Tyler Vandenberg comments

In southern Japan they are great you have to go at least 100 kmh just to stay with traffic even in Fukuoka its still good.

I love how many people watch a YouTube video or read a website that supports their opinion and suddenly they are experts.

In fact the latest news even says the countries involved in the TPP negotiations are unlikely to ease their individual food safety standards, the subject is not being discussed in the negotiations. So all this GMO crap and TTP is complete BS.

For the article I think it is huge that Obama and the US Gov't starting trying to speed up the TPP now with most of Asia in it (Korea and Taiwan late 2013) and China and India at the door trying to get it, the TPP has become one of the main points for the US Pivot to Asia.

In the UCMJ for Article 120 (Rape, sexual assault, and other sexual misconduct) It only states

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who commits an act of sexual intercourse by force and without consent, is guilty of rape and shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.

So for Rape in Article 120 it only says that a person can get anything including death but the punishment is decided by a Court , it goes on to talk about other crimes and defines them, but at no point is a minimum punishment stated. From that we can see how this scatter plot of punishments for sexual assault happen.

In case studies of Western Australia, California, Michigan, Florida and Pennsylvania indicate that crime decreased or plateaued under mandatory sentencing schemes.

Wow I guess most people did not read the whole thing, or every time we get a post that has Japan and US military in it we just get the standard same old "The Military needs to leave" or "who will protect Japan" posts.......... I miss the days when people used to actually debate facts and come up with a plan that they thought would work instead of just vomiting the same old emotional spill never back up with any facts.

For the article: For 21 offenders their only punishment was a letter of reprimand from the Air Force for Sexual assault this is a crime against the victims "a slap in the face" I think there should be no "minor" Sexual assault IMHO. I understand that unit commanders want to be in control, but with these random levels of Justice depending on the branch, I think a Joint branch review panel needs to be set up to review the sentences for each case or just create a mandatory minimum punishment required for each degree of sexual assault with very specific guild lines laid out in the UCMJ.

@ CH3CHO

Three things. First, while I'm sure the survey of Commercial maps consisted of walking to to book stores, let me clarify where and how I have seen both on scaled maps of East Asia I usually see "Sea of Japan (East Sea)" with the East Sea under. If you view the name on Google Maps at the 50mi/100km scale and closer you will see the same thing, I checked on Wikipedia it has been like that since 2006. I have not seen it on Globes or other Large scale maps (thus if Map scale permits) Second, I'm not that old so I would still be in High School as the increase was starting. Third, I really don't care what you call it or why and while two countries are calling it something different and I have been to both Countries it has been an advantage to know both.

It has had both names on Google Earth for YEARS and most maps I have seen have had both as long as I can remember when I was in school our Maps had both, I would actually be surprised if Virginia's text books only used the one name. The the way I see it they are only updating to what most maps have been doing already. In fact this practice is recommended by UNCSGN resolution III/20 when map scale permits. So the real question is if Virginia has only been making text books with only the Sea of Japan intentionally when did that start and why?

Really wish we could read the whole document anyone able to find a link for it?

My two major questions from this article are:

The obtained documents mention test sites including Nago and Shuri, both in Okinawa, but it is not known whether the experiments were conducted within the premises of U.S. bases there, Kyodo said.

There has to be a few people around that would have work on this project, While I doubt they had a rice field on base they may have it is the 60's after all, if not there is probably some rice farmer in Okinawa that was paid to let the US test on his rice. Are there any people that are claiming to be victims of this testing?

In the field tests, the army “used a midget duster to release inoculum alongside fields

My second question is did they where black suits and sunglasses when they where in the field with the midget dusters

To add to the debate we are talking about Imperial Japan, who has a pretty dark history of persecution against Christians, (which was in fact one of their major reasons for starting their 200 year self imposed isolation) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Japan

"Fortunately there are people in the Church who chose the right side, who condemned abuse and who sacrificed their lives when it was necessary," Wiertz wrote. "There have in recent years been many reports about abuse within the Church. It's shameful to see that even the faithful can be guilty of such things, "he said.

I think he would hope that his martyr would inspire people to do the right thing and stand up for what is right, that we focus on his action as a human, not on who did it against him but ask if we would have the courage to do the same.

When that helicopter crashed into a university building in Ginowan - off base, on Japanese land, in a civilian area - the US military authorities closed off the site, refused Japanese police access not only to the immediate crash site, but to school buildings, and stopped traffic on the adjacent road for four days. Looks like the general rule doesn't apply in Okinawa.

The Japanese police do not conduct investigations of any airplane crashes in Japan the Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission (ARAIC) investigates the cause of the crash, My point being that crash sites are often very dangerous and you don't want a the local politicians and police running about a crash site trying to conduct "their investigation" when they are not trained or qualified to handle post crash health hazards. It was a US military aircraft so the US investigated and responded to the crash, If it was JSDF they would have done the same, a Civilian flight ARAIC would have investigated and the JSDF probably would have cleaned up the crash. The Japanese police only role was to secure the site (block off access) which they did after Tokyo had to remind them ,if you can recall when the US military removed the Helo it was Japanese police stopping the protesters from blocking their way.

The issue we have is if the local politicians really thought that if they got access to the site or the crashed helo (many tried) with no aviation background they could have aided the investigation, the answer being no of course so we see that in fact it was Okinawa not following the SOFA status agreement and was not trying to conduct a serious investigation only staging a political stunt to keep them elected for the next decade.

Guidelines Regarding Off-Base US Military Aircraft Accidents in Japan http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/n-america/us/security/guideline3.htm

I would hate to speculate, but I know there was an airman's wife that has been missing for two years now. She left a suicide note in the house ,but they were never able to locate her remains.

But U.S.-based automakers, which have not attended since before the global financial crisis, are again staying away as are South Korean producers, with the exception of Hyundai.

um Tesla is an American Car company and they are at the show....... I think you mean the American "Big 3" car companies (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) have stayed away.

The absence of religion in Japan's political, social and intellectual worlds is one of its most admirable qualities.

HA one of the funniest things I've read today! You mean the same Gov't that is founded around a religion? Official visits to Yasukuni Shrine? What you really mean is Japan's erosion of religious freedom is what you like about it. If you die while in service to the JSDF it doesn't matter if you are atheist, Christian, or anything you will be enshrined at a Shinto shrine by the Gov't regardless of your families wishes. The issue is that Shinto can't be separated from Japan or the idea of "being Japanese". Most people do things because its what is expected of them culturally. Some public holidays, annual ceremonies, Ise Grand Shrine and Yasukuni Shrine these are all Shinto things that play a part in "preserving" the Japanese nation.

If they where not "shrouded in secrecy" every time they settled on an idea it would influence the market. For example If it was leaked that White Sugar was on the table US Sugar company stock would get sold and Australian Sugar company stock bought b/c US companies cant compete with Australian in that sector.

He clearly needs to wake up and see how far the SDF is from being capable to play the role of a "main" player, if you started tomorrow it would still take decades to get a respectable military into service. While we wait the GOJ might want to patch up relationships with other Pacific allies.......

its used to extract or insert reconnaissance teams when a helicopter landing is not possible.

The US and China are the world’s top two economies and militaries

Russia has the #2 Military.... and China still has a long way to go before they catch them...

You can jog 100m in 20 seconds...... for all of you that can't beat her you better be 90 or you might want to get more exercise.

@ jeff198527

JGBs are a safer bet than Eurobonds, Gilts, or T-bonds.

You can make more money in a US savings account then a JGB, and I'm pretty sure a shoebox looks more appealing to investors then JGBs. Japan will not collapse they will simply implode. Once they consume most of the private savings in Japan and have to raise the interest to make it appealing to foreign investors (b/c they will have no choice) that's when it will happen.

@ USNinJapan2

LOL thanks. Never been much of a rotor fan....

Eject in this case means thrown out, eg sokeone was ejected during a car crash or even in sports, eg someone was ejected from a game, it doesnt mean they used ejector seats.

@ Badge213

you can't jump out of a crashing helo thats why they do what is called "autorotating" you can try to jump but you have to get past the spinning propeller as the helicopter falls past you..... anyway the MOD updated the article now so it is correct now.

@ YuriOtani no b/c with NVGs you don't see the same so Okinawa looks different and they need to be familiar with Okinawa at night with NVGs so they don't crash into the ground when the they stuck in a situation where they have to land in Okinawa at night with NVGs and they have never done it before. Most of the training is done in night Labs and the Simulator, then they have to do the area Familiarization Flight to get the qual so most of the training is being done other ways, They could do it other places, but its safer for the pilot to know what his home airport looks like with NVGs on and land there before he has to do it in an emergency situation.

Here is a NVG video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=-v62cK1oN7Y

It is always the Americans, they should be given everything they want. While the Japanese permit it, the Americans are doing the dirty deed!

Please explain how the Americans are doing the dirty deed.

@BertieWooster

Night vision goggles are a huge tool for Helo pilots, they need Familiarization Flights of their training and landing area b/c things look very different with NVGs on its more of a safety currency check to make sure that they can fly safely with them on.

http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/usa/sfa/pdfs/jc_mv22_2.pdf

Both flight and ground operations between the hours of 2200 and 0600 are limited to those considered necessary for US operational requirements. Night training flights are limited to the minimum required to fulfill assigned US Forces Japan missions and maintain aircrew proficiency. Unit Commanders will exert every effort to complete night flying operations as early as practical.

Well, here is the truth if any one wants it..........

This is the same thing as when the Osprey did Night training in Oct 2012, And every time the Newspapers come out and stay that Night flights are ban, and every time the GOJ checks and clear the US military (The Oct 2012 Night Flights did not break the agreement b/c it was required night training) My guess is this was required training again, and the Japanese newspapers will never print that the flights didn't break the agreement after the GOJ checks.......... any takers on that bet?

Under an agreement on noise prevention between Japan and the United States, Osprey flights from 10 PM to 6 AM are supposed to be kept to a minimum.

Here it is from NHK

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130614_29.html

Night time Flights are not ban @ Japan Today Please check your facts

Didn't he just say a few weeks ago that Japan would honor its war apology statements, now he defends his right to visit Yasukuni Shrine which strait denies these war crimes............... didnt' take long for him to go back on his words

19 million Japanese voted for the political party he is the leader of, his party controls 11% of the vote in the Japanese national government...... kind of crazy when you think about it.

The enshrinement of war criminals has forever dishonored this site, The shrine dedicated to those who lost their lives while serving Japan, the war criminals there did not die during the war the died after the court found them guilty of thier crimes and gave them the death penalty. By them being in the shrine it makes a statement that they committed any crimes on behalf of the Emperor and Japan. This is why Hirohito officially ban going to the shrine after he found out that the war criminals had been secretly added. This is why Emperor Akihito also refuses to attend Yasukuni. So Korea and China see the Japanese lawmakers going there as "these men did nothing wrong they lost their life for doing what Japan wanted them to do".

Seems like every year a new record is set.......

The French paradox anyone? French people have a relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease even lower then Japan , despite having a diet relatively rich in saturated fats.