michaelqtodd comments

Posted in: Man mistakenly sent ¥46.3 mil in COVID funds gambles it all away See in context

All this is doing is making the town officials, the bank, the police and the Japanese laws look really stupid.

I bet they all wish that they just kept this whole thing secret. Or maybe they tried to do this for 2 weeks then it somehow leaked. And then they wasted another 500,000 yen on lawyers?

Presumably it will promote a review of the systems and the laws.

Whatever happens it looks like the money has gone.

Thief will just go to another town.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Man who mistakenly received entire town’s COVID-19 relief money vanishes See in context

The You Tube video has very different information than the newspaper article quoted by JT. It says that is a crime. So the police will be looking for him. He will have to return the money and then do some prison time. As would be the case anywhere else in the world.

Unless of course he has gone overseas and they are not telling us that. Possible that he got a fake passport of course. Ferries go every day to Korea from right by where he lived. Close to Fukuoka international airport too. About 2 million yen for a fake passport.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Man who mistakenly received entire town’s COVID-19 relief money vanishes See in context

Obviously this would not be possible in many countries. There are usually laws to stop you withdrawing or transferring money that you know is not yours.

So has the town dished out another 100,000 yen to each of the 463 households?

Actually I have so many questions. Was there an attempted cover up? Did the town official and/ or bank that sent the money out incorrectly sit on the information for 2-3 weeks before they did anything?

Has the guy applied for a passport and left Japan? They know this right?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Average condo price in Tokyo area sets new high in fiscal 2021 See in context

How is the price of a normal 2 bedroom apartment in central Tokyo? I bought one 6 years ago but rental income has dropped a lot since then.

It is not new but is fully renovated so looks new inside. The fees for selling are quite high though. I guess when you buy in japan it is best to stick it out for the 35 years

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Russia tightens noose in Mariupol; Ukrainian refugees top 5 million See in context

Russia are big and strong.

China and India are funding them. Between the 3 of them and various other supporters getting towards half the world's population.

So sanctions will not help. Russians will plod on maybe for 3 even 5 more years. Look at the death and destruction in just 2 months. Is starting to drop from news cycle. Australian TV news barely reporting about it anymore. My heart goes out to the kids

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Posted in: Australian rugby player arrested on cocaine possession charge See in context

There was no indication that Ferguson would have been any good at rugby anyway. Way to slow and did not know the rules.

His character was well known. Many incidents some very serious. Hope that this Japanese club did not pay him anything but suspect that they may have.

So what punishment could a normal 31 year old Japanese guy expect for this? Say 9 months in custody awaiting trial then 2-3 years if found guilty?

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Posted in: New year, same old question: Will Djokovic play Australian Open? See in context

Novax Djokovic is not coming to Australia. Was announced several weeks ago that no exemptions would be given. Australian Open said today he tried for exemption and was automatically refused. Question is why did he ever think he would be given special treatment?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Posted in: Miss Universe 2021 Japan entry slammed for wearing 'dead person’s kimono' See in context

This costume is art and has clearly been designed to create discussion.

What traditions are worth keeping and what are not? Why does Japan dislike tattoos so much? Why are emblems of the imperial family so sacred?

It has clearly worked so is a massive success?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Posted in: Damaged Amazon rainforest teetering on the brink See in context

You could swop the words Brazil for Australia and not need to alter the story very much. A massive amount of land has been cleared for cattle farming.

Australia also thrives on fracking and coal maybe Brazil will get into that too one day soon.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Posted in: Osaka immigration footage shows mistreatment of detained foreigner See in context

I have written about my 11 days of solitary confinement in a rural prison and then 43 days in the Osaka Immigration Center quite a lot here in the past.

I saw much much worse than this. I saw a guy fought and dragged by about 15 guards from one end of the center to another. He was a big African doctor who had been cheated out of his PHD research by a Kyoto University professor. Once he completed his research they cancelled his student visa. So he was very grumpy.

The crazy thing about my experience was that it took 53 days to learn that I could get bail if I paid a bond. They required $30,000 we had to carry it around in cash to 3 different places. They would not accept a bank transfer.

I was suspected of volunteering as a translator without a work visa. Was never charged with anything.

27 ( +38 / -11 )

Posted in: Senior police officer arrested for filming up woman’s skirt See in context

Was he in uniform when he did this?

Just charge this guy with the maximum possible offence and fire him. Publish his name and photograph.

Then this kind of thing will happen less.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Posted in: Ohtani hits MLB-high 43rd HR as Angels beat Texas See in context

Just incredible how he keeps this great season going.

He has started more games and pitched way more innings than anyone else on his team the Angels. Has the most wins (9-1) and is also easily leading the team in overall batting.

Even if he were 2 players they would both be brilliant.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: U.S. climate envoy Kerry in Japan to discuss effort to cut emissions See in context

Actually I found some figures for the past 60 years.

USA 7 tons of carbon per person

China .2 of a ton of carbon per person.

This does not even include emissions from overseas flights or from fossil fuel exports. You could probably double the USA figure and increase China to .21 of a ton.

Kerry will have his work cut out.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Posted in: U.S. climate envoy Kerry in Japan to discuss effort to cut emissions See in context

I wonder if Kerry will fly to Africa too

Cameroon: CO2 emissions 0.4 tons per person per annum

U.S.: C02 emissions 15.5 tons per person?

And as for China they have 4 times as many people as Japan and USA combined but in 2021 only twice the emissions. And over the past 50 years a total of about 1/3 of the emissions. Emissions which are still hanging around causing damage.

So why exactly would China want to speak to Kerry until USA brings their say 55 year emission level down to a quarter of the total of China by 2026?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Posted in: U.S. climate envoy Kerry in Japan to discuss effort to cut emissions See in context

Is incredible really. USA has over double the carbon footprint per person of Japan and this guy Kerry travels around asking Japan to reduce their emissions. USA is a basket case. Texas and other states for example have no methane emission regulations. California and Colorado have the strictest.

Russian methane emissions rose 32% in 2020. Why not start there and in Texas? Where the real problems are.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Posted in: How would planting 8 billion trees every year for 20 years affect Earth's climate? See in context

If it had been done 46 years ago it would have done some good.

1975 was a tipping point or turning point time. At that stage greenhouse gases were still at a relatively low level in the atmosphere and had not filled the oceans to anything like the extent of now. So carbon capture would have been of some help.

The article talks about India. One person in India creates about 5 times the emissions of people in most African countries.

Carbon dioxide is only one greenhouse gas. There are many. Methane and Nitrous oxide emissions are rising even faster than carbon dioxide.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Posted in: TEPCO to build undersea tunnel to release Fukushima water; gov't to buy marine products See in context

10 years later and TEPCO and the Japanese government still have the capacity to shock us.

How is decommissioning of all the other nuclear plants in Japan going?

They all take several years so I hope it is happening fast. All ticking time bombs.

So important to always look at origin of vegetables in the supermarket and to never eat at restaurants

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Lockdowns or vaccines? NZ, Australia, Japan try diverging paths See in context

Strange and irrelevant to try to describe an "Australian" approach. Every state is different.

Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania and the Northern Territory have had about 20 people die between the lot of them. Is only really New South Wales and Victoria who have had any issues. Comes down to message and how much people care about each other really.

Both New Zealand and Australia have been slow to vaccinate because governments did not want to pay the early premium prices for Pfizer. That was a mistake and now some parts of Australia are paying for that especially South West Sydney.

16 ( +18 / -2 )

Posted in: If you have or had a Japanese spouse, how would you describe your relationship with your Japanese in-laws? How has it changed over the years since you got married? See in context

Just as we were about to say our wedding vows out of the blue my father in law got up and started shouting that the marriage should not happen. I was not good enough for his daughter blah blah blah. We had to have him escorted out. 9 years ago and neither my wife or I have spoken to him since. They both lived in America for 20 years and can speak good English. They never gave us a wedding present. Father in law went to a very good university, worked around the world for a large trading company and still plays golf at 80. My wife speaks to her mother by phone 2 or 3 times a week. Mother in law is super sweet. I have met her 3 times for lunch.

Is one brother we have stayed at his house in America he is great. His parents have not spoken to him for 25 years as he is married to another guy.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Ohtani dominates on mound; hits 40th homer in Angels' 3-1 win over Tigers See in context

Watched this was incredible. Rare to see anyone pitch at this speed with this much control.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Posted in: Delta variant confirmed in New Zealand; virus case total increases to 7 See in context

Some science. Covid can be eradicated if it is not allowed to spread all over the place. Even if there are barely any transmissions it will not mutate into a more contagious virus. So New Zealand has done right by everyone here.

New Zealand is a place where nearly everyone is connected in some way. So deaths and illness are prevented if possible. Is not like bigger countries where deaths go unnoticed and people are just numbers.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Posted in: New Zealand records 1st local coronavirus case in 6 months See in context

Covid is really starting to bite New Zealand.

Yesterday they cancelled the Sail GP set for February 2022 in Christchurch. An event watched by several hundred million rich people. Good prospective customers for New Zealand goods and services.

Why? New Zealand said that the 160 fully vaccinated sailors and support crews would not be able to book in to do 2 weeks quarantine each. Reservations for quarantine are stacked up way beyond that already.

Lala lala lala la

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

Posted in: Bob Dylan sued for allegedly sexually abusing girl in 1965 See in context

Did she bother saying in her suit that Bob Dylan was on a lengthy tour in Britain and Europe during the time she alleges this offending took place?

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Posted in: 1.4 million people urged to seek shelter as heavy rain triggers floods, landslides in Japan See in context

I read the report. The reality is that things are at least 10 times as bad as anybody in that ICCC would have you believe. I have been involved in this stuff for 48 years. I know hundreds of climate experts who are not paid off by the ICC or some activist group. They all say the same thing. 2026 is when the music stops. The time to act on emission reductions was 1974. You can join our Facebook groups and read some actual facts if you wish

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Posted in: 1.4 million people urged to seek shelter as heavy rain triggers floods, landslides in Japan See in context

More importantly globally we need to manage climate change better by decreasing the amount of CO2 we pump into the environment.

That is a bit of a myth perpetrated by the United Nations IPCC and others. What they do not tell you is that there is no possibility of mitigation anymore. In fact the last chance for it died out in the early to mid 70s. They do not want you to panic and they are contractually bound not to promote reduction of economic activity.

The weather we get now was determined by emissions from 20 years ago. CO2 is an issue but so are methane and nitrous oxide and several other gases. There is a large blanket of surplus greenhouse gases now so our planet is now creating its own emissions. This is called a feedback loop. One of 6 major feedback loops in fact.

So even if man made emissions were halted today the weather for the next 3 or 4 decades is pretty much locked in. Let's keep a bit closer to the facts and to reality?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Posted in: 1.4 million people urged to seek shelter as heavy rain triggers floods, landslides in Japan See in context

When the last of the summer Arctic Sea Ice melts in September 2025 or 2026 the operations of the Jetstream will be messed with to such a degree that it might rain this hard for 3 months in Japan not just a week. So get ready for this.

Up till then there will be slow and gradual changes like we are seeing in the past few months. When it happens though the changes will start happening at several times the speed. Japan burns a lot of coal so is a large part of the problem.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: U.S. sending 3,000 troops for partial Afghan embassy evacuation See in context

Studied more. Taliban heavily funded by China. Chinese companies already in there mining away. US loses yet another war. As pointed out above constant wars since 1945 but no wins whatsoever.

Where will they invade next? Hope its not here lol

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Posted in: U.S. sending 3,000 troops for partial Afghan embassy evacuation See in context

The Talibans are back. Like that dose of athlete's foot that nobody wants but refuses to go away..

Many Afghanistanis now running for Libya to try to get a boat to Italy or elsewhere in Europe. Attitudes towards refugees have hardened though and there will be suffering and chaos.

Imagine there's no countries it isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Posted in: Experts say New Zealand should keep virus elimination plan See in context

I am a New Zealander.

Our response has been perfect as has that of Queensland in Australia where we live.

Our kids are going to school and playing team sports. We are enjoying concerts and full sports stadiums. No lockdowns and no old people living in any fear.

What exactly is not to like?

Am I missing the overseas tourists? Not so much. Is impossible to book a hotel or even a camping ground space in many parts of Queensland. New Zealand skifields also at full capacity. All kinds of businesses are booming. Hospitals are not troubled. We go weeks and soon month without even thinking of covid.

We are gradually getting vaccinated by Pfizer as supply becomes available.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Posted in: Premier League looks to be a 4-team title fight See in context

Not an interesting competition. I would prefer a salary cap of some kind. Or simply a top 10 and bottom 10 with promotion relegation. There will be more and more 5-0 and even 7-0 games.

Arsenal had the second best record in the second half of last season. Do not write them off so quickly.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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