Posted in: Japan interested in joining NATO missile consortium See in context
Lostrune2 - is that bit about a historic claim by Japan somewhere within the Arctic Circle true? (Well, being from a place closer to the Equator I am fairly ignorant about stuff up north...)
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Posted in: 5 crimes peculiar to Japan See in context
Not to worry - "Lincoln" Abe will "free things up" so all of Japan will become like Nevada...
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Posted in: Teacher forces 96 students to kneel for 20 minutes as punishment for being late See in context
First, he should have had them stand at attention for 15 minutes - then tell them in 5 minutes afterward, "How would you like it if the person who had to wait for you always had to stand around for 15 minutes like you all just did? No fun right? That is why you should not be late without a good reason... in fact, aim to be at an appointment 5 minutes before!"; obviously the guy is unable to verbalize, stimulate the students' thinking and communicate. He can do Seiza and meditate but likely he like all other petty bureaucrat-minded automatons (like the nine other "colleagues" standing around) will not get it.
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Posted in: Man gets 22 years for hit-and-run deaths of 3 women in Otaru See in context
Shallots, if this were Langtry, he would deserve more - at least by 3 years if not 9 years - because he 'd know better than to check the phone whilst driving; then again if this were in Langtry he'd been given 66 years!
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Posted in: 37-year-old man arrested for abusing 5-year-old stepdaughter See in context
I hope this scumball has "an accident" while in police custody - see if he likes sustaining internal injuries...
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Posted in: Boston museum cancels 'Kimono Wednesdays' after racism protests See in context
Ok - that's it! Next St. Patrick's Day I'm gonna ask my friends from Cork to meet me at the Boston museum to protest the fact they caved in to this nonsense! I'll ask them to bring their favorite red & white flags that they use to cheer on their local football club with while I dress up in my favorite kimono (believe it or not, it's got the Lone Star Flag designed on it) and impersonate John Belushi's character from the Saturday Night Live skit!
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Posted in: Arrested American Toyota exec to be released See in context
Nessie - quite right!
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Posted in: Japan industrial sites, Alamo get world heritage status See in context
FernGully, well said! And as 1glenn notes, many living in Texas then did not want to live under fear of arbitrary conscriptions and harsh taxation foisted upon them by the megalomaniac dictator Santa Ana. BTW I am waiting for some people to start calling for removal of the Union Jack from the state flag of Hawaii so my British friends can be offended by these "outrage" mongerers too (well, the then-native Hawaiians did have a nice meal so they aren't complaining about Cook's arrival, I'm sure!).
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Posted in: U.S. beats Japan 5-2 to win Women's World Cup See in context
Waal - I played SOCCER in high school back in Texas (good thing the football team captain was an open-minded guy who supported our efforts and his No. 2 a good friend of mine) because we knew soccer to be more international and we can take the World Cup... some locals just wouldn't listen though; soon I hope Texas will have a NATIONAL team! Remember The Alamo & Don't Mess With Texas!
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Posted in: Japan industrial sites, Alamo get world heritage status See in context
I knew someone was going to be a party pooper (no, I don't mean the Koreans - whose ancestors I understand decimated a nation allied with the Yamato dynasty centuries ago but I guess the Japanese decided it was "Kudaranai" to bring that issue up)! The Lone Star flag is not a symbol of racism or slavery! As for the reason why The Alamo was selected: "a living example of the interchange of cultures bringing together the indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, and other influences that form South Texas today." Enuf said! PS: Only idiot neocon types side with dictators over people who wanted to lead lives free from conscriptions, harsh taxation and the right to exercise control over their own property (like the Old Families of Texas, non-Anglos who helped set up the Republic); actually maybe it is high time we extricated ourselves from those calling for war/conscriptions and harsher taxation etc while seeking to limit property rights unreasonably...
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Posted in: Neighborhood heroes come in all sizes See in context
This is Japan so I expected the news delivery system to differ from back home - but sounds like other posters never worked when they were in school! Teenagers in my days (in my case I wanted to buy that chemistry kit because my dad was an idiot who forbade me from owning one) earned pocket money, and the handy way for early risers was to deliver newspapers... BTW Yubaru assumption of someone aged 26 possibly having a disability because he is on a "newspaper scholarship" is quite offensive don't you think? Some people do need to go to work right after high school, save up for college and even then be in need of tuition money - like, some people's dads don't cover for higher degrees...
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Posted in: Poll asks: Is a woman 'middle-aged' at 30? 40? 50? See in context
Gosh darn - I am a 50something guy... I go drinking at Izakayas and invariably the other clients call me "Oniisan"; I'd always thought maybe it was a play on words like "oni san" since I have a ruddy complexion even without alcohol but I now realize the other guys, mostly Japanese but come to think other Asians, thought I was YOUNGER than them! Should I be happy or livid, I wonder... true, once this businesslady (she turned out to be a few years younger than Yours Truly) thought I was much younger, invited me out and over drinks she said her outfit needed "youth and vigor"; I was honest with her over dessert wine about my DOB. I have not heard back from her since...
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Posted in: Google's new app blunders by calling black people 'gorillas' See in context
From now on I shall refer to Google apps as "apes"...
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Posted in: Panasonic to open Wonder Life-BOX with future lifestyles in Tokyo See in context
Waal... It's vague because there is an embargo on the press release - if you want firsthand experience you ought to go see it next weekend, if y'all are in Tokyo!
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Posted in: Woman killed in bullet train fire suicide was on peace pilgrimage See in context
Had someone like a family member gone with her on the "peace pilgrimage" might the outcome been different for Ms. Kuwahara I wonder...
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Posted in: Mount Fuji climbing season opens; free Wi-Fi available See in context
BTW I use the Gotemba route because IF there is an eruption there's shelter there - WiFi won't be too helpful if there IS a sudden eruption... that's why it should not be free; a nominal charge for "zombieing" to defray the 1,000 yen in part makes sense for Mt. Fuji.
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Posted in: Toyota exec in Japan resigns over drug arrest See in context
Don't put her on antidepressants - probably get hooked on that too! Doesn't she have a husband who can support her... rather than just a doting dad who's willing to take the dive for his daughter, feign that he is doddering and do time in the Federal penitentiary? I truly feel sorry for him; now if he needs a good son-in-law who can also straighten up his daughter...
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Posted in: Toyota exec in Japan resigns over drug arrest See in context
Let us take a look again. The defense is obviously readying to claim it was "Daddy" (likely they will say he is doddering etc.) who sent the packages to make it appear that Ms. Hamp is not the person importing the drug; apparently US law says using the Postal Service upon committing a felony to be a Federal offense. She'd be in big trouble if this were to be proven [handwriting analysis time]. The news article says, "The package, labelled 'necklaces', contained several small boxes, each holding accessories and several tablets, reports have said, adding that police suspect there had been an attempt to hide the drug." To be honest, a guy sending stuff but labeling them "necklaces" seems highly unlikely - assuming I didn't know what the content was, several small packages I'd say "accessories" or if pressed for details and specific for my daughter I may say "ribbons" but no way "necklaces" would come to mind... BTW several times several makes more than a dozen pills so probably not 3 or 4 pills.
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Posted in: Last day of June was one second longer See in context
"Hiya Doc! Can you explain what a leap second is?" "Just a moment..." - another "cold joke"?
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Posted in: Arnold (but little else) is back in 'Terminator' See in context
Um... will there be another one after this? Arnold said, "I'll be back!" once too often though - I think he should go back to Austria and join a if he should accept another Terminator flick...
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Posted in: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner announce divorce See in context
The children are still so small - hope they can adjust well... don't know the background but I tend to think Ben should have been a bit more supportive of Jennifer and the kids.
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Posted in: 3 safe, ticketing machine thefts reported in Saitama See in context
Dennis Bauer - that's a good pun!! "Safety marred"?!
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Posted in: Man arrested for slashing his mother with kitchen knife See in context
If he abhors labor - give him thirty years of hard labor! And the mother, if she's still around at 105 (hope it won't take a year but usually the Japanese system means it takes about that long for a verdict), can greet him at the jail gate with a shovel so he can at least dig a grave for her!
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Posted in: Man goes on trial over hit-and-run deaths of 3 women in Otaru See in context
I say throw this guy in a cell (with a hungry bear) while everyone goes off to the conveni for 15 minutes - of course the hungry bear shouldn't factor in, right? Oh, and let the scumball bleed away for a few hours before bringing in the first aid kit..
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Posted in: Drunk student drives motorbike into Kyoto pedestrian mall See in context
I say get the young boy after he's recovered a scholarship to Doshisha - the university should be ashamed enough to admit it admitted the wrong student to college, and have this Tokunaga jerk forfeit all the money so the kid who got hit gets a head start; if I had been the clerk and noticed this bum was drunk I would've (surreptitiously) broken a few ribs "accidentally" [hurting a small {5 year-old} boy like that! The worthless piece of shit!!]
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Posted in: Man arrested for attempted murder of 9-year-old son See in context
31 years old wuss had a son aged 9 - got married at 22... they'll put him away for at least 22 years; hopefully his son would have forgotten him by the time he's in his thirties...
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Posted in: Japanese business mood improves despite gloomy data See in context
Compare Japan with other more robust economies (eg Texas) - does Japanese math differ from the rest of the world? Why the Japanese companies are feeling "upbeat" is beyond me...
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Posted in: Mount Fuji climbing season opens; free Wi-Fi available See in context
Why not charge for the WiFi, even if marginally, and lower the "voluntary fee" (500 yen is more "payable" even for the tourists; as it is, foreign tourists are skipping voluntary payment when they find out that's $10ish)?
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Posted in: Man dead after setting himself on fire in bullet train; woman passenger also dies See in context
The Canadian invention I mentioned can go in addition to text in Japanese, Chinese, English and a fourth (switchable) offers visuals...
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Posted in: More Japanese gourmands bugging out on insects See in context
"Only good bugs are et bugs!" - pace, Heinlein... but seriously I love that popcorn shrimp from Bubba's, not to mention escargot from Chez Paul's, as mentioned the Kosher locusts (Inago in Japan; once I thought I was getting Anago in Nagano but it wasn't quite the same) and the occasional cicadas mah cousins up north ate. BTW being a real Texan I relish mah possum pie and after all I grew up on them frog legs mah Cajun Granny used to make! As Mah Ma used to say, "Shush and eat up yer grub"!
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Must not read Japan today when sleepy. . I miss read the title and thought some one had stole a…
Posted in: Farmer arrested over theft of 150 kilograms of onions in Kyoto Prefecture
Posted in: Campaigning kicks off in Japan for Oct 27 general election
Posted in: Ishiba says Japan will prepare for 'any development' over Taiwan
Posted in: Ishiba says Japan will prepare for 'any development' over Taiwan