Bobby Franks comments

I concur. If there’s any radioactivity in the sea water around Osaka, it’s most likely flowing across the Sea of Japan from China

Totally agree given prevailing currents. And looking at the 66 downvotes dished out, this is obviously a comment that ripped someone up inside.

Try not to take facetious comments too personally—most of the time, they’re meant to be light or humorous, not hurtful. People joke in different ways, and it’s rarely about you. Take a step back, breathe, and let it go. It’s not worth your peace of mind.

Cruise ships visiting ports do not greatly add to the local community and often are not charged for docking.

Cruise ships significantly benefit local economies by bringing thousands of tourists who spend money on excursions, dining, shopping, and local attractions. This influx supports small businesses. While some ports may not charge docking fees directly, they often receive revenue through passenger taxes, port services, and tourism-related income. Additionally, cruise lines frequently collaborate with local tour operators, ensuring that economic benefits are shared. Dismissing their impact overlooks these meaningful contributions.

many more people than my wife and I would benefit from the lower price. I might feel guilty depriving some single mom or elderly couple from getting a bag.

It’s heartening to see practical action easing everyday burdens for so many, especially when something as basic as rice becomes a source of worry. The sight of hundreds lining up in the rain speaks volumes about both need and resilience.

As @garypen beautifully noted, choosing not to buy — so that someone more in need, like a single mother or an elderly couple, might benefit — reflects a quiet, powerful generosity.

It’s a reminder that compassion isn’t just policy-driven; it lives in personal choices. May this initiative continue to bring relief — and may more hearts echo the selflessness shown by people like Gary.

Amid complex maritime tensions, it’s heartening to see humanity rise above politics. The Japan Coast Guard’s swift response to help an injured crewmember reminds us that compassion doesn’t recognize borders. Even in disputed waters, saving a life takes priority—a quiet but powerful gesture of dignity and shared responsibility at sea.

What a heartwarming reminder that vigilance and kindness can make all the difference. Susilawati’s instincts and courage went beyond customer service—she quite literally protected someone from harm. It’s inspiring to see compassion cross cultural lines, with a global citizen stepping up to keep her local community safe. Bravo!

To me, 6 million yen + free accommodation seems somewhat low for this particular job, even though the housing is likely in a prime location.

But I’d be curious to read how others feel.

activist liberal appointed judges

Judge Joun is an Army and National Guard veteran! He served!

He wasn’t on the golf course spinelessly claiming heel spurs make him illegible to serve his country.

JT must look really hard and deep for these stories, I have to be honest, I only hear about this woman mostly on this site.

Mostly liberal news, not sure what the obsession is with this woman.

Fox News, May 13

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/free-ride-allies-even-laura-loomer-turn-president-trump-accepting-luxury-jet-from-qatar

"How are we supposed to ever see the US under the Trump admin designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization," Loomer wrote, "if the US is now going to accept a $400 million jet from Qatar to fly the US President and his staff around on?"

Calling the episode a "stain" on his tenure, she added: "I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits. The Qataris fund the same Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah who have murdered US Service Members. The same proxies that have worked with the Mexican cartels to get jihadists across our border."

—

Brian Kilmeade on Fox and Friends, May 9

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/fox-brian-kilmeade-laura-loomer-trump-b2748154.html

an “unfit president and a rogue government” who have “no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.”

Ditto to that!

Trump leads a privileged group that is primarily focused on financially bettering themselves at the expense of the common American man and woman.

But that’s nothing new. Springsteen’s generation served in Vietnam. Trump’s privileged father leveraged connections with a local podiatrist renting office space in a Trump building to get a medical excuse for Donald, claiming he had a bone spur in his heels. (These supposed bone spurs didn’t seem to bother his golf game before (he started playing four years prior) and after this heel spur claim.)

Trump is a shyster, and the common American man and woman are the people he defrauds.

@wallace

Yearly consumption.

Rice: 8.1 million tons.

Not quite. The annual harvest in 2024 was 6.79 million tons. An additional 770,000 tons were imported, but much of the imported rice was used for feed.

—

A total of 6.79 million tons of rice was produced in 2024, 180,000 tons more than in 2023, according to the ministry. 

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/business/economy/20250214-238671/

@藤原

Excellent first-person account of what it’s like to be near the epicenter of a major Japanese quake and what we should expect if faced with such an event.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

What is unscientific about the article you link to?

I think she was being facetious.

Over 70% of the casualties are expected to be caused by tsunami, with most occurring in Yokohama/Kamakura and Shikoku areas.

Staying away from those areas, or simply evacuating immediately, can reduce deaths significantly.

In the NHK source mentioned above by Kazuko, the correspondent says, “If everyone evacuates immediately after the quake, the data shows we can reduce tsunami deaths by seventy percent.”

But the boy is 15 and sounds mentally broken. His circumstances at home might be quite awful as well. Perhaps he can't be redeemed,

That’s similar to what I suggested the other day.

This kid is only 15 years old, so let’s hope this youth can be radically reformed/transformed into a noble empathetic citizen who values life. If it can be done anywhere, Japan is likely the place. 

Let’s additionally pray the older woman’s family members can eventually release their sadness, anger, and disbelief and focus on the positive effect her life had on others.

I know I'll be downvoted for this, but I am really glad we do not have guns in Japan. I can't imagine all these random stabbings, violence, murder cases being replaced by a tool that can end a person or multiple persons life at once.

I’m in full agreement, so I’ll gladly upvote you!

Terribly sad for both parties and their families.

Let’s hope this youth can be radically reformed/transformed into a noble empathetic citizen who values life. If it can be done anywhere, Japan is likely the place.

Let’s additionally pray the older woman’s family members can eventually release their sadness, anger, and disbelief and focus on the positive effect her life had on others.

Great idea. Hope it comes to fruition.

We are not talking about U.S. citizens.

Yes, we are!

You pasted, “For citizens, however, ‘disruptive’ political speech is part of democratic life and cannot legally be punished with detention.”

YOU wrote “For citizens.” You can’t suddenly claim “we’re not talking about citizens.”

Why so fearful of answering a simple question? Here it is again:

Are YOU are in agreement with what you pasted above: “‘disruptive’ political speech [by U.S. citizens] is part of democratic life and cannot legally be punished with detention.” 

Would YOU support any moves by the Trump administration contrary to this precept?

I always have the courage to respond, never met a lib that intimidated me yet.

First, I’m not liberal. Second, you ran from both questions. That’s fear, not courage.

Step up, Bass.

No, just the ones that are disruptive to the order of the U.S.

And who determines “the ones that are disruptive”? The Trump administration, right?

And habeas corpus can be suspended for U.S. citizens too. There’s precedent. Question your AI app.

bass4funk

*Again, if Jewish students feel threatened, they [legal foreign residents] are breaking the law.*

So whenever a national feels threatened by the presence of a foreigner, the foreigner should be charged with “breaking the law”?

Bass, really?

I know you don’t truly believe that.

Think independently. Stop trying to support and justify a poor position. You’re not a robot!

here’s an explanation of why it’s fully acceptable for the government to deport a foreign national for disruptive speech, but not acceptable to detain a U.S. citizen for the same thing and it clearly states this:

Citizenship vs. Legal Presence: 

Bass, we can all feed questions into our AI apps and get these responses. You don’t need to do that for us.

What do YOU think? Can you generate a response without AI?

YOU are not required to have fealty to Trump. YOU are not required to post the administration’s talking points. YOU can think independently!

Disagreeing with Trump is acceptable.

YOU never answered my question, by the way. Care to to take a swing?

Is it acceptable for the Trump administration to detain a U.S. citizen who expresses an opinion that, using your words, “actively opposes U.S. policy or criticizes its leaders in ways that could be seen as disruptive or damaging”?

Look, while I respect free speech, we have to be honest—being in the U.S. as a foreign national is a privilege, not a guaranteed right. If someone is here on a visa and uses their time in this country to actively oppose U.S. policy or criticize its leaders in ways that could be seen as disruptive or damaging, then it’s fair for the government to take a closer look at whether that person should still be here, so the answer is yes.

Fair, that’s the Little Marco response I was expecting.

Stepping forward, is it acceptable for the Trump administration to detain a U.S. citizen who expresses an opinion that, using your words, “actively opposes U.S. policy or criticizes its leaders in ways that could be seen as disruptive or damaging”?

Here’s the question for you Bass:

Is it acceptable for the Trump administration to deport a foreign national in the U.S. legally if the foreign national expresses an opinion that is contrary to Trump’s?

Trump has a mandate, 

*January 2025 Axios/Ipsos poll found that *66% of Americans support deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally.

Is Rümeysa Öztürk, the detained Tufts University doctoral student and Turkish national, in the U.S. illegally?

No.

Which is what they voted for

Evidence? When did Trump ever suggest on his campaign suspending habeas corpus?

Americans should be very concerned. 

Stephen Miller made this announcement in response to the Trump administration being ordered by a U.S. District Court judge to free from federal custody Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University doctoral student and Turkish national.

According to the judge, the **only evidence the U.S. government produced to support detaining Öztürk was a pro-Palestinian opinion piece Öztürk co-wrote for a Tufts student newspaper. The administration has provided no evidence of criminal activity or direct support for a terrorist group, and immigration authorities have not charged her with any crime.**

Although she has been ordered released, the Trump administration’s broader deportation case against Ozturk is expected to proceed in immigration court. The judge’s ruling pertains only to Öztürk’s release from detention.

However, if Öztürk can be tossed out of the country for expressing an opinion contrary to Trump’s, American citizens with contrary opinions can also be targeted through habeas corpus suspension.

The Trump team was once again outplayed.

They argued that the lawsuit against them, filed April 28, lacked “timeliness” because the Executive Order was issued nearly three months ago.

However, in similar cases around the country, the Trump administration has argued lawsuits filed immediately after Executive Orders were issued are “premature.”

Judge Illston caught sight of this incongruent argument.

“Defendants cannot have it both ways," she wrote. “The Court finds that plaintiffs reasonably waited to gather what information they could about the harm they may suffer from the Executive Order, the OMB/OPM Memorandum, and the ARRPs (Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans).”

The following day, they will lay flowers at a memorial in Naha for the Tsushima Maru incident, in which about 1,500 people, including hundreds of schoolchildren, were killed in the August 1944 sinking of a Japanese ship in a U.S. submarine torpedo attack.

Informative account of this sinking at the link below.

—

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230621/p2a/00m/0na/011000c

Good move.

If the BOJ is using the results as a reference in determining whether to raise or lower its policy interest rates, those results should reflect all of the nation’s employees, not just 16%.

Props to the British Embassy for embracing the criticism and fixing the issue instead of attacking the critics.