InspectorGadget comments

Call me cynical, but whats the bet that MoJ string out law suit until he passes away. With his mental decline and being aged 88 the poor guy is unlikely to receive compensation in his lifetime.

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Heres a bunch of flowers I spontaneously got someone to buy for you.

I see no problem with this as long as it is really non-locals.

Japan has a tendency just to say all foreigners are non-locals and anyone looking Japanese is local.

By the time you've spent thousands on airfares, transport and accomodation, NZD$100 is just pocket change, and wont make a difference to tourist numbers.

Apart from the rum, reggae and culture, most of those attributes mentioned in the article can be foound at destinations far closer to Japan than Jamaica.

Plus. Who would choose Jamaica as a destination to learn English?

Surely he could have bought this stuff on the internet?

So in summary, 23 Chinese swimmers (not one or two) tested positive for the same drug ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. One would assume these positive tests were administered by a body other than CHINADA.

The CHINADA themselves then investigate and say its a non-issue, and present the results to WADA and World Aquatics, who having nothing else to go on, accept the results.

At least one Chinese swimmer has been caught and punnished for using this performance enhancing drug previously.

Which means one of three things:

1) The tests that CHINADA does are ineffective

2) The tests that CHINADA does are positive and there is indeed a cover-up.

3) 23 Chinese atheles all were contaminated by the *same drug* at the *same time* inbetween the tests that CHINADA administrered and those which caught these cheats out. That would be one hell of a coincidence.

Nothing says staged photoshoot like having a group of kids standing on masking tape X's .

So lets say 5pm to sunrise at 5am. 12 hours to travel 270km, which is about 23Km/h.

Something doesn't add up here. Either they stopped, and/or went via an indirect route. I don't think we're getting the full story,

And unlike being a taxi driver, he'll never get complaints from the passengers.

They should have raised prices, but in exchange allow you to use the JR Pass on non-consecutive days over a limited time period (eg 3 days travel over 7 days). This would encourage tourists to venture away from the 'golden triangle" of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and into places less seldom visited.

Doing so would assist with relieving over tourism in some areas, and spread the tourist dollar/yen around a bit more.

Cut up the Chinese vessel and send that for recycling.

I wonder if the US, Japan and Soth Korea would have the capabilities to jam communications with the rocket as it ascends, or even cause it's failure . . . .

"undermines regional peace and stability"

Ok China. So claiming all of the South China Sea, building heavily armed reclaimed islands in the area. Ignoring UNCLOS and the Permenant Court of Arbritration telling China they had no right to it. Commanding a fleet of 'fishing vessels' to harass anyone in their claimed waters etc etc etc None of that "undermines regional peace and stability"?

Hypocrisy

So in practical terms, what was he supposed to do? Stop eating his lunch and do what?

He gets a call to say that someone had thrown a smoke bomb at the Prime Minister. No one as injured. The PM is fine and is carrying on with his day, The 'suspect' is in custody.

OK. Two thoughts on this:

Financially there is little pressure for JR to do this. Unlike most other coutries, inflation has been practically zero for decades. The costs involved with providing the service haven't been going up so they don't need to increase costs because of inflationary pressures. It would also seem unlikely that the shareholders would see increasing the cost of the RailPass as a way to an instant windfall, without requiring increases to the costs of other services across the board as well.

Secondly. This is probably part of a bigger tourism reset plan. Tourism numbers 2015+ years were starting to swell out of control (32M in 2019 from 8.5M in 2012). The key destinations were highly centralised (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto/Nara, Hiroshima) witb some seasonal overflow to skiing destination. The benefits/spending were also highly centralised, with little getting to more remote areas which need it most. Locals have long been complaining of overcrowding on transport and at local facilities and atrractions caused by tourist numbers.

I believe that the Japanese government is planning to focus more on quality, and loger stays/spend, than explosive short stay trips. The government still holds considerable sway with JR East/West and other railways so it wouldn't surprise me at all if this was part of the process.

If the Kyoto authorities had any braincells to rub together, they'd run a tourist bus service on a loop around the top 10-15 attractions and sell one day passes to that.

It immediately removes the bulk of tourists from the normal commuter busses, and the tourists know they can just get on/off right next to their temple of choice.

Looks like the cockpit of a B-29

For two?

Looks comfortable for one, but no more.

You'd think at a time when the SDF is struggling to find new recruits, they would be trying to make serving in the military as appealing as possible to women.

Stamping out sexual harrasment and bullying should have been first on the list decades ago.

that his son, Shotaro, who is also his secretary, 

I'm certain a rigorous recruitment process involving many suitably qualified candidates took place prior to his appointment . . . . . .

So why would a former Admiral have any right to request a briefing?

JT. Please fix the headline *"Canadian polar BEARS on southern edge of Arctic dying at fast rate"*

Moderator: Thanks for pointing that out. It has been fixed.

This deployment comes a year after Russia set up the Bastion systems on the island of Matua, in the central part of the Kuril ridge, the ministry said in a statement.

Matua Is (with the closest battery) is about 750km from Rausu, Hokkaido, the nearest Japanese town. The improved version of the Oniks-M missile has a range of 800Km. Japan is only barely in range, even if they decied to use this for land based targets. This is primarily designed as an anti-ship system.

Crikey. She's tiny.

I don't get it. With a country so obsessed with privacy, news of the Emperor getting a prostate exam, then having an enlarged prostate are widely published news.

Smart move.

Firstly it paints the Russians in a bad light when they don't come to the table in good faith.

Secondly, Putin's reign depends on him maintaining is position as the strong man of Russia. Any weakness or perceived weakness in his strategy dents this image. If the Ukrainians drive the Russians back, or the carnage gets too much for the Russian people, Putin can negotiate, rather than reaching for the WMDs or a full mobilization.

I don't think anyone in NZ really notice. It has become normal.

dagonToday  07:28 am JST

It would be interesting and hasten their integration if Western JETS were also required to have similar abilities.

They are in a different role. If they are working in a Co-ordinator for International Relations (CIR) role then all JET participants must have have passed N2, regardless of nationality.

Assistant Language Teachers have no Japanese language requirement, as their role is almost always to assist with English language instruction, who requires a Degree in any subject which was taught in English. The assumption being if you can pass a degree taught in English, your language ability should be good enough to teach Elementary - SHS students.

These trainee schemes are viewed as nothing more than cheap foreign labour to be exploited. In many cases the 'Trainees" are just desperate to leave their home countries for economic reasons, than for trainining purposes.

If this was truely a training scheme. it would be tied to the aquisition of formal qualifications in the chosen field, rather than arbritraty work experience. I've never heard of this as being a requirement.