TrentonGaijin comments

Trenton finally makes Japan Today (well, at least mentioned in the photo). Went to a Thunder game on Thursday, before th eA-Rod circus showed up on Friday.

I'm confused why she did this as, unlike Christina Applegate, she did NOT have breast cancer. Based solely on her family history, she decided to have healthy tissue removed. My family has a strong history of heart disease, but I haven't asked my doctor to schedule a heart transplant.

How is this any sort of inspiration to other women? Very, very few women can afford to have a double masectomy & breast reconstruction as a preventative measure. Insurance (at least in the US) doesn't pay for procedures that are not required (i.e., required because of existing cancer, not potential cancer).

Also wonder about the ethics of any doctor that would remove healthy tissue as a preventative measure. Risk of complications from surgery may be less than risk of developing breast cancer, but still....

Thanks for the gesture, but that's all it is.... BTW, at 22 days furlough, I'll be losing a lot more than 5% (20% for 22 weeks which is about 10% for the year). Also, my living expenses (house, car, food, etc) come out of my salary, not another pot of money. Let me know when he starts paying market value rent on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Not to mention that in less than four years he'll make that $20,000 up many, many times over with the first speech or book deal (& there will be lots of both).

That he gave up 5% makes no more difference to me than members of Congress who gave up nothing. Want to do something that means something to me? They can fix the crisis that they created!

That should be body-building actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Let's not forget he was Governor for two terms (2003-2011) & served longer than Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney.

"For me, I'm happy with my Asahi Super Dry. Americans should try Japanese Beer."

Was at Mitsuwa Japanese supermarket in Edgewater, NJ a couple weeks ago and bought myself a case of Kirin Ichiban. It's "brewed under Kirin's strict supervision by Anheuser-Busch." Ooops.

I like it for ambiance while I'm watching "Lost in Translation," "My Neighbor Totoro," "Spirited Away," "Ramen Girl," etc. Otherwise I prefer a Smuttynose IPA or Riverhorse Hop Hazard.

"Domestically, Obama said he wanted a bill to reform the broken immigration system to give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship within months."

Can anyone explain what is broken about the US immigration system? Is there not already a process whereby people can become US citizens? Perhaps it takes too long &/or requires people demonstrate that they can contribute to society?

Wonderful message being sent- if you can somehow manage to sneak into the country, you can get citizenship "within months."

Wonder if the $2.5 trillion deficit reduction (through 2022) includes any allowance for increases in entitlements when all the illegals suddenly become US citizens. Probably not because we all know all the illegals are just hard-working tax-paying individuals with no intention of signing up for any welfare, food stamps, WIC, housing assistance, medicaid, or any other Government assistance.

Is there any other country that so easily grants citizenship (with full entitlement to all the benefits the Government has to offer)? Seriously. I may need to find somewhere else to live....

Ha! NYC's Penn Station isn't even in the top 50. Tell you what though- I'll go through Shinjuku or Shibuya any day over Penn Station....

Oops, I just recommended things to do/visit in Japan & Tokyo was on the list (along with Imperial Palace). As part of "Tokyo" I included Imperial Palace/Ginza/Yasakuni Shrine, Shinjuku/Shibuya/Harajuku/Meiji Shrine, Ueno Park (esp in spring)/Akihabara, Asakusa Temple, Tsukuji (in 8 yrs, the one time we went it was closed), a day trip to Yokohama (Chinatown), a day trip to Kamakura, and then head to Kyoto for a few days.

Time to go through some photos & take a "virtual visit" (via Google Maps)....

Did ANA replace the batteries or did ANA have Boeing replace the batteries? If ANA replaced the batteries with something other than what Boeing supplied, seems the problem is theirs. If I replace a major component in my car, the warranty is void.

I also wonder if we would've heard about the battery issue a lot sooner if they'd been sourced from somewhere other than Japan.

"The president also called for improvements in school safety, including putting 1,000 police officers in schools."

There are 2500 public schools in NJ alone; what good is 1000 cops spread across all the schools in all the states?

Who decides where these cops will be stationed? Only at inner city high schools? Oops, Sandy Hook was a suburban elementary school. Maybe it'll be the schools which congressmen's kids attend.

Useless measure that will have no effect whatsoever.

"Another provision places requirements on therapists, psychologists, registered nurses and licensed social workers who believe a mental health patient made a credible threat to use a gun illegally. They would be required to report such a threat to a mental health director, who would have to notify the state."

So much for doctor-patient confidentiality.... What about the guy that tells his psychologist that he fantisizes about bombing up a mall, or going on a rampage with a sword, or driving his car through a playground? Aren't those equally credible threats?

Once someone gets the instructions for building a bomb similar to the ones used daily in Afghanistan, Iraq & Pakistan, a 7 vs 10 round magazine isn't going to seem like such a critical difference.

Is this one of those trick photos where you have to try to find the hidden picture? I don't see anything in this photo, much less a man wearing armor.

Looks like if you're a woman in Afghanistan, you're damned if you do & damned if you don't.... In this article there's mention of a 16 y.o. who was flogged for having an affair & of a 20 y.o. who was beheaded for NOT becoming a prostitute (disobeying her husband's order).

No mention of what happened to the girl whose throat ws slit. I imagine she died, but it's not always fatal (unlike beheading).

Never ate at any of the restaurants listed (or any other "gourmet" place), but I can name a list twice as long of places in & around Tokyo where I'd like to have another meal (or 100s of meals).

@titaniumdioxide- Ever hear of the Hyundai Eqeuss, Hyundai Genesis, Hyundai Azera, or Kia Amanti? They're all larger than many US-made cars. Can't imagine they sell enough just in the US to justify production, so someone in South Korea must prefer large cars....

Hope this one does better than when Toyota imported the US-made Avalon into Japan. Also a big car, but couldn't compete with Toyota's RWD large sedans (Crown Royale, Crown Majesta, Celsior, etc).

Hmmm, think I'd prefer the buffet at the local yakiniku restaurant. That is, of course, if I was back in Japan & if I could eat anywhere near as much today as I could (would) a few years ago.

Not sure if the yakiniku places I ate at had a time limit; they must've, but either I never stayed that long or they didn't know how to tell me it was time to leave....

http://www.filmpreservation.org/

Wow, way cooler than my Tony Lamas....

Latest tracking is right over my head. It's already very windy & it's not even expected to hit the coast for several hours. Doesn't look good for people along the coast in NJ & NY.

Looks like a Hallowe'en party....

I guess I'm the only one whose first thought was "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" & the Island of Misfit Toys....

Isn't Apple iPhone also a Chinese phone? Sure have seen lots of articles about Apple's Chinese factories & research facilities. Maybe the article title should be "Chinese phones made by Chinese companies outsmart Chinese phones made by Apple."

Is there a Y100 menu? For $3 here I can get a chicken sandwich, fries & frosty. Maybe I'll check it out if I ever get back to Japan (it would be pretty far down on my list of places to visit though).

Appropriate given the theme, but I've got a nagging feeling that this isn't really good news....

I'll admit it- she's been dead longer than I've been alive, but I've got more than a few Marilyn photos on my laptop (& there are many more I've heard about that I'd really like to have).

While in Korea in late 90s I got a bunch of W500 coins, but got an attack of conscience & didn't use them in Japan. The only time I remember using one was at City Hall when an employee noticed the W500 coin & told me to use it to pay my bill. Probably still have them somewhere....

Mazel tov....

NJ has some of the strictest gun laws in the States (each local police chief decides who gets a license & each gun requires a separate license). Camden, Trenton & Newark have some of the highest crime rates in the Nation. While the papers don't say, I suspect most of the guns used aren't obtained legally or used by licensed individuals. Home invasions (thieves just enter the home when it's occupied) continue to rise- what's the stop them knowing the likliehood of an armed occupant is pretty low?

If you want to enact stricter gun laws, make sure they're tied to stricter penalties for those that violate the laws or commit crimes while armed.

And be prepared for more bombings in the U.S. as deranged individuals look to the Middle East for more creative ways to kill lots of people....

Perhaps one of the more interesting things I ate in Japan, but absolutely not the tastiest....

Wow, a zoo with squirrels (now with 38!). If they've also got cats & dogs, it'd be worth a trip from anywhere....