blame myself. This is a problem I can do something about. I will get better at writing blog entries on the right day.

Polls

Polls are interesting for everyone who is interested in human politics. Daniel has politics as his second hobby, after dog breeding. He is happy that the latest poll from Swedish company Sifo shows his party is now the biggest party. I am not that interested in party politics like this, but I am happy for Daniel. He says his party has the best politics for both humans and dogs in Sweden, which sounds promising.

Early Morning

We got up earlier than usual this morning. It was not because Daniel would go away for work, however, but because Paula would go away to take an exam. We did this without company. Not complainingg is a way of mankind things easier for everybody around. What reason do we have to complain over early mornings, when we can go back to sleep after the morning walk? It is worst for our humans. They get up early and stay awake. I am often glad I am a dog and not a human.

Studies

Paula is studying to become a highly specialised nurse. She has an exam tomorrow and will stay up late tonight to make the best of it. This is a way of studying that fits Paula. I am staying up together with Paula, helping her the best I can. As a dog, I feel like this is my duty. It sure is appreciated.

I will not write more than this in the blog tonight. It is more important to devote my time to the help I am giving Paula. We all want her to ace the exam tomorrow.

Another Planet in the Solar System?

American scientists speculate that there is a ninth planet in the Solar System, much farther away from the Sun than the currently known outermost planet Neptune. (Pluto is no longer counted as a planet, as you surely know.) Astronomers are now trying to observe it with their telescopes, aiming them in the directions computed by the scientists. It would be interesting to learn if this planet exists. It is so far away, it will be hard to spot it. It would not be impossible, though. The telescopes are getting constantly better and if you know what to look for, and were, it would be just a matter of time.

Going there would be another matter. Humans have, so far, just visited the Moon, not even the closest other planets. I do not think I will live to see dogs walk the Moon. Still, knowledge of new celestial bodies is always expanding your mind. I hope this planet will soon be seen.

Tuesdays

People often complain about Mondays. It is Tuesday today, and sometimes I think Tuesdays are heavier days than Mondays. We often sleep longer in the weekends, which means we are more rested on Mondays than on Tuesdays. Mondays are more of a start of new, exciting things happening than Tuesdays. Still, there are many days left until next weekend even on a Tuesday, so you cannot look forward to another long, lazy morning very soon.

I do not mean to be whiny. I do not really dislike any day of the week, Tuesdays or not. It is just that if I were to rank the days of the week, I think I like Mondays more than Tuesdays. We can all rank the days as we like, but I think Mondays have an unfairly bad reputation. Maybe this should change. There are good things about Mondays too.

Blogging Dog

Hello, Karstuhl here.

In 2012, Disney Channel started a TV series about a dog who had a blog. The show was called Dog with a Blog. This is much later than my Mommy started her real life dog blog. I wonder if they knew, when they created the TV show?

Diversity of Languages

More and more scientific journals are published exclusively in English. This is bad for diversity, because you think better in your native language and can have a better chance at scientific success if you can be published in a language you know better than English. On the other hand, people around the world are constantly getting better at English, so perhaps this problem will get its own solution. In the future, it may be much more natural for most people having English as an alternative language to their native language.

For my part, I have no problem writing in English, but this is mostly thanks to my Mum being a native English speaker, as she came from the USA. I think there are advantages writing in English, because you can reach more people. I like being able to do that.

I think English will be a dominant language for centuries to come. Then it is good if science is written in English. Still, non English science should not be ignored. It is a balance the editors of the journals have to make.

Repopulation

I read this rather interesting article on saving endangered species, inbreeding, and repopulation of the Earth. It dealt with the question if two humans could repopulate Earth after a global disaster. Science gives some evidence. However, I would have wanted the authors to have written about dogs too. There have been a lot of dog breeding programmes to save endangered dog breeds. Indeed, Shibas were saved after the Second World War thanks to such a programme in Japan. If you want to study the saving of small populations, dog breeding would be the core subject, I would think. It could be that some dog breeds with a small genetic base would gain from being merged to each other. Why did the authors not consider dog breeds? I believe they were ignorant. The article was interesting, nevertheless.

Molly

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My name is actually Polly, though I answer to my nickname Karstuhl as well. Having a nickname ending in stuhl is an honour to dogs.

I read an article about common names amongdogs in Sweden. The most common name for bitches is Molly. Polly was not on thelist. This is good. I would not want to have a common name, I want to be more special than that. Polly is a special name.

Chilly Again

I normally do not complain about cold weather. When temperatures fall to less than 20 below zero, however, I believe anyone is entitled to complain a bit. Dogs of polar breeds, like Samoyeds, can take it without any problem. Shibas, with our origin in Japan, have no problem with regular Swedish winters, but this is a little too chilly for us.

It is not unreasonably cold for being Sweden in January, but it is still cold enough to warrant some complainting. Besides, complaining about cold weather is part of Swedish culture. It is one of the reasons Swedes cope with the cold, I believe. If you can complain, the problem feels easier to overcome. Thus, there is a good thing about complaining.

Christmas Is Over

It is the twentieth day of Christmas, and in Sweden, this means Christmas is over. We have cleaned the house and taken away the Christmas decorations. They will come back by the end of the year, when it is time for Christmas again.

The younger dogs says they cannot wait until next Christmas. I might be more mature, I just think there are so many things to look forward to before next Christmas. There is the period before Easter, when we eat the Swedish specialty semla. There is Easter, with all Easter candy. There is spring, when we start having grilled food. There is summer, the best season of the year, because it is the peak of dog show season. At midsummer, we also celebrate. Throughout the year, we have birthdays too. My own birthday is in September, one of the the greatest days in autumn.

In short, there are many events to be happy about before next Christmas. Next Christmas will surely be great, too, but we do not need to long for it just yet.

Will Peach Succeed?

Once in a while, a new kind of social media app or program gets a lot of attention. Sometimes, the success lingers, as has been the case for Facebook or Twitter. Other solutions are quickly forgotten.

The newest hype may be Peach. It is an app without a lot of menus, you type words that are commands instead. Is Peach the next big thing? Time will tell.

For my part, I am quite content with this blog. I am neither on Facebook, Twitter, nor any other such media. If I want to promote a blog entry there, I ask Daniel or Paula to do it for me, and they do. If Paula and Daniel discovers Peach and tell me it is a good thing, there is a remote chance I will try it. Still, I think I will not. You can still find my thoughts daily on my blog.

Bowie

The news and social media have been full of texts about English musician David Bowie, who passed away today. While a death is always a tragedy, and his influence on popular music is evident, I do not know whether he had any dogs. If he had, I am sorry for them, losing their human. For a dog, her or his human is always the biggest idol. No human could have had David Bowie as a bigger idol than his dogs, if he had any. If there were dogs, I wish them well.

Chinese Attacks on Vietnamese Fishermen

Mainland China seems determined to get bad relations to a lot of its neighbours. It is not at peace with Taiwan, formally claiming its territory. It is claiming the Senkaku Islands, even though they are undisputably Japanese. Now it is harassing and abusing Vietnamese fishermen for fishing in waters that China claims as its own, but no other country accept as Chinese. I wish there could be a peaceful end to these aggressions by China. In a way, I do not think there will be a peaceful end to it, but I can still hope for it, can I not? I just wonder what other means the neighbours have of bringing these policies to an end. China has a strong military force, so war is not an option unless China starts. It better not go that far. Swedish mass media should write more about this, I believe.

Fire

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It might be cold outside, but we have got fire indoors. Paula and Daniel had the fireplace in the loving room remade this autumn, and we now get better heat from it. We enjoy watching the wood burn. Today, we burned an old dog pillow as well. It had become too dirty and torn, so Paula decided to get rid of it. While the pillow had provided us with comfort as long as we had it and laid on it, it also provided is with comfort through the heat we got from it when it died in flames. Do you find this description morbid. Well, a pillow does not really live. It has no feelings, no soul. Do not confuse a pillow with teddy bears, you have to be nice to teddy bears, because they are cute enough that we get feelings for them. Pillows are nice, but they may burn when they get too torn and dirty.

Nice Winter Weather

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have had nice winter weather today. Earlier in the week, it has been very cold, but the temperature has risen to about - 6 degrees Celsius. We have also received more snow on the ground. It is fun running around in newly fallen snow. This is what winter should be like. If winter was like this all the time, I would think most people would never complain about it. Winter must be the season of the year that most people complain about. More nice winter weather would make for better winter PR. If winter would have a PR staff, they should think about this.

Chilly

Shibas can endure most temperatures. We are built that way, we are survivors. There are, however, temperatures that even we believe would be harsh. There were temperatures below - 40 degrees Celsius in the village Nikkaluokta in Northern Sweden today. This would be harsh. The weather in Örebro was a little chilky in comparison. We had - 19 when we were on our morning walk. It would be more comfortable with a temperature somewhat higher.

Holy Kings

This is the day Christians celebrate the three holy men, often refered to as kings, who came from the east to baby Jesus with gifts. They predicted He would be a great king. They also gave him gifts. It has been said these gifts are the original inspiration for Christmas presents. If this is the case, I wonder why Christmas presents are exchanged much earlier, on Christmas Eve or in some countries on Christmas Day. Is it just that people are impatient and do not want to wait? I ave not heard any other explanation. Perhaps there is an explanation, I might have to look further into this.

Morning Walk in the Morning Light

This time of the year, dawn is late in the morning. This means morning walks are often lit by the street lights. If were lucky, we can see the stars. If we are really lucky, we also have the Moon light.

Daniel has a vacation from work for a couple of days. This means we often sleep until later in the morning. Today, we had a morning walk in broad daylight, despite it being a Tuesday. It was nice, even with the snow all over and cold weather. We can see how late we walk tomorrow morning.

Fatal Accident

An old lady in the small Swedish town Fagersta was hit by a car today, and died.

Paula was hit by a car on the street in our home town in November. She was wounded, but survived, and she is getting better. We are so lucky she made it.

In Stockholm

Paula, Daniel, and I went to Stockholm today. We visited Daniel's parents. It was really nice and I got tasty treats.

I like doing things that are different from your everyday life. While it was sweet just staying at home all day yesterday, going all the way to Stockholm today made for a terrific day as well, but in a different way. I like both kinds of days.

Staying At Home

Today, Paula stayed at home all day. Daniel just left the house for dog walks and for a quick journey to buy some food. I like it when Paula and Daniel are at home this much. It would be nice if they were at home like this more often. We have had a great time, just aocialising in front of a fire in the living room. This is what holidays should be about. I love it.

New Year's Day

It is a good thing the first day of the year is a holiday. This means we can sleep for a long time in the morning, after being awake until midnight to greet the new year.

Some of the others in our family claim I fell asleep before midnight yesterday. Well, sleeping in the sofa in the evening is nothing wrong, I was awake at the midnight hour, when the new year started. Who says you have to be awake the whole evening before that? Sleeping until late in the morning is sweet, nevertheless.