Thursday February 16, 2012

smartacus's past comments

  • 0

    smartacus

    Disillusioned

    He'll get a lot more than 3-4 years. This is a high-profile case. I would say he will get 15-20 years. As I understand it, the severity of the sentence will depend on if the prosecution can actually prove murder. For a long time, he was only charged with abandoning a body. I am assuming that DNA evidence will help nail him for the charge of murder.

    And Roppongi, your assertion that the nationality of the victim will play a part in the outcome is nonsense.

    However, I fear the Hawker family is in for a tough two weeks, though. They'll have to sit through the trial, conducted in Japanese all day long, with some Japanese friend doing a running translation for them. They'll be wondering why doesn't the court do it this way or that way, why don't they ask him this, what about that? Natural, as their point of reference is the Western-style trial.

    When the grisly details come out, Mr Hawker will probably feel like lunging at Ichihashi.

    And all through it, the question they have asked themselves a million times will probably not be answered: "Why did you have to kill her?" I doubt that Ichihashi will address the family.

    Anyway, I trust that the lay jury will deliver a just verdict.

    Posted in: Trial of Lindsay Ann Hawker murder suspect Ichihashi to start July 4

  • 0

    smartacus

    That gentleman has seen a lot of historical events. Just think of all the inventions he has seen come into our lives - aircraft, electric lights, phones, plumbing, TV, and too many more to mention. Happy birthday.

    Posted in: Happy 114th birthday

  • 0

    smartacus

    AdamB

    You do owe this country something. This is your home. You are part of a community. Or if you prefer, you are a guest. In a time of crisis, we are all called upon to help our neighbors and families, whether we feel we belong or not. I know countless people who did leave - and in every single case, fear of the nuclear crisis was the motivating factor. Whether or not they felt as if they were part of the community never came into it. I tried to talk some of my acquaintances out of leaving and succeeded in doing so in the case of one family and one couple. I just didn't want to see anyone give in to fear and make life-altering decisions for the wrong reasons.

    Posted in: Why did those foreigners who decided to leave Japan in the aftermath of the March 11 disaster come in for so much derision from some people who labeled them with words like 'flyjin?'

  • 0

    smartacus

    tkoind2

    I agree with cleo. What you wrote about integration by a foreigner into Japanese society being illusory is drivel. And spare us the list of wonderful things you do for your community. If you feel that you are not treated as part of your community, then the problem lies with you and your attitude, not with your neighbors.

    Of course, you will always be referred to as a gaijin. So what? That doesn't mean you will be treated as an outsider.

    Just get on with your life and don't worry about it (and yes, we do know plenty about your life, based on what you have written in your posts).

    Moderator: Readers, please stay on topic and do not snipe at each other.

    Posted in: Why did those foreigners who decided to leave Japan in the aftermath of the March 11 disaster come in for so much derision from some people who labeled them with words like 'flyjin?'

  • 0

    smartacus

    I'm not keen on another tax, especially since it will probably become permanent. The government already is planning to raise the consumption tax to pay for pensions. How much more taxation can we take? As it is now, I have almost no disposable income each month, so I can't do my bit to stimulate the economy.

    Instead of a construction tax, how about cutting out all ODA for the next two years and using that money for earthquake recovery?

    Posted in: The government is considering the introduction of a new tax to finance the huge costs of reconstruction in the Tohoku region following last month's earthquake and tsunami. What are your thoughts on such a tax?

  • 0

    smartacus

    No matter what anyone thinks about TEPCO's president, it is childish for political leaders (supposedly mature adults) to heckle and taunt the man. What do they hope to gain? It's not as if they could do a better job.

    Personally, I think Shimizu is in a very difficult position. There is not much he can do personally; he is relying heavily on his team of nuclear engineers and physicists, plus the foreign specialists who are at the scene.

    An inquiry into whether or not he and other TEPCO execs were negligent in the past should be left for another time, after the crisis has been brought under control.

    Posted in: Gov't under fire for disaster response; TEPCO chief heckled in Diet

  • 0

    smartacus

    sheriff

    The woman is probably a franchise owner of the Seven-Eleven store, so of course, there is nothing wrong with her children helping her. They probably helped out in the store before the disaster. In times of crisis, everyone pitches in, and from what I have seen so far, children in all parts of the quake-hit Tohoku have been very enthusiastic about helping to do odd jobs here and there.

    Posted in: Signs of the times

  • 0

    smartacus

    I'm not a Twit (is that the right word?) or tweet, but I have heard that in the aftermath of the disaster when communications were down, Twitter became one of the most important methods of disseminating information quickly. I guess this is the first major natural disaster in which social network sites like Twitter and Facebook have played a big role.

    Posted in: Do you use Twitter?

  • 0

    smartacus

    Mr Webber should tell those idiots who want everything checked for radiation that their place has been sealed since they left, with all their belongings inside, so their stuff is unlikely to be radioactive.

    Posted in: Handling the big exodus out of Japan

  • 0

    smartacus

    I'm not sure but isn't that a gross breach of protocol on Hillary's part? Didn't her aide advise her she should just shake hands?

    Posted in: Hi Hillary

  • 0

    smartacus

    A lot of my foreign friends have been itching for weeks to go to Tohoku and work as volunteers to help clear away rubble, but this photo is a good example of why they cannot be permitted to do so. It's not just question of picking up debris. Unfortunately, there are still going to be bodies trapped beneath debris and buried in mud. Most people don't have the stomach to see a dead body.

    I feel great empathy with the police and SDF personnel who are doing this kind of work and I hope that emotionally, they are coping with it. Some of them may need counseling.

    And sharpie, I can see how this photo might upset, but to me, it reinforces the tragedy. Up until now, the dead have just been a number, a statistic. Seeing this photo makes me realize that victim was a human being like myself and it makes the tragedy more real for me.

    Posted in: Grim work

  • -1

    smartacus

    The derision is unfortunate, but in some cases, the decision to leave was based on inaccurate information and panic. I mentioned two other cases on another thread. One was an Australian woman who just left straight for Narita, bought a ticket and after she got home, she emailed her boss and said she wouldn't be coming back. Then she called her landlord to say the same and that he could sell all her stuff.

    The other case was told to me by my friend who works at a moving company. He said they had received countless calls from clients who had already left and were calling the office from their home country to say they wouldn't be back, not even to pack, and could the moving company pack everything up and send it to them. They even requested a radiation check on their stuff.

    For many companies who employed foreign staff, it wasn't easy when some of those workers took off with no notice. They still have a business to run and it isn't easy to find a replacement quickly.

    For example, in the case of the Australian woman mentioned above, it wouldn't have killed her to give two weeks' notice, then contact her landlord, pack up her staff and then return home.

    In my opinion, this whole fiasco can be attributed to sensationalized reporting by foreign media and by unnecessary advisories by foreign embassies.

    Posted in: Why did those foreigners who decided to leave Japan in the aftermath of the March 11 disaster come in for so much derision from some people who labeled them with words like 'flyjin?'

  • 0

    smartacus

    A real journalist. Even in the last photo, where it looks like he is about to go under, he is still trying to film things. Too bad he lost his camera. It would have had some great footage on it.

    Article Unavailable

  • 0

    smartacus

    I wonder what prompted the hotel staff to go to her room at 11:30 p.m. They must have been alerted somehow that there was trouble.

    Posted in: Young woman found dead in Fukuoka love hotel

  • 0

    smartacus

    Every one of those photos tells a story. It's a poignant reminder that the 27,000 dead or missing and the hundreds of thousands of evacuees are not statistics that we just read about but real people, as we see from these photos.

    Posted in: Memories

  • 0

    smartacus

    It's weird that the guy on the platform, who was leaning over, was unaware of the approaching train until it was too late. Another reason to install gates on the platforms as they have done at some stations in Tokyo.

    Posted in: One man killed, another seriously injured following subway quarrel in Osaka

  • 0

    smartacus

    I hope the pump doesn't topple over during the next aftershock.

    Posted in: Pumped up

  • 0

    smartacus

    Weird, that the bar they happened to meet in was called Earthquake.

    Posted in: Fostering best and brightest for Japan's future

  • 0

    smartacus

    I voted no because I don't think daylight saving time will make any difference to working people's lifestyle. Workers will not finish any earlier. In fact, I suspect that many workers do not like to leave the office and go home while it is still light outside.

    Also, Japanese cities come alive at night with all their lights. The cities take on an entirely new life of their own. That's what workers like to see when they leave their offices and go for drinks or eating out with their colleagues. And for those for whom wining and dining is important for business, they'll wait until it is dark to do so.

    Daylight saving time is a lifestyle choice rather than an energy conservation means. I'll still turn on my bedroom lights when I get up in the morning, even though it is light outside. It won't make any difference to my power consumption or electricity bill.

    Posted in: Do you think switching to daylight saving time in summer in Japan will help ease the power shortage?

  • 0

    smartacus

    I wonder if they can design offices to be more earthquake-proof.

    Posted in: The Midas touch

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