Earthquake has hit Japan

[Barrakketh]

they always mention that he had written some questionable material in his youth, not unlike the material that he speaks out against.

To save people some digging, the titles they mentioned include Kanzen na Yuugi, Taiyou no Kisetsu, and Shokei no Heiya.

Some of them were adapted into movies, and the synopsis given for those titles (in order) are:

A group of youths kidnap a mentally retarded girl whom they brutally rape and keep as a sex slave. After failing to sell her to a brothel, they dispose of her by throwing her off a cliff.

A tearaway boxer in highschool begins a sexual relationship with a schoolgirl (by sticking his penis through a paper screen door), whom he soon grows tired of. He sells the girl to his brother for 5,000 yen.
The story ends with the girl becoming pregnant with her former boyfriend’s child and dying after a botched abortion, with the protagonist showing remorse for the first time in the story whilst attending her funeral.

A group of young men pick up two women, who they go drinking with. They slip sedatives into their drinks and subsequently rape them. The girl’s friends catch up with them and stab one of them to death in a fight.

The more crazy things he has said about the earthquake was him calling it divine punishment:

The identity of the Japanese people is greed.
This tsunami represents a good opportunity to cleanse this greed, and one we must avail ourselves of.
Indeed, I think this is divine punishment.

EDIT: He is 78 years old.

[GaijinPunch]

EDIT: He is 78 years old.

Damn that long Japanese life expectancy.

Ishihara had harsh words for those who might want to do something other than work

Uh... did someone forget to tell this guy that most businesses are closing down at 6 to conserve electricity?

I am happy to report though, that even though the Sakura are about halfway there, Yoyogi Park had a very fair showing of people last night, and was completely wrecked this morning when I cycled through it to get to work.

[Elixir]

Ishihara is weird. Why would he say these things with elections coming up so soon? I don't understand, is he deliberately wanting out of the picture entirely? He hates foreigners, he hates gays, he hates otaku, he hates feminists (but is sexist himself, wtf). Watch him get in again.

I really hope Higashikokubaru gets some recognition, he did a bang up job in Miyazaki.

[cul]

Ishihara is weird. Why would he say these things with elections coming up so soon? I don't understand, is he deliberately wanting out of the picture entirely? He hates foreigners, he hates gays, he hates otaku, he hates feminists (but is sexist himself, wtf). Watch him get in again.

I really hope Higashikokubaru gets some recognition, he did a bang up job in Miyazaki.

People were saying the same about W. Bush. Still got re-elected.

The magic of politics.

[Blackbird]

Ugh, don't remind me about that -_-. I think the Democrats intentionally picked the worst candidate they could just so they could throw that election (setting aside that Bush's initial election was a sham).

[cul]

Ugh, don't remind me about that -_-. I think the Democrats intentionally picked the worst candidate they could just so they could throw that election (setting aside that Bush's initial election was a sham).

On the other hand, things are as worse with Obama now. Whoever wins you lose.

[greg]

Fucking religious people , they are - almost to a man - brainless fucking hate filled cunts.

I've no idea who Cro Mag is (are) and whatever religion he (they) belong to, but I hope you can make the distinction between religious people and lunatics who cling to religion and use it to appease their warped conscience and desecrate it to justify their hate.

[louisg]

Fucking religious people , they are - almost to a man - brainless fucking hate filled cunts.

I've no idea who Cro Mag is (are) and whatever religion he (they) belong to, but I hope you can make the distinction between religious people and lunatics who cling to religion and use it to appease their warped conscience and desecrate it to justify their hate.

I hope the same (and I'm not religious)

[mesh control]

Hare Krishna

LOL

[dcharlie]

I've no idea who Cro Mag is (are) and whatever religion he (they) belong to, but I hope you can make the distinction between religious people and lunatics who cling to religion and use it to appease their warped conscience and desecrate it to justify their hate.

yes that was an over the top statement. I apologise - it should be mainly directed at the hate mongers. I was off my tits on painkillers when i wrote that by the way! (medically required, not popping for the sake of it)

[GaijinPunch]

Saw a tidbit on the news this morning. Didn't get the details, but apparently 530,000 gaijin let Japan between the quake and the 25th. It didn't give the breakdown, but I'm sure most were Chinese. They definitely were the day I left. Holy moley... they over ran the old terminal at Narita. Anyways, bad time to have a gaijin-based business. One of my favorite sandwich shops took a 50% hit. Doh!

On the other hand, things are as worse with Obama now. Whoever wins you lose.

And who better to make that claim than the Europeans?

[dcharlie]

Didn't get the details, but apparently 530,000 gaijin let Japan

will be interested to see how many come back and how many leave in the next year or so.

[greg]

yes that was an over the top statement. I apologise - it should be mainly directed at the hate mongers. I was off my tits on painkillers when i wrote that by the way! (medically required, not popping for the sake of it)

OK, I figured that you seem like a real cool guy and you know the difference between Rev. Billy Graham and Rev. Phelps. I just wanted to make sure. This forum has had quite a share of anti-religious bigots (that one guy who said we should just feed Christians to the lions, plus that asshole Ceph was always on an antagonizing rant about religion).

[dcharlie]

I was raised a Roman Catholic for 16 years , but i'm long since lapsed and my beliefs have changed for several reasons. But yes, I don't believe the mouth pieces who come to the fore are representative of any religion be it catholic, muslim, etc.

[rancor]

but apparently 530,000 gaijin let Japan between the quake and the 25th.

I went to Akihabara about a week after the quake, and I shit you not - I walked by a mirror and I was the only non-asian foreigner I saw for the entire outing. It was surreal. Maybe a hint of what things were like in the early days?

In other news, I now glow in the dark.

[dcharlie]

I went to Akihabara about a week after the quake, and I shit you not - I walked by a mirror and I was the only non-asian foreigner I saw for the entire outing. It was surreal. Maybe a hint of what things were like in the early days?

yeah, it certainly feels like that all of a sudden. Even coming home via Shinjuku - just not seeing that many foreigners.
A lot of people i'm talking to seem to be mulling over whether they are going to stay here or not - all a bit surprising and i'm sure it'll die down after a few months.

[GaijinPunch]

Maybe a hint of what things were like in the early days?

The first club I went to in Tokyo was Yellow, in 1996. I was living in Shizuoka, so it was quite a trek to come up to Tokyo. Japan didn't start using the internet actively until 2006, so you can imagine how hard it was to find clubs w/ no signs. Anyways, there was about 3 gaijin there. I went to a friend's bday shindig there this past Friday. Once again, about 3 gaijin (and plenty of Japanese). So yeah, "it's like the 90's!" is become a common phrase around here.

[cul]

And who better to make that claim than the Europeans?

Exactly, who's more neutral than someone living in Switzerland to judge the disastrous foreign policy of a country.



Note: I'm stopping the out of topic here, sorry orz.

[greg]

I was raised a Roman Catholic for 16 years , but i'm long since lapsed and my beliefs have changed for several reasons.

No worries. If I was raised Catholic, I'd be an atheist by now myself.

[austere]

Some good news for a change: Japan sets new radiation safety level for seafood.

With this move, the contaminated fish which was unsellable before can now be sold in Japan. Since they are now below -- not above -- the limit, they're perfectly safe to eat! Chow down that sushi! It's a blessing isn't it, I wonder why they don't just get a gauge with the current level of contaminants in the immediate vicinity and call it the safety limit. It sure makes good business sense!

[Udderdude]

[Barrakketh]

Some good news for a change: Japan sets new radiation safety level for seafood.

With this move, the contaminated fish which was unsellable before can now be sold in Japan. Since they are now below, not above the limit, they're perfectly safe to eat!

Did you read the article, or just the headline? The first sentence says:

The government set its first radiation safety standards for fish

Since these are their first radiation safety standards, logic dictates that there were no previous standards that would have already restricted the sale of the fish in question based on radioactive contamination.

Hopefully the new standards are sufficient.

The move came after the health ministry reported that fish caught off Ibaraki prefecture — at a spot about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the plant — contained levels of radioactive iodine that would have exceeded the new provisional limit. Cesium also was found, at just below the limit. The fish were caught Friday, before the new provisional safety limits were announced.

EDIT: The article has been updated after I had read it. The sentence fragment I quoted is no longer the first.

[austere]

The fact that there wasn't a limit before (that matched the limit for other foods) amuses me. I skimmed the article and I can tell you it was much shorter when I linked it. What actually concerned me was this sentence:

Japan said some fish caught last week about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the plant would have exceeded the new limits, which may change as circumstances do.

[Barrakketh]

The fact that there wasn't a limit before (that matched the limit for other foods) amuses me. I skimmed the article and I can tell you it was much shorter when I linked it. What actually concerned me was this sentence:

Japan said some fish caught last week about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the plant would have exceeded the new limits, which may change as circumstances do.

If the limits are changed to allow higher levels of radiation, that would certainly be bullshit. As for the older version of the article, it said:

On Tuesday, officials decided to apply the maximum allowable radiation limit for vegetables to fish, according to Edano. "We will conduct strict monitoring and move forward after we understand the complete situation," he said.

The move came after the health ministry reported that fish caught off Ibaraki prefecture — at a spot about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the plant — contained levels of radioactive iodine that would have exceeded the new provisional limit. Cesium also was found, at just below the limit. The fish were caught Friday, before the new provisional safety limits were announced.

[austere]

If the limits are changed to allow higher levels of radiation, that would certainly be bullshit.

Indeed, it wouldn't be without international precedent though. That's why I assumed that's precisely what they did.

By the way, what's with this trend of updating a news article without keeping a tally of the revision number? How are you meant to know there's new/modified information? The BBC does it, why can't the Associated Press?

Anyway, a little update, not sure if this was before or after the dumping of the water: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/05_38.html

A radiation monitor at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says workers there are exposed to immeasurable levels of radiation. The monitor told NHK that no one can enter the plant's No. 1 through 3 reactor buildings because radiation levels are so high that monitoring devices have been rendered useless. He said even levels outside the buildings exceed 100 millisieverts in some places. Pools and streams of water contaminated by high-level radiation are being found throughout the facility.

[GaijinPunch]

The fact that there wasn't a limit before (that matched the limit for other foods) amuses me.

Welcome to the circus. We could start a new thread and scare the shit out of anyone thinking of long term residence in Japan. The fact is, they have plenty off laws that haven't been changed even since the occupational forces dropped in. Google "Japan Left Behind Father" and get ready to face palm.

Exactly, who's more neutral than someone living in Switzerland to judge the disastrous foreign policy of a country.

Out of curiosity, how much time have you spent in the states?

[cul]

Out of curiosity, how much time have you spent in the states?

None, that's why I only talk about US foreign policy.

[dcharlie]

I'd have to dig out the figures but Japan's general recommended safety figures on contimants (esp Iodine) were WAY under what the World Health Organisation recommended. So some of the refactoring isn't as alarming as it first seems

Even at the spike for TK water, when everyone started panicing, the Iodine level was some 3-4 times -lower- than in my home town's water (though that is , ironically, right be a nuclear power plant too! lol)

So if i'd ran back to England, i'd have -absolutely- been getting more radiation than here in Japan (especially as the mSv per year is almost double)

Friend of a friend, a -real- hero, covered on MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42420250/ns ... _in_japan/

drove into the exclusion zone taking water, fuel, supplies - at their own cost - to help people who weren't getting what they needed.

[GaijinPunch]

Out of curiosity, how much time have you spent in the states?

None, that's why I only talk about US foreign policy.

The world hated us when Bush was in office. Now, only most of the world hates us. That's a better foreign policy. Anyways, that's for another thread. We should be talking about the abomination of western media, blackouts, and fears of radiation here.

[dcharlie]

not sure this is posted elsewhere - but .... wow....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct9GEaWAmJg

and a better quality "out at sea" boat vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-mkzcxnJS8

:O