MrExpatriate comments

bassfunk,

"That depends on what you see as failure."

Is that just a filler answer because you have nothing valid to respond with or are you that blind to Afghanistan's history? If it is the latter, you definitely shouldn't be speaking on the matter. For hundreds, if not thousands of years,countless foreign invaders and have attempted to rule that land. And history always shows that the people always rebel against and succeed in overthrowing foreign institutions. If you install a foreign-backed leader in a country, and they are ousted, it is a failure, period.

"Saddam was a threat."

To who, the United States? Not. To the Sunnis and the Kurds who he oppressed? Absolutely. What did that have to do with the United States? Nothing. Oh, the mustard gas thing? Yeah, he used it on the Kurds because of a failed assassination attempt. Still had nothing to do with the U.S. If that's the case, we should have already liberated Tibet, Taiwan, dismantled oppressive governments in Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, N. Korea, China, and numerous African countries due to oppressive regimes. But of course, they aren't on par with America's interests, or at least not enough to do what was done in Iraq.

There is no excuse for the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. We went into both and only made things monumentally worse. Iraq is in a full fledged civil war now that there is no definitive, powerful entity running it (and no, I do not condone anything Saddam did). Afghanistan is even worse with the Taliban's resurgence to reclaim power. So what do we have to show for it? Too many lost lives, pointless spending, and an invaluable amount of time wasted.

A barking dog never bites.

The KPA never makes empty talk...

yeah, okay...whatever. Go ahead and try something and there will be no more KPA to talk empty again

Yeah, because shelling a S. Korean island and hitting a S. Korean warship with torpedoes that kills 46 military men is "barking" and "talking empty". I don't advocate for either attack, but if anyone is all bark and talking empty, it's South Korea. Did they retaliate from either offense, which in most cases would be grounds for war in any other civilized nation? I didn't think so.

Sorry for the double post, but here's a YouTube link showing a segment of the vigil as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuo5f4vSLF0&sns=tw

The man speaking at the start and end of the video sum up the mood and mentality of the Sikhs present.

I am in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and it is such a somber mood. Satwant Kaleka (the president of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin) is the father of one of my high school teachers, and he was shot trying to tackle the gunman. Sadly, I saw on his son's FB that Satwant died of his injuries late last night. What a terrible feeling this all is.

The crazy thing is that none of the Sikhs I've seen and talked to are angry. They are just sad and confused as to why it happened. I think that is a testament to the peace-loving nature of their religion. I went to the vigil in downtown Milwaukee last night, and it was beautiful. There was not an ounce of hate was exhibited, and all of the Sikhs present just asked for the understanding and acceptance of their religion. They also were very grateful of the overwhelming support that everyone has shown them during such a difficult time, and it goes to show that the power of peace and love can and will triumph over evil.

Photos of the vigil can be viewed on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.568210400779.2034707.113800636&type=3

Its good to see video game develpers working so hard for the betterment of society (very heavy sarcasm here!) IMHO games like this are worthless crap that nurture violent behavior in young people (and some adults as well.) Moral responsibility is a thing of the past, now it's all for the sake of profit. Disgusting!

Video games =/= violent behavior. Get over yourself.

the first to be sanctioned by U.S. intelligence agencies.

This means a lot is fabricated and/or omitted. That makes the exhibit an act of fiction inspired by real events.

*bother, not both

Nothing to see here folks, move along. Just typical and hypocritical nonsense from politicians. Now before someone gets all bent out of shape about the opening of this post, let me say that I do not dispute the claim(s) of tens of thousands (and many more) deaths as the result of Kim Jong-Il's neglect.

However, with that being said, I bet you if someone like George W. Bush, who one could easily be attributed to thousands of unnecessary deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan died tomorrow, the whole U.N. would be silent and the U.S. would receive an overflow of condolences. That's why this is hypocritical. The UN is a joke. If they really despised Kim Jong-Il and his government, why did they even both humoring them with an ambassador or book of condolences? It's a typical politician two-faced tactic, and now they want to act offended when N. Korea asks for them to humor the DPRK with a moment of silence and condolences.

This story is not surprising in the slightest sense. I say the more help, the merrier. I don't really think this is a time to play politics or moral games, especially when the end result is a rebuilt/reconstruction Tohoku region [I doubt the Yakuza would only dispatch these people to Fukushima, as I'm sure they have been dispatched elsewhere too].

Elbuda,

You don't follow the Middle East much, do you? The whole point is that Turkey is one of the United States/NATO's biggest allies in the Middle East. It doesn't matter if it is another Muslim country or not. The friend of an enemy would be....an enemy. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that out.

Anyone with an ounce of logic would realize the U.S. and Israel have no grounds for attacking Iran. It's just Iraq all over again, except "weapons of mass destruction" is replaced with "trying to build nuclear arms". Oh, and the whole phony assassination attempt on the Saudi ambassador? Give me a break.

This is just another Gulf of Tonkin. A false accusation to justify the means of war. The U.S. has been doing it for decades and will continue doing so.

Can someone explain to me why the yen being high is a bad thing? I'm not too familiar with the matter.

I pretty much support the idea of clubs like this. These people have the choice and luxury of doing whatever they want. If they do this, then more power to them. It wouldn't and doesn't affect me in any way, shape, or form.

Out of all the messages I read, the risk of STDs seems to be the biggest issue. I say that since the clubs already gather customer info and photos, that they should make them take MANDATORY STD tests on a monthly basis. I'm sure someone would have a problem about the duration of time between tests (and how someone can catch an STD between them), but it's better than not having anything. I think it would ease some minds. Will it completely solve the risk of STDs? No, but neither will doing nothing about it either.

For anyone taking part in this, I have two words for you:

HAVE FUN!

NetNinja,

You completely wasted your time using a Geiger counter on that food. Like others said, your Geiger counter won't give accurate results with that produce. All you managed to do is scare a woman because of your ignorance. Maybe next time you should take other people into consideration before you go and do something so RECKLESS.

JapanGal,

I hope you do call the police so they can remove you from the store for being just as foolish as NetNinja was. You're letting your fear and paranoia get the best of you, and all that leads to is misinformed decisions and actions like that.

And people claim that Japan is a safe country. They surely don't read the crime sections of any Japanese news outlets, that's for sure. Every other day someone hacks another person up into pieces, or a son/daughter kills a parent, wife or husband kills their spouse. Japan is not a safe country at all. So many people are mentally oppressed until one day it all spills out and they kill someone. It happens every single day, and their crimes are much more twisted than the U.S.'s typical assaults, robberies, and murders.

I'm far too lazy to remember radiation readings of micro, milli, and regular seiverts, and what is considered dangerous.

So are the findings in Setagaya, Funabashi, etc actually DANGEROUS amounts, or is everyone in arms because they are just higher than normal?

The only thing just as bad as the Japanese government supposedly lying about radiation levels is people exaggerating the danger in radiation levels for the sake of fear mongering. Which one is it?

While valiant, these protesters are wasting their time. Do they actually think something will come out of protesting? This isn't Egypt or any other Middle Eastern country who protested and 'won' (mind you not because of the actual protesters, but powers within their respective militaries and/or governments). This is the United States of America. If the banks and whoever else control the nation, that's how it's going to be, and some random ass protesters aren't ever going to change that.

What's going to happen is that these people are going to keep protesting for however many days, and guess what? Absolutely nothing will change and they will go back to their homes to continue complaining with like-minded individuals.

Am I saying they are wrong? No. What I'm saying is that their whining is futile. No one other than people just like you (people with no power whatsoever) care what you think. Deal with it.

Anyone who thinks Noda will do anything to bring abductees back to Japan is purely naive.

Keep hunting, Japan!

There is billions of garbage and waste being dumped into the ocean by companies and others, and you guys are getting butt hurt over a handful of school children throwing bottles? Your anger is trivial.

Yeah, women taking photos of food is ridiculous! It doesn't make any sense whatsoever they have an appreciation for food or the art behind it. IT'S STUPID.

And what's with those people who take photos of stuff like buildings, cars, and other people? No one likes crap like that and it's so pointless.

You know what? Cameras in general are a nuisance. Let's just rid ourselves of them so no one can post their dumb, trivial pictures with others!

This poll should definitely be taken with a grain of salt. Assuming it is genuine, I would bet money the mentality behind the high rating is that people HOPE that Noda will turn things around for the country. They've already been through enough already (Tohoku quake, rising yen, China, the Koreas, etc.) and they've been at the mercy of men who have not alleviated the problems (Kan, Hatoyama, etc.). So when a new prime minister emerges, the only thing they have IS hope. The poll might as well say, "63% - The percentage of Japanese people who have hope for Noda."

VicMOsaka,

It's not called "Pride Promotions". The context is clearly implying that she promoted at Pride [Fighting Championship] events.

Angus Rofe,

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Everyone loved her and fighters even admitted to getting PUMPED UP by her introductions. You obviously know nothing about her or Pride FC considering: 1. You're calling it 'Pride promotions', 2: Pride was bought out by the UFC's parent-company, Zuffa in 2007 (so Pride doesn't exist anymore), and 3: Lenne Hardt got hired immediately for DREAM once it started up, and fans want her to come to America for U.S.-based MMA promotions. Obviously some people (or I don't know...A LOT of them) like her for her unique announcing abilities.

So please, spare us your nonsense.

You guys have no idea what you're talking about. Chinooks are DESIGNED to carry large payloads of troops and equipment. The Chinook used can seat up to 55 people. You say 30 people would slow down a Chinook? Are you serious? You know the thing can lift artillery pieces, vehicles, other helicopters, and planes, right?

You suggest "smaller, faster" choppers as a replacements, but for one, there would be more targets. Secondly, no other transport chopper can navigate the mountainous terrain or cope with the altitude or temperatures of Afghanistan like the Chinook can. One Chinook replaces FIVE Blackhawks. You'd rather have two or three crammed Blackhawks transporting them, even though they have had far more accidents than the Chinook? Come on now.

Against military doctrine to put 30 guys in a chopper meant to be used as such? Don't be ridiculous.

At the end of the day, the insurgent who fired that RPG got lucky. He hit the right spot at the right time, and that's why the heli went down.