gaijintraveller's past comments

  • 2

    gaijintraveller

    This is one of the results of Abenomics. When the yen is reduced in value, budgets at Embassies are effectively reduced as they are in yen whereas purchase are in another currency.

    I do wonder if the standard has gone down so far or if this is just a story put around by the bureaucracy to increase their budget.

    Posted in: Japan losing diplomatic banquet battle to China

  • 5

    gaijintraveller

    Maybe they could sell one to NSA to sift through all that data.

    Posted in: Chinese supercomputer world's fastest

  • -1

    gaijintraveller

    Did any traitors go to prison for leaking information about Valerie Plame?

    Snowden, Manning and Assange are heroes, freedom fighters. Snowden and all other members of the U.S. security services should primarily be loyal to the people, not to a corrupt government which has been purchased by corporate interests.

    Posted in: Is Edward Snowden who blew the whistle on vast surveillance programs run by the National Security Agency that trawl through telephone and Internet records a hero or traitor?

  • 0

    gaijintraveller

    Do not use any American software and that includes the operating system. That rules out Windows and Macs. I always imagined that Microsoft struck a deal with the U.S. government and this deal stopped the company being broken up under monopoly laws.

    I always wondered if there were so many holes in Windows because the world's largest software company was incompetent or because the holes were intentional.

    I see some Americans think this is all right if you have nothing to fear. It is not all right. Why is so so important to protect your constitutional right to bear arms, but not your constitutional right to be free from unwarranted searches?

    Think about it Americans. This is what the cold war was about. The old Soviet Union had the KGB spying on everyone and America told us that was wrong. What has changed? Why do Americans no longer want to protect their rights, and, for that matter, everyone else's.

    Posted in: Ideas for keeping your data safe from spying

  • 0

    gaijintraveller

    For sale: Nuclear power plant, slight damage.

    Posted in: Abe to tout nuclear exports at central Europe summit

  • 5

    gaijintraveller

    As a Brit, I would like to inform the Americans who have written here that your founding fathers, whom you worship, were traitors, terrorists and criminals. They broke the law and fought against the State. For better or worse, they won and we lost. Whether someone is a traitor, terrorist or hero depends on which side you are on.

    Many of our, or at least my, heroes broke the law and fought against authority.

    Maybe some of the writers are too young to remember the cold war and the Soviet Union. The West believed that the Soviet Union was evil, Ronald Reagan's Evil Empire, as there were informers and spies everywhere. The greatest evil was spying on their own people so that they could not freely express their thoughts and protest for fear of being prosecuted in a show trial and sent to a gulag. The same situation occurs in North Korea now, and North Korea is consequently considered evil.

    I cannot understand why, when it was evil for these countries to behave in this way, so many Americans seem happy to be spied upon by their government.

    I also cannot understand why China should not spy on the United States and hack into their computers, yet it is considered all right for the United States to spy on the rest of the world.

    Posted in: Is Edward Snowden who blew the whistle on vast surveillance programs run by the National Security Agency that trawl through telephone and Internet records a hero or traitor?

  • 4

    gaijintraveller

    Please.

    Abenomics will result in increased prices through inflation with no corresponding increase in earnings for the people. In fact in real terms our wealth saved in Japan will decrease as purchasing power decreases. I want to spend much of my money on overseas holidays and overseas products such as petrol for my car. Then I spend money on electricity generated with imported fuel, which is also becoming more expensive.

    Posted in: Lawmakers urge Obama to act on currency manipulation by Japan

  • 0

    gaijintraveller

    It is easy enough to network two computers and faster than USB. You probably have enough network cables. If not, you can get them from 100 yen shops.

    Posted in: Make your life much easier when you transfer data between computers

  • 4

    gaijintraveller

    Hereforever, they did not say that they would enforce the law. There are many laws that are not enforced in Japan. Then there are laws that are randomly or illogically enforced. A good example of this is speeding laws. You will never get done for speeding in narrow streets, yet they will set up speed traps in places where going faster than the limit is perfectly safe, but I suppose that is logical as it is easier to catch people that way.

    Cycling laws changed recently, but enforcement of them seems non-existent.

    Spudmanreincarnated, I suggest that, to be on the safe side, the next time you take a bus or taxi, you ask the driver to show you his licence. I think this law is aimed mainly at the under aged or those who should know that the driver has no licence. I doubt you would be prosecuted for riding in a bus or taxi without a licensed driver.

    Nessie, this will not get the bosozoku off the streets. They are not afraid of the police and will continue to mock them.

    If they really wanted to make roads safer, they would make it illegal to have a TV anywhere in the front of a car. Navis also are dangerous, but they cannot be banned because that would be bad for business and the electronics companies would complain.

    Posted in: New bill toughens penalties for dangerous driving

  • 5

    gaijintraveller

    This is good for Japan, but this country really lacks good street food. There is so little selection. There is nothing like the delicious markets of South East Asia. Kebabs are always chicken or beef, never lamb. Some of the food may look foreign, but it is too often adjusted for Japanese taste.

    Maria, don't worry about street food and health checks. You can see the kitchen. Worry more about what you get in izekaya, hotels and such when you cannot see the kitchen and everyone working there is on minimal wages. If the person selling the food is the owner of the business as is often the case with street food, he does not want his customers to get sick, he wants them to come back again. That is a better check of food safety than any city office check.

    I remember reading an interview with the TV chef, Anthony Bourdain. He was asked if he ever got sick eating street food. "Never," he said adding that when the film crew went down with food poisoning, it was usually from the buffet breakfast in the chain hotel.

    Posted in: Great eats on the go

  • 2

    gaijintraveller

    The solution is obvious: install loudspeaker wherever there are children.

    Play an annoying little tune followed by an announcement, "Children must no make a noise."

    Repeat endlessly.

    "In Tokyo last year, a neighborhood family sued a day-care center, demanding the facility stop emitting noise and pay 17.46 million yen ($172,000) in damages for their mental suffering." Hasn't anyone sued JR, camera shops, owners of large screen TVs installed in public places for mental stress? For that matter why not sue politicians for their speaker trucks?

    Posted in: Aging Japan complains over the noise of children

  • 0

    gaijintraveller

    It makes me wonder how much money TEPCO donated to a certain political party. It seems their man is in power. "Let's start up the reactors and give TEPCO more money."

    I am sure TEPCO still has a lot of assets that could be sold and should be sold before they get more taxpayer finance. For example, they could sell their head office, which is in an extremely expensive part of Tokyo, and relocate to a new office somewhere in the countryside. Fukushima would be a good place to put it.

    Posted in: TEPCO seeks yet more cash for Fukushima payouts

  • 0

    gaijintraveller

    Thank Abenomics for this. We can expect Japanese products to follow and go up in price soon, too, because much of what is inside them is made overseas.

    Next we will find out the true reason for for the surge in stock market prices. They are not going up because Abenomics will make Japanese products more attractive, they are going up because Japanese companies are becoming more attractive to foreign companies. What will the right wing think when Chinese and other overseas companies start buying Japanese companies?

    Posted in: Apple joins other foreign brands in raising prices in Japan

  • 2

    gaijintraveller

    JeffLee, I would agree with you about Thailand, which seems to have a wonderful medical service and excellent doctors. I have found doctors there excellent even outside the medical tourist hospitals and right down to local doctors. I am surprised that you mentioned Vietnam. I never thought they were medically advanced.

    In fact, I have found an excellent doctor in Japan and his English is good. I think it is important for a doctor's English to be good. If it is not, he will not be able to keep up-to-date with advances in medicine.

    Posted in: What to expect when undergoing a medical check-up in Japan

  • 0

    gaijintraveller

    People would use their credit cards less if shops offered their customers a cash discount. I always use a credit card when I buy petrol because there is a penalty for paying cash. There is actually a discount for using a credit card instead of paying cash.

    Now, if instead of offering loyalty cards or their version of Visa or Mastercard shops offered a discount for cash, an old-fashioned idea, ...

    Posted in: Visa, Mastercard ask court to rule 'swipe' fees legal

  • 0

    gaijintraveller

    What is amazing is not the amount of violence, but the lack of violence. Travelling by train can be extremely stressful, yet so few people actually get violent.

    I have been living here many years. In that time I can remember seeing a fight once at Yokohama station. That is the only real violence I have ever witnessed on the rail system.

    I heartily agree with those who say the noise level at stations is too great. It is enough to drive anyone crazy. Instead of men screaming over the speaker system in voice that seemed to be designed to create panic, a calm woman's voice would be more appropriate. Compare the announcements on Bangkok's Skytrain with those on JR. A Japanese said that they have to shout to make people listen. That is not true. Get rid of all unnecessary messages and people will listen to the necessary ones. And get rid of other irritations, too, such as the music they play just before the doors shut. I don't smoke, but some people may feel that they need a cigarette to calm their nerves only to be told that such nerve-claming is not permitted.

    Now, why doesn't someone just cut the wires to or take a hammer to the loudspeakers instead? That would be better than violence to staff.

    Posted in: Violence against train station staff still rife

  • 5

    gaijintraveller

    Which foreign investors have most money available to invest in Japan? The Chinese. If Abe wants the Chinese to invest and is serious about getting foreign investment, he should stop being so aggressively against the Chinese.

    Posted in: Little sign Abe can shake up Japan's inbound foreign direct investment

  • -1

    gaijintraveller

    If one of these idiots who are stupid enough to ride a skateboard on public roads get s hit by a car, it will be the driver who will be seen to be in the wrong in the eyes of the law her.

    They are foolhardy idiots.

    Posted in: Kanagawa junior high school friends set out on 80-km adventure to Hakone by skateboard

  • 2

    gaijintraveller

    Basically, what I do not like is the bait-and-switch false advertising. Advertised flights are cheaper than they have ever been. Actual prices are not. They know what the price is when they advertise it, so hy not be honest about.

    "Everyone else lies, so we have to, too." is the probable answer.

    Posted in: Do you think airlines are sneaky about fuel surcharges, fees for extra baggage and other charges for various services?

  • 0

    gaijintraveller

    China and Taiwan went to war over Quemoy. It is still administered by Taiwan and claimed by China. The difference is a lack of argument which has been replaced by an understanding of the status quo. The result has been a boom in economy of Quemoy, which has become a tourist destination.

    Both sides should stop rattling sabres.

    Posted in: China trying to strengthen its claim to Okinawa

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