aedfed comments

Posted in: 2.5 seconds: The security lapses that sealed Shinzo Abe's fate See in context

Gun violence in Japan is indeed rare, but attacks against politicians are not. Perhaps they were preparing for a knife attack. A sad outcome.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Do you believe China will try to retake Taiwan by force one day? See in context

After watching China's ham-handed handling of "one country two systems" in Hong Kong, the people of Taiwan are not likely to voluntarily join China.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Posted in: China’s 'Little Kyoto' shut down by government after complaints of Japanese culture invasion See in context

And the Chinese government continues to use Japan as a convenient distraction from Chinese governmental corruption.

12 ( +15 / -3 )

Posted in: Delta variant reignites U.S. mask debate See in context

@Wakarimasen Scientific evidence on masks is mixed at best.

I'm not sure where you're getting your information, but there are plenty of studies that disagree. For example: "Model experiments and case reports suggest that masks covering the mouth and nose afford considerable protection against transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other airborne diseases by reducing release of and exposure to potentially infectious droplets; in addition, infections that do occur take a milder course." 

Hemmer, C. J., Hufert, F., Siewert, S., & Reisinger, E. (2021). Protection From COVID-19. Deutsches Arzteblatt international118(5), 59–65. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.m2021.0119

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Weary U.S. businesses confront new round of mask mandates See in context

Evidence on efficacy of masks is mixed at best. And recent evidence indicates they may not be much use. 

I'm not sure where you're getting your information, but there are plenty of studies that disagree. For example: "Model experiments and case reports suggest that masks covering the mouth and nose afford considerable protection against transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other airborne diseases by reducing release of and exposure to potentially infectious droplets; in addition, infections that do occur take a milder course."

Hemmer, C. J., Hufert, F., Siewert, S., & Reisinger, E. (2021). Protection From COVID-19. Deutsches Arzteblatt international118(5), 59–65. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.m2021.0119

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Country singer Joe Diffie dies of coronavirus complications See in context

starpunk and TheLongTermer, check out Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans, a Canadian roots/country musician. He came to country from a background in punk, but draws on traditional country, western swing and country blues to create a unique sound in contrast to the overproduced dreck that comes out of Nashville these days.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: 'Little Miss Period' tackles Japan's menstruation taboos with a punch See in context

I was taking attendance before a 3rd year university class I taught. When I asked where one student was, there was a conference among her friends, and finally, one of them asked, "How do you say seiri in English." When I replied, "She's having her period," they carefully repeated it back to me. For the rest of the semester, when one of them was absent, they faithfully reported if it was related to her menstrual cycle.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Charles Jenkins, husband of ex-abductee Hitomi Soga, dies at 77 See in context

I'm sure Jenkins regretting deserting, many times. Being stuck in North Korea must have seemed like an endless nightmare. I'm also wondering how the North Koreans felt about having a relatively uneducated English teacher with a strong North Carolina accent, or if they even noticed. The final years of his life must have been a relief for both him and his family, with Sado like heaven, compared with North Korea.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Son of U.S. soldier looking for kin of 130 Japanese he saved in WWII See in context

Yubaru - Hence my asking where the author got their information from, and why talk about the Okinawan suicide issue?

I think the article is referring to the fact that many of the civilians on Saipan were ethnic Okinawans who'd moved to Saipan before the war as part of Japan's colonial activities there.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Posted in: 7 injured after 85-year-old driver hits pedestrians in Tokyo See in context

When my father had is licence taken away when he was in his mid-80s, he was quite indignant - "I've never even had an accident." And that's the challenge of dealing with aging drivers. The same loss of mental function that impairs their driving ability, also impairs their ability to judge whether they're capable drivers.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: U.S. scientists engineer corn to boost protein See in context

This could be an important development for food supplies in Sub-Saharan Africa where corn (maize) is a staple crop. Increased protein in corn would ease the transition children have to make from breast milk to corn. Current corn varieties don't have enough protein to maintain growth in children, resulting in kwashiorkor in cases where no other protein is available.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: 83-year-old man drives 1.2 kms along railway tracks in Hokkaido See in context

I guess he can check "drive my car along the railway tracks" off his bucket list.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Question raised about timeline of Amelia Earhart documentary See in context

History TV has been rubbish for years ("reality TV for rednecks" is how one person described it), so this is exactly the type of poorly-researched documentary I'd expect them to broadcast.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band dies at 69 See in context

Sad news. One of the great rock/blues voices.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Making the punishment fit the (petty) crime See in context

So is the public urination law ever enforced when it involves taxi drivers? I soon learned not to look too closely when there was a taxi parked and the driver standing behind the open door . . .

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Trump blasts media in rambling press conference See in context

He's gaslighting both the media and the American people.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Posted in: Trump knew for weeks that aide was misleading over Russia: White House See in context

Misleading people is a firing offence in the Trump White House? They're going to run out of people in no time.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Posted in: Do you think automatic translation technology will get good enough one day so that we won't need human interpreters or translators? See in context

I remember when Noboru Takeshita was prime minister, he made a statement in the Diet and the TV news translator gave up trying to translate it and said, "The Prime Minister, with one of his untranslatable pronouncements."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Brutal techniques of 'gentle' judo on the rise at Olympics See in context

Sounds like they're taking a page out of mixed martial arts.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: After verbal missteps, Trump blames others See in context

In years to come, introductory psychology classes will study Trump as a classic example of narcissistic personality disorder, which when you look at the dictionary definition, describes Trump and his campaign so closely it's scary, especially if you think of him as US president.

Narcissistic personality disorder - indicated by such signs and symptoms as self-importance and boastfulness; preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, beauty, or other desirable attributes; self-image as someone who should associate only with high-status people or institutions; excessive need for admiration; unreasonable expectations of favourable treatment; interpersonal exploitativeness; lack of empathy; envy; and patronizing arrogance.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan latest battleground in Airbnb home-sharing war See in context

I'm surprised the article didn't mention minshuku, which seem to be far closer to what ABB does than a hotel or ryokan. Does anyone know what the regulations governing minshuku are like?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Getting stopped by police in Japan – how often does it happen (and why?) See in context

More than 17 years in Japan, cycled thousands of km., but never stopped once. I'm white, but the places I lived and cycled had relatively few few foreigners of any colour.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Gov't reveals new hot spring symbol for foreign tourists ahead of Tokyo Olympics See in context

If they kept the old one and added the new one for 混浴 (konyoku - mixed bathing), which is what it looks like to me, then we'd be making progress.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Apple's Mac no longer bucking PC industry's sales slide See in context

Apple has no one to blame but themselves. I'm typing this on a 15" 2011 MacBook Pro that I bought for just under $1,900. I've added 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. Nothing is user replaceable on the current MacBook Pros, so to get a machine with similar RAM and storage would cost me $3,000. Sure it would be faster and have a better screen, but it's not $1,100 better than my current machine.

The current models are designed like toasters with no user-replaceable or upgradeable parts, so if I need more storage or memory, I'm out of luck unless I want to buy a new computer.

Their fetish with thinness has meant the loss of the security slot, a big issue for those of us who have to use our computers in public areas.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: Teacher who sat for anthem deserved pay cut: Japan court See in context

At the private uni where I taught, I could always tell the politics of members of the faculty of education by who sang the Kimigayo and who just stood there with a stony face.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Ichiro's milestone raises familiar questions about context See in context

Given the difference in the dimensions of Japanese and Major League ball parks, Oh's record is definitely suspect. However, you can make a better argument for Ichiro's record, given that he demonstrated he could hit equally well in both leagues.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: NBA's Cuban says he's open to No. 2 spot - with Trump or Clinton See in context

Trump and Cuban? The White House isn't big enough to contain those two egos.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Canada announces ban on transgender discrimination See in context

I remember the old Japanese countryside-style public toilets where one end was labelled Men and the other Women, but you ended up in the same room. The urinal was closer to the men's entrance and the toilet to the women's entrance.

Clearly a design ahead of its time, but one that freaked out the occasional unwary foreigner.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Japanese tourist returns to Niagara Falls to testify against attacker See in context

A report released last month by the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirm that the city of Niagara Falls has - for the second year in a row - the highest crime rate of any municipality in New York State. The report, entitled "Crime in the United States 2013" shows that the 3,391 crimes reported in 2013 works out to 684 crimes for every 10,000 residents. The city of Buffalo had the state's next highest crime rate, with 15,740 criminal offenses reported, or 608 for every 10,000 residents. http://niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2015/JAN06/itso.html

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: U.S. auto sales hit April record on trucks and SUVs See in context

They call CUVs such as the CRV and RAV4 SUVs, even though CUVs have quite good gas mileage. They also left out Subaru, which is doing very well and sold as many vehicles as Volkswagen in April.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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