bookowls's past comments

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  bookowlsApr. 10, 2013 - 11:07AM JST

  He was dumb to jump on the car. The only other way he would have ended up on the hood is if she drove at him and he fell on it (highly unlikely). She should have stopped the car immediately and called police. I think she was wrong for driving with him on the hood and her arrest is justified. Pity there was no dash cam!

  Posted in: Woman held for attempted murder after driving 1 km with husband on car hood

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  bookowlsApr. 10, 2013 - 10:57AM JST

  As one of 'Maggie's Children' - I can honestly say that she was an absolute tyrant and caused misery for millions in the UK. In various discussion boards around the web, I've noticed it's mainly the Americans and Japanese that think she was so fantastic! She was anything but!

  Posted in: Abe hails Thatcher as strong and devoted leader

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  bookowlsJan. 30, 2013 - 11:40AM JST

  He is on board Sea Shepherd’s main ship, Steve Irwin, but has stepped down as skipper and has vowed to abide by a U.S. court ruling in December banning the group from physically confronting any vessel in the Japanese fleet.

  The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit requires Sea Shepherd to stay at least 500 yards from whaling vessels and prohibits “navigating in a manner that is likely to endanger the safe navigation of any such vessel.”

  Since when does the US think it has any rights to determine what happens in International Waters or waters off the coast of Australia?

  Posted in: Anti-whalers claim early victory against Japanese fleet

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  bookowlsJan. 21, 2013 - 06:43PM JST

  Talking of copyright breaches, you have one at the end of the story, but there isn't one on the AP site or Yahoo, where this EXACT story resides!

  Posted in: Indicted Megaupload founder opens new sharing site

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  bookowlsDec. 25, 2012 - 10:32AM JST

  America has no jurisdiction in international waters. And good luck enforcing any decisions - even if they got their ship back, the fight would continue with non-US vessels.

  Posted in: Sea Shepherd defiant over U.S. court order to stay away from Japanese whalers

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  bookowlsDec. 15, 2012 - 09:50PM JST

  And here's another reason why I don't pay NHK!

  Posted in: NHK suspends announcer for 3 months over groping incident

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  bookowlsDec. 15, 2012 - 09:44PM JST

  @Piotr - Subaru? Who are they? haha

  Posted in: Jump in my car

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  bookowlsDec. 15, 2012 - 09:44PM JST

  @Robert Dykes - don't let that stop you! I have had my Z for 3 years and love it! $600 isn't cheap I know, but worth every penny/yen!! I wouldn't part with mine for anything!!

  Posted in: Jump in my car

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  bookowlsDec. 13, 2012 - 02:31PM JST

  Fined by who? Since when does the USA think it has the right to say how Japanese banks do their business?

  Posted in: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ fined $8.6 mil for flouting U.S. sanctions

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  bookowlsDec. 07, 2012 - 01:10PM JST

  I'm a big fan of keeping business local. Sure, the production costs may go up but Apple can afford it and it's a great move in bringing jobs back to the US. Whether it's one job or two, is irrelevant. Keeping business at home is good all round. Consumers may or may not feel the pinch in pricing based on how the company resolves to regain higher production costs.

  Posted in: Apple's CEO to bring production back to U.S. from China

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  bookowlsNov. 03, 2012 - 01:48PM JST

  I recall seeing a photo from around 1945-1948, where gangsters were protesting their rights to earn money. The picture had a gangster holding a sign saying "Gangsters have rights too". My response then is the same as it is now - No, you don't! Business owners should have the right to protect themselves by any means necessary from these scum.

  Posted in: New anti-yakuza legislation comes into effect to clamp down on gangs

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  bookowlsNov. 03, 2012 - 01:41PM JST

  How is Bieber number one? Wasn't Lady GaGa the first to reach a billion? I call fake on those numbers!

  Posted in: 'Gangnam Style' second most-viewed YouTube video after Justin Bieber

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  bookowlsNov. 03, 2012 - 01:28PM JST

  For one thing, this can't be blamed on Schindler. This has to be down to poor maintenance by the hotel or lack of a service contract perhaps. 4,499 other Schindler elevators are working without error. Secondly, why is this being investigated by the government? For one, it's not a political problem and secondly, surely this is a task for Health & Safety boards? Just a thought. Sad that the woman lost her life this way.

  Posted in: Gov't to inspect 5,500 Schindler elevators after fatal accident

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  bookowlsOct. 30, 2012 - 02:45PM JST

  80 books huh? Ain't nobody got time for that!!

  Posted in: China plans 80 books on Japan war trials

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  bookowlsOct. 30, 2012 - 02:41PM JST

  I've purchased three cars in the 13 years I've been in Japan and each time, I've refused to pay a 'bonus'. Dealers are pretty quick to agree to that when they know they'll likely lose a sale to their competitor. The bonus is just another sham to get more money into their coffers.

  Posted in: Fighting the auto tax

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  bookowlsOct. 30, 2012 - 02:36PM JST

  Car inspection: $600 + Tax $640 = $1240 Road tax (my car 350z) $600

  The inspection tax cannot be justified - even garages are starting to reduce their charges in order to lure customers to have the test done with them, and in an attempt to reduce the sting of this ridiculous government tax.

  Posted in: Fighting the auto tax

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  bookowlsOct. 30, 2012 - 02:32PM JST

  Some of the comments here just astound me. I live a few miles from Hikari, and work there once a week. I remember when this was going on through the media in the early 2000's - and I remember how happy Motomura, his family and friends were, when the courts changed the verdict to the death penalty.

  He should not be given a retrial and should man up and accept his punishment for the disgusting and perverted crimes he committed! If they release this murdering rapist back into society, he won't have to just worry about Motomura 様 coming after him. Pretty much the whole city of Hikari and beyond wants him dead!

  Posted in: Man sentenced to death for killing mother, baby daughter in 1999 seeks retrial

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  bookowlsOct. 29, 2012 - 05:13PM JST

  kimuzakashiii - your post makes no sense, given that the article was written by a parent who has two kids and is using this system to teach them English. If you want to rely on the school system here for teaching English to your kids, good luck with that! But apart from keeping a journal, I do most of the points Adam offers here and my 11 year old speaks jolly good English! Try to be a bit more positive!

  Posted in: 16 tips for raising a bilingual child in Japan

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  bookowlsOct. 29, 2012 - 03:04PM JST

  Japan needs more mental clinics!

  Posted in: Akita man arrested over attempted extortion for sex and songs

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  bookowlsOct. 29, 2012 - 02:56PM JST

  It's high time Japan stopped calling 19 year old men 'minors'!

  Name and shame, I say!

  RIP to the youth and condolences to his family!

  Posted in: 19-year-old arrested for forcing boy to jump to his death in river