Since all of the JAPUNDIT writers (including me) seem to be busy, we have decided to steal a page out of The Marmot’s playbook and introduce a weekly open thread.
Each weekend, we will post an open thread item which you, our readers, can use to discuss anything you want.
Rules are very loose for open thread posts, usual restrictions concerning topic matter do not apply. Feel free to sound off about anything you like.
Have fun!
To get things started. . . It looks like some of the tougest gun laws in the world did nothing to stop the shooting in Nagasaki.
Since you brought that up, is there much of a gun rights movement in Japan? If there was an even remotely competent organization that lobbied for more lenient gun laws there (especially one that sought to make it legal for Japanese to use guns in self-defense, and not just in their homes), I’d join it in a heartbeat. I’ve thought about starting one, but my Japanese isn’t nearly good enough.
Not exactly sure what the connection is, but the UK government said it will ban the sale of samurai swords because the weapons had been used in a number of serious, high-profile attacks. The complete ban on imports and sales starts next April but martial artists and collectors are exempted. “In the wrong hands, samurai swords are dangerous weapons,” Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said. Well, in the wrong hands a baseball bat is a dangerous weapon and they haven’t banned them yet? Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN1319327520071213
I hate to say it but England is becoming a third
world country. They’ve outlawed just about all
guns and crime is higher than ever. And who still
has guns? the criminals, they don’t obey the laws
after all. And they are willing to use the guns.
I believe England has also outlawed some knives
(kitchen type I think) and who knows what else
already and what else in the future.
A sad state of affairs. Maybe the crown loyalists
should start a revolution.
no comment on gun control laws, i have said enough about them in the past on various occasions and pissed too many people off.
UK is a shithole but that is beside the point.
heres a good one, what was the best gift youre buying anyone, including yourself, for Christmas. for my family and friends i have bought a copy of slackware 12.0, a winter coat, and a camera, among other things. although the coolest gift i saved for myself in the Canon Powershot G9. It has 12.1 megapixels, 6x optical zoom, dual stable shot image stabilization, will shoot in jpeg or raw, will allow up to twenty different settings including custom mode, has face recognition with multi point focus for up to ten faces.
what was the best video game of the year? my vote is tied between assassins creed and bioshock (big daddies are badass).
what was the most memorable post in japundit this past year?
more ideas as they come
My Japanese wife is so funny, wants to send our daughter to the UK to spare her from being exposed to bad things in America, since England = Europe which means high culture. I had to convince her that they have, y’know, teenage pregnancy there too.
Okaaaaay. Here is a topic I always wanted to talk about but never had the chance to :
Everyone who owns a satelite dish can aknowledge that he can get the TV channels from most of the developped countries. Here in France, we can get the channels from the US, from every european contry, from the arab world, and even from Korea (Arirang TV).
Now, the question is : WHY oh WHY, Japan, one of the richest nation in the world is unable to broadcast its channels to the world???
Man, I would kill to see Japanese TV in Europe.
The Japanese government must know that Japanese pop culture is highly demanded oversea. But despite that, they do nothing to tap in that audience. Are they stupid or is there something I don’t understand?
I just wanted to take this opportunity to say:
“Hiiiii guys!!!!!1!”
does anyone besides me use firefox? if so do they use stumbleupon? ive asked quite a few people about this matter and no one knows what i am talking about. it is this tool that i used to find japundit. its cool, you can select a topic and search for random pages within that topic by clicking on stumble.
if anyone wants to use it and has firefox heres the link
http://www.stumbleupon.com/
link to download firefox here
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
vittel,
the reason that japanese tv isnt in europe is that european television is better.
By your logic, does it mean that CNN, Aljazira, Arirang, etc. think they are better than the european channels?
Anyway, if they think they don’t have a channel that is good enough, why don’t they make one? France has launched one this year (France24) quite fast even while this country is less rich than Japan.
So, what is Japan thinking/doing?
BTW, you guys from the US, can you get Japanese channels?
On the gun debate, I don’t think Americans really have the right to bear arms.
If you want to pay even more money to the cable station ’round here, you can get Fairchild TV (I think they’re Chinese-language), Fairchild East (no idea what that is but it’s another Fairchild station so it’s most probably Chinese-language), ATN (Asia Television Network) (who knows… a mish-mash of Asian languages, I guess) and TV-Japan. You can also get a couple of Punjabi and Hindi stations, a German station, a Greek station and a couple from France (TV5 and, I think, a couple of other France-produced stations).
But I’m already paying enough money for what I have so I’m not feeling any desire to pay another $35 a month for those stations (plus digital box purchase or rental).
I’m still trying to figure out why Canadians are paying about such high rates for cell phone usuage. From a Nov. 29th article:
PAYING MORE IN CANADA
Canada has expensive cellphone services compared with the U.S. and Europe.
56%: Heavy users of cellphones ( 1,200 minutes a month) in Canada pay about 56% more than U.S. counterparts.
33%: Average users pay about 33% more.
$56: Average monthly bill in Canada in 2006.
$38.28: Average monthly bill for Vodafone customers across 17 European countries in 2006.
Source: OECD, the SeaBoard Group, CanWest News Service.
I bet the average monthly bill in Canada, what with charging for incoming and outgoing text messaging with some plans, is not over the $60 a month rate… .
That’s the one thing I overhear the Japanese ESL students taking notice of when they first get here. A colleague I play volleyball with works at one of those cellphone kiosks downtown and he says the Japanese coming in to sign up always have this confused puppydog look when they’re told the monthly rates. And who could blame them, really.
That should be “a lot over the $60 a month rate… .”
The UK is far from being a “shit-hole”. It has its flaws, but every country does. It’s a land of opportunity, which is more than can be said for most of the large European countries.
Mike, combat knives have been banned - not ordinary kitchen knives, unless they’re some outrageously large ones. As for being a third-world country, it’s not usual for people from second-world countries to move TO a third-world state. Look at where the eager, young Europeans from new EU states are heading to work - the UK. That says it all.
Raj-cant we just make anglophobic comments without the repurcussions of your logic and tolerance. we were just having fun.
“I don’t think Americans really have the right to bear arms.”
Of course we do.
“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
Of course, the same can not be said to be true of arming bears.
I never got that… “a well regulated militia… doesn’t seem to equate to any idiot who wants a gun, non?
Whatever.
Alls I know is that I’m still on the fence re: KITTIES VS. PUPPIES - WHICH ONE IS CUTER AND WHY?
I was reading a story yesterday about a 10 year old girl in the US, who was arrested for taking a steak knife to school, to eat her lunch with. Don’t know if it’s true or not, but with so many school shootings in the past, you’d think they’d have a right to defend themselves. Yet it would seem in this case, that she didn’t have the constitutional right to bear arms.
People in the US need arms because they are too fat to run away.
Don’t you know? Steak knives don’t cut meat. People cut meat. Then eat the meat. Mmmm. Meat…. (Heard about this case. Occurred in Florida, if I’m not mistaken.)
“I never got that… “a well regulated militia… doesn’t seem to equate to any idiot who wants a gun, non?”
There’s no condition in the amendment requiring a gun owner to do anything. It’s the “SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED” part that’s important. It means the government can’t ban guns. The only way that could be overturned is with another amendment. It also means that all those gun bans they’ve passed are unconstitutional.
Ryo - yes, a 10 year old girl was arrested in Florida for bringing a steak knife to school and having the temerity to use it to cut her food. She didn’t threaten anyone with it, and had in fact brought it with her several times in the past. But thanks to over-reactive zero-tolerance laws she’ll now be put on trial and have a stain on her record even if she’s acquitted.
Yay, America?
The Second Amendment appears to me to be poorly constructed, especially in light of the fact that it is meant to be a constitutional provision.
The first part (”A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State”) reads as if it only serves to explain, rather than qualify, the second part (”the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”). Bizarre in my opinion.
The Founders of the U.S. seem to have been under the opinion that it was the right to bear arms granted to all citizens of the country that set it apart from other countries of the time. And passages from the Federalist Papers indicate that this Amendment was, indeed, intended to guarantee that all citizens be granted the right.
As for the view that “times have changed,” well as Bruce has already pointed out, there is a procedure in place by which the Constitution can be amended. There are currently 27 amendments, the last one (limiting congressional pay increases) was ratified in 1992.
Yeah… but which are cuter? Kitties or puppies?
Hey Betty I’m guessing my wife would be one vote for the nekos
So do you need a license to own a gun in the US? Is gun ownership and access to ammo regulated by the government?
Are there restrictions on where you can go with a gun and what kind of weapon you can carry.
heres a state by state answer to your question riki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_%28Firearm%29_laws_in_the_United_States_%28by_state%29
what is really interesting is the difference in culture between the different regions of the united states and how they are reflected in gun law.
my favorite for just being outside of the norm is oregon
Wow that looks complicated. You couldn’t just do the Cannonball run with a handgun in your glove compartment, you’d need to apply for permits along the way
and here is an interesting side by side with the earlier link that gives the firearms death rates (those killed annually with guns per 100000) in each state
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/cri_mur_wit_fir-death-rate-per-100-000
the coolest movie trailer this year
http://www.atasteforthetheatrical.com/deathtrap/default.htm
esotericlarity, in that case you need to make your complaints more unreasonable and less like the crap that some people actually say.
My new favorite lunch:
vegetable or chicken broth
enoki mushrooms
buckwheat soba noodles
finely diced onion or scallion
finely diced cooked chicken or steak
combine, nuke, enjoy!
Very funny http://www.whopperfreakout.com/
I don’t spend much time in front of the TV, but I do like Japanese TV and when we’re in America it would be nice to have it available. The only thing we can get is NHK, and it’s too expensive! We just settle for renting movies and whatever we can get on the internet.
Oh yeah, and I have a license to carry a concealed weapon in Florida. Not that I’ve ever needed it and I don’t do it very often, usually when traveling by auto.
A gun is like a tourniquet, if you ever need one you need it immediately and your life could depend on it.
cousin remora & all jupundit-ites I wish you all a happy & safe festive season.
robin
Wilco! cousin robin - ditto from me.
over and out
remora