Okinawa Japan Forum - News and Politics http://www.japanupdate.com/forum Free-For-All discussion on news and politics. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:36:31 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/images/hexcell/misc//rss.jpg Okinawa Japan Forum - News and Politics http://www.japanupdate.com/forum <![CDATA[America's Secret War With Iran]]> http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15323&goto=newpost Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:18:15 GMT http://current.com/items/89438469_americas-secret-war-with-iran.htm http://current.com/items/89438469_am...-with-iran.htm ]]> News and Politics ryukyuboi http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15323 First U.S. marijuana cafe opens for business http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15322&goto=newpost Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:11:48 GMT "Budtenders" provide free weed over the counter in Portland

:grin1:
Quote:
Cancel your flight to Amsterdam – the U.S. just got its first marijuana cafe on Friday. Located in Portland, Ore., the Cannabis Cafe shows how attitudes have changed since the Obama administration moved into the White House. A month ago, President Barack Obama told federal attorneys to ease off medical marijuana prosecutions.

The widening use of medicinal marijuana has forced governments into a tenuous legal balancing act, according to a Reuters report. Some states passed legislation to allow it, starting with California in 1996. Nonetheless, a federal ban remains in place. The operation of businesses like the Cannabis Cafe, as well as marijuana establishments in California, has been possible as long as federal authorities have chosen not to pursue them. Unlike the shops in California, though, the Portland establishment is the first in the U.S. where certified medical marijuana users can both acquire and consume their marijuana, as long as they stay out of public view.

Madeline Martinez, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Oregon, says that the Cannabis Club "represents personal freedom, finally, for our members." NORML supports legislation to legalize marijuana.

"Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana," Martinez continues. "We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis."

The Food is For Sale, but the Pot is Free

The Cannabis Cafe's new home is a two-story building with an interesting past. Once upon a time, it was occupied by a speakeasy, and later, an adult entertainment club called Rumpspankers. The Cannabis Cafe is a private club, but any Oregon resident who is a member of NORML and has an official medical marijuana card can gain entry.

Members pay $25 a month for use of the cafe, which has a capacity of 100. The product offered is not sold. Rather, it's provided free over the counter from the "budtenders" employed by the establishment. Food, of course, is available for purchase, but the club doesn't have a liquor license. (Why bother?)
]]> News and Politics DougP http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15322 Soldier mom refuses deployment http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15305&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:38:00 GMT http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_re_us/us_soldier_mom_deployment ---Quote--- SAVANNAH, Ga. – An Army cook and single mom may face criminal... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_re_...mom_deployment

Quote:
SAVANNAH, Ga. – An Army cook and single mom may face criminal charges after she skipped her deployment flight to Afghanistan because, she said, no one was available to care for her infant son while she was overseas.
Family Care Plan: FAIL ]]> News and Politics Blues http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15305 Why Okinawa? The Dilemma of Futenma Air Station *Why was the post deleted? http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15295&goto=newpost Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:47:13 GMT ---Quote (Originally by Kinuye Oshiro)--- In August 2004, a Marine helicopter crashed into the Okinawa International University, which not only...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kinuye Oshiro (Post 303181)
In August 2004, a Marine helicopter crashed into the Okinawa International University, which not only touched off a firestorm of protests created by this base which is located in the heart of Ginowan City Okinawa, it also has created so much tension for the government of the former ruling bloc of Japan, the LDP, that they were given the boot from office & their control over Japanese Politics.
You must be smoking crack if you think that the helicopter crash in Ginowan had anything to do with the change over in leadership in the national parliament.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To whomever deleted the thread,.........

The thread was valid..........

Could have been an interesting discussion too!
----------------------------------------------------------------------- ]]> News and Politics Muku http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15295 Why Okinawa? The Dilemma of Futenma Air Station http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15294&goto=newpost Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:26:22 GMT Please see our current story part 1 and Part 2 of this important story relating to the Futenma Air Station. Parts 3 and ending part 4 will be up... Please see our current story part 1 and Part 2 of this important story relating to the Futenma Air Station. Parts 3 and ending part 4 will be up soon. or visit you tube and look for RAvery41 for our current videos.

Why Okinawa? The Dilemma of Futenma Part 2 Corrected Sub-Title
Please view this with the correction in Sub-Title (arigatou gozaimashita)
In August 2004, a Marine helicopter crashed into the Okinawa International University, which not only touched off a firestorm of protests created by this base which is located in the heart of Ginowan City Okinawa, it also has created so much tension for the government of the former ruling bloc of Japan, the LDP, that they were given the boot from office & their control over Japanese Politics.
The LDP had ruled Japan since 1955 with a level of greed and corruption, matched only by Wall Street Bankers and politicians in the USA with their greed and self serving interests.
Japan finally voted in new leadership with the Democratic Party of Japan, but can they bring change to Japan? Stability that the Okinawan People as well as all of Japan are looking for?
Will they make good on their promise to finally end the problems of the Futenma Air Station?
Only time will tell if they ... more ]]> News and Politics Kinuye Oshiro http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15294 True Face of Racism http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15287&goto=newpost Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:48:50 GMT ---Quote--- As a mixed-race girl growing up in this most cosmopolitan of mainland Chinese cities, 20-year-old Lou Jing said she never experienced...
Quote:
As a mixed-race girl growing up in this most cosmopolitan of mainland Chinese cities, 20-year-old Lou Jing said she never experienced much discrimination — curiosity and questions, but never hostility.

So nothing prepared Lou, whose father is a black American, for the furor that erupted in late August when she beat out thousands of other young women on "Go! Oriental Angel," a televised talent show. Angry Internet posters called her a "black chimpanzee" and worse. One called for all blacks in China to be deported.

As the country gets ready to welcome the first African American U.S. president, whose first official visit here starts Sunday, the Chinese are confronting their attitudes toward race, including some deeply held prejudices about black people. Many appeared stunned that Americans had elected a black man, and President Obama's visit has underscored Chinese ambivalence about the increasing numbers of blacks living here.
I personally have seen a lot of racism out of most of the countries in Asia, typically getting the same comment, we are not racist, Americans are,

So I am curious what everybody else thinks based on this article, and anything you have personally experienced.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33936653...shington_post/ ]]> News and Politics abonifi1 http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15287 Quickest way to waste 1.25 million dollars http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15254&goto=newpost Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:28:25 GMT Damn birds:scared: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091113/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_lagoon_bugatti Damn birds:scared:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091113/...lagoon_bugatti ]]> News and Politics P_chan http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15254 Charges dropped against American father in Japan custody battle http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15239&goto=newpost Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:05:55 GMT http://http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/11/japan.custody.battle/index.html?section=cnn_latest Finally a little bit of justice for this... http://http://edition.cnn.com/2009/W...ion=cnn_latest

Finally a little bit of justice for this guy and getting to be reunited with his kids. :thumbup: ]]> News and Politics Okiman http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15239 Drowning? http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15207&goto=newpost Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:38:26 GMT Anyone know if there was a drowning near Ginowan today? I just got video of a helicopter pulling someone from the water right outside my apartment. ... Anyone know if there was a drowning near Ginowan today? I just got video of a helicopter pulling someone from the water right outside my apartment. Not sure if they were unconscious or dead, but I'm suspecting the latter.

Hello, by the way...humble newb. Hate being new and starting threads, but didn't want to hijack someone else's thread. ;) ]]> News and Politics fenderchick http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15207 Police report pregnant woman over half-decorated home http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15205&goto=newpost Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:22:37 GMT Another WTF moment from the UK.... Another WTF moment from the UK.

Quote:
A pregnant woman who invited a policewoman into her half- decorated home ended up being reported to social workers for being a potentially unfit mother.

Mary Cooke, 27, was visited by police after she called 999 to report that she had nearly been run down by a speeding car.

The officer did not mention that she was unhappy about the state of Mrs Cooke's rented house, but after leaving wrote a memo to the social services.

Days later, Mrs Cooke received a letter from Staffordshire County Council, warning her of a potential 'referral' for her unborn child. In addition, the council contacted her midwife.

Last night, Mrs Cooke, a housewife who is 12 weeks' pregnant with her first child, said: 'The letter made me feel sick. I believe someone was judging me for decorating the house and I can't believe it. I'm in the first stages of pregnancy. I'd never dream of bringing a child home to a house being decorated.

I told the policewoman we are moving in February. We've been renting privately and we had started decorating, then a bigger house came up for rent and we decided to take it.

'But we thought it was only right to finish off what we'd started for the next people who come here.'

Mrs Cooke, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, added: 'They contacted my midwife behind my back, but apparently she said she had no worries.
Quote:
'It seems that the police and social services go from one extreme to another, they either do nothing and a little child dies or they go completely over the top.'

The case emerged after a mother in Southampton was secretly followed home by an off-duty policeman after she was spotted telling off her children at the supermarket check-out.

Six weeks later, two officers arrived at her home and questioned her about disciplining the youngsters, a boy of 11 and a four-year-old girl.

Yesterday, the Daily Mail reported that the 34-year-old mother, who does not want to be named to protect her children's identity, is now on a social services watch list until her two children leave school. She fears she will be 'criminalised' for life.

Mrs Cooke was visited by police after ringing to say that she had nearly been run over by a car that went through a red light. During the conversation she told the policewoman she was pregnant.

Mrs Cooke said the officer spent five minutes in the hall and living room of her semi-detached home and would have seen the stripped walls and floors.

She added: 'I know the wallpaper is off the walls and there were a couple of nails lying around, but the policewoman didn't say anything while she was here. Other expectant couples should be warned: be careful when you let police officers into their homes, because they can be judging you.'
]]> News and Politics DougP http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15205 Rupert Murdoch vs. Google http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15199&goto=newpost Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:30:36 GMT Murdoch plans to block Google (http://www.tgdaily.com/business-and-law-features/44577-murdoch-plans-to-block-google-news) If he really does this,... Murdoch plans to block Google

If he really does this, it seems like business suicide to me...could be a bold move that opens up the market, but could easily backfire too.:scratchchin:


Quote:
Mega-publisher Rupert Murdoch says he will pull stories from Google's news index to encourage people to pay for online content.

In an interview with Sky News Australia - owned by one R. Murdoch, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, London Times and Fox News amongst several dozen others - the billionaire said that all papers in his publishing empire would be blocking Google News and other aggregation sites once News International's plans for online content charging had been put in place.

Murdoch has it in for online news aggregators, almost certainly because he doesn't own one. As reported by us last month, UK news aggregator NewsNow has already started a campaign against publishers demanding payment for linking to their stories.

Now News International execs are accusing Google of 'kleptomania' and 'acting as a parasite'. In his Sky interview, which can be seen here, Murdoch was asked why he didn't simply pull his papers' stories from Google News and replied:

"I think we will, but that's when we start charging [for online content]. We have it [charging] already with the Wall Street Journal. We have a wall, but it's not right to the ceiling. You can get, usually, the first paragraph from any story - but if you're not a paying subscriber to WSJ.com all you get is a paragraph and a subscription form."
]]> News and Politics DoctorP http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15199 Pvt kills a Cpl http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15195&goto=newpost Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:21:52 GMT ---Quote--- Family and friends say a Marine beat to death aboard Camp Lejeune early Friday was an outdoorsman who loved being in the Corps. Cpl....
Quote:
Family and friends say a Marine beat to death aboard Camp Lejeune early Friday was an outdoorsman who loved being in the Corps.

Cpl. Joshua Hartzell, 22, of Hamilton, Ohio, is remembered by loved ones as a kind-hearted friend who would help anybody, his sister Rebecca Lumpkin said.

“Josh was special,” she said. “Everyone who knew Josh knew that.”

The man accused of killing Hartzell, Pvt. Jonathan Law, 21, has been charged with murder and is being held in the Camp Lejeune Brig.
http://www.jdnews.com/news/loved-697...ne-family.html

Apparently his girlfriend was talking to him on the phone when he got attacked. The kid that killed him was already on suicide watch.

When is the military gonna take these shitbirds seriously and kick them the hell out when they start this shit? I am all about people who are having a rough time being able to turn to the military and their friends in the military for help, but when you have a damn assclown who gets himself in trouble and then starts cutting himself or acting crazy or something like that, that ass should go to the brig immediately to the suicide ward.

But I guess the military doesn't want to lose on its investments. ]]> News and Politics OtisPMerriweather http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15195 Ex Jew Jihadi praises Ft Hood Shooter http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15183&goto=newpost Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:31:41 GMT Really? Seriously? WTF man? Image: http://www.foxnews.com/images/584379/1_64_320pic.jpg *NEW YORK — A New York City bicycle cabbie who... Really? Seriously?

WTF man?



NEW YORK — A New York City bicycle cabbie who mocked the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl and posted a prayer on the Web calling for the murder of Jews is now sending a "Get Well Soon" message to the suspected Fort Hood gunman, the New York Post reported.

Yousef al-Khattab, 41, a radical Muslim in the borough of Queens who runs RevolutionMuslim.com, claims on the site that the soldiers massacred at the Texas base deserved to be massacred, and he insists the victims are in "eternal hellfire." As for the suspected gunman — Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan — Al-Khattab hails him as a hero.

"An officer and a gentleman was injured while partaking in a pre-emptive attack," al-Khattab wrote on the site. "Get well soon Major Nidal. We love you."

Al-Khattab, a Jewish-born New Jersey native formerly named Joseph Cohen, converted to Islam in 2004. Known by the FBI for posting radical messages online, al-Khattab claims that the 13 murdered and 38 wounded soldiers at Fort Hood were "terrorists" who deserved to die.

"These people are soldiers in a volunteer army," al-Khattab told the Post. "They expect to see combat. They know the danger."

"Rest assured the slain terrorists at Ft. Hood are in the eternal hellfire," al-Khattab writes online.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,572998,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...0.000000:b0:z5 ]]> News and Politics 0341isa http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15183 <![CDATA[DC area Sniper's execution 9am Tue EST]]> http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15181&goto=newpost Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:02:15 GMT ---Quote--- Now Virginia is preparing to lethally inject Muhammad at 9 p.m. Tuesday for murdering Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station in Manassas,...
Quote:
Now Virginia is preparing to lethally inject Muhammad at 9 p.m. Tuesday for murdering Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station in Manassas, Va. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined without comment to consider the appeal and stop the execution.
Muhammad's lawyers also have asked Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to commute his sentence to life in prison, saying Muhammad is mentally ill and should not be executed, but Kaine typically does not respond until the court has ruled.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091109/...JlYXJlbGl2ZQ--
Im sorry but appeal his execution????? WTH they should excuted this guy the day they caught him with the rifle in his trunk..........Hopefully we will see another in Texas real damn soon, im sure ticketmaster would make a "killing" if they sold tickets to these 2 events. I just love how"he is mentally ill" comes into play.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:, I guess after all those years of satisfying bubba this would be a welcomed exit:grin1: ]]> News and Politics Crazysix http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15181 Gun Control Works? Japan Safe? http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15165&goto=newpost Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:28:12 GMT Less than a week after the slayings on an army base, Japan shows its safety record, and how well gun control works yet once again. A gunman... Less than a week after the slayings on an army base, Japan shows its safety record, and how well gun control works yet once again.

A gunman wounded three men near Tokyo on Friday before hiding in a building and apparently killing himself

Quote:
Guns are strictly controlled in Japan, and shootings are rare, though when they do occur, they are often linked to gangsters, known as yakuza, or Japanese mafia. Yakuza typically make their income from extortion, gambling, prostitution, gunrunning, drug-trafficking and construction kickback schemes.

In 2007, the mayor of Nagasaki, Iccho Ito, was shot to death at close range by a gangster outside a train station while campaigning for re-election.

Later that year, a 37-year-old man killed two people and wounded six others in a shooting spree at a sports club in southern Sasebo city before killing himself outside a church.
full story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33708527...s-asiapacific/ ]]> News and Politics abonifi1 http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15165