RakishGadfly comments

Posted in: What do you make of all the publicity over the recent arrests of Japanese university students for smoking pot? See in context

CaptDingleheimer;

Japan generally follows American social movements with some delay.

...meaning Japan generally follows Canadian or European social movements with more than some delay.

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Posted in: Aso See in context

Second from the left looks more intent on that beer than the Aso beside him.

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Posted in: The day Japan’s netizens turned news on its head See in context

I wonder if Akihabara and the fall of Asian cities have something in common that is still alive in the crowds around me

No.

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Posted in: The day Japan’s netizens turned news on its head See in context

Excellent story and far above JTs usual quality. More like this, please. And even without cameras, the monkey reflex to gawk at others' misery is pretty pathetic. I had a girlfriend collapse in a subway station and when the paramedics looked after fer, a crowd gathered to watch with one excited fat woman forcibly pushing her way to the front to stare. I wanted to yell at them all to respect someone's privacy but realized it wouldn't have helped my girlfriend

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Posted in: Fears of a Democrat crackdown lead to boom in gun sales See in context

Are Bible sales up too?

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Posted in: U.S. Army captain gets 1 year for smuggling firearms parts to Japan See in context

cwhite;

I think they were holographic sights which can be exported which are mainly for military use, but you need an export permit to do so.

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Posted in: U.S. Army captain gets 1 year for smuggling firearms parts to Japan See in context

Betting - good to see that you agree with the viewpoint of "the Japanese".

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Posted in: What does Japan need to do in order to attract more tourists? See in context

Cleo;

I wonder why people keep bringing up this withered old chestnut? Because they want desperately to believe that it's true that Japan doesn't love them in the way they think they deserve to be loved?

Exactly.

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Posted in: U.S. Army captain gets 1 year for smuggling firearms parts to Japan See in context

You tell 'em elbud! I'm sure the Defense Intelligence Agency never even considered such a thing so please formally tip them off and ask that they investigate all US military personnel with even a vague family connection to Japan, cuz you know that it's perfectly reasonable to accuse people based solely upon their ethnicity, right?

By the way, he was charged with breaking export control laws, nothing to do with spying.

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Posted in: Riken researchers make brain tissues from stem cells See in context

Those of you against this research and all subsequent developments will no doubt ask that you NOT be treated with if you or a loved in ever diagnosed with Alzheimer's et al, I assume.

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Posted in: Tomoka Kurotani named 'Woman With the Most Appealing Teeth' See in context

A toothsome lass indeed.

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Posted in: Jury bra See in context

I'm very, very disappointed in all of you. I can't believe that nobody punned around with the "lay" in "lay jury".

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Posted in: Japanese workers discover advantages of teleworking See in context

I enjoy working at home when I can, but I also like going into the office to chat and meet with others, so a bit of both seems to be the best. Not a big fan of videoconferencing, everyone on the screen looks jumpy.

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Posted in: Honda's new Life See in context

The Honda dude looks like a cardboard cutout.

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Posted in: What does Japan need to do in order to attract more tourists? See in context

What most of you are missing is that you think by "tourists" they mean folks from Europe or North America and most of the answers reflect that bias. They are way more likely to get tourists from Korea or China, and the recent tourism figures numbers reflect that. Stop the equating of "foreigner" with "English-speaking Westerner" - that's a minor market compared to Japan's neighbors, and also a minority amongst gaijin in Japan. Get over yourselves.

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Posted in: What does Japan need to do in order to attract more tourists? See in context

LostinNagoya;

So in all those J TV shows and movies where they yell irashaimasse at people entering restaurants, they obviously must have filmed it that way because they knew gaijin would be watching it?

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Posted in: What does Japan need to do in order to attract more tourists? See in context

realist;

there have been various polls conducted at intervals during the past few decades which always show that the majority of Japanese want NOTHING to do with foreigners.

So find some relatively recent ones and post some links, otherwise I call BS on this statement.

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Posted in: Obama sweeps to victory, says change has come to America See in context

Excellent choice by the US, and can't wait to see the last of "President Bush" in 2 months time.

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Posted in: What does Japan need to do in order to attract more tourists? See in context

Focus on the higher end tourists to bring in he cash, not the whingy backpackers who complain about price and expect everything to be written in English.

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Posted in: Obama sweeps to victory, says change has come to America See in context

Anyway, congrats to the US for pulling back from the abyss with this election. Bush was taking the US down the road of a fallen empire, and though McCain wouldn't have been as bad as Bush, Obama is much more of a change, which is obviously what Americans want. The Republicans deserved to lose, and stop relying on social conservatism to get elected and need to get back to the actual roots of the party of individualism.

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Posted in: Obama sweeps to victory, says change has come to America See in context

Fox calls Ohio? It's Armageddon!

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Posted in: Obama sweeps to victory, says change has come to America See in context

taka;

I think I'm going to have a drinkee-poo or 6!

Kampai and congrats.

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Posted in: McCain, Obama make final push for votes See in context

In every other country, as far as I know, elections are held on a Saturday or Sunday

In Canada they're always held on a weekday, whether municipal, provincial, or federal, but at least we too get our federal elections over and done with in 6 weeks.

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Posted in: Japanese men need to learn to say 'You are beautiful' to women, particularly to their wives. The phrase is magical and can make both men and women happy. See in context

I'd file this one under "common sense", except that judging by the number of posters who don't get it I guess it's not all that common.

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Posted in: Japan's burgeoning class: Working poor See in context

This article, like may others in the news, shows that Japan is a country and society very much in transition, and a decline is only one possible outcome. The bubble bursting was only one trigger for this and the one that gets the most press, but the end of the Cold War was just as big and has had a significant and ongoing impact. Given the way the global economy is tanking, Japan's economy will also worsen but less so (in relative) terms than other countries, including its neighbours.

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Posted in: Japan's burgeoning class: Working poor See in context

555Book;

China partially embraced capitalism she was able to lift a huge portion of its population from abject poverty in a very short time span. But as evident in many developed countries, when capitalism was left to function fully on its own it will almost always create an increasing divide

Please - China is hardly the example of a country where capitalism is unbridled. The gap between haves and have-nots there is way worse than in any "capitalist" Western country.

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Posted in: N Korea releases new photos of leader Kim Jong Il See in context

We all know that he's actually an alien cockroach so none of this is too surprising.

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Posted in: Feds disrupt skinhead plot to assassinate Obama See in context

Alphaape;

It is good that you nobly avoid partisan politics with one sentence confirming (rightly) that there is no proof they are Republicans, but the entire papargaph afterwards trying to prove that most Arkansas rednecks are Democrats kinda cuts into the credibility of that statement, don't you think?

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Posted in: Tosa dog bites boy, postman in Osaka; owner arrested See in context

Dogs are only as bad as their owner.

If you mean abused dogs are more apt to attack people, I agree, but there are also some breeds which are more naturally aggressive. I personally like bigger dogs than little yippy rodents, but some are nicer than others.

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Posted in: Feds disrupt skinhead plot to assassinate Obama See in context

Throw 'em in Gitmo!

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