ThonTaddeo said...

ThonTaddeo at 12:19 AM JST - 16th October

Cleo, I had thought that as well, but there's a post on Debito.org suggesting that Isaac, the first child, may have been born in the US.

http://www.debito.org/?p=4751

Noriko is also "having her cake and eating it"; she went to the US for the divorce and received massive amounts of money…

Posted in American man accused of grabbing own kids released at 12:19 AM JST - 16th October
ThonTaddeo at 11:42 PM JST - 15th October

Chris and Noriko had been separated for a few years before he left for the US and got together with Amy. We have no idea why the marriage initially broke up several years ago, only that it broke down well before Chris' marriage to Amy, and I commend both spouses…

Posted in American man accused of grabbing own kids released at 11:42 PM JST - 15th October
ThonTaddeo at 09:31 PM JST - 15th October

We know a child dies every six seconds of malnutrition

How do we "know" this? That works out to over five million children dying of malnutrition every year. Nearly a Holocaust, annually?

I'd like to see how this "very six seconds" fugure was arrived at. It makes a good…

Posted in U.N. says record 1 billion go hungry at 09:31 PM JST - 15th October
ThonTaddeo at 09:07 PM JST - 15th October

Throw the book at him - kidnapping and forcible confinement. Crossing international boundaries for the purpose of committing a felony. He should serve hard time, no excuses.

You can substiture "her" and "she" for "him" and "he", and the statement is no less valid. And her extralegal actions occurred…

Posted in American man accused of grabbing own kids released at 09:07 PM JST - 15th October
ThonTaddeo at 07:02 PM JST - 12th October

I had the exact same thing happen to me.

I was on my bicycle on the Gaien-Nishi street in Yotsuya (south of the 3-chome crossing; Sanai-cho, I think) and, while riding on the sidewalk, spotted what looked like a long stretch of road with no people or cars on it.…

Posted in Woman on minibike injured after run-in with rope tied across road at 07:02 PM JST - 12th October
ThonTaddeo at 04:46 PM JST - 12th October

Cleo, good catch!

W505a, you're being a bit disingenuous when you compare Japan's national consumption tax to US state sales taxes. In my home state when I lived in the US, there was a 6% sales tax, but it didn't apply to essentials like food and utilities. Poorer people --…

Posted in Health insurance gets more complicated with new visa law at 04:46 PM JST - 12th October
ThonTaddeo at 02:22 AM JST - 11th October

W505a, don't forget consumption tax. If you save 20% of your take-home pay, spend 20% on rent (untaxed), and spend the other 60% on goods and services, that's roughly another 75,000 yen (2,500,000 x 60% x 5%) being taken from you by governments. And just about every politician is determined…

Posted in Health insurance gets more complicated with new visa law at 02:22 AM JST - 11th October
ThonTaddeo at 10:38 PM JST - 8th October

What happened to lemon Pepsi and vanilla Coke? I loved them, and haven't seen them in years.

Posted in Azuki-flavored Pepsi at 10:38 PM JST - 8th October
ThonTaddeo at 11:16 PM JST - 7th October

Pukey, yes, that's her. You can see a great photo of her here:

http://www.yaf.or.jp/maf/en/program/daichi/img/daichi_ph2.jpg

And then, in Ainu dress, on the cover of Metropolis here:

http://www.tokyographics.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/779Cover.jpg

Kudos to Metropolis and JT for running these kinds of stories and keeping the Ainu in the public eye.

Posted in Photo album of Ainu people living in Tokyo published at 11:16 PM JST - 7th October
ThonTaddeo at 12:11 AM JST - 7th October

There seem to be more and more incidents like this these days. One person does something minor and unintentional, and the other party feels that the slight is deserving of massive retaliation.

Posted in Man stabbed after umbrella altercation on Osaka sidewalk at 12:11 AM JST - 7th October