yokomoc comments

Posted in: Cameron vows `fightback' as Birmingham seethes See in context

A Wednesday match between England and the Netherlands at London’s Wembley stadium was canceled.

This was going to be a charity match for Street League International which helps young out-of-work people turn their lives around. A bit of irony there.

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Posted in: Anti-Korean Wave in Japan turns political See in context

Bluesafteypin, you seem to have misread my post and taken it as a slight on Japanese people in general. "Sad, sad people" is directed specifically at the people who attended the rally. You then call it "pathetic parade of delusional nationalism" so we're in agreement here.

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Posted in: Anti-Korean Wave in Japan turns political See in context

I believe it is called freedom of speech and as long as there was no violence I really do not think it calls for criticism for their action.

Nobody's questioning their freedom of speech, just flabbergasted at their warped sense of what is important.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Posted in: Anti-Korean Wave in Japan turns political See in context

This protest occurred on a Monday during the day time when most people should have been at work.

The protest was on Sunday afternoon so unlikely they were all unemployed. Just sad people with nothing useful to do at the weekend.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Posted in: Anti-Korean Wave in Japan turns political See in context

I was wondering if this would make it onto JT. Isn't it amazing when during a time of nuclear crisis with contaminated food, an incompetent government, nuclear 'watchdogs' who lie to protect the industry at the public's expense, a zombie economy with no sign of recovery, a widening income gap and a pending financial crisis that'll be worse than 2008 - these tools think what really needs protested is too many Korean soap operas on TV? What sad, sad people.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

Posted in: Strong yen spurs int'l travel, currency trading See in context

@Serrano, when you change money to go abroad who do you think's on the other side? And when the BOJ decide to sell JPY, who's buying on the other side?

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Posted in: Strong yen spurs int'l travel, currency trading See in context

Well that was fun while it lasted. The DJA down 5% overnight, AUD/JPY right back where it was before yesterday's intervention, Nikkei tanking today and Europe still on the verge of sovereign crisis. It's a year later than I expected but GFC part II has just kicked in.

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Posted in: Japan's autopsy rate woefully low See in context

@Ah_So I read something similar a few years ago. Also that the suicide rate was higher than it should be because doctors would just label possible homicide deaths as suicides because of the reluctance to do autopsies.

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Posted in: Google+ the fastest-growing social network ever See in context

Google+ has had the fastest takeup because it's an established brand. The others had to start from scratch so naturally toook time to become popular. In a way it's a disadvantage for Google because they have to have a good thing from the start or risk losing people early while other companies had the freedom to develop and user-test their software over time.

I've not seen anything on there yet to make me keep using. Even the front-end isn't appealing. But we'll see how it develops if it doesn't bomb like Wave and Buzz.

Slightly embarrassingly, Google's own trends show that after initial interest after the launch, there's been a large drop to below pre-launch levels:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=google%2B&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=0

Meanwhile Twitter continues to boom while FB looks to have peaked:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=twitter http://www.google.com/trends?q=facebook

just what we all need - more vacuous social media for self absorbed loosers to parade their failings on...

It's easy to be cynical (it's also easy to spell losers correctly). I find the opposite for what it's worth - they're more of a tool to get absorbed in others.

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Posted in: Nissan fumes over BBC TV program 'Top Gear' See in context

Well we should all thank this guy for his amazing journalism.

He's not a journalist.

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Posted in: University student suspended following 'drunk driving' tweet See in context

And how did the university get a hold of the tweet in the first place? I guess someone must have grassed him up. Poor show.

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Posted in: Japan retail sales post first rise since quake See in context

I wonder how much of this is due to energy-saving giving people more disposable income

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Posted in: JR West punished staff with toilet duty, cutting weeds See in context

Er... no. "Logic" would be stopping all the trains BEHIND the one with the problem so "all the following trains from not catching up to each other and possibly crashing". Why should trains in front of the problem be stopped for something that doesn't affect it?? The ones in front of the problem are running on time. Why should they be stopped?

Because the same trains that take you to Shibuya are the same ones that take you back to Motomachi-Chukugai and back again. The trains run like a chain link with some overlapping for the express so a stoppage in any one place affects the whole line. The trains times are also set up precisely so that express trains overlap the locals at the right stations and putting a large gap between the broken-down train and the one in front will just lead to chaos afterwards as they try to realign everything.

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Posted in: Boehner delays vote on his debt-ceiling measure See in context

Are there still people out there who thing the deficit/debt can be tackled with just spending cuts alone?

Despite the fact that every successful IMF rescue in history has required between a 67:33 and 83:17 split in spending cuts and tax increases, and that the US has the largest primary deficit in the world, yes...it appears there are some.

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Posted in: Boehner delays vote on his debt-ceiling measure See in context

Obama, with majorities in House and Senate, extended the so-called Bush tax cuts.

Revisionist thinking. They didn't have the necessary 60 votes to pass the senate, and the Republicans refused to pass the extensions to unemployment benefits unless the tax cuts were extended along with it.

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Posted in: Tokyo stocks lower, dollar trading at Y77.90 as U.S. debt default looms See in context

Hardly a surge, it's been trending that way for a couple of weeks now

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Posted in: Japan to buy up and burn radiation-tainted beef See in context

Will burning the beef destroy the cesium-137? And if not what will they do with the residue and emissions? I hope this is heavily controlled.

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Posted in: Norway killer's manifesto praises Japan for not adopting multiculturalism See in context

Is it not fair to say a certain amount of immigration (and emigration) is needed to allow new ideas and skills in to a country and to balance out the work force, but if it happens too quickly it can lead to divisions and an overload of 'foreign bodies' for want of a better phrase? In this case Japan has had far too little and parts of Europe too much. At some point Japan will have to open the floodgates and the longer they wait the worse the shock to the system, while Europe will have to stem the flow for a while until the current population settles into some kind of order.

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Posted in: James Murdoch's evidence questioned as hacking scandal widens See in context

This case may end up being the first true example of people power victory this century. Viva la revolution!

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Posted in: No progress in U.S. debt talks as deadline looms See in context

There's no search involved - it's a matter of interpretation. I want to know which countries you believe 'have their house in order' and why. It's not a difficult question. Back up your stupid claims for once.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: No progress in U.S. debt talks as deadline looms See in context

Global? The problems are not global. There are nations out there which can boast of having their house in order.

I'm curious which nations you'd include in this, and why?

Hey you got an answer to this?

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Posted in: 'Anonymous' fires back at hacker hunters See in context

I have trouble agreeing to ay 'extremist ' label on these groups. There's no violence, simply exposition of the truth. These groups have become necessary because of the willingness of various organisations to hide or obscure the truth from the public. I can't on any level oppose what they're doing, the response from the populace to their actions is overwhlemingly positive.

With an open and honest society they would become powerless but in today's world they will only go from strength to strength.

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Posted in: No progress in U.S. debt talks as deadline looms See in context

Taka, research shows that e.g. the food stamp program contributes around $1.75 for every $1 paid out. Poor people spend the money they have available, the wealthy send more of it offshore where it does not contribute to production. Simple truths there.

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Posted in: No progress in U.S. debt talks as deadline looms See in context

Global? The problems are not global. There are nations out there which can boast of having their house in order.

I'm curious which nations you'd include in this, and why?

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Posted in: No progress in U.S. debt talks as deadline looms See in context

What is clear, is that we need to rethink the global economic system including debt. It may be time to wipe the slate clean and try to start again. Otherwise our current system will drag us all down with it.

The 2008 financial crisis, the following debt crisis, the Arab revolutions are all just indicators that we've reached a breaking point in sustainability of the human population. It would be great if it was as easy as to just call all debts quits start over but that's overly idealistic and impractical, and unfair to the debtholders. The opportunity is there to start evolving to a new system based on sustainable use of resources but that requires forward thinking leaders. The guys we have just now mostly operate out of fear of the next election and out of paying back their own debts to the CEOs who got them there.

You have to understand as well that our debts are not just monetary. We have massive debts to the earth and the ecosystem that supports us. Carbon debts from the oil, coal and gas we've extracted and released into the atmosphere and ocean that will start to charge extortionate interest rates as the carbon sinks like the oceans and rainforests max out and become net carbon emitters, while the permafrosts melt releasing the methane trapped below. These debts become monetary as we pay more and more on disaster relief, and have to fast-track renewable energy and carbon extraction technologies into production decades later than they're required. We have potable water debts to the underground aquifers our intensive farming practices are drying up, and to the dry riverbeds and dying ecosystems below our dams. The resources we're dependent on are limited and dwindling, our credit card is overdrawn.

So no stable system is going to emerge before the failings of the old one are corrected for. There needs to be a lengthy transition period and it's not going to be painless.

My own feeling is that any change is going to come from the bottom up. There's already a growing groundswell of people power emerging worldwide connected by the internet. In future I can see true government by the people come in the form of e-government. There won't be elections, people can simply set their positions on various topics stored in a central database, which the people in government are then required to act upon. The people will be their own constitution. But the current systems of government are barely 20th Century never mind 21st Century so it'll take some brave nations to make the first moves to any new system.

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Posted in: Nap time See in context

Lol, ok Nihon Kotsu Taxis have a free app that does most of what I just wrote, and the thing I missed out (fare estimates). Downloaded.

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Posted in: Nap time See in context

@drscope, yeah that's what I mean - the technology infrastructure should mostly be in place already. This is just another step so that you don't have to be at a fixed residence, know the phone number of e.g. the restaurant you're staying in. The app would also allow the customer to select the route they want to travel on (if they have a preference) which would avoid accusations of drivers taking them for a ride. When the taxi arrives it would send a notification to the customer's phone which would be useful if they're in a restaurant, bar etc.

Also as the customer input the location in GPS before entering the taxi it resolves the problem of drivers not knowing where the hell they're going then doubling the fare after they get lost on the way, and also avoids the need to make a call in the first place.

With an English version the app would be a huge hit with tourists and new residents I think, who have language issues on top of the other problems. The first company to implement this would get a huge leg-up on their competitors IMO.

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Posted in: McDonald's opens mega-store in Roppongi Hills See in context

Another ad disguised as a News story

You mean you don't like your news with a slice of fake cheese?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Nap time See in context

I'd like to see the taxi companies bring out a smartphone app. The user's location would be found by GPS, they could even input their location and destination to a navi system before sending the request. The central servers would then use the GPS location of the taxis to determine the nearest free cab and send an alert to the driver and instructions to the navi system. Any techies know if that would that be difficult to implement?

Then more of the old fellas could take their naps until their buzzer goes off :-)

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Posted in: The big heat See in context

When we took the kid to Kodomonokuni last summer the huge park area was almost empty - EVERYONE just went for the pool. It was crazy crowded and you could barely move without bumping into someone. It's not even a good waterpark, a couple of impossibly slow flumes you have to wait a silly amount of time to ride and a no-frills pool. At the same park during Golden Week you have to queue at least 15 minutes to go down the big slide that is now deserted in summer.

I agree with Zenny, near us there are a couple of municipal water parks that aren't too crowded and are very affordable for a day out.

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