taikan said...

taikan at 12:18 AM JST - 21st July

Sarge -- From your perspective (and mine), there is no doubt that being a militant "sucks."

However, if a military force comprised of Muslims had attacked the United States and toppled its "hard-line Christian" government, wouldn't you be willing to join the resistance forces, even against a stronger military power?…

Posted in NATO forces kills 4 Afghan civilians at 12:18 AM JST - 21st July
taikan at 11:58 PM JST - 20th July

Mainichi Shimbun should bring back WaiWai when the New York Times starts putting articles from the National Enquirer on its website.

Posted in Mainichi promises new start following criticism of online English column at 11:58 PM JST - 20th July
taikan at 02:20 AM JST - 18th July

What's missing from this string is an understanding of executive privilege, which like most privileges was created by court decisions. As reflected in those court decisions, the purpose of executive privilege is to protect the confidentiality of advice given to executive decision makers in the government so that those charged…

Posted in Bush claims privilege to withhold CIA leak records at 02:20 AM JST - 18th July
taikan at 10:59 AM JST - 16th July

It's difficult to argue that Gramm's comment about the US being a "nation of whiners" is incorrect. Also, in the context of the consumer driven economy that Bush has encouraged, Gramm's comment about problems in the US economy being caused in part by a "mental recession" is correct.

However, as…

Posted in Obama ridicules McCain economic adviser for calling Americans 'whiners' in 'mental recession' at 10:59 AM JST - 16th July
taikan at 10:42 AM JST - 16th July

Sarge -- If oil is going to be the main source of power for the next few decades, wouldn't it be in the long term interests of the US to encourage other countries to drill and sell as much of their oil as possible while the US conserves as much…

Posted in Bush lifts ban on offshore oil exploration to cope with soaring gas prices at 10:42 AM JST - 16th July
taikan at 10:20 AM JST - 16th July

Even if one accepts TSA's estimate that the watch list is closer in size to 450,000 than 1 million, that's still a lot of names, and it undoubtedly leads to numerous false alarms. This is illustrated by the fact that the list includes a name shared by the former head…

Posted in One million names on U.S. terrorist watch list: rights group at 10:20 AM JST - 16th July
taikan at 10:05 AM JST - 16th July

As the article clearly states, the Japanese people generally are opposed to the use of nuclear power for military purposes. That is why, at a time when the US and Russians use nuclear-powered submarines, all Japanese submarines are still powered by diesel engines. Except on the most superficial level, there…

Posted in 13,000 rally against U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier's permanent deployment at 10:05 AM JST - 16th July
taikan at 09:47 AM JST - 16th July

Given the number of earthquakes that occur in Japan, it should not be surprising that a high percentage of cultural properties are capable of surviving most earthquakes. Otherwise, they would have been destroyed by now. As for checking homes, schools, etc., that is outside the purview of the Cultural Affairs…

Posted in Only 9.3% of cultural assets checked for quake resistance at 09:47 AM JST - 16th July
taikan at 11:31 AM JST - 10th July

So far, Al Qaeda has killed fewer Americans than the number who die in one month from automobile accidents. Nevertheless, it has managed to scare the majority of Americans, and their so-called representatives in the House and Senate, so much that they are willing to give up the freedoms that…

Posted in Senate bows to Bush and approves surveillance bill at 11:31 AM JST - 10th July
taikan at 01:49 AM JST - 4th July

Weedkila, notwithstanding anything that Lou Dobbs (or any other commentator) may say, there is no chance of a North American Union that goes much, if at all, beyond NAFTA. Although gaining control of (or even getting greater access to) Mexico's oil reserves and Canada's water, timber and mineral resources might…

Posted in Terashima urges G-8 leaders to establish post 9/11 global order at 01:49 AM JST - 4th July