archiebald comments

I've been using ASUS motherboards and graphic cards bought from Yamada Denki, Laox and Akihabara in home built computers for over 10 years, but it is true that ASUS notebooks have not been imported (under their own name at least) until recently.

SuperLib,

And so it should be. If the continuing massacres haven't yet convinced people that there is something wrong with the US gun culture yet, then it NEEDS to be continually debated until something changes.

Sympathy is not going to bring those people back or save the next random victims. But if enough people eventually debate it and eventually get the message across that US (non) gun control is not working, then maybe these people's lives will not have been snuffed out in vain.

A step in the right direction.

This is great. I remember when the Wii was announced and was going up against the Xbox360 and PS2, everyone said it would fail due to the specs.

But what it has proved is that game playability and content is far more important than pixels.

A nice case of substance over style.

European1,

and in this democratic country you cannot even send SMS overseas, all under control. At least I can receive from overseas but only on 3G mobile. Being in Europe last year I realized that Japan is years back with their mobile industry with their "stone" phones which used to be nice, handy and small, but now Europe have much nicer phones with many features as here.

Laugh, I nearly fell off my chair. The first handyphone I had could send text, but that was an awful long time ago. Every phone I've had for the last 10~12 years has had full email access.

SMS is from the dark ages my friend.

JeffLee,

And if you are correct then what is wrong with that? The real strength of Japanese industry is that they take on board new technology, wherever it may have been originally invented, and they tweak it and develop it over the long term.

As an example, cameras were not invented in Japan but who's your global daddy now when it comes to camera brands?

Cars were not invented here either but who is the dominant producer of cars in the world right now in terms of numbers sold and number of world class companies(despite the recession) as a result of constant innovation.

Where others tend to cut back at the first sign of recession, Japanese companies - my small one included, continue with R and D and generally come out stronger as a result.

It's natural that there will be cycles in regional strength as new countries develop but Japan has been pretty much at the top of its game for nearly 40 years now. I don't see that changing too much.

This team needs to come to Nagano, especially the eastern part.

What's the point in having clean cities if they simply dump their garbage in the countryside.

nightflesh,

Your case doesn't hold up. How many of the Japanese players currently playing in MLB said no? They are also risking their season just as much as the US players.

This is just a blip that will be all but forgotten about in a year or so.

Besides, since most Japanese companies generally try their hardest to keep staff on despite poor order books, they will be very well placed to pick up the pace when recovery starts.

It is the short sighted western companies that lay people off at a hint of a downturn to appease the shareholders that will be in trouble.

bakabaka,

There seems to be a lot of these cases in Japan, where someone kills or attempts to kill in order to get the death penalty. Without the death penalty the murder rate would be lower.

The difference between Japan and for example the US or Europe is that guns are easier to get hold of. How many times have we heard in recent months of nutters shooting up a load of people then turning the gun on themselves.

This crime reported here is just another manifestation of the same crazy urge in my opinion. Just the methodology is different.

In other words, Japan is no worse or better than any other developed nation in this respect.

It already works in many chargers but at very short range.

My electric toothbrush charges by induction - no physical contact.

I find it hilarious when gun supporters start bringing the frontier spirit and the US constitution into the debate.

You guys need to look at your calendars, this is 2009, not 1809.

Speaking as someone who has visited several cities in Iran for a total of 3 months, all this hogwash about Iranian people being indoctrinated is pure tosh. Ask anyone who has ACTUALLY travelled to Iran such as the American wrestling team and you will hear only good responses.

Don't confuse the Iranian people with politicians.

Oh, and another thing. To fully understand the relationship between the US, Europe and Iran you need to read a little further back in time than 1979.

Do a little study for the period from around 1953 up to 1979 and you may understand a little why Iran feels upset at the actions of the US. It includes US support for a non-elected head of state, which is at the very least, somewhat hypocritical.

Obama is doing the right thing now, unlike that idiot president before him.

I wonder if she had an underlying condition that caused her to fall in the first place. Brain tumor could have caused her to fall.

skipthesong, Not sure about your comment but to clarify what I meant - The international reputation and goodwill that existed post 9/11 was flushed down the toilet by the arrogance of the Bush administration. Not only did it drag America down to new lows amongst the Arab world (and made the world far more dangerous as a result) but relations with many of Americas traditional allies was strained close to breaking point right up to the day the US voters came to their senses.

I am not saying Saddam wasn't evil, but he was a known entity and Iraq was not a safe haven for Al Qaida or a recruiting ground for Iran under his rule.

I never believed from day one that there were any WMD and even if there were, the possibility of using them to attack the US or western Europe was virtually zero.

Thankfully that era is drawing to a close and I hope Obama can try his best to restore the US to where it was before the previous incompetent incumbent put his finger in the pie.

I got my US casualty figures from here;

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties.htm

Say What??

That is utter twaddle. Guns are not wanted in the UK because they serve no other purpose than to increase murder rates. Look at the stats for any developed nation in the world and you will see a direct correlation between gun ownership and mortality rates.

If Saddam had been left in power and the US had never invaded, lets think what might have been different?

Just a few points that come to mind....

1) Over 4,000 US servicemen would be alive (not including other nations)

2) Over 30,000 US servicemen would be uninjured and many would not be requiring lifelong rehab.

3) In excess of 100,000 Iraqis would be alive

4) Over US$2T would not have been poured down the drain (again, not including other nations)

5) Saddam would still not have WMD

6) Al Qaida would not have had a foothold in Iraq

7) Afghanistan could have been cleaned up properly

8) Pakistan could have been dealt with more effectively (and they DO have WMD)

9) The US would have a far better international reputation and be able to use its political power far more effectively now.

Any one got any more?

The ironic part of the Honda pullout is that Brawn GP (ex Honda team) is currently proving to have the fastest car in testing for a long way.

Betzee, yes the people might complain but the government is shrugging its shoulders and saying, "blame our customers"

Why??

It is perfectly possible to manufacture with minimal pollution. As one example, the bulk of China's pollution and CO2 emissions is coming from the generation of electricity by coal fired power stations being completed at something like 1 per week.

Not simply coal powered but lacking in any form of scrubbing equipment.

In the UK and Germany there are many coal fired power stations but with currently available technology it is possible to reduce emissions enormously.

Just a question, am I right in saying that the taxpayers money AIG received was part of the payout made by Bush in 2008?

If so, they were obviously sleeping and forgot to attach strings.

Sorry, it is not me missing the point.

My (small Japanese) company has a factory in Shanghai that was set up about 7 years ago. We had to jump through hoops of red tape and bureaucracy. All the approvals came from the Chinese because they know its good for their economy. Before you ask, the main reason we set it up was not for low cost but because China is a major market for us and it made sense to build a local production unit that lowered transport costs and gives better local service, rather than to export everything from Japan.

As for Chinese companies that are competing on the world market, they are doing it simply for profit, not as a favor to the rest of the world. As such they are wholly responsible for their manufacturing practises. The reason they are polluting so much is due to profiteering.

Personally, I have no problem paying higher prices for better quality products made in Japan or the UK where they will certainly be more stringent pollution controls and better conditions for workers.

So typically Chinese.

We are making money, exploiting our workers with low pay and horrible conditions and we are polluting the planet. Oh.....and by the way, its not our fault.

Actually I think you'll find that Cuba is well known as having some of the best health care in the world.

As far as the UK is concerned, the NHS system is overloaded but provides some of the best FREE emergency service that you could wish to encounter. Or you can use your insurance to go private for non-life threatening trestment. At least you have the choice.

The US is okay IF your medical insurance decides to cover you. How many times have we heard where people have been denied live saving attention due to money - or lack of it.

A residual force will have very little to do with Iraq, it will be there to keep an eye on Iran and quick support for Afghanistan. Especially necessary since Kyrgyzstan closed its doors to the US.

America still has bases in Europe and Japan, it's all about regional power and security.

Just to lighten up a bit, I'm not sure if any non-Brits reading this know who the "real" Alf Garnett was. (try a Google search)

All I can say is, AlfGarnett, thanks for taking on that nickname whoever you are and keep up the excellent posts in the spirit of the original character. It takes me back to my childhood listening to your rants, what's more they work perfectly for this topic.

I hate it when I hear these stories.

Just one more thing that proves there is no god.

RIP little one

Cat5,

The amazing part about all the posts from the peanut gallery is how brits blame everyone else except themselves...the individual. It's always the governments fault isn't it? Do you people rely on your government to tell you how to live your life or something? Apparently so!

You obviously are not British and you don't understand the way the laws have changed over the last 30~40 years in the UK. Human nature means that people will always grab all they can get unless there is some form of control. In the case of social welfare and crime and punishment, successive governments in the UK have been totally inept. There are so many examples that I don't know where to begin. Here is just a taster;

1) The recent paltry sentence of 3 years given to a dangerous driving truck driver for killing a family of 6 is just a part of this. 2) The UK has a vast number of professional scroungers who contribute nothing to the system and take as much as they can. This is a failing of the government policy 3) Prisons are more akin to holiday camps. 4) As a result of 3) being no deterrent, prisons are overcrowded so the political solution has been to....wait for it.... reduce sentences. 5) Drug use is a well known cause of crime but what do we see in the UK? Drug traffickers face no consequences for their crimes and addicts are treated as patients with an illness rather than the criminals they are. 6) Teachers are not even allowed to verbally discipline rowdy pupils for fear that they will be taken to court for causing "emotional distress" to the little git. 7) There is no responsibility placed on the parents of children that run amok. The criminal age of responsibility is (or was) 12 years old so if a kid commits a crime, he gets off scott free. I have no problem with that, but the parents should be made responsible for the under age actions of their kids so that maybe they provide a more disciplined upbringing.

Oh, and by the way, some of this CAN be blamed on Europe - Ever heard of the European court of human rights? It interferes and can over-rule the law of the land.

Either that or you clowns go on about how it's America or Europe's fault...showing an amazing lack of responsibility and ownership of your own lives.

No-one here is blaming any other country, you made that up yourself to suit your own agenda. The problems in the UK that most ex-pat Brits complain about are home made.

Worse still is that so many brits don't have the guts to stay home and make England a better place, and, instead, flee to far off countries and ...you guessed it...blame the British government...americans..europeans any chance they get.

You are talking utter nonsense. The people commenting here, including myself have all gone overseas for various reasons, but not to run away. In my case the original plan was 3 years, but after being away for only 2 years, I was suddenly aware of all the things that had changed for the worse in my absence. Now, 17 years later, when I visit the UK I feel more foreign there than I do here in Japan. It is an alien culture that has gone from bad to worse. Why should I return to a country where me or my family are more likely to suffer from crime and where our tax money will go to wasters like the families in this story.

It saddens me to see what has become of my country but that does mean to say that I must make my family suffer by returning there out of some sort of duty to financially support idiotic government policies that allow the disintegration of British society.

Oh and 'Taiko666' england DID terrorize the planet and screw a lot of other cultures over with their military 'might'. A musket is still more power than a spear. Just accept it you chav coward.

Why are you hurling insults? Whatever the UK did in the past is not relevant to this situation.

Moderator: All readers, please keep the discussion civil.

The Ironic thing about this story is that the headline includes the story from The Sun newsp... no scratch that, The Sun toilet paper which has probably done more to destroy morality in the UK over the last 30 years.

By paying ridiculous sums of money for this story, they are demonstrating that being anti-social pays dividends.