Abbeyroad45 comments

Posted in: Trump's new idea -- a 'solar wall' on Mexican border See in context

You know what has had the most profound effect on drug trafficking? Legalization and decriminalization by the states. We have seen that people are willing to spend a hefty premium to buy their drugs legally, and even when only two states had legalized, the effect on the Mexican drug trade was enormous. If every state legalized or at least decriminalized marijuana, the Mexican drug lords wouldn't have any customers any more. Study after study shows that marijuana is much less harmful than just about every drug, including alcohol and tobacco. Legalize and the wall issue will take care of itself, besides creating huge tax revenues for states.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Posted in: Trump's son-in-law Kushner seeks to revive Mideast talks See in context

Saying he has a strategy is rather generous. I don't believe he has a realistic plan or strategy for anything, and is expecting that, like with his businesses, he'll just say what he wants and the people below him will make it happen somehow. The obvious evidence that it doesn't seem to be working at all seems lost on him.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Record number of court-ordered child custody suspensions in 2016 See in context

Child abuse is usually generational, so often in these cases there are no competent relatives available. Children being forcibly removed can sometimes save their lives.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Posted in: Rap anti-hero Tupac Shakur bigger in death than life See in context

Sounds like many of the commenters here have never heard Tupac. He certainly didn't glorify violence or degrade women. On the contrary many of his songs spoke against violence, such as Life Goes On. The man was an artist.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Posted in: Kyoto Board of Education administers English test for teachers with disheartening results See in context

I think teachers need to know a subject to be able to teach it. This would be a given for a math or science teacher, so I don't know why English teachers get a pass. When I was teaching I saw students get very discouraged by the low level of English ability of their teachers, which is readily apparent to students.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: JAL screening passengers from nations subject to U.S. entry ban See in context

I disagree with a Muslim ban and a country based ban, but I think every foreign traveller entering the US (and my own country) should be required to check a box on their arrival card explicitly declaring that secular man-made laws of the state are superior to all religious law in all circumstances, that they believe men and women enjoy universal equal rights, that every person has a universal right to chose or leave their religion without negative consequences, that people have a universal right to choose their sexual orientation etc.

If any country required this, Trump and US republicans would never be able to leave the country. Look at Pence and Ryan and what they are trying to do. US evangelicals are every bit as militant, backward, and self-righteous as radical Muslims.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Posted in: Park employee didn’t collect admission fees from 160,000 foreigners over 2 1/2 years because one scared him See in context

There is no way he could have actually let that many people in for free for that long with no one catching on. Blaming suspicious foreigners is a common tactic when one is caught embezzling though, saw it at a company I used to work for.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Woman, 4-year-old daughter in comas after being hit by motorcyclist See in context

I sometimes take my young kids for walks when they can't sleep at night. It helps them relax and fall asleep. I can imagine a number of innocent reasons why this mother and daughter could have been out walking that late.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Posted in: Abused cats found in Chiba park See in context

I would love to have a cat, I can't afford the silly pet store prices, though.

Why do you need to go to a pet store? There are hundreds of cats needing homes in shelters, at the hokensho, in parks, etc. that you can have for free. Cats vary much less by breed than dogs do, so if you just want a good pet, buying a purebred cat from a pet store is a pointless waste of money.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Posted in: Real estate company president murdered in Yamanashi See in context

The yakuza operate in every prefecture. They get away with more in the countryside.

My question is why did a security company employee show up there by himself instead of notifying the police? My office security company sends the police first, and they follow up after.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Posted in: 38-year-old man arrested on suspicion of kidnapping 4-year-old girl See in context

I can't believe people are defending this guy. He took her into the bathroom and who actually knows what he did while he had her diaper off? It could have been anything from looking and touching to rape. The diapers were a cover to get her into the bathroom alone. Most 4 year old girls are toilet-trained and do not wear diapers. This is a predator who has figured out a very effective way to prey on very young children.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Posted in: The dark side of the food industry See in context

Yes, I work in the food industry. There is very little oversight until someone gets sick, and even then it's pretty easy to pay the fine and go on the same as before. I've been to client restaurants and seen rats and roaches running around the kitchen. I won't take my kid to eat at most of the restaurants in my town because I've seen what goes on in the back. Processed foods and supermarkets aren't much better.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: Beyonce takes U.S. by storm with new activist role See in context

The existence of poverty among blacks today has almost nothing to do with racism (blacks are more likely to be the beneficiary of discrimination in education, employment, and business contracting) and almost entirely due to social factors such as a weak family structure and a culture of victimhood and militancy (see Beyonce' SB performance).

It has absolutely everything to do with racism, in employment, housing, education, and of course, policing. I don't see how you can just pretend the last 400 years of US history didn't happen because you have a faulty understanding of how affirmative action works.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Posted in: Couple freed after 20 years as court orders new trial in arson-murder case See in context

Dukeleto It's not uncommon to have a small life insurance policy on children. It's to cover funeral expenses in case of death. These policies are usually quite small, around 1-2 million yen. Enough for a modest funeral and burial. Nobody's killing their kids to get rich off the life insurance.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Posted in: Gov't tries to reassure public over pension data leak See in context

It was an email virus. That means a pension employee clicked on an unknown email attachment. How about educating public employees on Internet safety?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: 1-year-old boy falls to death from hotel window See in context

My son is 1 and he can easily climb 30 cm. That's less than half his height. I could also see him being able to open a window if it's the kind that swings outward. If he had to exert upward force, probably not, but this sounds like the kind that just swings open. Very easy for a kid to push.

This has given me a lot to think about. We don't use a crib at home because we all sleep on futons in the same room and our home is pretty well child-proofed, but we'll be traveling later this year, so a portable crib might be a good idea.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: WWII kamikaze base to seek UNESCO recognition for pilots' documents See in context

Japan needs to stop fetishizing the UNESCO designations. Not everything has have some official seal of approval from some outside authority to be worthwhile. There's a town near here trying to get an old copper mine declared a world heritage site. Spending millions of yen, and it's never gonna happen.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Posted in: Number of children in Japan falls to new low See in context

We would love to have another kid but since we don't have any prospects for making more money, it's just not going to happen. Most families I know feel the same.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Recent Comments

Popular

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites


©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.