DickTaterTots comments

Posted in: Man suspected of 30 counts of purse-snatching in and around Tokyo See in context

Women tend to make easier targets due to their tendency to carry bags containing their wallets, but indeed as oftopico said, this kind of thing sometimes happens to men carrying briefcases, small backpacks, or other bags as well. An older Japanese male friend of mine stopped in Shibuya to answer questions for two foreigners, and he put his bag down behind him. In the blink of an eye, it was gone. All 4 of us ran down Center-gai and found a very "normal" looking Japanese man in his 30's or early 40's with my friend's bag. He would not acknowledge us or stop for us and kept walking as if nothing was amiss and none of us existed. My japanese friend had to forcefully grab his own bag from the man in the middle of a crowded street, making him look like the bad one. Even as he pulled the bag and the rest of us tried to stand in the thief's way to stop him but the guy never paused even for a single step and just kept going forward until he was able to lose us in the crowd (we did stop though to make sure my friend and his bag and its contents were okay). It was eery how this guy seemed so unphased, like he has done this many times before. My friend said it was the second time in that same month such a thing had happened to him in that area. This thief didn't even have a bike and this happened. I don't think it's at all strange for the police to link the suspect they caught to multiple crimes of a similar nature. Some of these thieves out there are indeed very habitual in what they do.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Consumer group warns men against quick foreskin snip See in context

i guess most guys do not want to remove the entire foreskin but rather just the top part which is narrowed from phimosis so they have to worry about the remaining foreskin healing properly and looking natural. Still, it shouldn't be anything as extreme as to warrant a $9000 difference in price tag. I'm also guessing a lot of the complications result from the physicians not instructing them properly on what to do during the recovery phase or not offering inclusive deals which also have followup visits for check-ups. Surely even if it's considered a cosmetic procedure it's still something one could get done at a normal hospital and for only a fraction of the cost even without insurance coverage? All hospitals which accept NHI have their prices on medical procedures standardized even if you don't use NHI to pay for it. The victims in this case are sadly not only the victims of crappy surgeons but also the victims of their own insecurities and impulse-spending. Some of the advertisements in both men and women's fashion magazines are quite extreme and it's surprising what they can publish legally, the government really should regulate the cosmetic surgery field as well as its advertising practices a lot better.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: IOC explores legal options on banning all Russians from Rio See in context

I think any Russian athlete who can come out negative on a blood test to determine if he/she had been doping should still be able to compete. This could be problematic in team sports though if some of the team members were doping. IOC has plenty of it's own scandals and really has no business telling other sports organizations to boycott Russia.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Shooting of Dallas officers spurs acts of kindness to police See in context

That's cool that people are suddenly being nicer and showing more support for cops, but doesn't anyone do this to Black folks after members of the Black community are skilled or brutalized by the cops? I wish this was going both ways. A little more kindness to both could go a long way.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Woman gets 3-4 years for suffocating 16-day-old daughter in garbage bag See in context

Wait....if we're gonna raise the penalties for rape can we also raise them for murdering your own kid as well?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: 11 states sue over Obama's school transgender directive See in context

so Texas is willing to turn down billions in federal funding for education over this bathroom issue? They're willing to sacrifice educational quality and opportunities for children who have no say in this process all because of their own insecurities? 'Merica yeah.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: American man gets 18 months for dumping woman's body in bay See in context

Wait, so he admitted to dumping her body into the bay...but wasn't it proven that she was still alive when he tossed her body in and that she drowned to death? Wouldn't hat be admitting to murdering her?

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Posted in: 'Vagina kayak' artist convicted in obscenity case See in context

While I don't agree with the court's decision, I think the issue isn't her kayak but rather that she distributed real replicable data of her vajayjay. Pornography publishers could also get in trouble if they were distributing uncensored images of real people's hoo-ha's, peens, and deez nuts. It's an outdated law that needs to change. I mean I really don't see what is so obscene about images of a real vagina or penis but somehow seeing a man splooge on a woman's face or a woman making a man eat a plate of her own feces is somehow NOT obscene. And then of course the censorship regarding some pieces of fine art, including historical ones, and yet more simplified manga drawings of genitalia are A-OK. It's a fine line that's hard to draw and the courts prosecuted her because they didn't want to open up the opportunity for publishers of pornography to push the limits of censorship. Instead of trying and inevitably failing to draw boundaries on obscenity (because really, where do you draw that line?) they really should just get rid of such a vague law. But, sometimes I feel like japan's justice system--and some criminals--thrive on the vagueness of certain laws here.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Posted in: Trump attacks Clinton on gender, risking backlash from women See in context

Honestly I don't disagree with him on this. I want to facepalm every time I hear some middle aged white lady rabidly backing Hillary because "it's about time we had a woman in office." Newsflash, Hillary doesn't really care much about women who are not middle to upper-class white Americans. She is a shining example of the things that are so wrong with "white feminism" and only pretends to be intersectional when she thinks it will get her more votes. This doesn't mean that Trump would necessarily be any better for women though. I agree with what he said about Hillary but there's still a whole lot of things that roll out of his mouth that I don't agree with. Not exactly comfortable with the idea of either of them becoming president.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Posted in: Clinton close to nomination; Trump strengthens hand See in context

Pro-Hillary propaganda much? "Hillary Clinton, the nearly unstoppable Democrat," and "Her sweeping victory in the New York primary" are pretty questionable claims. She was stoppable in 2008 even though she was ahead of Obama for the longest time, winning in key states such as New York, Florida, Ohio, and California. Also, her victory is New York was not "sweeping." Sanders won the vast majority of the individual counties, and several of the ones that Clinton won were a very close call. Not to mention the massive voter purge that went down in Brooklyn, Bernie's home town, as well as voter fraud and other means which made it very difficult for people in certain areas of NYC to even cast a vote. Would be very curious to see the results with all the affidavits included.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Posted in: Trump, Clinton win pivotal New York primaries See in context

@Wc626 There was MASSIVE voter fraud and voter purging in New York, something like 300,000 registered Democrats had their registration changed without their consent and were unable to vote. Over 100,000 of those were in Bernie's hometown of Brooklyn.

There were also reports of voter fraud and even people trying to vote for Sanders but the voting machines not allowing them to choose him as an option, or to changing their vote to Hillary even though they voted for Sanders.

The election fraud in New York is probably even worse than what happened in Arizona.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Posted in: Why do Japanese women cover their mouth while laughing? See in context

I think it has to do with old customs, but I've also heard that back then blackened teeth were "fashionable" to an extent. There may have also been dental hygene reasons for laquering the teeth. It's also notable that Japanese language is generally spoken without the top front teeth showing. I think this is going away in younger generations, while often smile a lot when speaking, but if you speak with older people in particular you can often notice that usually only their bottom teeth are visible when speaking Japanese. This is also one of the biggest challenges in teaching Japanese people English pronunciation, as quite a lot of it is pronounced using the teeth (and showing your top front teeth). I used to teach pronunciation classes and it was quite a struggle to get many of the students, people older than their late 40's in particular, to show and use their front teeth. So perhaps part of this also comes from people generally not showing their front teeth at all?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Memo to U.S. citizens: Pay your taxes or you may lose your passport See in context

Another disgusting law. The US is one of the only countries in the world that taxes its citizens no matter where they live. It's already hard enough just to open a new bank account now as an American. And it sucks as Americans abroad because we have no representatives in Congress or the Senate who speak on our interests.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Posted in: Wisconsin manufacturer stands by policy on Muslim prayer breaks See in context

I think the bigger problem at hand is that the company only allows two 10 minute breaks during the entire work shift, how is this even legal in a "first world" country? If they had longer or more frequent break times, not only would the Muslim prayer thing not be an issue, it would likely increase productivity as a whole.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Posted in: Saudi Arabia warns against "nefarious activities" by Iran See in context

"Nefarious activities" like, going against the cancerous spread of the some of the ideologies that are backing ISIS?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan should accept more refugees, fix asylum system: UNHCR See in context

On the one hand, Japan is not involved in the meddling in the middle east that led to this crisis to begin with to the extent that a lot of Western countries are, and it's not fair to expect Japan to shoulder that burden. From a humanitarian standpoint, accepting more is the right thing to do though. And from an economic standpoint, it could help Japan a lot, particularly if they placed them in areas that are practically ghost towns now. There's no shortage of vacant housing available in those places, and unlike the smaller housing units in places like Tokyo or Osaka, rural houses are typically big enough to comfortably accommodate fairly large families. People can be taught how to farm or do other work to rejuvenate rural industries which the increasingly urban Japanese population is abandoning. The mostly elderly Japanese populations in those towns could help teach language classes or language immersion programs. I used to live in a town in Western Japan which hosted refugees from Vietnam (from a few decades back, but their younger relatives were also moving in). They were well-integrated in Japanese society while also having their own community. Granted, religious and cultural differences between Japan and Vietnam are not as stark as between Japan and Syria, but I think overall it could work if handled similarly.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Posted in: U.N. weather agency: 2015 hottest year on record See in context

it's so cold in Tokyo right now. Can we borrow some of that global warming over here?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: 9 ways Tokyo could become more foreigner-friendly in time for 2020 Olympics See in context

1) No. no. Please no. For as many foreigners who hate smoking as there are, it's also a huge relief to those who do like smoking that there are places they can do it. Banning smoking to draw in tourists will only alienate a lot of locals and long-term foreigners here (as well as the tourists who do smoke). The ones who usually don't smoke are North Americans in particular, this is only a small fraction of the number of tourists who come here. I agree though in making the barriers between smoking and non-smoking sections better. Even though I'm a smoker myself, I really don't like walking into a sushi restaurant and seeing people smoke at the counter, right where the chefs are handling fresh fish. Smoking areas could be on a terrace, in the back (so non-smokers don't need to walk through it), or in koshitsu. Bars and clubs should not be non-smoking. ageHa in Shinkiba has the best way to handle the situation: No smoking on any of the dancefloors, but plenty of smoking sections both indoor and outdoor. 2). A resounding YES. Osaka is kicking Tokyo's butt in this department. Namba walk free wi-fi, Shinsaibashi free wi-fi, Osaka free wi-fi....easy to register and use. Tokyo needs this and lots of it. 3) Depends on the area. Subways could definitely use an extra half hour to hour of running time. But trains running super late will only spell disaster for those poor souls who work late and who need the "last train" as an excuse to be allowed to go home. Later running buses would be more useful as long as they aren't those ridiculous once-per-hour, one-day-per-week jokes they tried between Shibuya and Roppongi. 4) I've never used a credit card here so I don't have an opinion on this one. Probably a good idea I guess. 5) Definitely agree. And train the servers to actually understand what's on the menu so that if you do have a question, they can answer it for you instead of having to run back to the kitchen and ask the chef/cooks each time. 6) No. Not in Tokyo. Already too many bad cyclists, traffic, and pedestrian congestion as it is, this could get really dangerous especially if people don't understand the traffic rules well. However I think it's a great idea for smaller cities or the countryside. 7) The places which confuse foreigners are often just as confusing for Japanese people. Maybe there is actually too much signage in some places and it's hard to figure out which one to look for. Simplified/fewer signs, and exists labelled for the part of town they dump you in could help. 8) Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaah. Not just for English. 9) YES YES OMG YES. This is easily one of the most important things on the whole list. And it would also solve the trash problems that you see in Shibuya after NYE, Halloween, etc as well. We seriously need public trash bins. I understand the reasoning behind why we don't have them....but if they're not going to put out trash bins, at least put out enough public workers to collect garbage at major events instead of relying on volunteers to clean up the city the next morning.

-5 ( +7 / -12 )

Posted in: Japan's online social scene isn't so social See in context

I never liked how MySpace and FaceBook weren't very good about privacy and the big reason why I like mixi is because it's easy to control who you interact with. There are so many different levels of privacy settings that you can customize. Many people DO post pictures of themselves, but you often have to be on their friends list to view them.

Interaction with strangers on MySpace is often dimwitted at best. if you're a girl with your pic up, you get bombarded by mails akin to "hey baby wassup?" and even random guys sending you their phone number and stuff...but hey I guess that's how people interact on the streets in some American towns, so then, essentially, isn't online life in other countries also very similar to real life?

They forgot to mention though that mixi's communities in general seem to have more actual discussion and interaction than those on MySpace.

By the way,I thought mixi was founded in 1999, not 2004. Anyone know the real date on that?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: GSDF member arrested over sexual relationship with 14-year-old girl See in context

Can't really feel much sympathy for the girl here, I mean, she put herself up on that cellphone dating site, and she knew what she was getting into. Parents need to monitor how their kids use the phone more.

As for the guy...do you think he knew her real age beforehand or not? Cuz a lot of those sites I think make you have to say you're 18 to join. I feel kinda bad for him in a way if he didn't expect an underage girl, but if he knew she was 14 and still went ahead with it, I can't feel sympathy for him either.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Saburo Kitajima says goodbye to Shinjuku Koma Theatre See in context

I can't believe that building is getting torn down. It's a landmark in Shinjuku/Kabukicho and the area is sure gonna feel desolate without it. I'm just hoping they put something really interesting there in its place and not something like a parking lot. Anyone have any ideas what the lot will be used for?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: YOSHIKI, sumo association feuding after singer keeps boots on in Hakuho's dressing room See in context

Why does this site always refer to YOSHIKI as a singer?

He's a drummer/pianist.

Anyway...IMO it's pretty common-sense stuff to take off your shoes on tatami and he should have known better but it's also stupid to me that these sumo officials are throwing such a hissy fit over something like this. Seems like attention-whorism to me...but had they just let it slide, wouldn't the photo session have brought them more positive attention? I mean, sumo needs as much of that as itcan get these days...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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