AEROCASTER's past comments

  • 4

    AEROCASTER

    Robert S. McNamara from the 2003 Academy Award winning documentary film, 'The Fog Of War'... talking about the US firebombing of Japan in WWII...

    "LeMay said, "If we'd lost the war, we'd all have been prosecuted as war criminals." And I think he's right. He, and I'd say I, were behaving as war criminals. LeMay recognized that what he was doing would be thought immoral if his side had lost. But what makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win?"

    ... Anyway, this Korean guy was out pushing the wrong buttons in the wrong place. He's lucky to be able to talk about it.

    Posted in: Korean man assaulted by extremists for protesting Japanese war crimes

  • 2

    AEROCASTER

    I ripped my entire collection of DVDs to a RAID drive. I shredded the discs. I never want to see another disc as long as I live.

    Posted in: Japan to make illegal downloading of music, videos punishable with jail terms

  • 3

    AEROCASTER

    A good friend, US born Thai, Berkley grad, returned to Thailand a decade ago and won't return to the US for the same reasons.

    Back in Thailand his world is an open book, but stateside he grew up being 'China boy', 'Chopstick', and a thousand other racial slurs... and this kid is cool, grew up in Laguna, surfer, plays ball, smart, good looking, but American culture can push against you if you're not white.

    The bamboo curtain exists, and America lost another good one.

    Posted in: Brilliant Asian-Americans face 'bamboo ceiling' in U.S.

  • -1

    AEROCASTER

    I don't believe it.

    The survey is surely about an expat family coming here and demanding everything exactly the same as they got back home. THAT would be expensive. For those who come and live 'local' it's surprisingly good value.

    We bought a nice used condo in Yokohama a few years back 64m2, south facing, overlooking a park, 15 minutes from Yokohama and close to a convenient train line. A similar condo in a big Canadian city would be double - triple the price.

    There are tons of non-chain, inexpensive places to eat, most with excellent quality food, prepared well, friendly atmosphere, and with excellent Japanese service.. Try to find that back home! In Calgary, restaurants like that are few and far between, decent food is double-triple the price, and service is a seven-letter word: is usually exists only in the minimum!

    Excluding cabs, Japanese transportation is inexpensive, and ultra efficient, too.

    Posted in: Tokyo regains ranking as world's most expensive city

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    *don't you need to be a citizen to purchase real estate in this country? *

    If you have the money, you can buy. No need to be Japanese, but having a Japanese to help in negotiating the process will be necessary.

    Posted in: Buying real estate in Japan

  • 1

    AEROCASTER

    Smart kid. We also discovered the ingredients for gunpowder in our school's encyclopedia... picked up sulfur from the railroad tracks, charcoal from the barbeque, and saltpeter in cans ($0.19 cents at the time) at the drug store. We had a lot of fun making firecrackers and crude fuses, etc.

    Unfortunately, those days are gone for kids. Everything has become a federal offense.

    Posted in: Boy steals from high school chemistry lab to make explosives

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    Unsweetened drinks in convenience stores!

    Posted in: Things that foreigners miss about Japan when they return home

  • 1

    AEROCASTER

    One effect of the tax, especially in the cases where there is a pile of cash sitting in a bank, may be to actually USE the money by spending it, employing it somehow, lending it... and that may be better for the economy than sitting on it.

    Posted in: Revisions to the inheritance tax in Japan

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    At this point in time, who gives a ra tsass about what Ichihashi wants. If mom and dad want to come for a visit all the power to them. They may have some sway over their skunk of a son and help this to a quicker resolution.

    Posted in: Ichihashi's lawyers say he doesn't want any contact with his parents

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    And the restaurant owner? This guy witnesses the whole thing and keeps the old guy there until evening when he starts to die. I suppose if pop stars can get away with criminal negligence so can the owner of the Thai restaurant.

    Posted in: Ex-gangster held after beating customer to death in Thai restaurant in Tokyo

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    Let's see... I can watch J-TV show showing girls in short skirts getting judo-flipped to see if the camera and show hosts and audience can catch a glimpse of their exposed panties as they land; I've seen women walking with skirts so short I can see their panties and butts hanging out below their skirts as they walk through the busy concourse of Yokohama Station (and I'm 185cm!!), and been exposed to panties of all sorts by J-women who seem very comfortable squatting with open legs, changing their socks on the train, etc, etc. This action by the J-police is laughable. If the prudish moms didn't like it just just ask the guy to move... it's not as though he was having sex with her.

    Posted in: Taxi driver, woman arrested for making up-skirt videos in Osaka park

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    I side with Noriko and her children on this one. The children are Japanese citizens and spent most of their lives in Japan. They should definitely be in Japan, not America. To hell with the twisted entanglements imposed by te American judiciary.

    Posted in: American man accused of grabbing own kids released

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    bquadry - drugs are illegal in Japan? Hardly. Alcohol is most certainly a drug, and far from illegal. And a number of over the counter medications contain opiates in Japan. Unfortunately for this kid marijuana is most definitely not legal, and he's definitely screwed his chances of getting into KU.

    Posted in: High school student caught with cannabis resin

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    ... and was the train operator also arrested? Sounds similar to the little boy that crossed the road through stopped cars into an oncoming truck earlier this week...

    I agree with earlier comments - where were the parents?

    Posted in: 6-year-old girl dies after being hit by train in Hyogo

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    I have two kids in grades one and three, but if it happened as the driver said I'm afraid I have to side with the driver... a kid just walks out into traffic from between cars... it's sad, makes be cringe, but the if it happened this way the kid did something very dangerous...

    Posted in: 8-year-old boy dies after being hit by truck outside home in Yokohama

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    Unfortunately the world is chock full of neanderthals that live in a polarized black or white reality - and these boneheads often get to interpret or make the laws on behalf of the rest of us.

    Posted in: Celebrity drug offenders face public humiliation

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    Mom did the right thing in taking the child to the hospital. Good luck to her, as she's probably having a hard time coping with her new reality.

    As for papa bear, he miserably failed a number of key character tests that night. Unfortunately he'll probably abscond from any further responsibilities toward his wife and the child he fathered. Maybe he'll grow up some day in another life. Tough lesson for all.

    Posted in: Man held for beating 2-month-old son who wouldn't stop crying

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    Great inspirational speech, and a fair, inclusive and centrist framework for a reform of American health care. Most initiatives were already on common ground, he extended a few olive branches to some substantive Republican ideas, and gave some overdue clarifications and reassurances for the balance of the program - perhaps not perfect but still damned good! It looks like he's going to get it done.

    ~

    BTW... Whatever happened to Southern Hospitality?

    Posted in: Obama urges Congress for action on health care; Rep Wilson calls him a liar

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    At what point can a person start making decisions about what they do with themselves? The law may be clear as mud, but here in Japan it seems there are many 15 and 17 year-olds who are educated and focused and seem mature enough to make decisions for themselves, and perhaps 18 and 20 year-olds who aren't. I say allow it and deal with complaints, if any, on a case by case basis. Perhaps those under 18 or 20 should need a parent to sign off permission. I suspect there will be few complaints because the actors seem willing. This is Japan, and these days Japan is starting to shed some the Western ways and morals it's adopted since the war. About time!

    Posted in: Legal loopholes give rise to bars, salons employing underage girls

  • 0

    AEROCASTER

    McDonalds in Japan beats the hell out of McDonalds in Canada.

    Posted in: Fast food places like McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, KFC, etc, are frequently criticized. What do you think of them?

View all