News Stories

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Joojoobees

I was really impressed when I saw "Stray Dog" (Nora inu). It is a movie about a Japanese cop whose pistol is stolen; the movie follows the attempts to track down the gun so it can't be used by criminals. In America such a plot is almost nonsensical, because if someone wants a gun, they can easily get one. Removing a single gun from the streets couldn't possibly have any effect. It would be like removing one bucket of water from the ocean so no one will get wet when swimming.

Indeed. There was another movie with a similar story called "Babel" where a local from Afghanistan (I think) shoots a tourist bus and accidentally hits a tourist. The original owner of the gun is tracked down to Japan, who had given the man his rifle as a gift for his kindness and service as a hunting guide. It would've been impossible to track down the owner if he was American instead

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

From what I can see, gun rights are fundamental to giving people a chance to solve serious problems themselves, but every now and then there would be a nut who create problems with it.

And the media tends to vilify the general gun-owning population for the crimes of the few, which in turn increases the number of gun ownership and gun crimes rather than reducing it.

There should be a "don't chamber a round/turn off the safety in a fit of rage" campaign. Then again, it might not work.

Guns are tools of war. No normal citizen should be allowed to carry a gun in times of peace. Whether or not it's for self-protection, guns are tools of murder no matter what anyone says about them. Citizens shouldn't be given the responsibility of killing someone to protect themselves and the police should be there. The constitution may say that the role of police forces is investigate crime and not prevent it, but I think that's wrong. Police forces are there to protect the citizens, not clean up the mess and leave the corpses in a morgue.

[chikorita157]

Now Favor Enhancers? Well, now they are being recalled because of salmonella... First spinach, tomatoes and now favor enhancers...

FDA recalls some foods with flavor enhancer HVP
(CNN) -- Federal health authorities announced Thursday the recall of a commonly used flavor enhancer after samples of the product were found to contain salmonella.
"I would say it's likely to be in thousands of food products," said Dr. Jenny Scott, senior adviser to the director at the Office of Food Safety at the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, about the product, called hydrolyzed vegetable protein, also called HVP.
The bacterium, identified as Salmonella Tennessee, was found in HVP manufactured by Basic Food Flavors Inc. of Las Vegas, Nevada, the officials said.
HVP is used in processed foods, including soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs, gravy, seasoned snack foods and dressings.
"We are working hard to respond to this particular outbreak; we also are working hard to put in place the kinds of preventive control measures to prevent this kind of contamination from happening in the first place," said FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg.
Officials noted in a telephone conference call with reporters that no illnesses have been reported and any risk to consumers would be considered low.
"Many of the foods that incorporated this product at very low levels have kill steps in place that would eliminate salmonella," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, FDA's principal deputy commissioner. He was referring to steps in preparation that would heat the product enough to kill any bacteria. "For those that don't, we're providing specific guidance around the need to recall," he said.
But officials acknowledged they did not yet know just how many products might wind up being recalled.

"The manufacturer had many first-level consignees who obviously had individuals and firms that they sold to," said Dr. Jeff Farrar, associate commissioner for food safety, FDA's Office of Foods. "We expect this to get larger over the next several days to, actually, maybe several weeks."
A call to the manufacturer was not returned immediately.

Sharfstein said the agency learned of the problem in early February, when a Basic Foods customer tested the product and reported to FDA that it was contaminated.
Farrar said he did not know when the plant was last inspected.
The recall affects all bulk HVP produced at the facility since September 17. The FDA posted several dozen products containing the ingredient at www.foodsafety.gov, but officials said the list was not complete. The recalled products include dips, salad dressings and soup mixes.
See the list of recalled products
Farrar said the agency was recommending recalls of those products containing HVP that might be eaten without processing or cooking that would kill the bacteria. But more needs to be done, he said. "This situation clearly underscores the need for new food safety legislation to equip FDA with the tools we need to prevent contamination," said Farrar.
Salmonella bacteria sometimes cause fatal infections in young children, elderly people and anyone with a weakened immune system.
Symptoms in healthy people might include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest said the recall is "yet more proof that the Food and Drug Administration needs more authority, more inspectors and more resources to ensure that our food supply is safe."
It added, "Most Americans would be stunned to learn that FDA doesn't even have the authority to make recalls like these mandatory."
A bill passed in July by the House with overwhelming bipartisan support would go a long way toward beefing up the agency's ability to intervene in such cases, said Erik Olson, director of food and consumer product safety at The Pew Charitable Trusts.
"The existing law is basically a reactive law," he said. "If you find contamination problems, the FDA reacts and goes out and tries to find the problem and asks for a voluntary recall."
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the law pending in the Senate, "would change the whole system, modernize it to say we're going to try to prevent the contamination before it occurs."
But support for the bill is not universal.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is seeking changes in the bill before passage, according to Senior Policy Associate Kate Fitzgerald.
"The last thing we want to do as a government is to inhibit these regional food systems by poorly crafted regulation," she said. Under the proposed legislation, a farmer selling broccoli heads would be classified as a farmer, but a farmer selling broccoli florets would be classified as a facility and subject to more rigorous controls, she said.
"No one benefits if we pass a food-safety bill but it doesn't make the food system better," she said.
Steve Etka, legislative director at the National Organic Coalition, offered a similar view. "We want to make sure the bill is clear that it's targeted toward the riskiest behaviors," he said. "Right now, we think it's kind of missing the mark in that regard."

Source

Probably a good reason to stop eating processed foods.

[Jinto]

Well bullying exist really everywhere.

A german band (Ärzte) even made a song about bullying (or rather the consequences)

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by chikorita157

Bullying happens... Well, there are always going to be people like that. I have to deal with bullying and harassment until the end of high school and reporting that did not matter much (since the school vice principal wouldn't punish the student I have in question), although NJ does have anti-bullying laws in the state that technically makes bullying illegal.

The best way to fend off bullying is to just make some good friends so that they can help you protect against bullies and not reacting to it and report it to a teacher/parent or a higher authority.

She's a princess. Why can't the secret service or equivalent solve the problem by breaking a few legs?

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

She's a princess. Why can't the secret service or equivalent solve the problem by breaking a few legs?

i thought the japanese royal are protected by a fearsome ninja clan?

[Anh_Minh]

I think blowdarts coated in lethal poison are a bit of an overkill on primary school children. Even if they're bullies.

[Haruka_Kitten]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I think blowdarts coated in lethal poison are a bit of an overkill on primary school children. Even if they're bullies.

True that. I would hate to think the government could call a hit on me just because I pissed off the emperor's daughter.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but she needs to grow up. Bullying is a fact of life.

[JMvS]

I might be exaggerating a little, but I think this special case highlights how much lax parents have become in raising their children, or even if they do take care of their education, respect isn't taught as it used to be.
I'm pretty sure that for the Imperial family's previous generation, selection and education of their peers would have made such a situation unthinkable.

At the end, I suppose it's another mark of the evening of Japanese society; while it can be perceived as a good thing, I'm kinda weary (as well as plenty Japanese peoples I am sure) that this proceeds following lowering and lowering common denominators...

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I think blowdarts coated in lethal poison are a bit of an overkill on primary school children. Even if they're bullies.

how about that clan of Onmyojis then.

[SaintessHeart]

I would like to requote what the article said, but I don't think that counts as bullying, but rather slight scaring as the boys part of having fun.

Japan's Imperial Household Agency says the Crown Prince's daughter, Princess Aiko, has been reluctant to go to school for most of the week due, apparently, to bad behavior by some boys from another class.

The 8-year-old princess is in the second grade of Gakushuin Primary School in Tokyo.

She missed a number of days last week due to a slight fever and stayed home for most of this week, although she attended class on Tuesday.

The princess has reportedly been anxious about going to school and is said to be complaining of stomachache.

The Grand Master of the Crown Prince's Household, Issei Nomura, spoke about the matter at a news conference on Friday.

He said that after consulting the school to find the reason, it was learned that boys from another class in the same grade had shown unruly behavior.

The Imperial Household Agency says it has asked the school to take corrective steps and that the school is starting to take measures. But the agency says it cannot tell when Princess Aiko might resume attending school.

Nomura said the Crown Prince and Princess have been talking with their daughter to ease her fears. He said it is a pity that an incident like this has happened at Gakushuin, which has been attended by many members of the Imperial family.

Officials at Gakushuin told a news conference on Friday that they have not heard that the princess has personally been attacked or bullied.

They said that as the princess was about to leave school around noon on Tuesday, boys from another class heading for lunch suddenly jumped out in front of her.

The officials said the case may have made the princess recall another incident in July last year, when several boys behaved badly, throwing their bags, shouting and running down corridors.

They said the school began monitoring the boys closely, by placing assistant teachers in their class. They said things calmed down around November, so the measures were ended when a new term began in January.

The officials said they plan to communicate better with students and parents when the new school year begins in April to ensure discipline is maintained.

Real bullying is intimidating the child everyday, until it totally saps away the kid's confidence. It only happened on a couple of occasions and by coincidence, the same boys.

Unless there is concrete proof that she is solely targeted for that reason, I think the Imperial family should just have her homeschooled and cultivate her androphobia.

[Seitsuki]

couple raised virtual baby as real baby starved (alert: sankaku)
I quote:

“The couple seemed to have lost their will to live a normal life because they didn’t have jobs and gave birth to a premature baby. They indulged themselves in the online game of raising a virtual character so as to escape from reality, which led to the death of their real baby.”

this is just sad. I know there are many teens who are compulsively addicted to the net/mmos/whatever but you really don't realise just how bad it can be until it takes something this unnecessary to open your eyes. Pretty sure net addiction is pretty rife in Korea, which means it wasn't even an unforeseeable problem. Hopefully now people will take this seriously, although judging from history that's not terribly likely..

[SaintessHeart]

4th Seiyuu Awards 2010 Winners Announced

Winners as translated, courtesy of Sankaku.

Starring Female Seiyuu: Miyuki Sawashiro / 沢城みゆき (Perrine – Strike Witches, Momohime – Muramasa)

Starring Male Seiyuu: Daisuke Ono / 小野大輔 (Shizuo – Durarara!!, Snow – Final Fantasy XIII)

Co-starring Female Seiyuu: Kikuko Inoue / 井上喜久子 (Belldandy – AMG, Lust – FMA), Yui Horie / 堀江由衣 (Tsubasa – Bakemonogatari, Siesta – Zero no Tsukaima)

Co-starring Male Seiyuu: Daisuke Namikawa / 浪川大輔 (Rock – Black Lagoon, Kei – GANTZ), Shinichiro Miki / 三木眞一郎 (Urahara Kisuke – Bleach)

Female New Face: Kanae Ito / 伊藤かな (Saten – Railgun), Aki Toyosaki / 恵豊崎愛生 (Yui – K-ON!)

Male New Face: Atsushi Abe/ 阿部敦 (Touma – Index), Tomoaki Maeno / 前野智昭 (Shop assistant – K-ON!)

Personality Award: Masaya Onosaka / 小野坂昌也 (Vash – Vash The Stampede)

Singing Award: Houkago TeaTime

Merit Awards: Genda Tessho / 玄田哲章 (Optimus Prime), Kazuko Sugiyama / 杉山佳寿子 (Heidi), Nobuo Tanaka / 田中信夫 (Sosai X – Gatchaman)

Special Accomplishment: Kazue Takahashi / 高橋和枝 [RIP - 1999]

Fukuyama Award [for bringing media attention to the profession]: Nana Mizuki /水樹奈々 (Fate Testarossa – Nanoha)

Kids/family Award: Wasabi Mizuta / 水田わさび (Doraemon – Doraemon)

Synergy Award: Gundam

Overseas Fans’ Award: Mitsuki Saiga / 斎賀みつき (Kosaka – Genshiken)

Aki Toyosaki won. Her retarded voice must have been really attractive! UN-TAN! UN-TAN! UN-TAN!

Looks like K-ON is a winning anime of all time. GO MUGIVISION!

[Haruka_Kitten]

Originally Posted by Seitsuki

couple raised virtual baby as real baby starved (alert: sankaku)
I quote:

this is just sad. I know there are many teens who are compulsively addicted to the net/mmos/whatever but you really don't realise just how bad it can be until it takes something this unnecessary to open your eyes. Pretty sure net addiction is pretty rife in Korea, which means it wasn't even an unforeseeable problem. Hopefully now people will take this seriously, although judging from history that's not terribly likely..

Sorry but I sorta beat you to it.

For my fellow Victorians:

Victorians warned of further fierce storms, hail

Spoiler for text:

A SEVERE thunderstorm warning has been issued for damaging wind, flash flooding and large hailstones in parts of Victoria.

The weather bureau warning applies for people in the Northern Country, Northeast and parts of the North Central and Alpine Forecast Districts.

It warns severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds, very heavy rainfall, flash flooding and large hailstones in the warning area over the next several hours.

Earlier, a sudden increase in temperature boosted the chances of more storms in Melbourne.

Weather bureau senior forecaster Richard Carlyon said the city's temperature had shot up to 26C, which could see thunderstorms develop.

"Given we have shot up to 26C we might see thunderstorms develop close to Melbourne which could mean we might see something not far away. But it is still a bit of a waiting game."

Premier John Brumby urged Victorians to batten down the hatches

Mr Brumby warned people to stay inside during the possibly severe storms, and he said people at public events must be prepared to act if weather struck this afternoon.

"It really is batten down the hatches (with forecast) thunderstorms possibly as intense as yesterday,” Mr Brumby said."We got through yesterday without any loss of life or serious injury, we would want to see if we could keep to this today and tomorrow."

Mr Brumby said there were weak trees in many bushfire ravaged parts of Victoria and around the state that were vulnerable to strong winds.

"We should take great care as we move through this afternoon, tonight and into tomorrow and make sure we put this focus on protecting life and protecting public safety."

He said the roof of the arts centre had been badly damaged by yesterday’s storms and could cost up to millions of dollars to repair.

He was unable to put an estimated dollar figure on the expected repair bill, and said more damage is expected to be reported in the coming days when people return home from Labour Day holidays.

Crews from the NSW State Emergency Service have been drafted in to help their Victorian counterparts clean up the damage caused by the mini-cyclone storm that lashed Melbourne yesterday.

The storm cell unleashed itself on the city at 2.40pm, dumping 26mm of rain in less than an hour.

Yep, its already pouring buckets as I speak.

For everyone else:

Body of dead baby girl found in Pinkenba water treatment plant

Spoiler for text:

MYSTERY surrounds the discovery of a baby girl's body, dumped at a Brisbane water treatment plant or washed into the system following an abortion or early birth.

Police remain tight-lipped about the gruesome find after two male workers at the plant on Main Beach Road, Pinkenba discovered the body at 11.30 last night.
The workers who found the body are in shock as well as the police officers who attended the scene.

"We'll make sure counselling is available to them," Acting Inspector for North Brisbane, Tod Reid said.

He said it was not known if the child, who was not carried to full term, was born or aborted.

"It is possible the baby was two months premature," Detective Reid said.

DNA testing is being carried out on the tiny body while police have launched a criminal investigation.

It's not known how long the baby had been dead for and police refused to say if there were any signs or bruising, cuts or broken bones.

They also wouldn't confirm if the body was found in the water system or if it was dumped on the grounds of the treatment plant, which services the greater metropolitan north area.

Police are checking the list of people reported missing in the area and Detective Reid said the force was treating it as a priority case.

"Detectives will be working on it all day and all night," he said, adding that a post-mortem examination was being carried out on the the baby's body.

"We've got a number of lines of inquiry open to try and establish the identity of the child's mother, with a number of different agencies and other government departments."

Police are concerned for the mother's health and welfare and are appealing for public assistance to locate her.

That is sad....really

[Seitsuki]

ah sheesh. this is what i get for being too lazy to read previous posts.
no i still love you :P

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Real bullying is intimidating the child everyday, until it totally saps away the kid's confidence. It only happened on a couple of occasions and by coincidence, the same boys.

If that's all it was, sure. But our assumption is that the school didn't say everything. Either because they don't know or because they don't want the bad publicity.

[ichigobanzai]

Yoko san,

Your signature is so cool, can I get something like that?

Originally Posted by Yoko Takeo

Indeed. There was another movie with a similar story called "Babel" where a local from Afghanistan (I think) shoots a tourist bus and accidentally hits a tourist. The original owner of the gun is tracked down to Japan, who had given the man his rifle as a gift for his kindness and service as a hunting guide. It would've been impossible to track down the owner if he was American instead

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

If that's all it was, sure. But our assumption is that the school didn't say everything. Either because they don't know or because they don't want the bad publicity.

I would say it is the latter. The Japanese society pretty much hides some of the bad stuff for fear of bad publicity, and to cite a recent example, Toyota.

But the fear could be due to the general negativity of the world population, not just Japan. If you took a look at the ASCII art on 2ch and the doujinshis, it is apparent that the "otaku-type" hobbyists have been marginalised for their passions despite their apparent creativity.

Sometimes I wonder what is the use of a public image if there is a bunch of cinderblocks under the carpet.

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by Seitsuki

couple raised virtual baby as real baby starved (alert: sankaku)
I quote:

this is just sad. I know there are many teens who are compulsively addicted to the net/mmos/whatever but you really don't realise just how bad it can be until it takes something this unnecessary to open your eyes. Pretty sure net addiction is pretty rife in Korea, which means it wasn't even an unforeseeable problem. Hopefully now people will take this seriously, although judging from history that's not terribly likely..

Originally Posted by Harufox

Sorry but I sorta beat you to it.

Originally Posted by Seitsuki

ah sheesh. this is what i get for being too lazy to read previous posts.
no i still love you :P

Actually, I beat you both to it

[SaintessHeart]

China Says It's Up to the U.S. to Improve Relations

BEIJING — China said Sunday that it is up to the U.S. to improve relations that soured over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and a meeting between President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama.

Despite the tough line, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said China's newly assertive diplomacy is simply an attempt to safeguard its core interests and shouldn't be interpreted as combativeness.

Beijing was incensed by Washington's January announcement of a $6.4 billion weapons package for Taiwan, the self-governing island it considers Chinese territory. Beijing suspended military exchanges and has threatened to retaliate against U.S. aerospace firms involved in the deal.

Beijing protested again when Mr. Obama met at the White House with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing accuses of seeking independence for the Himalayan region.

"The responsibility for the difficulties in China-U.S relations does not lie with China," Mr. Yang told a news conference held on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, China's legislature.

Mr. Yang said the arms sale and meeting had undermined China's interests. "The United States should take seriously China's position and respect China's core interests," he said.

He didn't indicate if a recent visit by two high-level U.S. officials, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Senior White House Asia adviser Jeffrey Bader, had helped put relations back on track. The two sides also have differences over trade and how to deal with Iran's nuclear plans.

Mr. Yang said the two sides held "in-depth and candid discussions," but didn't give details.

The dip in relations comes as Western powers seek to introduce a new set of sanctions against Iran if it continues to defy Security Council demands over its nuclear program. Mr. Yang repeated China's stance that it thinks a resolution to the issue will come through continued dialogue.

"We don't think diplomatic efforts have been exhausted," he said.

The proposed sanctions would target Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard and toughen existing measures against its shipping, banking and insurance sectors, well-informed U.N. diplomats said Wednesday.

The U.S., Britain and France support such new sanctions, and Russia — which is normally opposed — appears to be moving closer to that view. That leaves only permanent Security Council member China — which depends on Iran for much of its energy needs — opposed to new sanctions.

Other irritants include Google Inc.'s contention that its e-mail accounts were hacked from China, followed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's criticisms of the censorship of cyberspace by China and others. Beijing lashed out at Google and what it labeled U.S. "information imperialism," while the Foreign Ministry said Ms. Clinton's remarks damaged bilateral relations.

The new tensions join recurring friction over human rights and commerce, with U.S. critics accusing China of deliberately undervaluing its currency to boost its massive trade surplus. Meanwhile, Beijing has charged Washington with abusing trade relief measures after U.S. regulators increased import duties on Chinese-made steel pipes.

As long as both of them are not hurling ICBMs at each other or any part of the world, it should be fine. Though both sides really need to muzzle their pro-hegemony military leaders, that "we rock and you suck" attitude from both sides gets really annoying.

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

As long as both of them are not hurling ICBMs at each other or any part of the world, it should be fine. Though both sides really need to muzzle their pro-hegemony military leaders, that "we rock and you suck" attitude from both sides gets really annoying.

I'd gotten into a debate with a chinese friend I have at work who is really pro-China if not pro-communist China. He was really adamant that China only acts on what's in its best interest and for the people without considering that some of the things they do will have repercussions on other countries and/or the environment as a whole. It's also a pretty big mistake to say that China cares for its people above all else. There are plenty of people in China who suffer no less than anyone else around the world. He complained about how much censorship we have in the west when the only country that could beat them in terms of censorship is Saudi Arabia. The stubbornness and blind patrotism can be quite annoying.