Tuesday February 14, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

proxy's past comments

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proxyFeb. 13, 2012 - 11:18AM JST

They need to spin off music and movies, fear of pirates has been handcuffing the rest of the company.

Posted in: Incoming Sony CEO Hirai refuses to abandon TV business
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proxyFeb. 13, 2012 - 11:09AM JST

Flight from heck, trapped on the tarmac with 60 kids with the flu.

Posted in: NZ admits overreacting to flu scare on plane from Japan
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proxyJan. 31, 2012 - 02:58PM JST

Raise the retirement age to 70 ASAP.

Posted in: IMF urges Japan to triple consumption tax to reduce debt
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proxyJan. 30, 2012 - 01:30PM JST

@KobeGrandad I already gave you the example of 8% of the human genome coming from viruses; if that is not natural genetic modification, what is? Lateral DNA transfer is a natural process.

The bacteria that causes gonorrhea actually has human DNA in its genome.

Posted in: Gene breakthrough to help farmers hit by tsunami
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proxyJan. 30, 2012 - 11:04AM JST

@KobeGrandad Just because it occurs in "nature" does not mean it is good. There is growing evidence that the vial DNA we carry in our genome is responsible for schizophrenia and other diseases.

Like I said in my first post, irrational thought be it over vaccines or religious is impossible to eradicate.

Posted in: Gene breakthrough to help farmers hit by tsunami
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proxyJan. 30, 2012 - 04:51AM JST

There are in fact about 100,000, yes you read that right, pieces of the human genome or about 8% that came from viruses. We are genetically modified!

Posted in: Gene breakthrough to help farmers hit by tsunami
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proxyJan. 29, 2012 - 05:22PM JST

Just what Japan needs; more subsidized rice production that nobody wants.

Irrational thought is almost impossible to cure. GM foods are perfectly safe.

I would be much more concerned about things like ochratoxin A; 200 grams of peanuts is all it takes to go over the daily tolerable intake of ochratoxin A. There is a long list of natural toxins in most food and other niceties like rat poop and dead mice. There are strict limits in the amounts of dead mice, animal poop, and natural toxins allowed in food because scientists know they are dangerous. There is no limit in the amount of "foreign" genetic material allowed in food because scientists know GM foods are safe.

Posted in: Gene breakthrough to help farmers hit by tsunami
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proxyJan. 16, 2012 - 09:56AM JST

I have seen far too many construction projects like the following to ever agree to give more money to any government in Japan.

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Article Unavailable
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proxyJan. 15, 2012 - 06:38AM JST

@sf2k

And Canadian universities are ranked as high or higher that Japanese universities. Japan undergoes a lot of pain for no gain.

I believe in Canada the general thinking is to try and remove barriers for students wanting to study and in Japan they put up as many barriers as possible.

It always strikes me as ridiculous that prefectural universities in Japan force students who attend prefectural high schools in the same prefecture to jump through the entrance exam hoop when they are overseen by the same board of education.

Posted in: Two-day university entrance examinations begin across Japan
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proxyJan. 13, 2012 - 06:07AM JST

I pity the person ahead of me who reclines their seat fully if they think that they will get any sleep; my long lags can create a pretty bumpy ride. It should be common courtesy to recline one's seat slowly while checking with the passenger behind if it is okay and it should be common courtesy not to crush the passenger sitting behind.

Posted in: Australian airlines reject 'fat tax'
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proxyJan. 02, 2012 - 03:01PM JST

Now that is interesting; buy a drink and check your mail.

Posted in: Soft drink vending machines offer free Wi-Fi Internet access
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proxyDec. 31, 2011 - 09:16AM JST

Good for Toshiba; make money building the reactors and more money cleaning up.

Posted in: Toshiba invents device it claims can decontaminate radioactive soil
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proxyDec. 23, 2011 - 01:48PM JST

Well, I hope they loved Japan enough not to throw missiles at it.

Posted in: N Korea's Kim Jong-Un secretly visited Japan as child
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proxyDec. 18, 2011 - 03:22PM JST

They will need to shift a lot of production overseas unless Japan joins the crowd and devalues the Yen.

Posted in: Toyota plans record 2012 output: reports
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proxyDec. 16, 2011 - 04:14AM JST

He should absolutely never even let his dogs onto private property. Konishiki and his wife are 100% in the wrong here.

Posted in: Charges filed against Konishiki for alleged assault over dog poo
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proxyDec. 12, 2011 - 08:57AM JST

@Wurthington Japanese POWs were indeed treated well when they got to prison camp but not by their captures by any means. Most surrendering Japanese soldiers were just outright killed by marines until 1944. 60%-80% of the bodies of former Japanese soldiers recovered had no skull. One marine made a letter opener out of the leg bone from a dead Japanese soldier and sent it to the president. That and other well publicized incidents like the photo of an American woman with a Japanese skull on her desk sent to her by her boyfriend (google it) justifiably led Japanese soldiers to believe that they would be killed if captured.

Brutality in war is not one sided, Japanese, Chinese, American, Canadian and German soldiers all committed atrocities.

Posted in: Christian Bale denies Nanjing Massacre film is propaganda
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proxyDec. 12, 2011 - 07:37AM JST

There is no doubt the the Empirical Japanese army brutally killed thousands. However if it is a story about people trying to escape I hope they have included the Chinese scorched earth policy, the Chinese division that was sent to the port to sink all the boats and kill anyone trying to leave, the Chinese army division that guarded the last exit and shot people leaving, the Chinese army members that also looted the city, raped and killed civilians to rob then of their clothes.

Japan has acted nothing but peacefully for 66 years so whatever they are doing, it is working well. China's blatant anti-Japanese rhetoric is more likely to dredge up militarism in Japan than anything else. Already it is backfiring as South Korea which is still considered to be an historic client state by China has been driven by fear of Chinese nationalism into forging better ties with Japan.

I will await the Chinese movie about the tens of millions of people killed by the Chinese communists and their cultural revolution.

Posted in: Christian Bale denies Nanjing Massacre film is propaganda
1

proxyDec. 05, 2011 - 09:15AM JST

Just to round out the story a bit, the old Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong was built by Canadian POWs under the command of a Japanese Canadian who's father had served in the Canadian army during WW1 but moved to Japan before the WW2 started. He was known as the Kamloops Kid and was infamous for his ill treatment of prisoners. After the war he was charged with war crimes but the charges were tossed out because Canada could not prosecute its own citizens for war crimes. So they charged him with treason, found him guilty and strung him up.

There were in fact Nissei Canadians of Japanese dissent who sympathized with the enemy.

Posted in: Japanese return to Canada's WWII internment camps
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proxyDec. 05, 2011 - 08:15AM JST

Now here is a story to make everyone smile.

Posted in: Speeding blamed for pileup involving 8 Ferraris, 1 Lamborghini
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proxyNov. 29, 2011 - 05:35AM JST

The "problem" with rice is that it is a low value commodity. Free Japanese farmers and support them in moving into higher value production. For example there is no reason on earth for Japan to produce cheap rice while importing expensive canola.

Posted in: Some rice farmers see TPP as window of opportunity