dammit comments

No, it's not logical. You do NOT leave your 2 year old alone while you return to take out the trash. And what dogs? Were the dogs with a human or alone? Who would leave a 2 year old playing with dogs? If the dogs were with a person, was the person asked to keep an eye on the kid for a minute or not?

This woman is either incredibly stupid or totally neglectful. So is the person responsible for the drainage ditch.

Poor boy. What a wasted life.

The student testified, “I like looking at nude boys, and had a collection of about 1,500 photos. I wanted people with similar interests to share the same joy.”

OMG! What the hell is this boy thinking? But what I really worry about is where the heck did he get all those photos?

Many Japanese take great pride in their food, claiming it to be tastier and healthier than any of their neighbors’ cuisines. Oily Chinese stir-fries and all those Korean spices don’t hold a candle to any Japanese delicacy.

Really? First I've heard of this. The Japanese people I come across are more than happy to enjoy all these Chinese style stir-fries any time and rarely eat sushi. Tempura healthy? No more healthy than British fried fish in equal proportions. The batter gets most of the grease, so if you can remove the batter more easily from the British fried fish then theoretically you can make it far more healthy than tempura.

Anyway, when my Japanese hubby makes tempura it certainly doesn't qualify as light-as-air. He makes the batter far too thick and it really sits heavy in the belly. And this is the same man who told me almost 20 years ago that good tempura had to have very light, thin batter, in a very thin, crispy layer on the food. Now he claims it needs to be as thick as his skin and very difficult to enjoy. Pain in the neck. ;)

I don't agree with masterkun05.

Is no way on the face of this god forsaken plant that women will ever have the right to kill..KILL......thier own children. Be they born or still in the womb. Death or hell for those that do. Having a child is a gift from god. U forsake it hell gonna rain on u

Why bring your personal version of a god into this? Whoever killed this child, mother or not, she or he sure as hell doesn't believe in your god. So why do you think your god is so important?

Everybody, this is about the tragic and unnecessary death of a newborn baby. Probably it was the mother who killed him, but not necessarily. Stop ranting at the mother and try hating the killer instead, whoever it was, then you cover all eventualities. Otherwise you're wasting your hate and being judge, jury and executioner without any evidence.

Feel sorrow for the loss of an innocent life. Feel hatred and anger towards the person who killed him. Don't assume things, or people like Fritzl around the world will be able to get away with their evil behavior forever.

Hopefully they'll be able to find a potential for the abandonment charge by viewing the cctv tapes. If the child was born in the toilets, as some seem to believe, it will be obvious who it was. She would have been in there for a long time. If the baby was taken there and abandoned then it will be the time on the clock that gets them. But surely if the woman spent hours in the loos someone would have noticed? It's not easy to give birth silently for a start.

No it's not a ploy. But it wouldn't be natural if the American car makers didn't try to take advantage of Toyota's self-inflicted mess.

Let's not beat about the bush here, Toyota had plenty of warning about this, and plenty of opportunity to alter things before it got to such an immense scale. The main problem with people's trust of Toyota isn't that they made a mistake over a minor part, causing a major problem. It's that they tried to hush it up, tried to persuade people that it was only a small-scale problem. People hate companies that lie to them far more than companies that admit the problem at the beginning and then fix it. I think it'll take a few years for Toyota to get back it's sales, which is a terrible shame for all the people in various countries around the world making the damned things.

“Is it true,” asks Shukan Gendai (Feb 13) in a black banner headline, “that the Japanese have grown stupid?”

What can you expect when you reduce the amount of education given to kids? Of course they'll learn less, it's those responsible for reducing the amount of education who are the stupid ones, more than the unfortunate students.

77% of Japanese students feel their studies are too demanding

That's no surprise is it? They've barely learned anything, of course they feel overwhelmed, they don't understand what they're supposed to be doing!

One of our neighbours teaches maths at one of those cram school places, and he said all the teachers agree that the main problem with most of the poor students isn't necessarily the subject being taught, maths, English etc, but it's their limited grasp of kanji which literally makes it so they don't understand the question. How can they possibly give the correct answer if they don't even understand the question? It's a tragic waste of young minds to give them such an inferior education that they genuinely can't read their own language without a computer so they can paste things into the dictionary and find out what they mean. It's a fiasco. And to think ABC still imagines that Japanese students spend huge numbers of hours at school when actually they spend about the same number of hours at school as their American counterparts. Silly ABC. (I'm talking about an article a few months ago by the way. They gave figures for the number of hours they claimed kids spent at school in various countries.)

As for the copy and paste society, I'm afraid it's not just in Japan. It's a shame, but there you have it, make their life easier and they want it made easier still. I was bad enough when I was at school, but now they want the work done for them too! Incredible.

I'm not surprised those Americans didn't keep up with the news while they were in Haiti. But as their friends and relatives claim they kept in touch I can't imagine why they didn't point out the dangers.

Florida Gov Charlie Crist told ABC News’ Good Morning America on Sunday that his state has taken in 300 Haitian orphans since the quake, with 60 to 80 orphans arriving there Friday night alone.

I can't believe that, it's a really high number. Imagine if the children of New Orleans had been "saved" by a religious or any other group from another country in this way. Imagine the uproar! Yet there must have been at least a couple of children in New Orleans after the flooding in a similar predicament to the Haitian children for a limited timespan. And do you really think these Haitian kids will have a good life in America? Their plight might get public sympathy now, complete with donations and a few placings for select orphans, but after the next world disaster these kids would just be forgotten, left to rot in American orphanages and hating their so-called rescuers who actually just left them in another kind of limbo.

Silsby said they had documents from the Dominican government, but did not seek any paperwork from the Haitian authorities.

Imbeciles. Imagine if someone tried to take an American orphan out of America, with only the permission of the destination country, not permission from America, or from the child's remaining relatives, and no passport. These people have no brains I'm afraid.

Just watched the limited BBC news on it on NHK. It's plain they didn't really even try to get permission to rescue those kids. It's their ambition, as stated on their website, to snatch 100 kids off Haiti's streets in one day and take them out of the country the same day. There's no way they'd get permission in one day, so obviously they don't feel they need permission. Apparently they feel they're above the laws of Haiti. It's no wonder that people get angry at such groups, and although I personally believe they had genuinely good motives at heart I'm angry too, it's just totally irresponsible and if they'd succeeded they'd probably have ended up playing into the hands of criminals unintentionally. How convenient it would be for child traffickers if a charitable group brought 33 children from a quake hit area. Very convenient indeed. Those people are naive at best. They should have tried helping the kids IN Haiti, and going over the borders without the kids to bring in supplies.

Momotarou at 09:16 AM JST - 29th January; Well at least he will now get a free renovation.

Will he? He damn well ought to, it would be totally in order for the US to not only pay for his entire renovation but to also give various gifts to show their regret for not only almost killing those 3 people but also for almost giving them a heart attack through the shock. (When I say gifts I don't mean cars and suchlike. I just mean small gifts given with thoughtfulness and consideration. For example, if a vase was broken, find out what it was and buy a better one for them, and fill it with lovely flowers. Just an example of thoughtful gift giving to someone whose house you've almost trashed.)

But why do I suspect that these people will be lucky if they receive the cost of the glass?

If this was really about concealing identities they'd have no chance.

If a Muslim woman went out wearing fairly ordinary men's clothes, say a calf-length coat and fuddy-duddy boots that went up to her knees, wearing a wig complete with attached beard and mustache, she wouldn't even need the optional surgical mask to make her indistinguishable and totally unrecognisable. It would be extremely easy for them to do that, and to take the p they could do it in womens' clothes instead of mens' and there'd surely be nothing the authorities could do about it. Short of banning Muslims, which is probably what they're hoping to eventually achieve anyway.

Still, as they claim it's because of keeping religion out of public spaces, the women can still disguise themselves with beards and wigs and hopefully give those bureaucrats the finger in the process. Nothing religious about wearing a false wig, is there.

have other dire consequences, even driving some to extremism.

This is what happens when discrimination is so absolute, demeaning, degrading, and insulting. If Japan banned non-black hair you'd soon have people on here whining and moaning. In the case of these women, their religion and their cultural identity is intertwined. You insult and decry their religion, and you insult and decry them, their culture, their parents, their ancestors, you name it. It's outright discrimination, not simply against one religion, but also against one gender. Whichever way you look at it, and whatever side of the fence you sit, it's blatantly obvious that it doesn't sit comfortably with all those guarantees of human rights and equality that come with the European bits 'n' bobs.

Someone up the top of the thread insists he or she has never seen or heard of the beef labeling mentioned in the article. Well, perhaps he or she should actually look at a packet of Japanese beef next time he or she goes to the supermarket. I looked yesterday, because I'd never known of it either, and sure enough there's the number on the packet. As to whether or not the shop can access the info for you would probably depend on the shop, but the info is certainly on the pack so if that part's true I guess the rest probably is too.

You people are right that Japan is a bit of a dodgy example to hold up though, but Japanese beef is the exception to the rule it would seem. With prices that high it damned well ought to be.

You asked this a while ago. My answer is still no chance.

There's more info on the French objections here http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100120/twl-us-accused-of-delaying-haiti-relief-3fd0ae9.html

including this

Medecins sans Frontieres' Francoise Saulnier said days had been lost because the main airport in capital city Port-au-Prince, now under American control, was blocked by military traffic. She said: "We lost three days. And these three days have created a massive problem with infection, with gangrene, with amputations that are needed now, while we could have really spared this to those people." The aid group alleged that five planes carrying 85 tonnes of drugs and surgical supplies have been turned away from the capital since Sunday night "The urgent and vital attention to the people has been delayed (for) military logistics

Not quite as unnecessary as many people would like to paint it when you have the reasons instead of just being told that msf moaned and letting all the Americans shout about it.

For all of you who still think the only help Haitians are getting is the feeble efforts of the US-led crowd of foreigners, please read this; http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100120/twl-there-will-be-food-riots-in-haiti-by-3fd0ae9.html

People who have nothing to do with the US but who've been feeding hundreds of thousands of people since the quake, and with the notable absence of western assistance.

Obviously, it's because not enough help was getting to the people of Haiti, despite plenty of supplies and equipment, not to mention workers, being available and in the airport buildings twiddling their thumbs.

What use is an aid effort that does nothing for days?

Now America has started aid drops to various places. Why not immediately? Surely it could have been started a bit sooner? Normally aid drops are the first thing they do in hard to reach areas, here it was practically the last thing they did.

That's why people criticise it. Even the people doing the work over there are critical because they were unable to do what they went there for at first.

Things are getting somewhat better now, but it's too late for many of the Haitians.

Typical. They cause havoc, then they start expressing hopes, which will turn to wants, which will turn into demands, then demanding money with menaces.

Typical. Bullies are always like that.

It's a fiasco.

What they needed were a few dozen helicopters along with all those people and the equipment and supplies. Then they'd have been able to actually deliver the stuff where it was needed, and get help to people. Landing a copter might not be easy, but being stuck in an airport unable to get out there and rescue people is obscene. Heartbreaking too.

So far all some people seem to care about is the amount of money each country has said it will donate. But that's ridiculous as while they're sitting around bragging about how much money their country has donated, from the government and private donations, plus lots from various millionaires and rich organisations, they're missing the point that if all those people in Haiti are allowed to die then no amount of cash can ever fix it. (Did I mention which country's people are doing all the bragging? No. I don't think I need to.)

I think that it's mostly because of the opportunity arising so easily in those rush-hour trains. They're a total nightmare, and all those hot, sweaty bodies all pressed against each other is surely going to cause arousal in some of them. No question. But some can't control their urges and can't resist the temptation and so they squeeze, or pinch, or generally do an obvious feel-up. I surely can't blame them for being tempted, or for being sexually aroused by being pressed against a hot, sweaty female (along with several grotty salarymen,) and some people are just too impulsive to resist that temptation. Those people are total losers, and most of them will feel guilt about their surreptitious feel-ups, which in turn will make them uncomfortable getting into a real relationship with a girl. So they take advantage of the next opportunity and the circle goes on.

Of course that doesn't apply to all of them. Some people are perverts, we all know that, and race has no bearing. But the crowded trains here are a wonderful playground for men who really are pervs, as they can feel-up lots of women and maybe choose one to follow. Hoping that they'll get a chance to drag the poor woman down a dark alley or something. Scary.

Since when have earthquakes, floods, and erupting volcanoes been climatic anomalies? Seems to me they're not anomalies at all, but perfectly natural, and although they can't be predicted to a precise timescale it's reasonable to say that there WILL be earthquakes, places WILL flood, and volcanoes WILL erupt (that's what volcanoes do, you know.)

It's normal. It's the way of the world. Climate changes might exacerbate it, but nothing's ever going to stop it, so why act like it's unnatural?

Now talking about preparing for it, that's good. Very good. I'll have to get myself one of those kits that michaelgtodd has got, if it's any use in an emergency that is. I'll also have to figure out how I'll carry my 2 year old down 4 flights of stairs and also carry several bottles of water (which I don't yet have,) and emergency food supplies.

And if it's night and the lights all go off, I'll try not to fall down those stairs.

Not another beeping product! I'm sick of being beeped at all the damn time.

0.8 litres? Piffle. Why bother? What's wrong with making a kettle that boils enough water for more than 2 or 3 cups ffs?

A 16-year-old girl, a part-time employee at an adult entertainment business

Good grief. And I'm pretty sure they don't mean karaoke.

They're not in Australian waters.

What a ludicrous concept, that Australia would let whaling happen in waters to which they actually have a legal claim.

Perhaps you're talking about regions to which Australia makes an illegal claim that's not recognised by any other country.

Sea Shepherd.

Never mind whether or not the larger vehicle is always at fault in Japanese collisions, this was boats at sea. Nothing to do with road traffic accidents.

Sea Shepherd was looking for trouble. Maybe they got more than they bargained for, maybe less. After all, they didn't sink, although I'm unclear as to whether it might have sunk by now.

When I asked acclaimed British scientist James Lovelock if such a scenario for Japan was likely, he said to me in an e-mail: “It may very well happen, yes.”

I wonder what came next in this e-mail. I'm sure I'll never know, but I'd bet it began with "but".

Anyway, maybe he'll be right. But Japan is a very mountainous country and the sea would have to rise an unbelievable amount to do more than make Japan a string of lots of smaller islands. Yes, people would have to leave much of the lower-lying land, but as the birthrate is dwindling maybe even that won't be necessary.

My home country is sinking slowly anyway, the south of Britain is gradually disappearing into the sea. Add a couple of metres of rising seas and potentially more than half the country could sink. I wouldn't be surprised if that was in the e-mail too.

Well it doesn't actually say in the article at the moment that she used a knife. Even if she did it doesn't say whether she'd been carrying it around.

Still, the mind boggles. Whatever she used, be it a scalpel or a pair of nail scissors or a pencil, she must be nuts. Doesn't matter how badly he's treated her, or how cruelly he's dumped her, she doesn't have any right to do that.

Unless he announced that he'd infected her with HIV deliberately, then perhaps she might have reason to go off the deep end like that.

WilliB, yes, what nandakandamanda said. He was a shrink to people who had valid reason to say unreasonable things about Muslims. That's what shrinks are for, to spout all your vitriol to so you can walk out the door with a little less weight on your shoulders. It wasn't the troops fault that the idiots in charge put a Muslim in such an unfortunate job. It wasn't his fault either, and he tried very hard to get out of the situation.

As I said before, try him, execute him if need be. But those in charge MUST accept that their stupid behavior helped to cause this tragedy, because if they don't accept it they'll just do it AGAIN. Do you read me? Again. What a stupid, senseless, waste of lives that would be. I'm sure you'll agree with me there. Putting Islamists in a position where their religion, culture, and everything they stand for will be insulted in such a way is asking for trouble. I'd call it PTSD, but then I'm not a shrink. Not just Islamists either, no normal mortal can take that sort of abuse long-term, and anyone with underlying mental health disorders won't hold out very long.

This guy spent ages trying to get out of the US military, but the idiots were too stupid to let him. They forced him to listen to racist, anti-Islamist vitriol from people who had good reason to feel that way but would probably calm down after being back home for a few months and admit freely that not all Muslims are crazed killers. How would a Christian feel if forced to listen to such vitriol about his own kind? And add a personal mental problem and years of confusion and depression and you really don't need Al Quaeda to inspire you to lose control and do something like this.

Frankly, the biggest mistake this man made was to join up in the first place. If he hadn't done that, or if they'd let him out when he asked, there would have been no gunfire that day.

Yes, prosecute him, execute him if necessary, but accept that some of the blame lies with the US military idiots who were more concerned with keeping what they saw as a foreigner in the ranks than in humanity.

Incidentally, my new camera is a Casio and it's the Japanese version, but it has English as a second language option. If it didn't, I wouldn't want to own it. I hate the way all the manuals are always only in Japanese though, and have to check for online manuals before I buy anything,

Poor bloke, I have a lot of sympathy for him. But really, if he does get back into China he might be locked up. That would surely be worse than not being allowed entry to his own country.

BTW JT, there's no such place as Tokyo airport, or Tokyo international airport. It's Narita. It isn't even in Tokyo, but Chiba. I'm sure you're well aware of these facts, so why don't you edit the title and article to make it more accurate and logical before you publish it?

Barred Chinese activist still camping out in Tokyo airport after 50 days

At the Tokyo airport, Feng is largely confined

I'm afraid I have to agree with 5SpeedRacer5 here.

It's extremely unlikely that these dogs won't do this again given the opportunity. It's also extremely unlikely that they were being playful. When a fully grown dog is being playful, you don't end up with high school students needing medical treatment. The likelihood of them being reformed into household pets is virtually nil, and still would leave a risk of sudden dog attacks. It's kinder to put them down really, it doesn't hurt much and they just go to sleep forever. If I could die like that when my time comes I wouldn't complain. The alternatives are either keeping them locked up for the rest of their lives, or risking other children being ripped apart. The first is unfair on the dogs, the second extremely unfair on the potential victims. It's a shame, and it's all the damned farmers fault. He should be severely penalised for this, what a total moronic prat. If only they could shut him up in a room with his dogs for a couple of weeks. That would spare them the trouble of giving him a trial. Wouldn't help the dogs though. But he deserves it for such irresponsibility.

And anyone trying to blame the kids is really going OTT. I don't care how much of a dog lover you claim to be, but if the kids were actually tormenting the dogs they'd surely have run away rather than staying and biting. Dogs aren't stupid. Farmers apparently are.

Poor dogs, their lives completely ruined by the misfortune of ending up in the hands of a fool. It's lucky the students weren't more badly injured.

Bobbafett, lol

just a victim of a typical Japanese woman

I can't help laughing, even though your generalisation is so awful it should be deleted I hope it isn't because it's so amusing.

Monkeyz is right, it did used to be the father who almost always got custody. I don't know why it's flipped now, unless it's because western countries have a bias towards the mother. We all know how sometimes Japan likes to follow western countries, albeit slowly, albeit sometimes choosing the worst possible examples to follow.

But I suppose that the reason Japan prefers one parent to have sole custody and rights to the child is because when the parent with custody gets remarried the kids are automatically adopted by the step-parent. In my country that could never happen. But here it's normal, and if the kid ends up with 2 fathers or 2 mothers I suppose they believe the kid can't cope with it. They're wrong actually, but who am I to say so.