Simon Foston's past comments

  • 1

    Simon Foston

    "The licence fee is what allows the BBC to be such a superb service, and the lack of which leads to the bilge put out by Murdoch and his idiot brethren."

    Good point, but NHK does not provide a superb service. Apart from some documentaries and educational programmes which may be of a reasonable standard, everything else is mediocre. The BBC, even with various faults of its own like paying two salaries to useless people like Alan Yentob, is far superior. The idea of paying for NHK is the reason I only use my TV for watching DVDs and didn't bother switching to digital.

    Posted in: NHK may charge viewer fees for Internet, smartphone usage

  • 2

    Simon Foston

    The article says Akiko Wada was asked for her opinion by reporters? They're clearly just as responsible for peddling this kind of stupid non-story as Wada herself.

    Posted in: Wada says Mari Yaguchi should apologize over illicit affair

  • -1

    Simon Foston

    If she wants go to shrine, she can go to any shrine in Japan privately.

    Ah, but then all those war veterans and their elderly relatives in her (probably underpopulated and rural) constituency might not vote for her or channel money to her election campaign funds.

    Posted in: LDP policy chief to keep visiting Yasukuni Shrine

  • 3

    Simon Foston

    I just love the reasons Japanese give for committing crimes. It's so amusing. I remember reading about a guy who set his younger coworker's hair on fire then told the police, "I told him to get a haircut. He didn't listen." Or, that killed his neighbor & told the police that he reason was, "He would not say good morning to me and he always complained about my trash."

    I know... and then there's the sheer matter-of-factness about the way they admit to what they've done and why, like killing someone with an offensive hairdo, chopping them up, eating some bits of them and then flushing the rest down the toilet, to use a purely hypothetical example, is the most normal and commonplace thing imaginable. Admittledly, something might be getting lost in the translation.

    Posted in: Assistant judge fired for taking upskirt film

  • 0

    Simon Foston

    A lot of boys got off on that thank you very much. Not me, you understand. I was more of a Jabba person myself.

    You might very well think that, I'm afraid I couldn't possibly comment.

    Posted in: Lucas says 'Star Wars' trio returning for new film

  • 0

    Simon Foston

    However we are wrong if we think the death of this baby was only one person's doing and that we, members of this society, are in no way culpable for what has happened. We don't have all the answers to our questions but the worst part may be if no one seeks the answers and simply lock this man away. Judges and lawyers are building their careers but not learning from it.

    Quite right. I suspect, though, that everyone knows the answers to the questions that this horrible, tragic case raises but nobody really wants to face up to them.

    Posted in: Man arrested for shaking 6-month-old daughter to death

  • 2

    Simon Foston

    Finance Minister Taro Aso on Friday said he was “looking to businesses to boost compensation in some form” as he met members of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren. While stressing that he was not demanding they accept immediate permanent pay rises, he warned that “private consumption won’t grow unless labor’s share of income is addressed”.

    I must say I find these sorts of sentiments encouraging, but honestly, if they're so intent on debt-fuelled spending splurges there are lots of better things to do with the money than waste it all on more pointless concrete. It just goes to show that at the end of the day, the LDP is more concerned with the state of its election-winning machine than the state of the country.

    Posted in: Japanese shoppers upbeat as Abe pushes spending

  • 0

    Simon Foston

    I hope Abe-san can do what he promised during the campaign. Mainly escaping the post-war regime a legacy of the US.

    Nobody who's interested in Japan's real problems cares about any of that "let's go back to 1933" garbage. They only come out with that kind of stuff to dupe deluded Japanese neo-nazis into voting for them.

    Posted in: Voter support for Abe rises to 72%

  • 1

    Simon Foston

    A change in TPP agreement with U.S. could be the end of inefficient rural commercial rice farmers in Japan.

    Unfortunately it just works out too well for LDP politicians in rural areas (e.g. Shinzo Abe) to have lots of important voters belonging to an industry that is totally dependent on government protection for survival. Farmers who could make a profit by themselves might not see the need to vote LDP any more, and that would just never do.

    Posted in: U.S. says Japan must negotiate on rice to join TPP talks

  • 5

    Simon Foston

    I think Abe-san would do better to take care of domestic problems first... such as suggested by the title right above this one, concerning the "sloppy" cleaning-up work of radioactively contaminated soil.

    Talking tough on North Korea is easy. Abe doesn't really have to do anything except echo the noises everyone else is making, and it's never going to come back to bite him. Doing something about the mess caused by the LDP's big money chums in the energy industry is a bit more tricky. That requires difficult things like making decisions and carrying them out.

    Posted in: Abe calls for 'resolute' action against N Korea

  • 2

    Simon Foston

    Oh god. He sang the national anthem. Millions of schoolkids sing the national anthem every day in the United States or China.

    They don't do it as macho posturing to appease ultra-rightists who might otherwise be sending them bullets or severed fingertips in the mail.

    Is there a need to make a big production?

    Ask Shinzo Abe. He's the one that's boasting about it.

    Posted in: Abe sings national anthem as LDP prepares to 'take back Japan'

  • 0

    Simon Foston

    Okay, so Shinzo Abe can carry a tune. I bet he can't do much else.

    Posted in: Abe sings national anthem as LDP prepares to 'take back Japan'

  • 4

    Simon Foston

    Japan committed war crimes, we can never undo it. The government apologized and gave them compensation already.

    A big part of the problem is that there are politicians like Shinzo Abe, and seemingly a lot of people who voted for them, who do not think there has ever been any need for apologies and therefore want to retract them. I wonder when he's going to ask for the compensation money back as well.

    Posted in: S Korea says Japan must heal wounds of wartime excesses

  • 3

    Simon Foston

    "( DPJ ) party is necessary for Japan"

    The clear majority of voters would disagree.

    Well, given that the voter turn-out in the most recent election was only 59% that's not really saying much. Moreover, given that the "clear majority of voters" have opted for stale old men with stale old ideas, I couldn't care less what they think.

    Posted in: New DPJ leader Kaieda says party is 'necessary for Japan'

  • 3

    Simon Foston

    Congratulations to Abe, he was an excellent PM before and will make a good one now...

    Is this the same Shinzo Abe we're talking about? The same man who botched one upper house election campaign whilst LDP Secretary General and outright lost another whilst Prime Minister, who appointed four cabinet ministers who all had to quit and now has nothing better to offer than the same old LDP pork barrel politics?

    Posted in: Abe to become Japan's 7th PM in 6 years after landslide LDP win

  • 3

    Simon Foston

    As much as I despise the LDP, it is at least good that it doesn't look like they'll need to form any coalitions with this deluded old coot. He'll be completely marginalised in the Diet and so will his stupid party. The only downside is that taxpayers across Japan will be paying his hideously bloated salary.

    Posted in: Ishihara wins Diet seat

  • 5

    Simon Foston

    tomoki,

    Abe is the only politician who is offering the comprehensive policies for the future of Japan. He is touching the heart of both young and old alike. His economic policies are very aggressive in terms of easing the money supply and public investment. I believe his diplomacy will be active by nurturing closer relationships with countries such as India, Vietnam, Philipines, etc and will be more tactful and assertive with China and Koreas. He is good for japan and probably not so much for a few other counties.

    I totally agree with you!

    All Abe and his equally useless friends are good for is lining the pockets of the construction company bosses bankrolling their election campaigns. He'll be gone in under a year, after another spectacularly disastrous premiership, but unfortunately the cretins who elected him as their leader will still be around in government.

    Posted in: Shinzo Abe: Comeback kid with conservative agenda

  • 0

    Simon Foston

    Not to downplay the Japanese excluding Nanjing from textbooks, but it seems the Chinese are playing a hypocritical game to create a scape-goat of Japan.

    Quite probably. In which case every important ultra-rightist mayor, governor or Diet members who keeps saying Japan did nothing wrong because they cannot reconcile the truth with what they would prefer to believe is playing right into their hands.

    Posted in: China marks 75th anniversary of Nanjing Massacre

  • 0

    Simon Foston

    Btw, Abe is on a roll too ...I,m sure them graduates will be lining up for all those opportunities stemming from the public works gravy train. Here you go Keiko a shovel for you...

    Ah, Keiko won't get a shovel in Abe's "beautiful Japan." She'll get a smart uniform, cups and a teapot, and be told to keep busy dishing out the green tea for the old boys in head office until it's time for her to get married, have kids and spend the rest of her life in the house.

    Posted in: Noda asks public to share burden; blames LDP for huge debt

  • 2

    Simon Foston

    Blah, blah, blah. Apologies have been given several times over.

    Yes, and for every apology given there is some powerful right-winger who wants to retract it because he claims the Japanese never actually did any of the terrible things they're apologising for. Under the circumstances I think that if I were Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean or Philipino I would have a hard time taking any Japanese apology at face value.

    Posted in: Taiwan urges Japan to apologize over sex slaves

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