orange comments

Her parents have no right to be devestated, Nicky, they could have supervised her and she would still be alive today.

The amount of freedom given to children to roam free, on roads, and out of sight of parents is something you just dont see in the west. I would hope I wasnt the only foreign parent not to have "gone native" and let their children out in harms way. It is a case of very lazy parenting. Accidents like this are avoidable, if parents just put a bit of effort into supervising their children.

Considering the child had fallen from her bike on a busy intersection, used by 2 tonne trucks, I should say getting off and walking her bike across would have been a great idea. I would certainly not let my 9 year old cross such a road alone, and we definately would get off our bikes and walk them across a road like that., and if large trucks were barrelling down there I would be sure to hold her hand. But then Im careful with my 9 year old daughter, a tactic which means she is live and well and unharmed. With Japan's track record on kids getting run over, molested and the like, letting her go out alone at that age is sheer insanity.

At 9 years old, at a busy intersection, she should have been walking her bike across, with a parent next to her, or holding her hand. Very sad that she didnt have a mother or father who cared enough to ensure she got to live beyond 3rd grade.

It is all too common here for drivers, especially motorbikes and trucks, to ignore red lights/pedestrian green men, and try and drive round people or make the person legally crossing the road, run to avoid a collision.

My heart goes out to this girl, far too young to die, and what a horrific way to go. She should not have been out alone at 9 years old, anyway, let alone alone riding a bike on a busy road.

Its a great match, both sides are mercenary in their pursuit of making the rich richer at any cost.

The other option which can help is having a tape stitched around the cervix. A plastic support sounds far better than that, or Never, should the baby be allowed to be born too early, with sometimes devastating consequences? I might even consider having another child knowing that this is an option.

The device goes outside the neck of the womb, not inside with the baby. There is NO way it could get around the baby's neck. It could however keep the baby inside the womb, safely until it is developed enough not to have problems with breathing, cerebal palsy, brain bleeds, and other such debilitating conditions which DO cause long term and life limiting medical conditions for the baby. I wish I had had access to this device before my child was born severely premature.

Now, Im no Tepco apologist, the whole situation scares the heck out of me, however I was not expecting this level of incompetence and makeshift haphazard fixes. Im astounded. Its a bit of string, some tape and plastic bags!

The only things which will wake people up are birth defects, radiation linked cancers and heart damage in young people. Until then it will be a case of "dont be a panic monger and eat up your radioactive greens".

Well that convinced me, we need to turn back on all the nuclear power plants. Perhaps we should even build more! Yes, utterly convinced now.

Brknarm, she was probably being controlled and abused by this individual as well, and certainly needs help and support to be able to be a better mother, and stronger person.

Very funny! Much more so than Japanese media's usual hit someone on the head and roll around laughing slapstick humor.

I wouldn't live in the UK for any money, civil liberties have been severely eroded and the Nanny State rules.

What kind of useless idiot chooses to stay with a man rather than protect their child from their partner? That said this is not just a "Japan" thing, it happens everywhere. I hope that this woman gets the help she needs and she and her son can be safely reunited. Life is probably going to be a lot better for him with his mother than in the care system, as long as she gets her act together.

NetNinja, why do you stay here? The world is not a horrible place. Japan can be really tough, but surely you deserve happiness - everybody does. There is no shame in leaving and trying to find some peace.

Personally Japan is comfortable for me on the whole, as long as I dont expect too much in terms of equality. Ive had Japanese people served in queues before me when Im clearly next, stared at, my children asked "where are you from" , which I find really strange as they are Japanese. Immigration can be horrendous, I dread going to Shinagawa, but that is just one day a year.

That is all positively outweighed by the fact that on the whole Japan leaves people alone to live their lives. On a day to day basis life here is quite comfortable for me. In my experience there are far more good hearted Japanese-born people who just want a friendly conversation and to be smiled back at, than people who would be nasty to your face.

Just dont have problems here and expect support or fairness.

The usual armchair warriors are out in force on JT I see, calling weather so severe people have died and been injured, "a light breeze" and comparing it to the far superior storms in their own countries. How wonderful to be so strong and not afraid of anything.

I totally agree with you Plasticmonkey on the socialization issue. What is allowed to occur inside schools would never be tolerated or allowed in any other social setting. By homeschooling I let the children experience life as it is outside of the instituationalised environment of school, as it will be when they are grown up participants in a mostly civilized world.

As far as educational issues goes, our experience has been that both children do far better being homeschooled than in a traditional school environment, and we do allow some standardized testing, and also use outside accredited sources of materials alongside some outside academic supervision. We don't dumb down the curriculum, and as a result I've a 10 year old who is learning Latin, and a 6 year old who is reading on a solid second grade level.

We have lessons in the park, in zoos, in cafes and museums. They get to pursue their interests and they are allowed to be happy, taught that happiness is right, and that the world is not a nasty place. In turn I get to know my children will never feel worthless and hopeless and alone in a school.

I agree totally. I dont vaccinate my children, They were only breastfed, and we steer clear of highly processed foods. Thirmesol/mercury should not be used as a preservative in vaccines, especially those intended for very small infants. They also force far too many vaccines on a child at one time.

It is easy enough to refuse to vaccinate in Japan, but try it in some other countries where you are virtually accused of abuse if you refuse.

I considered going onto the balcony to secure a screen which has come a bit loose, but thought better of it. Dont want you guys laughing over another idiotic person doing something stupid in high winds and having a little unfortunate accident.

The wind is really starting up out there now.

This is precisely why I took my children out of the school system, and started to homeschool. They mix with other kids that they like and who like them, and are friends, not with people they are FORCED to be around and who hurt them physically and emotionally. As a result my children are now thriving. It is not a case of kids will be kids, but making your children's lives as comfortable, happy and productive as possible. There is nothing to be gained from withstanding pain and threats.

This headline is incomplete. It should say:

Nuclear power only option despite Fukushima: industry says Director-general John Rich, of the World Nuclear Association (WNA)

It would be laughable, if it wasnt so potentially serious.

We tried the R2D2 Star Wars set. Lovely poster in a really nice lightsaber poster tube, and the box the pizza came in was fantastic. If you have a Star Wars fan in the house, its well worth having! Much nicer pizza than pizza hut, too.

My cat is going crazy, scratching to get out. I hope that things calm down soon. Its a bit active tonight, isnt it!

South Sakai, bless you for taking care of the strays! Is it frowned upon here to feed cats at temples/parks? I have to buy a big bag of kitty kibble anyway, and taking a little to the strays would be no problem, I just dont want to get in trouble for feeding them? Do you leave a dish out or put the food directly onto the ground?

Sadists who hurt animals are why I cannot take my dogs for a walk when I go to the supermarket, and leave them outside a very short while. Im terrified some sociopath would torture them because they are "stressed", it is also why my cat will never ever be allowed outside the house without us. Ild rather tolerate wierd looks with my kitty on a leash than anyone harm him.

Whoever hurt those poor kitties is seriously mentally disturbed and I hope they catch them before they progress to humans or hurt more defenceless animals.

Japanese food was not affected by "rumors", it was contaminated by radiation.

Its time the little people got together and make it perfectly clear to the nuclear power industry, and the Powers that Be, that nuclear power has no future at all. Nuclear power is finished. Time to be responsible, not blindly following the yen/$$ without a thought to the real human cost of making things noone really needs.

http://sayonara-nukes.org/cat/action/

Time to protest.

I hope he makes it to freedom, and a nice place to live, not that horrible concrete enclosure he was stuck in. Brave little guy!