Mark_Richards comments

You missed the pledge to reevaluate our war-first policy. No more bombing, invading and occupying other countries. Rather important?

For the Defense Minister, who is apparently clueless, the purpose of the flights is to probe defenses and gather intelligence.

In the case of the Defense Minister, however, the surveillance found none.

The same might be said for banks. In the US, most banks have a panic alarm, and in cities, most banks have an armed guard on duty. Schools must rely on a telephone to call for assistance. In a critical moment, a receptionist must have the time and focus to dial 911 and answer various questions from a clueless dispatcher.

Clearly, the money is more important than the children.

The US points its finger while four digits of the hand point back.

The news story may leave out some important details. Were the study group supplementing with Vitamin A? Vitamin A is a Vitamin D protagonist. Vitamin D helps metabolize calcium. Lack of calcium leads to loss of bone density. Perhaps the group, like the majority of those > 35 degrees latitude, are vitamin D deficient.

At least the manual gear extension worked.

In short, signing a treaty with a gun to your head is the American way. The trend continues, even with yesterday's news that Leon Penetta's visit signals "US forces will be stronger" in Japan. While those in Naha continue to debate the American presence, the US and it's compliant "partner" do whatever they wish and issue press releases from Washington and Tokyo without a care.

Although Japan became prosperous (for a time) she is at the whim of international markets and these it seems swing and sway to the tune set by the US financial system. Prosperity isn't everything. The true purpose of a state is to care for its people, and this has been the hallmark of Japan's greatness. Hers is not a government served by the citizens. It has, since the end of the war, worked well.

My concerns are great and I would venture a guess that Mr. Landsberg and I would have some agreement on the main points: that Japan's adoption of western ideas, language, culture and "morals" have over the long term been a detriment and that she will not remain great acting at the behest of a state (the US) which, in rapid decline, is flailing and desperate to prop itself up via the one and only method it excels at: blowing stuff up.

If Japan's international cultural identity begins at a point in history where America put a gun to its head, I would suggest the rest of the story will surely have a sad end.

As this is out of the US, I note that this is a P-R tactic which is similar to that used by the US federal government at tax time (15 April). A few months prior they issue stories about tax cheats who have been tried and imprisoned, all to ratchet up fear and assure compliance. In this case, the fear are germs, and the CDC and health complex in general wants to keep those vaccines flowing.

Prime Minister Kan started a blog. This is something Noda is continuing.

Nothing new here..

Leaking a flight plan, route of travel, and altitude data long after the flight occurred seems miniscule at best.

If standard ATC radar and a transponder can detect and track AF1, then so can the spy satellites of other nations.

Someone help me here. What's the big deal?

If the tariff is structured such that small energy suppliers (read: homes) receive more per energy unit they feed in than that which they take out, then Japan will be well on her way to a brighter future.

The concept of a large central power supply is old. Each home and business which generates some if not all of its energy needs makes a lot more sense. Here in the US, central energy suppliers have tremendous political power and resist this concept. But Japan, in the wake of this crisis, has a great opportunity to change the paradigm. Prime Minister Kan has led the way. I only hope that the leadership and the people will continue to steer the correct course.

As to technology, Japan has solar-thermal, geo-thermal, wind, and photo-voltaic as great options. All of these are accessible now. The technology is solid. All that is needed is a boost to make it affordable for individual homes and businesses.

Prime Minister Kan worked hard and in the circumstances what more could he do?

I will remember him as a true leader who placed his position on the line for the good of Japan.

The Renewable Energy bill, the restructuring of the Nuclear Energy and Safety infrastructure, and the recovery bill are tremendous accomplishments of which Japan should be proud.

All this, spoken from a foreigner.

I can only hope that Japan will now lead the world in renewable energy. Science is good, but the technology has not reached a level where Nuclear energy can be handled safely. It is time to reconsider and take bold steps. I hope this has begun.

Maher, a total asshat, should join with John Bolton and start a school of diplomacy.

Unfortunate he's no longer on a leash.

What this tells us is that the human immune system can fine-tune its response to the flu and actually produce, albeit at a low frequency, antibodies that neutralize a whole series of strains, said lead author Stephen Harrison of Childrens Hospital Boston.

As this quote suggests, the human immune system is a marvelous thing. It operates well when it is routinely exposed to all sorts of germs, and it appears from the paper that natural immunity may well develop to improve our natural response. Unfortunately our modern society is overly-afraid of germs and goes to extraordinary means to insulate us from the natural environment. Frequent hand washing; sanitizing everything; inoculating against diseases that for the most part present inconvenience and rarely involve serious complications. Industrialized nations with well-tuned public health systems are, in my view, creating more problems than they solve. The WHO (World Health Organization) said as much when they recently suggested ending the Polio vaccination programme: it creates more Polio than it is designed to solve.

One of those who signed on to the quoted paper works for Novartis, a giant pharmaceutical corporation. The rest are in academic medicine, which historically has a direct pipeline to profitable patents, contracts, and jobs in the pharmaceutical market.

Money drives these projects, and this takes the long-term genetic, species, and safety considerations out of the equation, or at least mutes them.

So is this really such good news?

Unbelievable.

Hopefully the inability to simply manage an address book does not suggest inability to manage nuclear materials.

Fussing over the legality of an execution.

Ignoring the illegal wars that have killed thousands.

I trust absolutely nothing coming from the US government.

And this stance has nothing to do with conspiracy theory.

We are seeking to purchase Japanese made products and are actually looking for a pressure washer, so this is good news.

The more Japanese made products that we can purchase, then this will help the rebuilding of Japan.

It would matter not even if medicinal marajuana cured blindness. Changing the rules means that the US would have to admit that the drug war is a failure and that they are wrong.

Won't happen.

If the budget doesn't happen and the US government shuts down, does this mean that all the wars stop?

Here is a President who calls natural gas an alternative fuel. The same one who recently stated that the purpose of education is to create "workers".

I rest my case.