ka_chan comments

TEPCO officials have nothing to lose. J-Gov will not prosecute.

Japan fight ISIL? The JSDF would be slaughtered. They have no experience being soldiers, just playing soldier. And if 2 kidnapped citizens can active Article 9, what about all the Japanese kidnapped by North Korea? There is only a cease fire and not an end to the UN Korean War. Ofcouse Japan did not participate except to profit from that war. Then again the JSDF is too small to much and Japan is not ready for what happens to soldiers in war once they come home. It is also questionable if Japan's young adults can be soldiers. They have been raised to be pacifists. It would take 10 to 20 years of working with active military countries in combat zones to get experienced staff officers. Japan doesn't even make their own equipment. It' not like 1930's Japan, were they had the Kenpaitai to keep people in line. J public is not ready.

Never understood why the 47 are considered heroes. Their lord was a hot headed idiot that couldn't control himself. His underlings were not smart enough to pay a bribe to make the lord's life easier. It took too long, 2 years, for the 47 to claim it for honor instead of revenge. The Shogun only yielded to the ignorant public support to let the 47 die with honor even though they did not follow bushido. In a time of peace, their clan was out of step with the times.

There are unintended consequences. Pollen flies so it will spread to other fields. One out it will spread. Then there are effects on people that may not be seen for years. Today may produce is genetically altered and you don't even know it since it is not identified.

Well, seems to be ratcheting up... seems the NK has attacked SK's nuclear plants and has demanded to be shut down. SK is shutting down all their nuclear plants. So for how long can Japan say that Sony is an American problem when it is a Japanese company and reflects on Japan. Cyber attacks on Japan has been ratcheting up for some time now. Wonder if NK already can control Japan's nuclear plants... good thing they are some what down.

Too little, too late. They should have put quality in the design and tested it especially since they are using an explosive propellant. Question is if they don't know why, how is the replacements safe?

According to SONY Pictures CEO, they didn't make the decision, the theater owners did. Still sounds cowardly of Sony and they may be up for big law suit from their employee. They didn't protect the information and what is worse, they had every on the same network. Are they idiots? Also how did NK get the administrators keys to the everything. One person should not have access to everything. What is worst, this is the 3rd or 4th time Sony has been hacked. They don't seem to be able to learn.

In the west, Christmas comes with traditions. Christmas dinner can have ham, turkey, roast, string beans, peas, carrots, potatoes, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, apple pie, mince pie, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, pecan pie, ice cream, cake, fruitcake, hot rum, champagne, hot chocolate, etc. It came be a combination or even have fish, crab or oysters, it depends on what part of the US you are and the ethnic background. When I was young, we had turkey with stuffing and ham, string beans, sweet potato casserole, cake, wine, soda, eggnog, You don't have to eat it all. I didn't like ham so I never ate any when I was a kid. White meat turkey and stuffing with gravy was my favorite and cranberry sauce, not so much. The holiday is about family, similar to Thanksgiving. Christmas is also about a White Christmas....snow. But then I lived in NY so the kids always wanted snow especially if it closed the school. Today many people just get catering so they don't have to make it. The holiday is more and more commercial. It more about Santa then Christ.

Considering that Japan was never purged of those who were in the government during the war as was done with the Nazi party in Germany, it is not inconceivable that the J gov may revert to their old ways. After all Abe grandfather was Minister of Labor when Japan used slave labor. Though never trialed, he was held as a war criminal until the Korean War change US policy toward Japan. And he became Prime Minister since the U.S. was more worried about communists in Japan than the old regime. As for the U.S. wanting a war with Japan, that is not true but it wasn't unexpected. That is why the fleet was in Hawaii instead of San Diago. The British knew about the attack on Peal Harbor but didn't tell the US since they needed the U.S. to join the fight against Hitler. Japan would have lost sooner but the first 2 year were concentrated in Europe. Also in 1905, Teddy Roosevelt predicted that Japan would attack the U.S. in a future terrible war.

I guess most of you don't know that the CDC has no authority but to provide guidance and recommendations to the local public health authorities. So the Texas Public Health Department is the authority in Dallas not the CDC.

If you don't stop the outbreak at the source, no travel ban will make a difference. WHO estimates that by December there will be 10,000 cases a week and in 2015 there will be 1.5 million cases. Looks like a good chance that this will become a pandemic. No travel ban will help you then. You already have cases in Spain and Germany, stop all flights to those countries too? Can you say economic collapse.

Wow, blame Obama for what the Republicans caused. They have cut funding to the NIH, CDC year after year. There is no Surgean General. The CDC is under staffed by 500. NIH had to cut back on research and that is why there was only enough Zmap for one patient, so the first two patient agreed to divide the drug knowing it may not be enough. It will take 6 months to get more. As for the Texas hospital, seems that they were grossly negligent in so many ways. The budget cuts also took fund away from every hospital in the US that was used for CDC training. I'm not concerned about any few who many come into any country. Consider a terrorist who deliberately get Ebola and travels to EU or US and once he gets sick blows himself up in a large crowd. Of cause they could travel to Japan, there was an an attack on a Japanese flight some years ago but only kill one person because the bomb was put under the wrong seat, off by 2 seats. WHO estimates that by the end of 2015, there will be 1.5 million cases. At that point it will become a pandemic.

THere is no problem using katakana if it was properly used but it is not. They can shorten the sound so you don't get GOODO but something closer to good. I know Japanese who learn English before and during WWII and can still speak English better than students today. But most Japanese today would not be able to pass a high school kanji test from the 1930's. Things got dumb down including the end of Saturday classes. I visited China and their tour guides, spoke almost perfect English unlike Japanese tour guides. Why is English important? It is the international language of business. It is also the language of aviation. In Korea, they have universities taught entirely in English so the graduates can work for their major companies. This is on way to get the brain power from other counties so the can stay ahead of technology. The U.S. has been doing this for years. This is another reason Japan is falling behind. Samsung has destroyed Sony, Panasonic, Sonyo, etc. In the U S, I mostly see Samsung and LG and less and less Japanese manufactured products. If Japan doesn't wake up, Korea will pass them as number 3..

It is nice that they are talking about the grid but what about you house? They are implying that wires will carry current that will heat to 120 -200 degrees C. I don't think the average home wiring will be able to take that. Basically, you home will burn down. Also even with electrical wiring, water pipes will conduct the electricity. So they should at the very least burst. Not sure what would happen to cars. Generally they are a Faraday cage for the most part. No sewer, no water, no power, may have a massive fire, fun times.

You can't blame America for this. After 3 Mile Island, there were recommendations to upgrade all nuclear plants and this was done in the US but not in Japan. Tepco never implemented the recommendations. TEPCO never ran a real disaster drill. IF they had, the workers would have know that when you add water into the system, the vents will roar with steam, not come out like a wist of mist. They would have fix the valve issue which should have been know. No power, the valve opens and most of the water the fire trucks pump into the reactor went into a holding tank and not the reactor core. A dedicated line was recommend because of this issue which was never done by TEPCO. It is like JAL never following changes maintenance recommendations after they bought the plane. TEPCO and the Japanese regulators were just incompetent. Now you have a new regulatory agency that is still a political hack.

So did his bride divorce him yet? Isn't it like a 5 hour flight? If had not done this stupid thing, it wouldn't have been much of a honeymoon that night. Guilty of assault and guilty of interfering with a flight attendant's duties, wonder if he is now on a "no fly" list?

Would it have been easier to dig a trench around the plant and divert the water? You could almost make into an island. BTW, how are they doing with removing the nuclear fuel?

Why? And why are they in white?

Come on, this happens every year. I know Japan doesn't like aircon and the elderly tends to be one ones against it most. As the city grew there were less and less green areas, more and more concrete which traps heat. They paved over rivers, and reduced parks. So of course it is hotter than the old folks remember. Wonder how many people still go to Karuizawa? It might be interesting if the city sets up an old folks camp in the mountains for the summer but I doubt the old folks shut ins will come out of their homes.

This is ridiculous. Civilians die in war. The worst casualties in any war are civilians. It is an illusion for the UN to try and setup "safe area". Things happen. Was is a errant Hamas rocket or Israeli fire? Does it really matter? Unless one side or the other kills off the other side, nothing is going to change. That not going to happen but it is more possible that some day they will kill off the other side and themselves with some WMD.

Seems to me that Japan showed to the world that they are incapable of running nuclear plants safely.

This is boring. Every 3 years or so, the same thing. Nothing changes. Isn't it a mark of insanity to do something over and over again and expect different results? Which side is insane? Both are doing the same thing they did before, and before, and before.....

I thought these buses are supposed to have mirrors so there is no blind spot around the bus?

I don't know why people are blaming the parents. Psychopaths are born not created. Your boss may be a psychopath, just not criminal. This girl showed every sign of going the criminal route. The 6th grade incident should have set alarm bells. What normal kid poisons her class. But psychopaths are charming, smart, and manipulative. They are like small kids that use a magnifying glass to burn ants but as adults, they can do that to people. The system failed here since she tried to poison her 6 grad classmates and attack her father with a baseball bat, these should have been enough but nothing seemed to have been done or even noticed. She crossed the barrier in 6th grade. Here is an interesting article on the subject of psychopaths. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10737827/Psychopaths-how-can-you-spot-one.html

Jeff, you are wrong, 2 acres = 8094 Sq Meters. look at a conversion site. But it doesn't matter the size. Something this old and nice should not be developed to put cash in someone pockets. It is just wrong. The greens space is more valuable and it the build is also that old, then it should be maintained for future generations to know how some one of Ikeda's class used to live. There are small shines all over Japan, some no bigger than an alley way. I don't see developers going after them. Probably it is not a good idea to mess with Kamis.

I just don't see what is in it for Putin. Eastern Ukraine is a basket case. I understand why he would want the Crimea but eastern Ukraine? These separatists can't do anything right without a Russian adviser. They are loosing against Ukraine. But it seems that Russia as learned from MH17. They are doing direct artillery support from the Russian side of the boarder. It may be separatists but can't see Russia allowing that. Still can not see what Russia has to gain, this part of Ukraine is just a financial drain. The militia seems to be idiots, so why is Putin pushing so hard. Probably he just wanted to stick it to Ukraine but now it seems a little out of control.

Isn't 1/2 of a 1/2 a quarter? As long as a term like Haafu is used, Japan as a long, long way to go. Nothing has changed.

Life span of fleas have nothing to do with it. But the Bubonic Plague been around and a long time and still pops up from time to time. Some people have a genetic immunity. Since the plague is spread by fleas, it doesn't have to be rats, it can be your cat.

There is no way any will ask Japan for help related to MH17. Japan is not an interested party. The carrier is Malaysia, the manufacturer is US, most of the victims are Dutch(193)/US (1 dual),Malaysian (43), Australian (27), Indonesian (12), British (10)/SA dual (1), German (4), Belgium (4), Filipino (3), Canadian (1), and New Zealand-er (1). Ukraine is the country were this happened. Japan has no part of this. So to offer help is a useless gesture. The Dutch and UK are taking the lead. Do not see anything that Japan can offer that these two countries can't do. This is not a weather event, this is a crime. There is no way that you can get 100% evidence since the crime seen was contaminated, possibly deliberately. Even with proof that the plane was shot down by a Russian BUK with a Soviet 9M38 or 9M317, it will be impossible to know who ordered it or who fired it. Japan can't offer anything that can clear this up. The only thing Japan can offer is to go along with more sanction on Russia as Europe seems about to do.

The world is no more and no less dangerous than it's ever been. An the has been wars in some part or multiple parts of the world for centuries. No different now. You don't get a civilian airline shoot down often but there has been several. You go into a war zone, the odds of getting kill will go up. And in any war zone, civilians are the most to die. It is a bit mind boggling when you look at all the wars for the past 2 centuries. Look it up on wiki.