Yardley comments

“Speak Up.” even with the stupid period would have been a better choice.

To each their own. Live and let live. Obviously, there is no “right” way to live one’s life when it comes to having children. There’s no reason to feel superior or inferior. Some couples want children and do, and some don’t or can’t. Some will have regrets and some won’t. And some who have them shouldn’t have.

Seems they’re starting with the least of his crimes.

Of course, my heart goes out to the parents and other family members. What a tragedy! But I also thought of the passerby. I can’t imagine witnessing something like that. It would haunt me for the rest of my life..

As everyone says, epic fail. The security detail must be devastated. Tragic all around. Hope lessons are learned at the very least.

An unfortunate choice of a name for their lineup of residential-use air conditioners, but all’s well because Ms. Kitagawa is one heck of an actress. Imagine learning those lines AND being able to communicate comfortable living, combined with energy efficiency and a clean environment with just a facial expression. Kudos.

I wonder why so many here seem to believe the official data on Covid infections, hospitalizations, and deaths when you all so consistently and vigorously don’t believe the official data in any other story on this site. Wishful thinking?

@proxy

I honestly do not know a person who has either been hospitalized, been in ICU or died.

I don’t know anyone who has won the lottery, been bitten by a snake, or hit on the head by a coconut, but I know those things happen. 600,000+ Americans have died of Covid. I don’t know any of them. Whether you personally have the experience or know someone who has is not how this works.

Never mind. Just read the other article. It’s all in the contract that Japan signed with the IOC. What a mess.

Asked whether the government would ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to cancel or postpone the Games even after they have started if there was a threat to public health and lives, Nishimura said: "The IOC has the final say."

I don’t understand. How can the IOC dictate anything to Japan? They are just a sports committee and Japan is a country.

I get my regular flu shot every year from a pharmacist. No appointment, no waiting, no cost. I’m surprised that’s not something already available in Japan. For my Covid vaccine, things were a little different because pharmacies didn’t have enough supply yet. As soon as I qualified to receive the shot, I registered online with my county health department and two different supermarket/pharmacy chains, but I actually got an appointment more quickly through my doctor’s office. I went to a large vaccination site in April run by a hospital network set up on a college campus, about a 30-minute drive. The whole thing ran like clockwork. I was in and out both times in less than 40 minutes. So many volunteers, nurses, doctors - I was very impressed with the efficiency and organization. Some sites also have National Guard medical specialists administering the shots. Is Japan using SDF members at all?

On a side note, but related, other countries have requested changes in the way some cities are written and pronounced in English, haven’t they? We don’t say “Bombay” or “Peiking” anymore, for example.

One reason for the hats, and in Queen Elizabeth’s case, the bright color dresses, is so they can be seen in a crowd. The Queen has said she knows people have come to see her, so she wants to stand out.

Facebook should just shut down for a day (or more). Why not? We all got along okay, and in some ways much better, without it.

It is beyond understanding how anyone with any sense of morality or humanity could argue passionately about hanging on so tightly to their guns in the face of the thousands of innocent lives lost every year due to gun violence. It's useless to try to reason with those kinds of people or even take their arguments seriously because they are irrational zealots. They cling to the 2nd Amendment as if it were the word of God. There is no hope for the evolution of their thought. They do not evolve. But, society does, and the 2nd Amendment is not the word of God. It will change someday, or some other course of action may present itself. Sadly, many more people will die in the meantime, maybe even someone you know or love. Reasonable people must continue to speak out and protest against this stain on America. “Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.”

This issue has absolutely nothing to do with the 2nd Amendment or freedom. It has everything to do with gun sales, big money donations to politicians from gun manufacturers, the power they have to motivate the Republican base, and the lust for power at any cost, including your loved ones' lives. More fear = more money. More hate = more money. More ignorance = more money. The Republican playbook.

“... nearly daily...” Completely believable. She should have reported it, and maybe she did, but the article doesn’t say, and judging by the tone of the comments here, it’s easy to understand why she probably didn’t.

Looking beyond the family for support is important. Build friendships, volunteer, join a club - do things to meet other people. Try to forge connections that hopefully will last a long time.

As others have commented, why would a husband be asking for his wife's address? That should have been caught. I imagine the employee who gave out the information is pretty devastated. It should be the rule that if information is restricted, the person who requested that it be restricted should be contacted immediately before any information is given out.

The widespread falsification of data is "inappropriate"? That's an understatement. Isn't "criminal" a better word?

If this is true, I feel sorry for his children as well as the victim and the victim's family. This will be like a bomb going off in their lives. So much pain and damage from his sick act.

@wowyz

What do you expect for more iniquitous tantamount inclined to do given the many foramen and concession to adumbrate simulacrum, exploit and skulk

Sorry, what?

Trump was holding unspecified meetings Saturday at a golf club in Virginia.

Is he off playing golf again?

I really have to laugh. These are exactly the same comments and arguments I heard 27 years ago when I first went to Japan to teach English. I suspect that they are the same as 50 years ago, too. I stayed 13 years and taught in a variety of situations - high school, college, private lessons, and chain school (briefly!). Clearly, nothing has changed. I hope those of you still teaching English enjoy your jobs, but please don't expect anything at all to ever change in English language education in Japan. It never has and it never will. God alone knows why!

Isn't it a further matter of concern that the President of the United States gets his information from the Drudge Report and Gateway Pundit? What's next - the National Enquirer?

Trump's tenuous grip on reality has slipped even more. He thinks just by saying something he makes it true. He's done that time and time again, lie after lie. Finally, frustrated by trying to explain another ridiculous Trump statement, Sean Spicer metaphorically threw up his hands and said, "This is what the President believes." Trump can believe anything he wants, I suppose, but that doesn't make it true. He's a pathetic, delusional old man, unfortunately surrounded by people so hungry for power that they are more than willing to support and encourage his delusions. Never imagined seeing the U.S. in this sad mess. It's humiliating.

The American Dream now is to somehow survive the next four years.

An interesting idea for revenge, but did the bullies even know why they were being targeted or by whom? If not, then it was a waste of time and energy, unless it just made him feel better to confuse and upset them. Like most of their kind, I'm afraid they had probably forgotten all about their past abuse of this guy. Although, maybe they did remember and were able to tell the police who they suspected and that's how he was caught.

Isn't it odd that 8 years ago, one of the biggest complaints Republicans had about Obama was that he was too inexperienced in government to be President. They went on and on that he was "just a community organizer". He was a community organizer before he earned his law degree. Then he went on to teach Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago, serve 3 terms in the Illinois Senate, and then, in 2004, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Now they support Trump? A crooked failed businessman, reality TV "star", and lunatic ignoramus? Can he even spell "Constitution"? We already know he doesn't know anything about the Constitution, if his speeches and so-called policies are anything to go by. Has the man ever even read a book? At the very least least, Clinton has experience, intelligence, and dedication on her side, as well as not being out of her mind.

Must be part of their "Jerry Lewis is a genius" mentality!