shallots comments

People drive like crap in my neighborhood. They drive too fast and recklessly. Having kids, I worry about it every day. They are simply callous.

Americans couldn't think up their own ideas for TV shows then, and still can't today.

I don't think there's a British show in the modern era better than Seinfeld, Curb, Larry Sanders, Deadwood, Mad Men, etc. I doubt there's been a show anywhere as good as The Wire. This is my subjective opinion. British police procedurals are humorless affairs and nowhere near as interesting as The Wire (but what is?).

There've been plenty of American shows over the years that were originals, from I Love Lucy to Columbo, to Northern Exposure. I think the Late Night talk show, a la Johnny Carson and David Letterman, was an American form. A kind of Improv comedy also originated in Chicago (and was done really well outside the U.S., in Canada). Does the UK have a homegrown tradition improv comedy? Maybe? We can't forget early TV variety like Miltie, Smothers Brothers, Laugh In, and Martin and Lewis. These are originals. Of course, there were plenty of great shows in the UK (everyone loves Monty Python and The Office), but I don't think you can say the U.S. didn't or doesn't have ideas. And even shows like All in the Family aren't great because of the concept, though the concept is interesting. They actually did an All in the Family recently with Woody Harrelson and it wasn't great, concept and all. The original American All in the Family was great because of what the Americans did with it on every level, from the acting to the writing and direction. I wouldn't say the British can't think of ideas. That would be as ridiculous as saying Americans can't.

Makes one wonder why people decide to come to a country where they are treated as second-rate not-quite-humans... Are things so desperate for them back at home?

Um. what do you think? Just google "average salary Vietnam." It's less than san man a month.

I'm married to a Vietnamese and to be honest, I think Vietnamese people living in Japan aren't shocked by or disbelieving of Vietnamese crime in Japan. Certainly, they are disappointed. I still think the good outweighs the bad and Vietnamese, like other ethnic groups, will bring economic vitality to Japan in addition to filling entry-level jobs. I also agree that too much immigration isn't good, that balance is important. The number of Vietnamese has grown a lot but it's still a small number and immigration overall is still not comparable to other countries. Vietnamese know, themselves, that as a group they are likely to bring a bit more crime. They know the problems of their country. There is very little social trust in Vietnam and no strong institutions to rely on. Education levels are low and crime and violence are abundant. Again, despite such problems, the Vietnamese community is enterprising, on the whole, and good for the country. Japan cannot survive without workers. And I'll tell you one more thing: Vietnamese respect Japan even though some of the young uneducated Vietnamese that come may lack some basic sense.

I have young kids. The neighborhood has small streets with few continuous sidewalks. People zip up and down the mountain road. Young people drive crazy fast on motorcycles. Old people don't see where they're going and don't anticipate what's ahead in turns and intersections. Trucks navigate this situation with some difficulty too. Plus, people sometimes forget to turn their lights on or their brights off. I'm scared for my family.

Yikes. Hope she can escape the misery. It must be a nightmare.

Market-driven "music"? Songs by committee and "talent" assembled by management companies? The "image" doesn't scream "interesting." It seems like it's all been streamlined and simplified and formulated nowadays for easy promotion on the conveyor belt of production?

*Here you go: "JYP Entertainment Corporation (Korean: JYP 엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate founded in 1997 by J. Y. Park. It is one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea..." (wikipedia)*

There song "Cry For Me" was written by these people: HEIZE (헤이즈), J.Y. Park, Sophiya, Ryan Tedder, Melanie Joy Fontana, Michel “Lindgren” Schulz & A. Wright.

That's a lot of people - especially for these lyrics:

Oh, on the outside I'll be all calm

Baby no more real love

Imma pretend we're going strong

Then at the end, break your heart

Bad boy, bad boy

Yeah, you really make me a mad girl, mad girl

Woah-oh-oh

And to think It only took one person to write "Sound of Silence." Wow!

Great life: Broadway, off-Broadway, symphonies, great restaurants, opera, jazz and every other kind of music, and lots of fashion shows, museums and openings. They can mingle with other rich people and enjoy one of the greatest cities in the world. I'm sure they'll find time to travel to other destinations and I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for the former princess.

I'm not sure why JT continues with Sora all these years. I guess they need some flavor of some kind and there just isn't anything else. It's startling how little there is in terms of media with something to say/tell. Think of how much is out there to delve into.

No court is going to hold an actor criminally responsible for such a thing. People keep harping on this point but that line of thinking won't amount to anything. There's a reason why taking care of guns in movies is a specific job. Of course he may be open to liability as a producer but not as an actor. It's never going to happen that a court convicts an actor on a charge for firing a weapon that the crew hands him or her to use in a scene (or rehearsal). Whether he tweets or not is most likely well-considered and a "damned if you do/damned if you don't" kind of thing. Baldwin has no choice but to "be in the public eye" and I'm sure he'd rather be anything but that at this moment.

@ReasonandWisdomNippon

Every country has its own version of government. People like ice cream. "Western nations" + South Korea = nothing sensible ever written except maybe a pamphlet written by the Japan Foundation. Or you. I'd just drop talking about "THE WEST." Remember, it's meaningless. Remember also that if you've got nothing to say, you can't hide that behind bromides. They won't save you from the inevitable collapse.

Narcissism is a disease. When you are told that your behavior is not scene as cute or romantic but threatening, you would be horrified. A normal person would wake up and think, "oh my god, I didn't realize that!." This person may be sick with narcissism personality disorder. Stay away from such people.

Is this a wide-spread problem or just bizarre crackpot criminals getting on the internet for doing horrendous unimaginable things?

Lots of things to enjoy in NYC, especially if you're rich. Broadway is starting to open up again, little by little. Go see a show. You'll never run out of things to do. What a life! They are lucky to escape. Get out while you can!

A charge of manslaughter against Alec Baldwin should be forthcoming.

Whaaat? How can actors be held responsible for props? It has nothing to do with their jobs. If he was told it was "cold" then the firing of a projectile is not his fault. You can't expect actors to know how to ensure it's clear or "cold." A professional has to do that. Now, he is a producer and there is where he could be in for some trouble. But that's speculation at this point.

I lost my wallet a couple of years ago in Osaka with about 120,000 yen inside. I had just picked up baby-present money from my folks from western union. This being Japan, I was sure I would get it right back. No such luck.

A specially destructive sport in terms of health. This is proven to be extraordinarily dangerous by medical research. I can't believe this sport is growing when it should be shrunk out of existence. You have to be somewhat negligent to let your child play it.

Well, doing a little research, I see there are many cases like this with suspended sentencing. What a shame. Shame shame.

This is quiet common.

This is likely only the 1% or less cases that actually reached the justice system, and not covered up by the school or the police.

Because of how weak the punishments are for these crimes, this guy will highly unlikely sit a single day in prison, and likely will get a suspended sentence if he gets prosecuted at all (which is again unlikely). Especially for rapes vs. minors, Japan courts have rarely punished the perpetrators. I will be shocked if this guy gets anything more than a suspended sentence. Unless someone died or severely injured in the attack, sexual assaults/rapes do not get prison sentences in Japan.

Furthermore, he will quickly recover his teaching license after a few years and can go on the hunt again at another school. There are also pretty much zero social consequences for teachers who sexually assaults their students, which allows these cases to continue and propagate.

I don't doubt that this goes unreported often but I'd be more inclined to believe it wouldn't reach a judge than to believe it gets all the way to guilty and then the sentence is actually suspended and he ends up back in the classroom. I guess it's possible. Do you have any links to cases where that happened? I'm just curious. Suspended sentence means he's found guilty. Are there statistics on this? There must be something. Do you state all this from knowledge or just guessing?

People drive unsafely where I live. It's a real problem. Sometimes they post a cop on the corner, maybe once a year. I'm in a suburb at the foot of a mountain and people seem very much in a hurry to zip to and from their houses. The streets are narrow with traffic going both ways and vehicles often having to stop to let each other get through. I live next to a turn and it's almost blind. Cars have to be very careful to make the turn because it's narrow. We live right on the road and we have very small children. I'm worried every day about this. I was thinking of building a fence but it's costly.

I wish they could speed up the boosters. They should really pull out the stops if it'll prevent further problems.

There is a Lock Ness monster and also Big Foot. We have at least one photo of each. There are millions of Uighurs in this genocide you speak of but we can't find a single photo in this day and age.

I watched the BBC documentary and others on the supposed concentration camps. It doesn't even look like a prison. It looks like a school.

This brings back fond memories of university:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/54/Xinjiang_Re-education_Camp_Lop_County.jpg

"Naomi Osaka's humility and dedication to others has been spectacular to watch. It's incredibly meaningful that she has been able to talk honestly about struggling with her mental health and share with us her vulnerability," Wilson wrote.

Wouldn't it have been braver to NOT mention it to the world, but to deal with it privately? Or, perhaps she should have targeted the Japanese audience, maybe in the Japanese language, where racism and mental illness probably aren't discusses very much at all. I don't see Osaka as someone who's spoke articulately about any particular topics but maybe that's OK. This fad of the appearance of celebrity activism is tiresome. It's just that the narrative seems insincere and there are many other people who do have depth and influence.

Great young players who seem to be genuinely enjoying what they're doing. I hope the loser takes it easy too, especially as both will get big endorsement deals and have already achieved a lot. There's a lot of hard work, sweat, amazing mental and physical vitality and tons of luck on display. But they will become very rich forever. People like to see athletes enjoying their talents - especially as they do get to be immediately wealthy. These two seem to delight in the game and they've spread some cheer.

@iron Lad I'm always interested to look at something new. Do you recommend any artists in particular? I always have to remind myself that one of the richest artists in the world is Japanese: Murakami. Maybe he's another example of a bad trend. I'd love to see something different.

Why do people describe it as weird? Doesn’t she do kind of the same thing over and over again? And isn’t it kind of safe and easy? There is something in this concentrated repetition that seems representative of Japanese society/arts and crafts. That might seem “weird.”

While Japan's commitment to world peace and non proliferation is a commendable act, one must face the stark reality that there are many nations with or developing nuclear weapons who have no such scruples or moral limitations.

Japan has no such commitment. It is a strong supporter of the nuclear umbrella and has been steadfastly against any reduction in nuclear weapons. It also lied to its own people for decades about letting nuclear ships through.

I am being told that the perp was part Vietnamese and has been caught. Could be a rumor but this is what the Vietnamese online are saying.

If filming this aids the police, then it will have been a good act. People here are making tons of assumptions about who did and didn’t do what and when. As for intervening, what would you have done? Do you recommend anyone to get involved? Anyone of any size and ability? I agree that it’s good if there’s someone who can but I don’t think I could have. I would recommend the average person to call the police. Scream as well and try to get their attention. Scream murder. But I wouldn’t advise the average man or women to physically get in between. A person who does, has my admiration.

The videos were sickening and I'm sorry I watched them. If they do not get these guys, well...there's too much evidence for them to walk. They have to get them. In the States, they'd all be done up for murder and they'd be gone at least 20 years. Here, maybe only the one and, maybe, what, like 7? As for intervening, not me. I admire anyone who thinks they can do it and who thinks they'd know what to do. Maybe if I knew Brazilian jiu jitsu. I do not. That video is going to give me nightmares. How can someone have such little value for life?