Skip Navigation

Posts
0
Comments
118
Joined
2 yr. ago

  • I think the downvotes come from a semantic disagreement, based on a strong or weak definition of the word 'inherent'.

  • If they are built and maintained correctly. And meltdown isn't the only problem that could occur.

    I don't have much faith in a corrupt, self-regulated industry, with strong yakuza ties, to do things 100% the correct way, especially given everything we know about the industry post 2011. Knowing how much local political power the company has, I know they could literally get away with murder, as no politician or police would want to be on their bad side.

    Don't get me wrong, the missile was still the biggest threat, but I do believe the power plant isn't necessarily safe. An engineering and/or scientific understanding of a modern power plant doesn't mean shit if you don't consider the political and capitalist systems the that underpin their construction and maintenance.

  • We were in this scenario last year, when NK launched a missile towards Hokkaido, and we were on the west coast, just next to a nuclear reactor.

    After getting the altert, we put on clothes, went downstairs to the sturdiest room, stuck on the TV to the NHK news, and waited. The missle plopped into the ocean off the coast, and we had tempura for lunch.

    There's really nothing you can do in these situations but stay calm and do the small, sensible things.

  • Many people saying 'live for the now', which is totally valid, but there's an alternative as well, which is the path I followed - devise a concrete economic plan for your life (5 year plan, 3 year plan, etc), and track ALL your spending until you have a strong grasp on how you like to spend your cash.

    It's hard to make more money, so do everything you can to reduce spending in your life. No only will you increase how much can put away, but you'll need less to sustain yourself when you reduce how much you earn, due to the cultivation of a spendthrift life.

  • It's mostly supply and demand. In Tokyo and Osaka / satellite cities, prices are going up, everywhere else they are dirt cheap.

    However, in urban areas prices still aren't as crazy unaffordable as you may think, because Japan has a very narrow wage gap (everyone in Japan thinks they are middle class, and their not wrong compared to other countries).

    Another thing that makes Japan different to other housing markets, and is affected by the laws, is earthquake concerns. What other countries would call 'established' dwellings, they call 'second hand'. Laws are updated every ten years or so that mean newer dwellings are much safer than older ones. Knockdown/rebuild is so common that there is competitive prices, as there's plenty of builders to choose from. The builders are also very efficient, and apart from safety law, regulations are low (you can build whatever you like, so long as it's robust), so labour costs are much lower compared to other countries.

    If you go on Suumo.jp you'll find plenty of very affordable houses, even in good areas/good rail links, but it's because they don't expect anyone will live in the house as-is - the buyer will most likely "reform" it (massive rennovation) or replace.

    The state of the Japanese housing market is due mostly to cultural/economic/low immigration. If you want a policy solution other high-income countries can use to solve housing issues, the state-capitalism solution of the Singapore HDB is the best model I've come across. Second would probably be Vienna's focus on social housing.

  • opossums

    Oh, interesting! I never realised Opossums are actually marsupials. I don't think I'll start feeding wild ones apple slices and petting them like we do brushtail possums, though.

    I just came across this chunky Indonesian boy on wikipedia.

  • Being that they're from the Americas, I doubt Armadillos are marsupial. Probably closer relation to a sloth than a platypus.

  • Wombat are extremely powerful. They are expert diggers. They have extremely hard butts and if any predators follow down into their holes, the wombat can kick upwards, crushing their pursuer's skull against the roof.

    Despite their little legs, they can run in a straight line up to 40km/h. That puddle ain't shit.

    If you hit a roo with your car, the roo bounces off. If you hit a wombat with your tire, it can break the axle and put your car out of commission.

    Wombats are the tanks of the marsupial world. Don't fuck with a wombat.

  • Rule

    Jump
  • Worked on Top 12 hours, 6 hours in! I crave pickle! Comment on this post too, for balance.

  • Rule

    Jump
  • Worked on Top 12 hours, 6 hours in! I crave pickle! Will comment on other post too, for balance.

  • the sole reason I stay in this cold dreary backwater of a country.

    You do know you can get crumpets in any supermarket in sunny Queensland, yeah? You can even get Marmite (but why would you when Vegemite is superior).

  • I've only spent a couple months in France, but I agree from my experience. I think that foreigners that complain about the French being rude were just expecting special treatment, didn't put in any effort themselves to be friendly, then shocked that the storekeeper/waiter wasn't kissing their ass, even though they didn't even manage to say 'bonjour'.

  • "Kerokero" is correct romanization. No problem there.

  • We dont know how much power they have, it's illegal to know:

    | Due to secrecy laws, it is extremely hard to find documentary evidence of the queen’s exercise of influence. In the United Kingdom, government documents that “relate to” communications with the sovereign or the next two persons in line to the throne, as well as palace officials acting on their behalf, are subject to an absolute exemption from release under freedom of information or by government archives.

    • "relate to" is so broad and it means we have no idea what is going on.

    | But The Guardian has managed to expose a chink in this armour of secrecy. In the UK’s National Archives, it discovered documents from 1973 showing the queen’s personal solicitor lobbied public servants to change a proposed law so that it would not allow companies, or the public, to learn of the queen’s shareholdings in Britain. The gambit succeeded, and the draft bill was changed to suit the queen’s wishes. Perhaps these documents escaped the secrecy embargo because they involved communications with a private solicitor, rather than palace officials

    https://theconversation.com/the-queens-gambit-new-evidence-shows-how-her-majesty-wields-influence-on-legislation-154818

  • Geri is my favourite Indonesian crackers, but not so much the chocolate ones...

  • a bit pricey

    Look on the map for Bónus supermarkets, I found them to be the best value but with a good range of stuff to try. I thought the rye bread (Rúgbrauð) and skyr were particularly delicious in Iceland.

  • Australia already spends time and money maintaining the English monarch as the head of state. And it's not a ceremonial position; the governor-general has reserve powers, such as the ability to remove office holders, like in 1975. It is only convention, not law that appoints and makes the GG act on the PMs 'recommendations' rather than the Monarch; the description of the office has not been rewritten. We can't rely on convention to govern a country and need to have explicit laws that match our ideals of how a democracy should behave. It's unexploded ordinance that should be cleaned up.. let's do that rather than spending our time and money changing all the pictures on the money, and the pronouns on all the legal documents each time a monarch croaks.

  • Cadbury's Marvellous Creations range has been doing it for about 10 years, but I've only seen them in Australia and SE Asia (assumigly sold in UK, too).

  • Whoa

    Jump
  • Good use of Keanu meme, as he recently fell for and is promoting a conspiracy theory (ancient civilizations).