Karn Evil 9, part 1

"Hi guys! I'm back. Anything happen while I was away?"

"Oh? You don't say."

Reports: Japan communications minister hit by scandal ahead of Cabinet reshuffle
Associated Press

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's beleaguered government was hit by another scandal Saturday, as local media accused a Cabinet minister of accounting irregularities.

Yoshihide Suga, minister for internal affairs and communications, claimed about 20 million yen (US$172,235; €126,503) in expenses for rent on two offices in 2005 — even though he owned the building they were in and they cost him nothing — the Yomiuri newspaper said.

Kyodo News agency carried a similar report.

(...)

Suga claimed he had paid 19.56 million yen (US$168,446; €123,720) in rent in 2005 for the two offices in Kanagawa, his constituency just south of Tokyo, even after he had purchased the land and the building that housed the offices in December 2004, according to the reports.

Kyodo quoted Suga as saying there was nothing wrong with his accounting.

Officials at Suga's office were not immediately available for comment Saturday...

Just in time for the Sunday talk shows, right on the eve of the announcement of the new Cabinet.

Golly.

The show that never ends...

(For those of tender years, reference is being made to the opening stanza of this)