Tizalleyman comments

I don't believe that the current curfew is a "punishment" as some people here are posting. It is my understanding that the curfew was put into place in order to curb possible conflicts due to anti-American sentiment following this heinous crime. They are trying to prevent folks from being out too late at drinking establishments where altercations would be more likely to happen with the over consumption of alcohol. While I'm not happy about this current restriction, I do understand the logic. I estimate this curfew will be in place for around 2 weeks until people's tempers have settled down a bit. To our Japanese hosts, please don't let a couple of bad apples spoil the bunch...

@ Global

Obama believes in economic theory-"growth from the middle" based on new knowledge based economic model like Apple. America is changing to consumer based today, and that's where the focus should be for economic growth.

I love hearing this type of opinion on economic theory. And I only need ask one question to shoot a huge hole through it...Where do the jobs come from? If you don't support corporate businesses, then who is providing the jobs for economic growth, the job fairy? Like it or not, it is a fact that in a democratic, capitalist society, you have to support big business in order to create jobs that will put your lower income and middle class folks to work...

I can't believe he's 81! I remember watching the original Star Trek when I was a kid, but I didn't think he was that old. Still looks pretty good for 81...

I am nearly 42 years old and I can honestly say that I have only spent time with 2 NON-FAMILY females that I enjoyed spending time with where I didn't feel a sexual attraction. Neither of these women were overweight or ugly, but they were both military girls and kind of felt like "one of the boys" when we would all hang out together. I did end up having sex with one of them when she plopped down in my lap after a night of drink. She admitted that she had feelings for me the next morning but I told her I didn't feel the same. Didn't really hang out much any more after that. So based on my personal experience, I would say that male/female platonic relationships are a very rare thing, so if you have one, enjoy it!

Yes and the Antarctica Ice Shelf has steadily been getting bigger for the last 33 years. I don't think any of these so called "experts" actually have a clue, just keep sucking up all that grant money for their research and laughing all the way to the bank...

It seems some of the posters are missing the intent of the hearing being discussed in the article. The only thing that the judge was ruling on was whether or not these "gentlemen" would be allowed to voluntarily opt out of attending certain courtroom sessions. Whether these men went through any torture or not, the torture has no bearing on the issue of whether they would be given to option to not attend. But the lawyers are grasping at straws and coming up with ridiculous statements like "forcibly removing them from their cells and hauling them into court would subject them to physical and emotional strain reminiscent of their time in CIA custody"...

@Torafusu

Seven years of preparation and "he failed to make the longest freefall jump"? What's the story behind that record holder?

According to Wikipedia that honor belongs to Eugene Andreev (USSR) who holds the official FAI record for the longest free-fall parachute jump after falling for 80,380 ft (24,500 m) from an altitude of 83,523 ft (25,460 m) near the city of Saratov, Russia on November 1, 1962. Though later jumpers would ascend higher, Andreev's record was set without the use of a drogue chute (Small stabilizing chute) during the jump.

@Anthony

Now, when we look at this on a larger scale, when "Gozilla Telecom" my nickname for Softbank when it lands on the US Market. It is going to tear down AT&T and Verizon like a little boy gaining the courage to bust the school bully's ass for taking everybody's lunch money.

And that may very well be their undoing and it may end up voiding this deal all together. As I'm sure you know the US has many fair business practice and monopoly laws. I don't know if you recall what happened to Bell Telephones back in the 80's, but it seems that old saying about being doomed to repeat history just may come around again...

@Anthony

Whatever, you are smoking get me some; because it is clear you are speaking out of your ass. You know nothing about the Japanese mobile telecom market do you? Live here and use the service first before you spout hot air please.

I've been a Softbank subscriber of the "White Plan Plus" for nearly three years now. I don't know how long it has been since you've had a cell phone in the States, but I can assure you that you will not find a US cellular phone service that charges to call outside of your cellular carrier. You will not find a US cellular company charging double rates from the hours of 9:00pm until 1:00am, even if you are calling another person using your cellular service. You seem personally offended that I am not bowing down to Softbank and saying it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. I never said anything about Softbank's customer service or any other aspects of their service. I simply stated that their charging practices will not hold up in the US cellular market, so whatever you are smoking, stop because it is apparently affecting your ability to comprehend other people's posts...

I can't possibly see this working out well for Softbank. I'm assuming the executives at Softbank have done their homework on the American cell phone market and realize they will not be able to turn the kind of profits they currently enjoy here in Japan. Cell phone users in the States will laugh in their face if they try to establish a charge for calling outside of their cellular carrier. And charging for long distance calls, forget about it. Oh, and charging for data usage, welcome to a market that offers unlimited usage. As long as they don't try to enforce Japanese cellular business practices into the US cellular market they will probably still do ok, but as I mentioned earlier they won't see the kind of profit earned in the Japanese market...

The thing that really bothers me about this is that over the years the Taliban have blown up hundreds of public markets/squares killing thousands of children, and finally now, the Pakastani people decide to get outraged? I applaud this young lady for taking a stand and her bravery in the face of persecution is inspiring, I just hope this doesn't all blow over and it's back to business as usual next week...

I don't think you can charge anything on someone's credit card without the owner's concent, can you? They will simply just refuse to pay for it.

As I explained, when you check into the room you've already signed an agreement to be charged for all costs incurred, you've already given consent...

@presto345

They can't do that. The cardholder needs to sign the invoice.

Incorrect...When you check into a room you sign an agreement stating you will be responsible for any and all charges incurred during your stay and if you provided credit card info, it can/will be charged. Some hotels enforce to an even greater extent requesting credit card info to hold a reservation, even if you don't check in, your card is still charged for holding the room...

The really stupid part is that if they would just legalize the real thing (marijuana), then there would be no need for people to produce these synthetic herbs with their harmful side effects. When was the last time you heard about someone overdosing on marijuana?

Hell, I want one of these just so I don't have to get off the couch on the weekends!!! :p

@peanut666 - Sir, I'm not sure where you get your information from, but I would like to see any evidence you can present to back up these claims. The US military currently has approximately 25,000 military personnel spread out across 21 active installations in S. Korea. I'm not sure I understand how you think Japan's SELF DEFENSE force can react more quickly than US troops who are actually stationed in the country. And granted, 25,000 military is not a huge presence when faced with the aspect of 1,000,000 N. Korean SOF personnel. But the simple fact that the US military is there is a greater deterrent than any support provided by Japan's SELF DEFENSE force. As I have been stationed in Korea twice and am currently stationed in Japan I know something of which I speak. Saying that, know that I also greatly respect the country of Japan as our friend and ally and in no way are my remarks here meant to disparage Japan in the slightest, but your opinions are incorrect on the issue of S. Korea...

@Blacklabel...I think you are missing the point. I don't know if you are a parent of a teenage child or not, but I'm betting you're not. As a parent you are supposed to set your children up for success. From the time they are young and first start playing sports, you take them to practices and spend time practicing with them. As they grow more mature you instill values into their lives which will aid them later on to become productive and happy adults. While you might not place any value on your education, there are many people who do utilize the skills the acquired in school to succeed later in life. While they may not use the content, the habits formed through good study habits and determination to do a good job will inevitably pay off.

You seem to think that you can allow a child to accumulate a lifetime of bad habits and just magically flip a switch one day and say "Presto! You are now grown up, act like it!" It does not work that way my friend...

Spare the rod, spoil the child...

Ubikwit,

The West is degenerate, and the cretins putting out these publications are living proof.

These French maggots are guilty of Hate speech.

they are somehow in league with the scumbags in the USA

how is it that these maggots have enough time on their hands to create bigoted cartoons

Who is spewing hate speech?

Just a few points that need corrected/rectified...

Japanese people in general are too apathetic to force their government to change the laws in line with the majority of the civilized world

According to the UN, of the 194 countries recognized by the UN, 98 have abolished capital punishment while 96 have not...pretty slim majority...

The world is an imperfect place full of imperfect people. We impose the death penalty because it makes us feel like there are some kind of cosmic scales that will be balanced

Personally I feel the death penalty should be utilized/enforced to ensure that an individual is never allowed to repeat this kind of behavior again. Some people like to quote the old adage "once a cheater, always a cheater". I believe that someone who is capable of killing innocent people in cold blood will always be capable of killing someone in cold blood, no matter how much rehabilitation they have received...

Yes Bertie, I'm quite aware of what the word incarcerated means, so there is no need for your condescending tone. According to the statistics posted by the ACLU, a total of 21 children were detained at Guantanamo, the youngest was 13 years of age. So, before you quote other posters, you may want to actually do some research. So, 21 out of 779 total prisoners does not qualify as "many" prisoners. Now, for your second point, why in the world would you use the word bigot, especially in reference to Guantanamo? Are you just spewing bile in an attempt to incite people or perhaps you don't know the meaning of the word bigot? Either way, if you would like to become educated about the current statistics on Guantanamo, you can find them here... http://www.reprieve.org.uk/publiceducation/guantanamostats/

I know this probably won't be very popular but does anyone understand that these are war criminals? People who helped orchestrate the deaths of over 3000 people in New York. People who helped arrange mass suicide bombings killing innocent civilians, women, and children. Surely you are not naive enough to believe that these people are being held without sufficient cause. I do understand that everyone deserves their day in court and I do not understand why the process is taking so long, but stop making these people out to be some sort of martyrs. As mentioned in the article, some of these men are so bad that not even their own countries will take them back even if they are released! I believe that the military did the best they could when faced with a bad situation. These men have received much better treatment than American citizens would have received if captured by the Taliban/Al Qaida...

I think man's obsession with breasts is pretty much a world-wide phenomena, I know I sure do enjoy them. However, I will note that this comic book standard of putting overly endowed women into the pictures is not restricted to Japan. As a kid from the US who collected comic books in the 70's and 80's, I honestly can't recall seeing any of the female characters being any smaller than a 40DD. Point is, it's pretty much always been an aspect of comics and most likely always will be. I would say that the Japanese have managed to take it to an entirely different level, but still. Guess the biggest difference for me is that I grew out of it (looking at comics, not breasts)... :p

It'd be interesting though if or when they do support somebody high profile that's decidedly non-Christian

Why would they support someone who is non-Christian? Isn't the purpose behind electing an official to elect someone you trust to ensure your values and concerns are addressed in your governing body? It amazes me how little some people respect the fact that a person's religion is one of the most important issues in their life. So why would you want to elect someone as your representative in government when they don't share your same values?

So many people today simply want to dismiss people that don't share their same belief system by name-calling and claiming they are ignorant. Guess what YOU are ignorant, everyone is ignorant, because by definition no one knows all of the information in the universe. Just realize that you are not the center of that universe and not everyone places importance on the same things you do...

Actually it's pretty smart...movie goers/theater management most likely assumed they were "fan boys" and didn't give them a second thought up until the robbery.

Smith...I'm not sure what correlation you are trying to make between the movie and the robbery. If these guys took to the streets in Batman costumes fighting crime, then I would understand your point...

I wonder how Ms. Clark got to her summit in Rio? Possibly a pollution spouting jet plane? How many trips does she make each year as a delegate of the UN on those same jet planes? We live in a consumer based economy, meaning people need to purchase products so that companies can hire people to make these products. The solution is to make the products more efficiently and with less waste by-product, not simply stop buying...

Classic! They never have a clue of what's really going on. They're are too busy sipping tea and talking about the weather alright!

Maybe the school officials are too busy educating the students on topics of instruction. Do you really think it possible that educators are going to be able to pay attention to each and every squabble amongst teenage girls?!? You'd need a whole new department just for that...LMAO

I love the tablet concept, but the tablet maker that will get my money? The first one that comes out with a USB port on it. If I'm going to be restricted to 64 Gig of HD space, I'd better be able to hook my passport drive up to it... :P

Sure life was hell before, but the only thing that setting up in Afghanistan has achieved is more deaths

GW,

To quote one of my favorite movies... "But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."

There is no charity here, and it should be taken as such. It is shame that the US attach conditions to food. You either give free food or do not try to get political and geopolitical victories through the hunger of NK population. I do, however, support the general stance of the US towards the NK problem.

Konsta, it appears you have a future as a politician! Nice ride on the fence...lol. Yes, US aid in all forms to NK has always been conditional, food or otherwise. Dealing with NK is like dealing with a child. When the child acts as requested, the child is rewarded. If the child misbehaves, the child is reprimanded.

That being said, I know many people feel that while the NK gov't deserves the punishment, the people do not. Unfortunately this is a catch-22. We can not continue to provide support to a gov't when we don't approve of the actions of that gov't and unfortunately the people are left to suffer at the hands of their governments actions...