Bamboozler comments

To paraphrase the Caroline Aherne quip: What was it that first attracted you to the multimillionaire Shohei, then, Mrs Ohtani?

Money talks

Mop it up with a slice of bread

RIP, sad situation, duly acknowledged.

But what is the point now?

"Come on guys, let's get those traffic cones out, we can't have any respecters and mourners getting too close. The stable door's behind you. Who's got the bolt?

Logo redesign is often a vanity project for corporate boards. But probably not in this case. Daft, misguided attempt at damage limitation. Anyway, slava branding consultant companies! Lots of people made money from this, and it wasn't Zipair

There's a lot of money in salvage operations. The insurers can point to lots of issues in order to avoid payment. So who will pay? Some government department? That salvage ship doesn't operate as a charity.

Coastguard enquiry starting, er, soon. Transport ministry revoking the operating permit maybe next week. There's still an overall shouganai air to this article. Bang! Bang! This is the sound of the stable door being firmly shut once the horses have gone out to play.

Where is the resolve for some action? The unannounced spot checks, on boat conditions, communications, all life-saving options eg rafts, flares? and even items like staff morale? This is the same transport ministry that can't implement efficient traffic light sequencing. Don't hold your breath.

11.09am

I've seen bears seven times in total, all but once riding a road bike

That's one clever bear

Terrible photo. Mr Suga's wife looks like a growth on his shoulder

Two heads! Zaphod goes to Cornwall. If you look carefully you can even see his third arm!

Tip of the iceberg

With the Games acting as the Titanic

Nice number juggling. Must remain at all means under 1000

No prefecture is reporting figures over 1000, so that's all right then. The Jsoft Faxcalc program (version 1.0) can handle huge volumes up to 1024 rows, more than any prefecture will ever need. In case of overflow, extra records could be curtailed so that the results are acceptable /S/.

Also, surprising and regrettable to see that very few cars here in Japan are fitted with high intensity rear fog lamps. They can be a life-saver in fog, heavy rain and white-outs like this, because they can be seen much sooner than ordinary brake lights.

The headline says "eager", but the text says "willing" and "ready"

So which is it?

Complications may include an increased risk of colon cancer, clots....

A clot may be to blame. I prescribe a change of Diet.

Aside from politics, I wish him a return to health.

destinations including - as well as Italy's cities of culture - Paris, New York, Rome and Hawaii.

Of course, no one could consider Rome to be one of Italy's cities of culture.

Michael Machida Today  08:01 am JST

I wonder how they will do this?!

By fax.

It ought to be resisted. Otherwise, the National Ainu museum, and any other undertaking with "Ainu" in the name will soon find itself on the receiving end of lawsuits claiming trademark infringement. And thus begins the erosion of what is surely an intangible national cultural asset.

@smartacus

A bit harsh about the comment from Vince Black.

What an overly dramatic article.

We're all obviously rooting for the patients, but I have to agree, as I was reading down the article, the tone is a bit reminiscent of USA Today/Daily Mail. But I think this is journalist Mari Saito's style, this is more journalism from the trenches rather than broadsheet commentary

@Udondashi

How about Ivermectin ?

Mate, I'd so love ivermectin to be able to play a role.

On invermectin, it's an anti-parasite medication also shown to be effective as an antiviral in some cases. Active component of Mectizan, Merck/MSD's River-blindness drug. Widely distributed by my favourite charity Sightsavers, and available I believe for free by the drug company (how good is that?). Already part of a wide African initiative, it would be beyond awesome if a $20 funding to save a person's sight could also provide protection of some sort against Covid-19. Live in hope, but these are early days for all drug trials.

@Udondashi

How about Ivermectin ?

Mate, I'd so love ivermectin to be able to play a role.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government did not respond to requests for comment.

.... is the most disappointing sentence in the article. I can't imagine municipalities in most developed nations not being able to put out a simple statement of their position on the homeless.

Where can I sign up for my free apartment?

... is the most disappointing sentence in the comments. Most of those commenting here are probably fortunate enough to have a secure roof over their heads. But this is how to do it. 1. Give away all your worldly possessions except your resident card and the clothes you stand up in. 2 Go to your ward office. Good luck.

I remember reading about the major variations/mutations A B and C a couple of weeks ago.

there is NO evidence from any country that that Cover-19 mutates. (M James)

You can easily find articles showing around 30 mutations, but some might be scaremongering. Here's a link about the the major strains:

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200414/p2a/00m/0na/028000c

 It aims to complete delivery nationwide by the end of May.

So does the virus.

Stay home and stop the spread.

@since1981 don't give up! I may or may not agree with your postings but one of the benefits of this site is that, having read the news items we are then presented with a lot of conflicting opinions, which is part of the joy of a free press, and is a good opportunity for us all to consider various viewpoints. Wish you well however you proceed, but please don't give up just because you're going through a bad patch.

...

Also, good news about Zichi.

It's not always wise to make a drug available if there are some doubts over its safety. I read there are worries over embryo safety with this drug. Might still be effective, if not given to those who are pregnant or wanting to be. Thalidomide had some frightening lessons many years ago, yet I gather is still effective in other unrelated fields such as Hansen's disease and some cancers. So let's proceed with caution, rather than just put it out there.

@Ashley

 I went into my work to collect my pay

If you have a Japanese bank account, you do not need to traipse across town to Otemachi to get paid

both his parents are working at home

and so, still happy to send their family member to you?

I had to go to Meguro and

Getting about a bit then...

We all must suck it up and stay in 

Right. Pass me the mirror.

Can the geologists tell us why it can't be pumped down a volcano? .....

Wow! Have you considered the logistics of getting a million tons of radioactive water into an active volcano? Perhaps they could use skyhooks?

geologists tend to be a mentally stable bunch, so I'm guessing they wouldn't want to waste their time responding to such utterly childish fantasies.

Ship it by tanker to somewhere uninhabited like Yokoatejima or Kaminonejima, pump it into the caldera. No water table pollution issues as they're uninhabited, if the volcano wakes up and spouts it back out, no worse than if it had been evaporated in Japan. Most likely better than dumping it in the Pacific, as it stands a good chance of being contained for many years, and not affecting fish stocks or other nations. It might cost a few million dollars to tanker it, ship it and pump it to an elevation of 500 metres or so, but all solutions will have a cost. This is why I asked for geologists' opinions, but all I got were cynics.

Can the geologists tell us why it can't be pumped down a volcano? .....

... No government forced Volvo to invent the seatbelt, and it sure cost a bit more money to fit early Volvos with seatbelts. But their standards were about making a safer car.

@Fizzbit

Not so sure about that.....

Well that's a fair discussion point. Shame on the J government for facilitating a lax standard. But the car companies are saying "here's a low standard, we can make money and we're not doing anything wrong" -so it depends whether their corporate standards are about safety above money,

Let's not forget the part played by the Japanese car manufacturers. All of them can produce cars which meet higher safety standards. So, collectively they have some responsibility for perpetuating the Kei car market. You don't see European or American manufacturers, for example, tarnishing their image by building to a lower standard. They are proud that their entire range meets or exceeds the higher standards.

Abe said Japan wants to work toward an "ambitious" free trade agreement with Britain

...minimizing the impact on business activities of Japanese companies

Surely a conflict here. Or bad journalism.