Posted in: Russia gives citizenship to ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden See in context
He will likely be conscripted and entered into the FSB or similar military like department.
-2 ( +1 / -3 )
Posted in: UK boy dies after life support stopped at end of long legal battle See in context
A couple of questions: Were the parents given the option to 100% privately fund their child’s future treatment costs? If that option was provided, and the parents refused, then I’m on the side of the state with this one. If not, the state is in the wrong for terminating services prematurely.
-1 ( +2 / -3 )
Posted in: Baby subscription boxes simplifying life for parents in Japan See in context
Subscription boxes with a really good purpose.Nice!!
6 ( +7 / -1 )
Posted in: Netflix to rely on Microsoft for its ad-backed video service See in context
Netflix to merge into Microsoft…. wait for it.
0 ( +1 / -1 )
Posted in: 'Guerrilla' sales, crowdsourcing: Japan's game console crunch See in context
Personal experience. I haven’t been able to find a PS5 outside of 2nd hand stores selling them for double the price for the past 2 years. I also haven’t seen any games that hooked me into the system. I tried Xbox cloud gaming (Forza) on a whim with T440p and now I’m hooked and likely buying a Series S in the next 4 months. I’ll still buy PS5 if I come across one for MSRP, but it’s no longer a priority and I have no desire upgrade my ps plus account past the basic online plan.
2 ( +3 / -1 )
Posted in: Court dismisses sex business firm's damages claim over virus handout snub See in context
Simple barrier: does the sex industry pay the proper amount of taxes? If the answer is yes, then the government needs to pay up.
1 ( +2 / -1 )
Posted in: Journalist arrested for shoplifting while in Hokkaido town to report on sunken tour boat See in context
I don’t think the national plastering of this story was designed to harm the young woman. I think the story is used as a warning for would be shoplifters and to throw a bit of shade on a rival media company.
Japan still has a lot to learn about addressing mental illnesses, and that factor had a lot to deal with the scale this story was released.
2 ( +4 / -2 )
Posted in: World swimming bans transgender athletes from women's events See in context
FINA’s decision is great. An open division will be created so queers and trans can compete, without question. Provisions are in place for people who transition early and people who transition later in their lives with the open division.
If we run into a situation where the athletes gets a natural chemical advantage, we still have the open division available instead of asking the athlete to suppress their chemical advantage.
A great day for sports, a bad day agendas. This is fairness.
3 ( +4 / -1 )
Posted in: Pharmaceutical company tests medicine vending machine in train station See in context
Great idea. Horrible hours. Unless your lucky enough to live next to 24 hour pharmacy, getting a hold of OTC drugs is pain after 9pm. Those with allergies know the pain….
The tech and mindset there to just set up a machine near a connivence store or and a spotlight and camera, get people to get a card or tracking app as a legal deterrent and let people get access to drugs they need.
1 ( +2 / -1 )
Posted in: Art event with 'comfort women' statue to be held in Tokyo in April See in context
This is why you have privately funded museums and publicly funded museums. Art (like politics) is what people say it is.
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: Russia starts military drill on disputed islands off Japan See in context
The military drills are just a way of displaying strength. They (Russia) have 3000 troops and equipment to spare while engaging Ukraine forces.
Russia will not leave the disputed islands and by law Japan can not take back the disputed island by force without first being attacked by Russia.
Japan should just announce they will be holding disaster relief excises in Hokkaido with the secondary announcement that they have invited American observers. The American observers agree to attend under the banner of providing safety and security and attend with a few marines and equipment.
See what Russia does next.
4 ( +5 / -1 )
Posted in: Netflix plans to start charging some customers more to share their accounts with people who aren’t in the same household in an effort to crack down on unauthorized password exchanges. What do you think of this? See in context
Hmm, it’s going to be interesting trying to justify charging for sub-accounts when the basic price allows for multiple devices. At present, the premium package allows for 4 devices. If those 4 devices are not inside the home, does Netflix intend to charge more?
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: Dwayne Johnson credits females in his life for shaping him See in context
Using women vs using girls for “Johnson is quick to admit females run the show”
Yeah, here is a sentence where “ladies” would be most useful.
A “lady” is an honorific title can represent a female child or adult. Admittedly, it’s not the most formal use of the word and can come off a bit cheeky, but I think that was the writers intention when they wrote the piece.
Use ladies and call it a day.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Do you agree with the decision by many global companies to sever their business ties with Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine? See in context
If I’m a brand that has direct ties to operations in an aggressor nation, I have to think consider optics as much as profits. Especially in this age. Customers value the moral high-ground more than they value the quality of the products, making severing ties an easy decision.
11 ( +14 / -3 )
Posted in: Services open doors for minorities in Japan looking for housing See in context
Let’s all agree that safe housing is a humanitarian right. All people should have access to safe housing. If this is true, the main disagreement becomes who is responsible for ensuring this right.
Users like @letsberealistic believe the private sector and the public sector are both somewhat equally responsible for maintaining this right while at the same time users like @Kenichi argue that they, the private sector, should not have to shoulder the financial burden of dealing with complicated tenants.
I have to side with owners like @Kenichi on this. It’s his business and reputation that suffers with every neglectful tenant, so some discrimination is allowed. But…..
The prefectures and agencies could fix discrimination with a couple of tools. First, on the agencies side, there could be a tenant / owner scoring system. Points added and deducted for complaints, payments, lease extensions, contract ending procedures. Tenants with higher scores and willing to go to orientation programs get better scores, which leads to better move in conditions and more options. Tenants with lower scores pay more, but again, are offered methods to increase their scores. If an owner wanted to tack on Japanese classes or proof of Japanese language ability to increase scores, I would be okay with that.
On the government end, give property tax breaks to owners who maintain good scores by offering housing to a variety of tenants and maintaining a good relationship with their agencies and customers.
Long way to explain a housing credit system, I know, but the goal is to create transparent responsibility on all parties.
0 ( +6 / -6 )
Posted in: Rattled by spectator's insult, Osaka loses at Indian Wells See in context
I will say Osaka is a great tennis player, I’m still hesitant to label her one of the greatest. As for the heckler, the tournament knows who she is or will know she is soon. The woman is likely to be given a warning or a quiet short term ban.
-12 ( +5 / -17 )
Posted in: 'Black Panther' director mistaken for bank robber in Atlanta See in context
It’s Atlanta, race is always an issue. Hope the teller doesn’t lose her job on this, but she and the managers get retrained. And we have to give the cops some credit for not making the situation worse..
3 ( +3 / -0 )
Posted in: Russia detains U.S. Olympic basketball champion on drugs charge See in context
The arrest happened in February. Just before the invasion….
I see it like this:
she bought the vape pen and stuff in Russia, likely through regular channels. She has likely entered and exited the country with vape pens no problem before or with a couple just lost in transit. But now with the tensions between Russia and US heating up, customs were likely asked to inspect all vape pens from Americans and western Europeans and enforce rules. This made her a target and the rest is history.
I don’t see her being used as a bargain chip, but more as an example of the dangers of the west. Drug addicted, drug smuggling, divorced, violent lesbian basketball payer works as a real good villainous face in Putin’s Russia.
-1 ( +2 / -3 )
Posted in: Finland, Sweden brush off Moscow's warning on joining NATO See in context
Finland and Sweden don’t have to join NATO as they are EU members (equally as good). If Russia were to attack an EU member state, we have a massive European war that could lead into World War 3. The is why Sweden and Finland basically responded with a “meh”
4 ( +6 / -2 )
Posted in: 2,000 Ukrainians, Russians and supporters in Tokyo protest against Russia invasion See in context
Would say holding a protest in front of the Russian Embassy would provide better optics and responses, but I have a sneaky feeling the Tokyo Police have already alerted would be organizers of their rights and freedoms as non-Japanese in terms of protesting.
15 ( +17 / -2 )
Posted in: F1 won't race in Russia this year after Ukraine invasion See in context
One has to think Andretti knew what was up as his proposal to enter F1 is looking really good right now.
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: IOC slams Russia for breach of Olympic truce See in context
How can the leader of the IOC legitimately criticize a nation that is neither participating nor represented at the Olympic games?
3 ( +3 / -0 )
Posted in: Kanye West says new album won't be released on streaming platforms See in context
I bet this a retro concept album. Imagine an album you can only get from your friends on the bay or pay a ludicrous price from a select dealer. Weclcome back 2004, we’ve missed you.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Biden vows 'never again' in marking 80 years since Japanese Americans' internment See in context
Forced internment is 99% never going to happen again in the US for a couple of reasons.
1st - The external political policies of the US has changed. At the time of WW2, the US was disengaged with global politics and soft power.
2nd- the internal makeup and presentation of the American people has diversified since WW2. Too many different people are presented in everyday situations to create a blanket fear of any one group in major economic areas. The American Olympic team would look mighty different if this were to happen.
3rd- too much push back and too many records. People would be affected today have Facebook, Twitter, TickTok, VK, JT and countless other sites to contact. The US government would have to suppress all of that information and then hope countries like Russia or China don’t or can’t respond or use a modern day interment as propaganda.
Sorry 99.9% impossible to happen again.
-4 ( +8 / -12 )
Posted in: Tokyo's same-sex partnership system to cover commuters from outside See in context
Given how much commuting into Tokyo is done, this is a pretty good idea, but I’m not a fan of limiting it “sexual minorities”. deemphasizes equality aspects and reinforces different rules for different people.
0 ( +4 / -4 )
Posted in: Bach criticizes Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva's entourage for their 'tremendous coldness' See in context
Seems like a simple fix going forward. The age of majority is 18 in most countries so let’s set the bar there or 17 (preferred) for minimum age for competing in olympic games. Everyone younger goes to the Youth games. 17 year olds make a choice of which event they want to do and barred from both even if they turn 18 in the same calendar year.
On the the logistical side, the youth games get held ideally after the main olympics with the Paralympics pushed back or held 100 days before the Olympics (preferred).
7 ( +8 / -1 )
Posted in: Snoop Dogg, Kelly Clarkson to host American 'Eurovision' See in context
I just hope it is as over the top an nonsensical as Eurovision and not as serious as American Idol.
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: For Asian American women, Olympics reveal a harsh duality See in context
Sorry, this reads like a fluff piece designed to exsayrubate the fears of Kokumai and Kim and validate precieved “micro-agressions” against Asian-Americans.
Athletes are loved when they win and, unfortunately, hated when they lose.
9 ( +11 / -2 )
Posted in: Coroner: Ex-MLB standout Giambi died of self-inflicted gunshot See in context
Don’t keep a firearm in your home is a blanket statement that does nothing but ask for confrontation.
Whatever was eating him got him before he could get help. If you got friends with guns and they start acting off, try figure a way to get them to drop kernels about what’s going on. Don’t ask them to get help, change, or do anything drastic. Just let them know you’re aware of their status and go from there.
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: On the ice, a question: Where are the Black figure skaters? See in context
Couple answers; money, access, return on investment. I’m not saying racial issues have had no effect, but I am saying it’s not the only factor. Winter sports are more expensive than summer sports (ice time, lift passes, lodging cost). This limits access, too expensive to participate so alternatives look better. Finally, Return on investment, not really thought about, but equally important. A basketball player makes more money than a figure skater at most levels. Even an ice hockey player has more revenue sources. So the question becomes, why invest so much into an expensive sport where cheaper and more lucrative alternatives exists.
6 ( +6 / -0 )
Posted in: Trump biopic 'The Apprentice' hits U.S. theaters weeks before election
Posted in: 7-Eleven owner restructures itself to fight takeover
Posted in: Australian police sergeant likely to be charged over Nazi salute
Posted in: Trump biopic 'The Apprentice' hits U.S. theaters weeks before election