JohnBecker comments

I'd guess looking after the Emperor's health is one of the duties of the IHA.

I'd like to believe that, but I think their only duty is to perpetuate the imperial household, and their jobs.

Nike's logo is not a "swish." It's a "swoosh." Always has been.

It's great to see young athletes develop and get respect from their heroes.

Lostrune, I agree with everything you said except for your comment about "many day games." MLB teams play very, very few day games anymore. Sunday games are sometimes played in the afternoon (maybe about 50%), Saturday games are usually played at night unless they will be Fox's "Game of the Week," and there are maybe 4 weekday day games all season. The owners figured out long ago that they'll make more money if the games are played in "prime time."

Not to say it doesn't happen elsewhere, but it seems like "accounting irregularities" are a pretty common occurrence in major Japanese corporations.

That's rather an alarmist and reactionary headline and article. Businesses will make allowances for the disruption caused by the Olympics and many will take advantage of the large international audience flooding into the country. It's certainly not the end of the world.

If ever a person were worthy of the title "Living National Treasure"....

Watch as my comment is downvoted into oblivion by the legion of left wingers, no doubt I'll soon be labeled a Trump fanatic as well..Heaven forbid people actually took a neutral, centrist point of view for once.

You're the one who brought up the left-vs.-right thing. Aside from that, fake news and hate speech are not subject to a left-vs.-right debate. Hate speech, as far as Germany is concerned, has apparently been defined by the government and courts. And fake news isn't a partisan issue - if it can't be proven with verifiable facts, it's fake news, no matter who posted it.

Mr. Berners-Lee makes good points about commerce and privacy, but just saying these things should be handled better doesn't really amount to much. Big Money will continue to control the biggest social media platforms, as long as it gives them the opportunity to sell to us and to further enrich themselves.

In other words: "PLEASE let us turn the nukes back on!!!!!"

Nice of the Romanians to apologize as they have. The whole situation is a little bit embarrassing, but I don't expect it'll have any effect on relations between the two countries.

I'm looking forward to hearing what the guy has to say for himself. I'm willing to bet it will be one of these three:

A: "I was drunk"

B: "I've been under a lot of stress at work"

C: "I wanted to find out what it would be like to kill a baby"

where in the hell in the sumo ring, are there any straw bales?

The perimeter of the ring is defined by little straw bales embedded in the clay.

...because it's the only thing they can do.

Unless they build a settlement on the island. Then they can say there can be no argument against it being Japanese sovereign territory, and can defend it as such.

I've watched this sport for decades and it still amazes me.

"In Japan's long history of involvement in Korea, it is regrettable that some were caused hardship. We look to move beyond these things that hinder our cooperation and form a stronger relationship to our mutual benefit."

Wanna bet that's as much as he could get away with?

They're not going to clear safety hurdles, they're going to clear inspection hurdles.

It's near miraculous that the press didn't find out about this. At least he had a few months to enjoy flying under their radar.

The 2nd Amendment was written for a fledgling country with no standing army, to ensure that it could rapidly conscript citizens (who would bring their own guns) when necessary. It has little relevance in a nation with the most lavishly armed military in the world. It has nothing to do with ensuring that citizens can "fight back against government tyranny." It does not enumerate the type or number of weapons that a citizen may own, because there weren't so many to choose from in 1789.

I'm all for citizens being allowed to own 1 bolt-action hunting rifle and 1 pump-action shotgun. That's all anyone logically needs. Handguns are unnecessary.

Every year, JT posts a pic of a nice illumination somewhere around Japan, and every year, at least one grouchy person complains about the waste of energy, and and least one other grouchy person complains that the lights aren't red and green, the "real" colors of Christmas (in the U.S., at least).

Much like KFC created a Christmas tradition in Japan, JT has created one with the annual illumination photo. It gets me "in the spirit" every year.

It isn't huge news everywhere yet because it's not significant until it can be repeated. It certainly sounds promising, though.

Maybe if the government developed a major international airport in the southwest, there would be more foreign interest in that area. Anything to take some pressure off Tokyo.

'scuse me..... that's not a tomahawk, it's an AXE.

It's clearly not 27,195 acres, that would be about 42.5 square miles, or over 11,000 hectares. Is it possible that the number should be 27.195 acres?

I live in Tennessee and know several people who worked with him in government. Every one of them says he was a genuinely good man and he honestly wanted to serve the people.

It would be wise for the court to state that structures (artificial islands) do not constitute sovereign territory. That would make everything pretty black and white.

Canon's business is diversified enough that losing point-and-shoot camera revenues won't hurt too much. Nikon never had as big a share of the p&s business as Canon, but it's still a chunk of their revenues lost, which could be harder on them - Nikon is still all about cameras and optics (rangefinders, gun sights, microscopes).

Just my opinion but she didn't look drunk to the point of incapacitation at all in the mug shot.

She wasn't driving at the time of the mug shot.

Sony happens to be one of the best, and most prolific, producers of image sensors in the world. Most (if not all) Nikon DSLR cameras use Sony sensors, which are very highly regarded. Sony as a whole might not be as successful as they once were, but they still have some winners in their lineup.

Nope, I didn't guess right. I thought it was another "lifelike" robot or sex doll.

I'll be surprised if it ever actually happens. This is just the hype machine making noise.