Tuesday February 14, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

cleo's past comments

-29

cleoJan. 16, 2012 - 02:28PM JST

Was she scorned, or coerced?

Posted in: Body of naked man with genitals sliced off found in apartment
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cleoJan. 16, 2012 - 12:56PM JST

I wouldn't be surprised that it might cause some smaller merchants to refuse to accept credit / debit cards

Quite a few (not so small) companies in America refuse to accept credit cards with an overseas billing address for online purchases - even companies whose UK branches have no problems with my Japanese Visa card. When I want to send gifts to friends in America I'm more or less restricted to Amazon. It would be nice if companies were a bit more trusting.

Posted in: Visa Worldwide (Japan) Co Ltd
-8

cleoJan. 16, 2012 - 11:57AM JST

One thing I am wondering if others here have experienced is the ambiguity as to where your money goes when you pay say a 親睦会 (Shinbokukai) or a 町内費 (Chounaihi).

If you stay in your neighbourhood long enough and integrate, one day you'll find it's your turn to be on the Chonaikai committee, and you'll be complaining that the 町内費 isn't enough to do all you're expected to do (Organise an annual neighbourhood BBQ, 3-times annual clean-up-the-streets, parks and meeting hall campaigns, annual emergency fire/earthquake drill, twice-weekly clean-up of the refuse stations and recycling stations, regular campaigns to remind people not to park in the street, pick up after their dogs, etc etc etc.. That's my experience, anyways.

Posted in: Six things that foreigners feel are overpriced in Japan
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cleoJan. 16, 2012 - 08:29AM JST

thanks though for thinking I'm an idiot.

No need to be stroppy. I wasn't calling you an idiot, just pointing out that our taxes are used in ways that aren't always to our benefit.

no reason why people can't pay - unless they don't have a job and I am all for supporting them.

Including the sararimen's housewives? People with no job who can afford not to work. I'm pretty sure you don't want to support them. Under the present system they are entitled to the same pension as a person who has paid the kokumin nenkin faithfully all their working life. Now the country is even paying out pensions to women who 'forgot' to pay when they stopped being full-time housewives of sararimen. This glitch in the system needs fixing, as well as going after the others who are supposed to pay and don't.

Posted in: Noda says Japan must tackle debt to avoid credit rating cut
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cleoJan. 16, 2012 - 08:17AM JST

Now all you have to prove is that the SM2, a designated "security vessel", is actively involved in the act of whaling.

It doesn't have to be 'actively whaling'. The law specifies vessels supporting the operations of a vessel or vessels designed, equipped or used for killing, taking, treating or carrying cetaceans, which is exactly what the SM2 is doing.

The SM2, and any other vessel, is allowed to use Australian waters for whatever purpose they chose unless there is a law "specifically" forbidding such action.

Come on, put your glasses on and read the law again. It does specifically refer to the actions of the SM2 in supporting the operations of the whaling fleet.

Posted in: 3 Sea Shepherd activists detained aboard Japanese whaling vessel
-2

cleoJan. 16, 2012 - 08:13AM JST

The major problem with Japanese skin care products is that there are few if any cruelty-free products, which is a greater deterrent than the price. Ask the sales lady and all you get is a blank stare. Body Shop and Lush have plenty of good, non-whitening products. They may be more expensive than at home, but it's worth it.

Posted in: Six things that foreigners feel are overpriced in Japan
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cleoJan. 16, 2012 - 02:12AM JST
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2011C00751

236 Offences relating to foreign whaling vessels
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         (1)  The master of a foreign whaling vessel is guilty of an offence if the 
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vessel is brought into a port in Australia or an external Territory and the master has not obtained the written permission of the Minister for the vessel to be brought into the port. Note: Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility.
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         (2)  Subsection (1) is an offence of strict liability.
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Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.
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         (3)  An offence against subsection (1) is punishable on conviction by a 
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fine not exceeding 500 penalty units.
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         (4)  Subsection (1) does not apply if:
                 (a)  the vessel is brought into the port in accordance with a
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prescribed agreement between Australia and any other country or countries; or
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                 (b)  the vessel is brought into the port under the direction of a 
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person exercising powers under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State; or
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                 (c)  an unforeseen emergency renders it necessary to bring the 
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vessel into the port in order to secure the safety of the vessel or human life. Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (4). See subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code.
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         (5)  In this Act:
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foreign whaling vessel means a vessel, other than an Australian vessel, designed, equipped or used for:
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                 (a)  killing, taking, treating or carrying cetaceans; or

                 (b) **supporting the operations of a vessel or vessels designed,** 
**equipped or used for killing, taking, treating or carrying cetaceans.**
```
--Looks like the spokesperson for the federal Environment Department doesn't know his own laws. Or the situation; the SM2 was not 'steaming through the EEZ'.
Posted in: 3 Sea Shepherd activists detained aboard Japanese whaling vessel
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cleoJan. 15, 2012 - 09:34PM JST

tmarie - I'm all for stiffer penalties (heck, for penalties of any kind - at the moment, there's nothing) for those who don't pull their weight - including those stay-at-home housewives whose husbands earn enough to keep them yet get a free pension. The thing is, in a civilised, affluent society we don't expect anyone to starve as a result of poverty, illness, disability or even fecklessness. So if at the very base we expect to have some kind of safety net, everyone needs to pay into the system.

Your taxes, by the way, aren't just to pay your pension - the roads, refuse collection services, schools etc etc wouldn't happen without taxes. I just wish they didn't waste so much of it on stuff that isn't needed, like amakudari, superfluous royal family members and coast guard ships in the Antarctic.

Posted in: Noda says Japan must tackle debt to avoid credit rating cut
-2

cleoJan. 15, 2012 - 04:00PM JST

Only the Dutch maritime authority will register these eco-terrorist vessels and the Dutch Parliment is trying to change that situation.

One Dutch member of parliament has her knickers in a twist. Meanwhile SS receives funding from the Dutch Postcode Lottery.

Posted in: Do you consider the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd to be eco-terrorists?
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cleoJan. 15, 2012 - 03:51PM JST

Is that why I never have as much money as I think I should have? X(

Good thing I don't have to live with dollars.

Thanks for the Miss, though. ;-)

Posted in: Romney team hits back at Obama's 'job destroyer' attack
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cleoJan. 15, 2012 - 03:04PM JST

why bother with a national pension system at all? If people can only receive what they contribute, then it is far more efficient to eliminate the natoinal pension entirely. Let people save on their own and choose how to invest those savings

At one level, that would be fine. Those with the wherewithall can invest in private schemes if they want. In addition those who for whatever reason were not able to do that need a basic safety net. if the basic safety net is removed from pensions, then those at the bottom simply move onto welfare, which is ultimately more expensive for the nation. The basic pension is a kind of insurance policy; everybody pays in, those who get ill/injured and are unable to work get a payout, and those who stay fit get a payment when the policy matures. Or would you rather see folk dependent on charity?

Bottom line is, we can't keep running up biills that our children and grandchildren (if we have any) have to pay. It's irresponsible.

On that, I agree.

Posted in: Noda says Japan must tackle debt to avoid credit rating cut
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cleoJan. 15, 2012 - 01:56PM JST

means testing those who get old age pension

So you'd have two people in similar jobs, earning the same amount, paying the same premiums - one person saves for a rainy day, the other spends all his surplus on foreign holidays and fast cars. When they hit 70, the one with no savings but lots of good memories gets a full pension, while the one with money in the bank is told to fend for himself?

That can't be right. The pension received should reflect the premiums paid in. What a person does with the rest of his money is his own business.

Posted in: Noda says Japan must tackle debt to avoid credit rating cut
1

cleoJan. 15, 2012 - 01:30PM JST

Alphaape - Yes, it's still a lot of money, but nowhere near the figures you were throwing around. While the Japanese system is far from perfect, the fact remains that a reasonable level of medical care is available to all, and this is a huge factor in the public well-being. While in America, if you have the money you have access to some of the best care in the world and if you don't, you're in big trouble if you get ill. (Unless you're penniless and at death's door, then you get the necessary treatment (if it isn't too late) though because things have been allowed to get worse treatment takes longer and is more expensive, and people complain about having to pay taxes to support ne're-do-wells who can't afford to pay).

The story of the illegal immigrant you mention is actually a story that backs up the need for reasonably-priced health care for all: the man in question was so ill and with so many severe complications because his initial problems had been left untreated. If he'd been able to afford to get help earlier, his treatment would have involved a hospital stay of around two weeks and been much, much less expensive. (The cost of hospital treatment for acute pancreatitis is around $1670 per day, so $23,380 for a 2-week stay) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18090234

And the average cost of an operation to remove gallstones (the patient's initial problem) is around $3,000~$8,000 and involves no more than an overnight stay for keyhole surgery, a few days for open surgery. (http://www.placidway.com/subtreatment-detail/treatment,39,subtreatment,245.html/Laparoscopic-Gallbladder-Removal-Treatment-Abroad) See how much money could have been saved if reasonably-priced primary care had been available.

Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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cleoJan. 15, 2012 - 12:57PM JST

When people cannot subsume their own personal and political hatreds during times of war, then a nation will never be able to unite.

And if it's an unjust, unnecessary war then it's better if the country doesn't unite behind it. I can't believe that anyone still thinks there was anything patriotic about the Vietnam War. Self-serving politicians in no danger themselves sent America's young off into harm's way for political reasons, not for the sake of the country.

The selfish and divisive public figures, the ones failing to do their duty, were those who were stoking the fires of war, not the people saying Hell No.

It's no one's duty to go and kill and die on the say-so of some self-serving politician, and Ali's refusal in no way reflects on his patriotism. (Whether he's patriotic or not, I don't know and am not really interested. Just saying, refusing to swallow the coolaid dished up by the politicians of the day is probably a sign of greater, not lesser, love of country and one's fellow man)

Posted in: Ali at 70: Legacy endures for new generation
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cleoJan. 15, 2012 - 02:25AM JST

So if we had the same system as Japan, he still would be on the hook for $300,000.

No way. This page (in Japanese) http://www.bms.co.jp/kogakuryoyo/program01.html calculates the cost to the individual when medical treatment is expensive. Translating your $1 million over a year into yen per month and assuming our patient is under the age of 70 and a low-income earner, the maximum he pays over the year is the equivalent of $5,519.75. (¥35400 per month max)

Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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cleoJan. 14, 2012 - 11:53PM JST

What I don't understand is how I ate nothing for three days yet lost not an ounce of weight. :(

All you want to know about norovirus, and then some - http://www.medicinenet.com/norovirus_infection/article.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norovirus

Posted in: Crown princess has stomach flu
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cleoJan. 14, 2012 - 06:18PM JST

Didn't they eat the same food? I don't know the imperial palace but I don't think they have restaurants, fast food chains to freely go down and eat. They eat what they are given. How did it happen?

Noro (not novo!) can be transmitted via food, but it's more likely to be passed person-to-person. Maybe some member of the Imperial household (one of Masako's personal maids?)brought it in on their hands.

How badly people are affected varies depending on a number of factors, including, apparently, blood type - people with type O are likely to have a harder time than others. In our family, everyone with a direct English link (me, the kids and the grandkid) got it bad, while the Japanese-only men in the family merely lost their appetites for a couple of days, and the Japanese-only ladies were completely unscathed. Apsara was lucky to be over it in 24 hours - I did one day thinking I had a really bad hangover, then three days prostrate and another 3 days tottering about the house feeling weak and wobbly. Never again. (I hope!)

Posted in: Crown princess has stomach flu
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cleoJan. 14, 2012 - 11:03AM JST

＞I think an actual public service announcement might suffice.

Couldn't agree more.

Darn bug robbed me of a week of my life.

Posted in: Crown princess has stomach flu
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cleoJan. 14, 2012 - 09:15AM JST

So do a lot of people. What of it?

Maybe a bit of heightened awareness will encourage people to be a bit more careful about handwashing, etc., so that fewer people get it?

Posted in: Crown princess has stomach flu
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cleoJan. 14, 2012 - 08:52AM JST

Poor Masako. Norovirus can be nasty and debilitating, and there appears to be a lot of it about at the moment. An infected person is contagious both before symptoms show and for several days up to a week or so after symptoms disappear. The Imperial cleaning staff needs to disinfect with bleach every loo the princess has used, as well as every door knob and surface she has touched, and all her eating utensils, towels, etc. And make sure she gets lots of fluids.

Chez cleo young and old had it over the holidays, and it's not pleasant. Not pleasant at all. Dunno what medication Masako has been given - the doctor told us there is no medication that works on novovirus. All he could give us was kanpoyaku to ease the symptoms.

Posted in: Crown princess has stomach flu