AdamB comments

Zenny11,

I agree with part of what you have said. Some of the prices charged are a bit steep.

But l do not agree with you when you say its the same across the globe, I have been in Japan for a little while now and am fast running out of the tourist sites to see, if l see another temple l will scream. You name places like Sydney, there is heaps to see in and around Sydney, London and Southern England has more sites than l have seen here in Japan. Apart from Mt Fuji, and a couple of decent castles, a couple of temples and thats about it really. Japan as a country is definately not what l would call a pretty country. Just my thoughts anyway and everyone is different

Zenny11,

"You could say the same for any country in the world. A cathredal is a cathredal may it be in France or Italy or wherever" I tend to disagree here. Compared to countries like Italy, UK, France that promote their Cathedrals, Castles monuments etc as tourist attractions it is done very poorly here in Japan. When you are in Japan you go to 1 or 2 castles and you may as well say seen em all. I UK each one is so different we set up for tourists etc. Same for temples here, go to a few and its YAWN another temple. Yet in other countries they have a wide variety and are quite unique.

The other major issue in Japan as others have touched on is the lack of support for other languages. Some places and l say some offer brochures in other languages but not all, so why go and look around say a castle if you cant understand a thing that is said about it.

haran3375,

So basically you are saying that 99% of Westerners are drug addict criminals are you? After all you did say "It'll soon be the case that 99% of westerners won't be allowed into Japan then"

haran3375,

"It'll soon be the case that 99% of westerners won't be allowed into Japan then" And why would that be?

lesgrande,

"Bush legacy continues..." Dont say that the pro US legions on here will lynch you. Dont you know Iraq is so much safer and a better place now for Bush Jnr's actions.

lincolnman,

Just out of curiosity can you please explain to me how Japan came about losing the Northern territories. Maybe this little fact should be remembered whenever Japanese nationalism rears its ugly little head again.

Smorkian,

" Israel has never even tried peace. 60+ years of warfare with its neighbors and the people without a state." Yeah so true, but who in that 60 years caused, started the majority of those wars just out of curiosity.

Smorkian,

Yeah you are right sorry cruise speed is 530 mph not maximum speed my mistake.

A couple of issues with this debate about the plane doing 500 mph. The maximum speed for this aircraft is 530mph. So there is no way a novice pilot is going to fly this thing at full speed and try to hit as smaller target as it did. So all this talk about cameras taking pictures at 500 mph is irrelevant.

Gurukun,

If l may weigh into this, l think you are completely correct. Go to any airport or better yet an airshow and take photos as the planes fly past. You can see them clearly, they are not just a blur, given the nature of the Pentagon you would have to believe that it does infact have state of the art camera's not some $20 cheapo things.

WilliB,

"As Klein2 pointed out, for the cost of this concrete monstrocity, the entire village could have been relocated, and then some." Yeah Klein2 is a genious, did he factor into account that to build housing or for that matter a whole town in the hills costs a lot more than to build it on flat ground. Did he also mention that this is a fishing village so it needs to be near the water. Who cares how much it cost, how much of the cost savings you guys are advocating would have been lost with extra costs for building houses on hills, and most importantly how much is a human life worth. Because unlike other villages in the are 1 person is missing. Everyone was saved except for 1 that is money well spent

Roppongi,

"If you pull a knife on a cop in Oz you are shot dead - End of story! Gotta love the 'passive' police force in Japan." But then having seen the cops in this country l reckon a strong wind would blow them over. They really do not inspire confidence in being able to enforce anything. To small to scrawny. You look at cops in the US, Australia a lot of them get there message accross just by their look, J cops well you just laugh at the sight of them

Japan you gota love this place. And Japan calls itself a modern developed nation, some things never change.

Serrano,

"4 more American troops were killed in ungrateful Afghanistan Monday." I distintly dont remember Afghan's asking for the US to invade them and l certainly dont remember them asking the US to go around killing civilians (over 15000 so far). Maybe if the US actually looked at the history of this place (Russia, Britian and others) have all tried to tame this country with no success. This is an unwinable war and the bodies will just keep piling up.

As for the women with guns, well most people in the country have weapons. Someone comes bursting into your house in the middle of the night what are you going to do. Grab your gun of course.

manfromamerica,

"It is the US governments responsibility to act in the best interests of the AMERICAN people, not in the best interest of the UN, the Pakistani people, or anyone else." Just so l get this right, you are saying that the US government can do whatever it wants where ever it wants in the world with no respect to sovereign nations or the UN? is that what your saying

manfromamerica,

" am subject to American laws when I live in the USA, not "international law"." REALLY!!!! Wow. Considering the comment im refering to you made about Pakistan and that in regards to that country US law is more important than International law. In fact didnt you say International law means nothing.

manfromamerica,

"we should cut aid to Pakistan, and fully support India on their territorial claims." Love it so your 4 current military actions are not enough you are after more. In case no-one told you, you are not winning in Afghanistan, Iraq is a mess and Libya well we will leave that one alone. Oh and then theres your actions in the Philipines and the Horn of Africa. Plenty of room for more war there for sure.

kansaichris,

I must say very good post and l do agree with you mostly. Thank you for the level headedness of your response. But l want to assure you that my dislike of some parts of American culture i.e. statements like "US law superseeds international law" is in no way a hatred of the US as a whole. I disagree with things done in my home country and am equally critical, as l am of some aspects of my temporary home here. Just because someone is critical of a certain aspect doesnt make them hate the whole.

hworta269,

"Its probably these same types of people that initiated an "incident" with NATO forces, which is not only America." Actually it has been reported that they where US helicopters and the Pakistani's fired on them after they crossed the border. The US helicopters then returned fire. This mess could escalate very quickly the way things are going, l think both sides need to sit down and have a serious talk about whats going on.

Time for Pakistan to beef up its air defenses along the border with Afghanistan and start shooting down a few of these wayward helicopters maybe then when the bodies start piling up the US will pull its oversized head in (doubtful though).

Cant the US see that apart from destabilising Pakistan even more, this sort of action is playing into the hands of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It is the perfect recruiting tool for them.

"Kudos to him for making it public and fessing up, takes some big ones to do it."

Maybe if he had kept his big ones in his pants he wouldnt have needed to fess up.

kansaichris,

Interesting post, so basically what you are saying is it is ok for people to get on here and post things like "US law DOES override international law. So-called "International law" means nothing.", and even your "and that the US does what it wants is not up for debate". But when someone dares to question this and point out some home truths you are anti american and told to be quiet, guess what you dont like it stiff.

For the record yes l am from a country that sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. And no l did not support the government decision to send them to Iraq however l do support the mission in Afghanistan. What l dont like and never have is the way the US military conducts its operations. Its not that l do not like the US as l have said before on many occasions as a nation it is ok but when you here statements like "US law overrides international law" l laugh. Obviously the rednecks cant see that its this thinking that gets you so hated around the world. You seem to be oblivious to the fact that the US is heading the way of the USSR it to was once a great super power but is no more. The US is fast approaching the end of its reign as global superpower whether you like it or not. And what will happen when the countries that take its mantel start behaving like the US does?

manfromamerica,

One more thing, when your country finally wises up to the fact that a good portion of the world hates them dont come crawling to other nations for help like you did with Iraq, Afghanistan etc. The US seems to pick these fights then drag other nations in on them.

I say you want to have the attitude then deal with the consequences alone, one would hope that you eventually learn the folly of your ways but l cant see that happening unfortunately.

manfromamerica,

"US law DOES override international law. So-called "International law" means nothing." I love it!!!! This is the exact reason why the US is one of the most HATED countries in the world. Guess what US law doesnt override International law, you may think it does but that kind of thinking is why your country is where it is now. The once mighty US, broke, decaying and trapped in a war it cant win. Creating a new class of enemy that wants to see it destroyed and you wonder why.

WilliB,

Yeah they can also add Bush Jnr, and Blair to that list.

Moderator: Stay on topic please. The subject is Gadhafi.

Yeah not much good positive stuff there im afraid. At least some in Germany (like his grandson) are coming to terms with this and moving forward while some others still deny it happened and try and get positives from some of the worst crimes in human history. I guess that is the problem in this world some see good in the worst of events and glorify it and that is the scary part

sabiwabi,

"So why did the same (?) author include in the first paragraph: "...an annual Palestinian mourning ritual marking the anniversary of Israel’s birth", thus leaving the impression they are simply expressing anti-Israeli sentiments?" Maybe because they are, cant you understand that by now.

Its interesting that you mention the Nakba, this refers to the events of 1948 when the Palistinians where expelled following their lost war with the Jewish settlers. Again they chose to fight a guerilla war and they lost now they complain that they want their land back. Keep crying Palestinians, maybe if you stopped the rocket and mortar attacks and turned to peace you would get further. But once a terrorist always a terrorist hey Sabi!!!

bass4funk,

"But supporting war at any cost without regard for international law well that is an interesting one, guess theres only one term for that blood thursty warmonger....." this arguement was used because in the eyes of some posters here if you do not support 100% what the US is doing in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Philipines, and various other places (in the name of the War on terror) then you must be a left wing looney. Let me just say this, OBL was an evil sob, yes the US was right to get rid of him. Did they go about it the right way? No, they have created an issue that may have huge ramifacations. As Pakistani government officials have said in the media what if India now enters their territory to get a target. This sort of action could lead to much worse. How honestly would you feel if this story went along the lines of Pakistan shot down x amount of US helicopters killing x amount of US servicemen. How would that feel? By all means go after your target but think through the consequences first.

You say "IMO being liked by the world is NOT my first priority and if people out there don't like that point of view, it is alright to disagree" thats right people can disagree but remember for everyone that disagrees some will disagree violently and a new terrorist is born. It has long been a fault with the US, who cares what the world thinks were doing it. Maybe just maybe that is why a good portion of the world dislikes the US and maybe just maybe out of that some people can become violently opposed to the US has that occured to you.

No country is perfect but the more enemies you make the more risk you are in. Remember each action has repercussions, by all means the Taliban needed to go, OBL needed to go. But how you do it is the key, killing civilians as collateral damage that makes enemies and the cycle continues.

Kaptankichigai,

So because l disagree with the US methods of waging this war makes me a left wing looney. Well l guess your stance makes you a right wing war monger then.

And for your information while l didnt support Bush's war on Iraq l actually do support the war on terror. And yes its little, its being fought on a limited scale with limited resources that by definition makes it little. Oh and just because one doesnt support the methods employed doesnt make them a looney. But supporting war at any cost without regard for international law well that is an interesting one, guess theres only one term for that blood thursty warmonger.....

yasukuni,

"In other news, Charles Manson's mother said that the handcuffs used on her son were too tight, and Hitler's niece complained that derogatory comments were made in British news reports about her kind Uncle. Yes, it's a nasty world we live in."

And in other news US drones kill another couple of civilians in Pakistan, oh well all for the greater good.