ronaldk comments

Well, I heard from an acquaintance in Kobe that many individuals who lost homes in the Hanshin Earthquake were not made whole financially. I guess one can have faith in earthquake insurance but will it really pay out?

Well let me put it this way, if you see a soup kitchen giving food to poor people, or a homeless shelter; it is often associated with a church. I bet churchgoer participation in volunteer activities far exceeds the atheists posting on this site.

Also, our super real estate investor should mention to us sheep that real estate in Japan is recourse. So if you take a 40 million JPY loan and your apartment is destroyed in an earthquake, you are on the hook for that money. In the US, you send in the keys, get your credit ruined for 7 years, and that's it.

What a negative way to phrase this. How about "positive".

I have never heard a real estate agent say it is a bad time to buy property. Asking someone in Hong Kong, which is at the apex of a massive real estate bubble poised to explode is meaningless. This guy will be broke in a few years like all the other real estate "investors".

That is really too bad.

I think this is all good news. Japan is probably the richest country in the world now if you include the strong yen on a per person basis. The Japanese rightfully can relax and enjoy life more like the French. I am glad to be a part of it.

The only good thing here is that Hungary is part of the EU and will get a lot of help on this.

How come all the countries that are kicking the US's butt in schools do not have free market schools? Why not look at successful education systems (think Scandinavia) and make models based on that?

I tried to go down the path of teacher out of college, but the qualification system is state by state and very hard to understand, the students expect a performer instead of an educator and frankly the money is not good.

"the ward office found out my bank account info—to this day, I don’t know how—and took 1 million yen to cover unpaid premiums."

That is pretty freaking scary! I bet they don't do this to Japanese. You should have consulted a lawyer, especially if you were already covered by your US insurance. They probably used that money for the year-end city hall party.

"This means, in essence, that even if you have cancer or are HIV-positive, you won’t be denied coverage."

This is true, but are you aware that there is a whole lot of stuff not covered? My father in law has cancer and is out of pocket several tens of millions of yen for a new treatment not covered. Also, I have never seen an American standing on a corner asking for money to go to another country for an organ transplant. Japan ain't bad if you don't ask many questions or challenge the doctor in any way, live near an urban hospital, don't mind weak medicines that don't work.

I disagree with jruaustralia. There is no good reason to protect the identity of posters.

I agree that it is hard to swallow the vulgar and debased comments on Yahoo and other threads. They definitely need monitors. I certainly believe in free speech, but free speech does not mean anonymous free speech. Put your name beside your statement.

Help me! That says it all.

A wise Arab said, his grandfather traveled by camel, he travels by car, and his grandson will travel by camel. I think they understand that the luxury of our recent inventions are simply unsustainable. I wouldn't be surprised if the main means of travel in 100 years is bicycle myself. Probably the best mode of transportation man ever invented.

Must be terrifying to have a daughter in this country.

These articles seem to always suggest the woman leaves the man, but a retiring man with any wherewithal would probably not want to return to the old hag anyways. No?

Skype works well enough for me. I put 10 bucks on my account last year and still have $6.50 left. Real good deal with video to boot.

The idea that employees work 1/2 as much as they could was referred to in "The Battle for Investment Survival" written after the Depression by Gerald Loeb. This is not a new or surprising concept. If not Twitter then something else. In my old JET days, the crossword puzzle helped me through 1/2 the day.

Actually, with some positive reinforcement couldn't the tweets be used for client development? For example, tweet #1 "We got a good new product X for sale starting from September!" Only a twit reads tweets...

I wonder if he "tested" his goods.

Avoid the front of queues... Always.

I hope Whoopi Goldberg plays herself. That would really spice up the movie.

Why all the negativity?

This is not national news.

Paperless fax, isn't that an email?

Wow! Made it to 44 years old without getting caught. Now he loses his 6 million yen job for 3000 yen. Maybe a klepto.

Well, if they need to raise or borrow money, pretty darn important. If they have zero debt and don't need to borrow, then maybe less important.

This country needs to embrace "tooth floss" big time.

She is a good person.

Well, there are so many old people now, it is too burdensome to give them all the seats. I mean, if they can make it onto the train they can stand. Pregnant women and little kids, though, I happily cede my chair/seat.