madmel comments

A head on collision with a couple cars the size of large go karts and the drivers are not seriously!!! Yet a child dies?? I call BS.. When i commute in Japan I get so mad watching all the idiots with unsecured kids in the cars. An associate of mine just had a horrific accident with his 4 door full size pick up truck here in Canada (a vehicle 6 meters long!) that cartwheeled several times end for end and and his kids secured in car seats in the back seat where totally unharmed physically and the driver got a broken arm...that it! There was no reason for this senseless death. Japan is a first world nation...it;s about time the transportation department started legislating and enforcing rules that show that. The baby/car seats I did see over there where under engineered pieces of crap.

Quite short sighted appologist stupidity. The Katana is a cultural symbol of the country not a symbol of wwII. Weapons are involved in every confrontation. SO having a rifle on it is no different, right?

No one knows how it happened just a sad story. 3rd floor or 43rd same results. Most of us think back (especially guys) and we are kinda surprised we survived childhood with the dumb shit we did. All I can think of with this story looking at my six year old girl would be the terrifying fear she experienced for the few seconds the fall took. Gives me the shivers. Hope your next life is a less tragic one little girl. :' (" (is this un-vulger enough for our moderator?)

There is a very nice animated movie about the engineer that designed and built the zero. It's really not a kids movie but kinda cool. GOt to see a zero at the Oshkosh air show many years ago.. very cool. Even got to hear the machine guns rattle off some blanks on the ground as the crown wouldn't listen to the marshals and get out of the way for it to go out for its demonstration flight...saw a few old boys dive for cover out of an old war habit. I am sure he got in shit for it but it was still awesome!

Wouldn't it be considered eco-tourism? Mater of perspective I am sure. He has brought to the light awareness...the only people I have ever heard of supporting this is someone in that industry. None of my Japanese friends and in-laws had a clue about the consumption of dolphin meat let alone the way it is harvested. I have specifically asked if my kids school lunches are to contain whale (often illegally labeled dolphin) or dolphin I want to know as I do not want them eating that toxic shit. I hope Rick continues is awareness work and keeps himself out of trouble while doing it.

There are a heck of a lot bigger environmental violations in name of Capitalism than this. There is a damn good reason the birds are almost extinct....they are doing it to themselves with a wildlife version of Darwin award. They build their nests on the beach, with no protection from predators at the high tide mark??? ReallY?!?!? I am surprised the species has lasted this long...damn cute little bird though!

I find it amazing that policing bodies like EPA are not the ones catching this (much sooner) if they where doing the job the tax payers pay them to do. GM has authorized urea delete kits for their diesels in medium duty trucks...what does that mean? I have no use for the VW brand for the same reasons they had to know what was happening. One of the most over engineered grocery getter out there. As a mechanic and service manager I always tire of the arguments with customers about the cost of the maintenance and repairs. As with most euro cars...fantastic cars from the drivers seat but not the pocket book.

What ever fools call post natal depression an "excuse" have never experienced it nor understand mental health troubles at all. It is a very destructive force in a woman's mental health. Unknown to me at the time this can be a life long affliction. In this woman's case she has made a horrible mistake that will probably reinforce the depression for the rest of her life until she succeeds at taking her own life.

REALLY people???!!! You condone possibly permanent bodily harm because of noise? What the hell is wrong with all of you? Vigilante bodily harm when someone isn't trying to hurt you is so draconian. Now if you find a way to get them to stop and beat the crap out of the scooter with a bar or run it over with your truck hey your call but injuring another person over that is not right.

Not all cars have the plastic hook that keeps the mat from moving forward and causing this problem. This must be the problem here. Aftermarket mats that don't have the hook cause problems all the time as they slide forward and push on the accelerator or get under the brake pedal and reduce braking ability. In the winter when the floor seldom gets above freezing here the soggy mat is a frozen board and the problem gets worse.

Such a horrible horrible death. In our country smoke detectors are mandatory and prevent most of these deaths as people get the chance to get out while the fire is still small. I don't recall seeing them in Japan. I think carbon monoxide detectors are becoming a common item on residential leases as well. Both detectors can be had for less that $100.00....pretty cheap life insurance.

If it's true the tax payers are subsidizing this farce it needs to stop. No industry should have long term subsidy. Your company rises or falls on market success. If there is no market you change your business or close shop. The use of this (and dolphin) possibly toxic meat in school lunches is criminal. It's taking advantage of ones own culture of not questioning the establishment. I will not let my child attend a school that serves that garbage.

Just a typical tourist being an absolute idiot. They are SOOOOO lucky this didn't end in a shower of bullets. I live in the Banff AB Canada area and we see this all the time. (ie wedding couple pulling onto the main highway ramp going the wrong way...head on collision with truck...dead) Why do supposedly intelligent people park their brains at home when they decide to drive a car at anther destination? Let alone cultural, language, left/right hand drive issues!!!!!

SauloJpn Taiji is Taiji, why blanket the whole prefecture under one horrible umbrella? My inlaws in Wakayama city knew nothing of this place or it's practices until I showed them "The Cove". They where ashamed to see this was taking place in their prefecture. I agree with a few other posters that we have to look out for all marine life and treat it with respect. If we treated catle, pigs, or chickens the way we treat/kill marine life we would be (in Canada at least) charged via some sort of animal cruelty law.

So they think they can control the contaminated water...ok, but what about the melted reactor core now resting below the plant in the soil?? Did I hear correct that one of the aquifers for Tokyo's water supply passes through Fukashima? Freaking wonderful. Great Toko got the games but if this problem isn't solved will anyone show up?

Thank you Tepco for screwing up something else for your nation..... That aside I would never go to Tokyo for the "summer" games as I would simply melt from the heat. Didn't Tokyo clear 40+ this summer? Are not all the cities going for the bid have extremely hot summers?

No proof required, I would never trust the government to tell the truth about the levels or what they deep safe.....let me know when any of the nay Sayers here move their families on purpose into or near this disaster area...just because is is just perfect there.

That is actually the main problem with ESL training...they worry WAY to much about grammar in the beginning when the skill of pronouncing words clearly so an English only speaker understands the person is far more useful. The main point is communication. Grammar does not need to be correct to communicate but clarity is paramount. I went into a Chinese restaurant and the whole time I was dealing with the waiter I had no problem talking with her heavy accent as I have an ear for it...my Mother did not understand one word the waitress spoke..yet her grammar was perfect. This happens A LOT ...

I have nothing against eating any animal however to rape the planet of various animals (in this case oceanic mammals) until extinction is sheer madness. I have Japanese acquaintances who have the "I will eat what I want" attitude. Yet they cannot justify why their nation is to stupid to figure out how to feed themselves in a way that doesn't require various species genocide? A third world nation ok I get it but a first world nation like Japan....grab a brain.

lol Eppee....with some non English speakers we cannot or we simply give up as we are the ones who get frustrated when we cannot get a point across. Not very polite I will agree but sometimes you only have so much time to get through to someone. Our biggest fault is speed of speech that has lots of idioms and slang. We have many Japanese living here near Banff AB Canada and I am always reminding my staff that that blank stare you get is not stupidity....its their brain straining to figure out what the heck you just said. Conversely I can understand someones broken English better than anyone at my shop.... Have any Japanese people on this thread ever visited Newfoundland Canada? If so HOW did you get by? I cannot even understand half the English spoken out there.

Well it's about time Japan entered the early 90's....my first trip to Japan 10 years ago was soooooo gross as all the wonderful restaurants and coffee houses where always full of wretched smoke. No eating or drinking establishment give a shit about the non smoker so the laws are leveling the playing field since no one would take the initiative....now why is there not as many over regulations regarding child restraints in cars!?

Why do all these new fighter jets in various courtries are looking at buying...suck?...or at least a load of people say they suck? Total reinvention of the wheel seems unneded for a conventional fighter. Why don't they just evolve/update the existing hardware that seems to work fine (to an ignorant non-military person like me) like the F14 & f18??

From what I have seen as I get to know other nations world knowledge is that selective historical teachings are the norm. Nations have pride and the horrible things that military personnel have done are embarrassing and damaging. Living in the horrific/negative past can hinder moving productively into the future. It's also human nature to forget the negative. It's important to know history but dwelling there will be so unproductive for any nation.

This baby does deserve a much better life and by the actions of the mother the childs life has just taken a huge step up "after" being found. In Calgary a abandoned mom (from the Canadian father who was a scumbag) left in the shadows let her little one of a few months old starve to death as she didn't know where to turn and obviously had a mental health issue (possibly triggered by postpartum depression a very destructive problem)....even a very "social" country has lots of safety nets but if you don't know how to leap into the net you (or your (unborn)child) will never get help... I would suspect a terrified and extremely naive teen is the mom....

Gogogo...what is a yak (other than a ungulate in Tibet)? I am sure Apple can simply block those serial numbers from accessing iTunes or any other thing to do with Apple....probably lead the police right to the person if they are stupid enough to use a contract sim in it that would have all their personal info attached to it)

Well Schopenhauer hit the nail on the head....get out of Japan and let them defend them selves! Bravo that is the best thing I have heard in a long time. I know many a tax payer in the US that would like to know why they piss money away on a military base that is not on US soil. If something comes up in SE Asia they can have one or more of their monstrous air craft carriers there quick enough.

As for the Ospray...what does this thing do any better than a helicopter for more money?

I have always enjoyed toms movies as I can separate his personal freakish life from the profession. He is a weirdo it sure seems...when Katie was forced to have a "silent birth" I though ok he has done it again. Now he is hooking his kid up to some electronic gizmo and drilling them with stuff like "have you lied to a teacher"... Nuts the guy is really nuts. How did that Scientology cult become a religion anyhow?

She is obviously mentally challenged or a bottom feeder of the intellectual gene pool...poor kids. This once again screams how the Japanese system of excluding fathers after divorce and no joint custody is WRONG!!! Another parent can detect these problems and intervene. Also in our country the first "accident" at her negligence would have had her on the radar of Childrens Services. In fact they would probably take her children and monitor her. We have a (sometimes over zealous) protection agency for Children here do they not have such a thing in Japan?

DNA???? give me a break. "this is Japan"!!! and that means what? Guess what, the nails that stick up are less frequently getting hammered down in Japan and individuality can spread its wings in the wrong direction sometimes and result in these unfortunate incidence. Parents who are the most iron fisted are often the ones who get the most rebellion from teens and I have a few dead friends because parents pushed discipline to far. There is no cookie cutter recipe for parent hood so cut the crap about the parents. Young teens are far more worldly and street wise that I probably was 5 years their senior back in the early 80's. Teens are damn smart but not skilled at life don't insult their intelligence with this crap that any bad decision they make is their parents fault....what a load. My kids will do the same thing and I will have more grey hair because I know the crazy, dumb, fun stuff I did behind my parents back. I am not going to lock my kids in a box until adult hood and neither should you.

To all the ignorant that think a criminal (in car or otherwize) should be let go during the action of any crime I am shocked. If someone is robing your house or raping a loved one we should just let them go and catch them later .....YEA RIGHT. This guy needed to be stopped and the police did what they where hired to do. It was an accident and the speeding driver is to blame for the speed and the chase. The police will get no satisfaction from this arrest unfortunately due to the outcome but they got the jerk off the roads. Unless you have worn a badge and been out there protecting the general public you have NO IDEA! Not every police officer is perfect but this time they did their job the best they could. RIP Shimizu sama.