taj's past comments

  • 1

    taj

    The church started it. It makes a lot of sense that you get to say how something you started gets run the way you wanted doesn't it?

    Sorry, what? The church (which church?) started what?

    Are you calling Lord Baden-Powell a church?

    Posted in: Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys, but not leaders

  • 0

    taj

    Has anyone heard of or seen this "Smartwater"? I hadn't heard of it prior to this article.

    Posted in: Evian giving its water bottle a makeover

  • 5

    taj

    I wish the world scouting organization would / could expel the BS of America. They should have been stripped of the right to use the "Boy Scout" name long ago. They have long been a disgrace and this tiny step means so little. They still politicize and ostracise. How did sexuality ever come into the rules in the first place? It has NOTHING to do with scouting.

    Posted in: Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys, but not leaders

  • 2

    taj

    More than 26,000 people from around the world were asked to rate 16 countries on whether their global influence was “mainly positive” or “mainly negative.”

    How do you get from that the "most popular in the world" in the headline".

    "most >>> in the world" or "most >>> of these 16"

    Popular vs. positively influential

    Posted in: Germany most popular country in the world; Japan No. 4: BBC poll

  • 2

    taj

    @AKBfan: " more tourists speaking Chinese and even (gasp!) Korean...."

    Not sure why you're gasping. Koreans have counters for almost 1 in 3 tourists for years. And there are a lot of exchange students here as well. You may even have noticed that most train stations have had signs in Korean since around 2002.

    Just because a bunch of Nationalist Wankers on both sides of the pond garner more media attention than they deserve, the people generally get on very well. And there's lots of travel between the two countries.

    Posted in: Cheaper yen attracts record number of visitors to Japan

  • 0

    taj

    I'm from Canada. I wish kids were kept on tethers. Especially in supermarkets. Sadly, once they're too big to ride in the cart, they usually are on "voice tether". Some cling. Some run. Most people I know are actually more afraid of what they're kids will break or knock over, etc. than of them being kidnapped. In parking lots, they tend to be more careful, though.

    Posted in: 5-year-old boy's hand gets caught in shopping mall escalator

  • 1

    taj

    I've been told to keep the change a number of times, by the cabbie. I have been ripped of in Miami and Vancouver, but never in Japan, where I'm a heavy user. When I've had drivers get lost of make a wrong turn, they invariably apologize and turn off the meter or tell me to keep the change. And I NEVER try to give them change, for fear of insulting them or the dignity of the work they do and the pay they receive for it. Some may not take it badly, or laugh off the quirky behaviour of "Americans". Some do take offense. I prefer to err on the side of caution.

    Posted in: The secret slang of Japanese cabbies

  • 1

    taj

    How many years has it been since his last summit? About 3? And is the person who broke that record still alive and climbing?

    Posted in: Nearly there

  • 1

    taj

    I strongly recommend: don't come to the World Cup or Olympics, it may be your worst nightmare coming true.

    Or go with the expectations that things will be unpredictable and take a party approach to it all.

    Posted in: Organizers admit to problems at Confed Cup stadium ahead of Japan-Brazil opener

  • 1

    taj

    albaleo, thanks for your reply.

    I did follow up on the BBC, and it appears to me that the "civil union" was a new category of relationship created recognize single sex unions. To have equality, yes, two gendered and single gendered couples should have the same options.

    How much did the creation of a new category cause all manner of hassle? Every set of work rules, all laws related to pensions, etc., hospital guidlelines, etc. would have needed re-writing to allow for the new category of "family member". How much easer it would've been if they'd just gone straight to marriage for all.

    (Take note Japan, and other countries, that haven't yet started the process,...)

    Posted in: British PM Cameron heads off rebellion over gay marriage bill

  • 3

    taj

    Well I understand (but oppose) the arguments of Hammond and the other Tory, anti-gay marriage/marriage equality MPs who would vote against the bill. I do NOT, however, understand how or why the Labour Party could side with them.

    What? Are they just being ornery? They want Marriage Equality, but only if they get credit for being the party that introduced the bill?

    That seems too ridiculous. (Alas, in politics, nothing is too ridiculous).

    Is it possible that there is something flawed about the proposed legislation? Anyone here in the know? Or shall I just putter off to the BBC...

    Posted in: British PM Cameron heads off rebellion over gay marriage bill

  • 0

    taj

    "such kind of companies need to reconsider changing shifts for men doing night time shifts, women doing night time should have some escorts bac home!"

    Kuuku, that would be a big step backwards. There were such laws until fairly recently, and they were used as an excuse to keep women out jobs or to keep from promoting them. A better solution is to give all kids some pratical self-defense training as part of Phys Ed class. Women working late jobs or shifts may want to take up a martial art.

    This woman scared off her attacker and ended up with just her hand injured. I'm thinking a defensive wound. Good on her. This is a much more promising story than of the older (27y?) woman in Kyoto who needed a 12 year old boy to save her from a perv on the train, because she was too terrified to even give voice.

    Posted in: Student attacked by knife-wielding man on Kanagawa street

  • 0

    taj

    " True, they could have gone in with the woman and searched her apartment, but hey."

    Small nitpick, Smith - It was a house. At least 2 stories. Her parents were home, asleep in same.

    Agree that the police really can't be blamed. It's not like she asked them to come inside and check that her parents were the only ones inside and they refused.

    Posted in: Woman stabbed by stalker despite asking police for help

  • 1

    taj

    As long as they serve beverages off of trolleys, that I can buy from my seat, I'll be a happy passenger.

    The rides won't be really be long enough to require a bento. (Which I admit, is my second favorite thing about traveling by shink, after the train beer.)

    Posted in: New shinkansen to use revolutionary simple stations

  • 6

    taj

    I hadn't realizes Your Party and Restoration Party were pairing.

    It seems ideal. Exactly what I want to say to Hashimoto.

    Rest -Your -Oration

    Posted in: Your Party to end alliance with Japan Restoration Party over Hashimoto's comments

  • -1

    taj

    "Unbelievable in my home country, a regular occurrence here."

    Not sure where you're from tMarie, but I rarely see kids that old (5) on tethers while shopping with parents in my home country...

    Posted in: 5-year-old boy's hand gets caught in shopping mall escalator

  • 0

    taj

    "The robbery took place..."

    "Robbery"? Sounds like a "burglary", rather than robbery, as there was no threat of violence. (Perhaps I'm too hung up on legal definitions...)

    Posted in: Cannes Festival rocked as Chopard jewels are stolen

  • 4

    taj

    Adult male of the honshu sub-species of asian black (moon) bear averages a weight of 60-120kg according to Wikipedia's.

    Posted in: Bear shot dead after entering school in Ishikawa

  • 4

    taj

    Adult male of only 40 kg? Starving and sickly? Poor thing.

    Posted in: Bear shot dead after entering school in Ishikawa

  • -1

    taj

    Offers to meet? Hashimoto should not be allowed near any women, anytime, ever.

    (And please, no more photos of him. Consider those of us with weak stomachs.)

    Posted in: Hashimoto offers to meet 'comfort women' to apologize

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