Posted in: Egyptian plane hijacker arrested, passengers freed See in context
Would hate to see what this guy does when is angry, if this for "love". This is like the old-school hijackings in the 70-80s when most people lived through it.
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: What do you think about the way Valentine's Day is celebrated in Japan? See in context
I treat my wife to flowers on V-day and the shops are basically empty, no problem buying roses at the last minute - try that in the US, no way, Jose. I also get her some rare chocolates and make dinner. We don't do White Day and that is fine by me. I have to deal with the "giri-choco" at the office, pain in the neck, keeping track and so forth.
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: What are your views on relationships in which one partner is at least 20 years older than the other? See in context
I'm 15 yrs older than my wife, so I resemble this. Works for us - 12 yrs and going strong. Had to watch quite a few movies to get her up to speed with certain things but other than a few things like that - she keeps me young!
9 ( +9 / -0 )
Posted in: In your experience, which airline has the best flight attendants and which one has the worst? See in context
Singapore but Emirates isn`t bad at all. Have a Krisflyer credit card and get ¥100 to a mile for free flights, etc. The most dodgy flights I took were on local airlines in west Africa, live chickens, people trying to start cooking stoves, filthy, stinky aircraft on the 4th or 5th owner. Not fun when you have a "stomach issue".
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: Buddhist schoolgirl idol group gets shut down for becoming too popular See in context
That was a waste of a minute of my life. This has convinced me to make an Idol Group for chotto pochari-kei older gaijin males....singing about the wonders of nomihodai and izakaya. It will be called, "Charisma JiJis".
-1 ( +1 / -2 )
Posted in: Supplements blamed for 23,000 emergency visits each year See in context
Don`t wast your money - eat fish, fruit and veggies daily. And of course drink red wine liberally.
3 ( +5 / -2 )
Posted in: Jury hits Apple with $234 mil tab in chip patent case See in context
Go Badgers!
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Playboy to stop publishing nude photos See in context
so that will put some people here in Japan out of work - all the scratching technicians who destroy the pictures with marks on the pubic regions.
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: To what extent do you think employers should block employee access to online sites, social networking accounts or monitor email? See in context
@ADK99 Consider the larger picture. Employees are using company kit, company software licenses, company network, servers, etc. Your employer has various risks in regards to compliance with labor laws, privacy laws, discrimination lawsuits, etc. They even need to avoid potentially embarrassing situations should it come out that you are posting odd things on Facebook at work. I work for a massive multi-national and know they are monitoring my every move - I have no problem with it at all. These tools are provided at great cost to facilitate my work, not my recreation.
-2 ( +0 / -2 )
Posted in: To what extent do you think employers should block employee access to online sites, social networking accounts or monitor email? See in context
Lets put it this way, would you call relatives overseas and speak for hours on your company phone? Didnt think so. So why should you do anything not related to your work on a company computer and network? You have a smartphone, use that to update everyone about your tasty lunch, plans for the weekend and researching cheap plane tickets to Phuket.
1 ( +2 / -1 )
Posted in: Police officer commits suicide with pistol in station toilet See in context
Really nice area - of course, he didn`t live there, just dealt with the folks there.
0 ( +1 / -1 )
Posted in: Alcohol and cigarettes are strongly addictive, and young people feel the effects more strongly, so the issue should not be grouped together with the voting age. See in context
So old enough to get married, have children and vote in elections but not have a happoshu? Ludicrous. (Don`t get me started on my home country, the US...insanity)
4 ( +4 / -0 )
Posted in: New arrival See in context
Nixon left office in disgrace - won`t be a row boat named after him. Clinton? R U serious?
-3 ( +8 / -11 )
Posted in: 'My Number' system: A worrying glimpse of the future See in context
This system will eventually catch tax cheats and the govt. needs all the revenue it can get. All sorts of people in Japan self-report taxes including doctors, dentists, accountants, farmers, small business owners, etc. It has been incredibly easy for them to under-report their earnings and assets - until this system gradually takes hold. If you are an employee of a company (like most of us), you are taxed at the source and unlike the USA, don`t even have to file an income tax form in Japan.
Eventually this system will enable the tax authorities to track your bank accounts, insurance, brokerage accounts, etc. It will become much more difficult to hide income and assets.
Another good point would be that Japan could institute means-based benefits and allowances. Why should everyone get the same childcare allowance, for example?
0 ( +2 / -2 )
Posted in: Egyptian forces mistakenly fire on desert safari, killing 12 See in context
CrazyJoe - we can safely assume you`ve never been to Egypt, correct? You watch a bit of news and assume the whole Middle East is a big war zone, right? You should book a trip to Turkey, Jordan, Israel and Egypt right now - it will be an amazing and eye-opening trip full of amazing people, sights and food.
1 ( +2 / -1 )
Posted in: Longer checkout times would inconvenience customers, but hiring additional workers to cut the times would weigh on our earnings. See in context
Fast food or any food purchased to sit down and eat at a restaurant should not be part of the refund - that is absurd. More importantly, instead of a refund sytem, food purchased in a market should be exempt from the consumption tax or at least taxed at a much lower rate. It would be much simpler to implement. I can`t imagine mom & pop veggie/fruit shops installing "My Number" card readers...ridiculous.
3 ( +3 / -0 )
Posted in: Islamic parties seek ban on alcohol consumption in Indonesia See in context
How do the Hindus (and tourists) on Bali feel about this? So many resorts would suffer? What`s next - burkinis for all?
-2 ( +1 / -3 )
Posted in: Report gives U.S. airlines lower marks across the board See in context
Always try to avoid US airlines whenever possible. I`m headed to the US on Thursday, flying Singapore to LA, then Virgin America to Newark. Should be bearable.
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: The controversy that has erupted over her selection is a great opportunity for us Japanese to examine how far we have come from our self-perpetuated myth of homogeneity while at the same time it shows See in context
@Illyas May we presume you`ve never heard of Singapore?
4 ( +6 / -2 )
Posted in: In your experience, which city’s taxi drivers are among the best and the worst in the world? See in context
Best - London, Amsterdam & Frankfurt
Worst - Lagos, Nigeria
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Killjoys demand end to Valentine's Day See in context
3 Rules for dating: 1) Be attractive 2) Have money 3) All of the above
12 ( +13 / -1 )
Posted in: In view of what’s happening in Syria and Iraq, do you agree with the Japanese government’s decision to confiscate the passports of any private citizen who wants to go there? See in context
Passports belong to the issuing govt. and they reserve the right to confiscate them. Perhaps there are countries where you issue your own with no expiration date and go wherever you wish but I`m not aware of one.
1 ( +2 / -1 )
Posted in: Japan unveils first domestically made passenger jet in four decades See in context
Connecting this to visitors for the Olympics is ludicrous.
1 ( +2 / -1 )
Posted in: I had no ideological or religious motives. I just wanted to test myself against what is strong. See in context
I`m sure his parents and teachers are bursting with pride. I have zero respect. Join a rugby or ice hockey team you jackass.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Write or type? Recruiter lays into laziness of young Japanese job hunters See in context
Welcome to the past. Plus rirekusho traditionally have pictures on them which invites all sorts of snap judgements by potential employers before anyone is ever met. This practice should go away along with the hanko.
4 ( +5 / -1 )
Posted in: Japan's first transit hotel to open at Haneda airport See in context
Why can`t they open a simple transit hotel that is ¥3,000 - ¥4,000? How can you be a world class airport and not have had a transit hotel?
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Even if there are Ainu, they are no more than Japanese who are descended from Ainu. All they do is insist relentlessly on exercising their rights. It's absurd, and I can't explain it to the taxpayers. See in context
Since when is "Yasuyuki" a woman? This is a male and he is in Sapporo already.
4 ( +4 / -0 )
Posted in: The fantastic feast of festival food in Japan See in context
Most is absolute garbage. I don`t let my kids eat anything at the matsuri.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Will a summer vacationer bring back Ebola to Japan? See in context
Let's stop fear-mongering and deal in factual information. From the WHO website: "Ebola then spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids. Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness." Sound hard to get from someone on the subway.
7 ( +7 / -1 )
Posted in: 7 steps to stronger, more secure passwords See in context
I use Dashlane to manage my passwords - works well on all devices, etc. They just intro'd a great feature letting you designate someone (or many people) to have access to your account if you are incapacitated, in jail or gone from the world. I do use a very old phone number (when I was 5) as the basis for most of PWs and then add punctuation, letters and caps, most are 10+ characters long but I can remember most of them and have Dashlane to back me up.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Campaigning kicks off in Japan for Oct 27 general election
Posted in: COVID-19 may increase heart attack and stroke risk for years
Posted in: King Charles III heads to Australia and Commonwealth meeting
Posted in: Godzilla at 70: The monster’s warning to humanity is still urgent