InspectorGadget comments

It will also request events to be canceled and eateries to temporarily close, in addition to urging operators to reduce transportation services and people to refrain from going out to curb infections.

Request, Urge and Refrain. Nothing concrete and no penalties. Thats all this government has to work with under the Constitution.

Notice there is no detail on how they managed to increase the number of beds dedicated to Covid capacity. With private hospitals making up 70% of the 8,500 facilities in Japan, and a number of the remaining under their control being specialised unts for mental health, maternity, oncology etc, it doesn't leave much for them to work with.

Unless they are planning on comandeering all the emplty Olympic venues and get those ready . . . but staffed my whom?

I suppose if you go to Saizeriya you can just order from the menu by pointing to your shirt.

YrralToday  07:56 am JST

We are not at war with NK

Technically we are, but both sides have mostly stoopped shooting.

North Korea shelled South Korea in 2010 killing civillians, and sinking a South Korean ship with the loss of 45+ lives are generally not considered actions of a nation at peace with its neighbour.

Don't these guys ever learn????

If you give people a cash handout in Japan it generally ends up in the bank, and does very little in the way of economic stimulus. It has been shown to happen time and time again. Kishida's Cash for Kids won't work.

If you give people a rebate for money spent, this will indeed encourge spending, and ensures it is targeted and doesn't flow offshore. Go To Travel is reasonably well thought out stimulus package, with a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy.

This is moronic.

So business travelers etc will only need to quarantine for 3 days. Returning residents get 10 days . . . .

Surely the same rules should apply for everyone based on health risks, not the monney they bring in.

How about making it impossible to tailgare, or drive while impaired?

Why to these idiots have to harm other people if they want the Death Penalty?

Can't they just go and jump off a cliff somewhere?

I hope they lead long happy and healthly lives, and they get left alone to forge their own way in the world. The media have put them through enough, for things they have no control over.

Once was born into a royal family, and the other has a mother who (potentially) defaulted on some loans.

Good Luck to them both.

Seriously?!

Of all the people waiting to enter Japan (families waiting for loved ones stuck overseas etc) they choose people studying Japanese to be the first?

So how did they know he would be leaving his apartment with 2mil in cash.

A lot to be said for using Furikomi to salaries to staff . . . . .

Using their database of images collected from JR East station surveillance cameras, the facial recognition cameras identify three groups of people: the first being persons that were previously imprisoned for committing serious crimes against JR East or JR East passengers, the second being named criminal suspects, and the third being suspicious persons.

Happy for them to use facial recognition for the first example above. That's no different to stores and staff kicking people out/refusing service to those who had previously caused problems to their own business. It happens all the time, and is why there are bouncers/security on the front doors of businesses.

I have a major issue with 'named crimminal suspects' and 'suspicious people'. Where are they getting the biometric data for this? What constitutes suspicious?

OK, heres a theory. . . . .

There is an ongoing discussion about changing the rules of succession to allow women into the line. If this goes ahead, Princess Mako is very high on the list. Likewise, it would also remove the requirement for women to leave the royal family if they marry a commoner.

If she accepts what amounts to a termination payment, it will raise a whole lot of uncomfortable questions about her role/position/the money if the Royal household was ever in a position to need to invite her back. After all the list of male heirs is pretty slim, and the the women in the family are marrying out of the family.

From Tuesday, Aucklanders will be able to buy takeaway restaurant food, and some workplaces can reopen.

From Wednesday. The Level 4 ends at 1159PM on Tuesday night.

Take the rego and run a rock through the window. The police will instantly pull over any vehicle with smashed glass and start asking questions . . . . . .

factcheckerToday  07:31 am JST

Why would anyone eat that slop in the home of some of the worlds most delicious curries, with such a vast array of regional variants to boot.

Because it is the McD's of curry. Its cheap, filling and reasonably tasty. You know the restaurants will be clean and the food will always be the same where ever you go.

Besides, use of the term Curry about as descriptive as saying "I like American Food". There are so many variations, that Japanese Curry is its on genre.

was guilty of mistakenly pressing down on the gas pedal instead of the brake for around 10 seconds during the incident,

10 seconds is a HECK of a long time to be pressing down on the accelerator instead of the brake!

So the athlete who won this competition uses two blades, compared to 2nd and 3rd place who use just one.

Did she have an advantage?

With the range of abilities on show along with the variety of technology in use, ensuring that competition between athletes is 'fair' must be a nighmare for organisers/sports associations.

This will not inspire confidence in anyone sceptical of vaccines.

I have never before heard of a major pharmacutical manufacture be alerted to the presence of foreign matter in their medicine . . . . . and just shrug and say to ignore it.

It would be very rare for a female member of the Japanese imperial family to marry without the related ritual ceremonies.

The princess will likely decline a lump-sum payment to be offered upon her departure from the imperial family, and it is believed the couple will live in the United States once married, the source said.

Getting married as fast as they can and getting the heck out of there. Could you blame them after all they've been through.

With so many Japanese youth employed in dead-end part time jobs you'd think that a career in the military would be an attractive prospect.

However, despite the JSDF investing heavily in shiny new toys, they certainly don't do the same when it comes to JSDF salaries, conditions and allowances.

A detailed comparison is in the article linked below. It should be an embarassment for the JSDF.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/japan-self-defense-force-crisis-ranks-79846

I know she is famous in Japan and her brand of slapstick, self-depricating humour seems to go down well here. She left Japan to seek fame etc in the US.

But what has she actually done in the last 5 months? The article only mentioned the usual stuff you do to get used to living in another country,

Nothing says "I love you" like a bottle full of urine.

Valentine's Day with this guy must be different

The Case Positive rate is a key metric to understanding how well a country has this under control. The WHO suggests having a rate under 5% indicates infection prevention measures are effective.

Japan currently sits at about 20%, with an apallingly low rate of testing for a developed country. No only that there is almost no contract tracing in Japan, a Covid app with a very low usage rate and no mandatory QR code and location registration.

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-testing#the-positive-rate-a-crucial-metric-for-understanding-the-pandemic

I remeber going to a school who had employed a Scot with a very heavy accent as an ALT.

You can just imagine the result when the kids started practicing their English.

In simple terms, the version of English taught roughly correspponds with which country (The US or the UK) last invaded or had administrative control.

The sun never sets on the British Empire.

China passed a sweeping privacy law aimed at preventing businesses from collecting sensitive personal data Friday, as the country faces an uptick in internet scams, leaks and concerns about tech giants abusing clients' personal information.

Clearly the CCCP doesn't like competition in this area.

OK so here are the facts.

1) His wife was vaccinated, he wasn't. He had been booked to have his vaccine but hadn't received it yet.

2) He became symptomatic on Sunday, and immediately consulted with his local health clinic on Monday. Both took appropriate precautions and he isolated until the results came back. He did everything right.

3) He used NZ's tracing app, which has greatly assisted the authorities.

4) He and his wife traveled extensively between Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula on holiday in the last weekend.

5) There are no known links with the border. He hasn't traveled overseas nor does he know anyone who has. Genomic testing is still underway to see if there is any link to NZ's quarantine facilities.

6) As there are no known links to the border, the assumption is this is the Delta strain, and there may well be other cases.

7) Sewerage testing on Aucklands North Shore only returned traces of Covid last Thurs, roughly when he would have started being infectious. This leads authorities to believe that other case numbers on the North Shore are low.

8) NZ has learned from New South Wales's blundering response to Delta and has chosen to go into an immediate lock down. 7 days for Auckland and 3 for the rest of the country, until further results are known.

9) A NZ Level 4 lock down means only essential services operate. No takeaways, playgrounds are closed, schools are closed, no daycare, etc etc. Only supermarkets and pertol stations are open. No gatherings. Excersise in your immediate area only. No visitors, and families stay in their bubbles. Only essential workers can go to work.

Much harder than Australia.

China is just interested in advancing their Belt and Road plans.

Predictions:

1) They'll probably get to the point of investing in/building infrastructure in co-operation with the Taliban. Eg mining and transport.

2) The country implodes again across the different factions that exist within the Taliban itself and other regional influences.

3) China will send in the troops to safeguard it's investments. It will probably try this in conjunction with trying to prop up pro-Chinese factions within the country.

4) Rinse repeat of the same cycle Afghanistan has seen for decades, if not 150+ years

I'm sure China has already claimed it and is getting the dredges ready,

Me: "I want to start a SIM only contract. I already have an unlocked phone compatible with your frequencies"

International Telco: "Thank you for your money, here is your connected SIM. I'm sure you'll be able to work out what to do"

Me: "I want to start a SIM only contract. I already have an unlocked phone compatible with your frequencies"

Japanese Telco: (Sound of air being sucked through teeth) "Muzukashii desu ne. Is it one of our phones? Is is a Japanese domestic phone? It might not work. We can't support it if you cant get the settings right . . . . . . . ."

Japanese telcos are the experts in saying No . . . . without actually saying No.