LikingJapan comments

My father used to ask.. "What's worse than a car that doesn't go? I car that doesn't stop."

That being said consider the following: When you go to a doctor (GP) do you ask them what grade they received for the field of illness that you are seeking advice. Airplanes have double-triple redundancy and are always flying even though they have problems. What percentage of vehicles actually are faulty based on how many are out there?

I am one of the sheep that has a new Prius and I like it. No troubles at all.

The North American teams (?) are a bunch of ALL STARS with very little TEAM to be seen. This is especially true early in tournaments. The Swiss have recreated the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team strategy by presenting a bunch of guys who play together.

For those above who see this as a great moment for America it is likely not. If it hurts Toyota it is unlikely that people will change their buying habits, I doubt it. FORD still means "Fix Or Repair Daily" and GM "General Mayhem". Korean automobiles are viewed as "Rust Buckets" so that leaves the average American buyer going for Audi or BMW if they want quality? I doubt it.

Figure Skating judging is always questionable. It is much better than it used to be. But to understand it perhaps a comparison with Poker might work. Plushenko pulled out the "a hand of aces" but lost to the simple yet very difficult "straight flush".

I saw the Canada vs. Czech game in Nagano. That was enough stress. I'm glad that I missed this one. (although the result this time is more to my liking).

Newspapers have many problems. Readership is likely an older audience who are retiring and no longer need two copies. (1 for work and 1 for home) Older people already vote. It is likely correct that newspapers like elections because it is their demographic that would buy more newspapers.

Most importantly... TV. Every morning I can "watch" TV while the newspaper is read to me. The newspapers should charge the TV stations for doing TV's research and reporting for them.

Odd that a real mother and daughter are used in the promotion of a movie where the father is unknown.

How do you join the police when you are 18?

I'm laughing at the Australians who bought properties in a country where most dwellings depreciate almost as quickly as a vehicle once it is driven off the lot. I'm interested in learning about how the mortgages were handled as well. It is possible that people are paying 50% more (because of the exchange rate) for a property that they can't afford to go to and are unlikely able to rent. Most of my Japanese friends go skiing for the weekend and enjoy hotels and a rest from cooking.

It is November and he shot himself on May 2nd. "Swift Justice".

Capone got caught for Tax Evasion.

Palin could be caught by her underwear. (If any of the shopping included undergarments she could be in trouble as there may be some health regulations about donating such items to charity. - You can't return swimsuits or underwear to a store)

Libertas: The definition of "Engineer" is different than what you are used to. Engineer is used in Japan to include many types of skilled laborers. Technicians and skilled tradesmen (electricians, welders, plumbers) is what the article likely refers to. Your reference to 5,000 hired overseas are the University graduate type of Engineers that design projects but don't know how to use a hammer (like 'Paper drivers' people with a driver's licence but never drive)

iPhone Broken This morning on TV it was funny to see an iPhone's functions being shown and the photo not rotating automatically when the phone was rotated. The newscaster tried it a few times in different directions but to no avail.

On my way to work today I saw a bunch of guys in front of a Softbank branch on the outskirts of my city (I don't live in Tokyo). There were no cars in the parking lot just the bicycles that belonged to the Akihabara like guys.

Tokyo Tower When new roads or bypasses are built the same name is often used. Rarely is a New, Old,and never A or B used. Many older building are torn down. So it is likely that the "old/original" Tokyo Tower won't last much longer and the term NEW will be redundant as most people will have forgotten about the OLD one.

Can you believe that at one time in Japan the leading edge of fashion was LONG SKIRTS (the longer the better - Early 1970's). That hasn't been the case for some time but it is enlightening. Part of the issue today is whether or not slacks are an option for girls. If the students are young then factors such as comfort and general acceptability are more or equally important to leading fashion.