Take This Job and Shove It! Nagoya Bus Driver Walks Out on the Job!

Have you ever thought “F*ck this! I quit!” But were too wimpy (like me) to actually get up and walk out? 

Well, according to Mainichi News, this one bus driver in Nagoya did exactly that yesterday.

It seems that the bus driver, who is unnamed, was driving a bus leaving Takahata station in Nagoya for the Nagoya City bus company. This bus route leaves the station every 12 minutes. At 1 pm he was scheduled to go on his drive. There were eight passengers on the bus. When the driver was approached by an old man and asked for directions, the driver helped the old man and this caused the bus to leave the station a minute or two late.

The male passengers on the bus began to shout at the driver “Hurry up!” “Let’s get going!” (In most assuredly a rude manner). So, just after the bus departed Takahata station, the driver slammed on the brakes of the bus, got up from the driver’s seat, and simply walked out. Just like that.

He later said that he “Had to get out of the driver’s seat to calm down.”

When the passengers realized that their bus driver abandoned, er, ship... They called the bus service who quickly sent out a staff member (full of bows and apologies, I’m sure) to handle the situation.

By the time the staff member arrived, five of the eight passengers were gone so the staff member put the remaining three on another bus.

It seems that twice in the past this driver has been in altercations while driving and might have a short temper. One time he was driving along and arguing with the driver of another car so he “Mad Max-ed” the other car by ramming into the side of it with his bus....He got a three month suspension for that.

Hilarious!

Another time, it seems this guy was pissed off at a passenger so when the passenger was either trying to get on (or off) the bus, he intentionally closed the bus door and sandwiched the passenger in it. He received a warning for that!

Ha! Ha! Ha!

The funniest part about the story is that the bus company says they are now considering firing the guy! Really?


How could they even consider firing an employee like this with such a sterling record of ramming cars with his bus and torturing and abusing passengers? I say promote him or make a TV show about his life. 


It's be a hit!

Man Dies Smoking "Legal Herb"? Japan's Newest Drug Craze and More Unnecessary Drug Laws

Interestingly enough, just after I finished my series on drug rehabilitation in Japan, the news is out that a young man was smoking 脱法ハーブ (Dappo herb) "legal herb" and died in his apartment in Nagoya. It also seems that there is some confusion as to whether or not this Dappo Herb is legal or not. Shop owners have been circumventing the law by selling the herbs as "incense." It seems that if the shop owners tell the customers that they should smoke the herb, then that would be breaking the law.


This is confusing as, with, say Marijuana, Japanese law is specific; smoking marijuana is not illegal in Japan. Possession of marijuana is illegal. Possession precedes use. Makes sense. So, then why isn't possession of these laced herbs not illegal? It is just more on the madness of these laws... But more on that later.

This news has come to the forefront last night and today as, day before yesterday, a young man in Nagoya was alleged to have been smoking the Dappo Herb and then he died. It is not yet sure the reasons for his death but police suspect it has something to do with an overdose concerning Dappo Herb.


Here is a news story about the incident:

Quick explanation & translation:  

The video talks about a 24-year-old guy named Miura, a restaurant employee, who was smoking this Dappo Herb with a friend and died on February 6th, 2012. The friend told police that they were smoking when Miura grew silent. Soon after, his friend checked him and Miura's body was cold. The police said they found the Dappo Herb in Muira's pocket along with a pipe. Many shops are selling Dappo Herb as "legal herbs" but this is not true. The police say they will start enforcing the law in a more vigorous manner.

The rise in popularity of Dappo Herb has gone from two shops selling it in Tokyo in 2009 to at least 89 this year. 

Japan Times reports:

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government identified two shops selling such products in fiscal 2009. As of last Friday, 89 such shops were in existence, many of them in Shinjuku and Shibuya, areas popular with young people.

"Even if (herbs) do not include chemicals designated (as illegal) by law, you can't say they are safe. (Inhaling them) is like conducting a human experiment with your own body," said Masahiko Funada, who heads a team researching addictive drugs at the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has been locked in a race with dealers as it keeps adding new stimulants to its list of illegal drugs while dealers keep marketing new products, including new chemicals they say are not covered by drug regulations. 

Well, that's the news; and now the commentary: 

That last paragraph of this quote from the Japan Times should demonstrate to anyone the futility of these sorts of laws prohibiting victimless crimes. There will always be new chemicals coming up that are outside the law. Will we keep expanding the laws forever and ever? We need less government in our lives, not more. It doesn't matter whether it is gambling, prostitution, or drug use, victimless crimes should be decriminalized. 


It is true that this guy died in Nagoya but there is no proof that Dappo Herb caused his death. If he is stupid enough to be smoking some sort of chemical concoction that he doesn't even know what it is, then let him. There is no way to outlaw stupidity.

The government has no business passing laws on what people wish to put into their bodies. If people are stupid enough to want to huff airplane fuel, drive without a seat belt, drink until they kill themselves, or eat junk food all the time, will we pass laws making that illegal too? (Look at the idiocy in England whereby teapots must be labeled, "Sugar leads to diabetics." (sic))

This comes down to private property rights. The poor guy who died, as with you or me, are the owners of our own bodies. There is no one who has the right to tell us what we can and cannot consume. Guidelines are welcomed, but these draconian laws are a waste of taxpayers money.

Some will say that decriminalizing, say, heroin or cocaine will cause a boom in its use. That's total nonsense. Five years after decriminalizing many of these drugs, Portugal enjoyed seeing their use cut in half as reported by Forbes magazine. But you don't need to read Forbes to realize that decriminalizing drugs would not lead to a boom in their use... If heroin were decriminalized tomorrow, would you go out and start doing it; your friends or family? I didn't think so.

Like I said, we need less government in our lives, not more. The expansion of laws and these sorts of actions only serve to increase the size of government and the tax burden on the average Japanese citizen. The politicians want to increase our sales tax to 10% - even, some say, 25%! but what they fail to realize is that they can raise the taxes forever and it won't matter.

It won't matter because, no matter how mathematically challenged the Japanese government is, you cannot forever continue to spend more than you take in. That should be the lesson learned over these last 20 years, going on 30, but it's not. 

We need to shrink the size of government and government duties and with it, our tax burden. A great place to start is the ridiculous policing of victimless crimes. 

A quick and easy way to do that would be to decriminalize victimless crimes like prostitution, gambling and smoking of recreational drugs. We've regulated and decriminalized one of the most dangerous, addictive and deadly drugs known to man; alcohol, and that seems to be working out okay.

Cutting down on the number of laws on the books will only serve to cut costs. We should decrease, not increase the number of laws governing the public.

Marketing Japan: Cosplay? Japan is Losing it!

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Well, have you heard the news? This year's Cosplay championship was won by the Italians. Disgraceful! And just one day after I bragged to the world that the Japanese were going to make holograms for the world to enjoy at the 2022 World Cup! Shame!

The Japanese can't win anything anymore it seems. We haven't won a hot-dog eating championship in a few years and now, horrors of all horrors, the Italians take the Cosplay championships from us.

2010 Cosplay Championships

If I were one of these "otaku" Japanese geeks I'd hang my head in shame.

From the article:


A pair from Italy took the grand prize for costume role-players at an annual world championship in Nagoya on Sunday, beating contenders from 14 other countries.


The contest marked the climax of the World Cosplay Summit 2010, a signature summer event in the city which various entities including the Foreign Ministry jointly organized to enhance exchanges featuring characters in Japan-originated animated films, manga comics and games.


The winning pair, dressed as Link and Ganondorf, characters in a game titled "The Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess," performed an action- filled three-minute play on stage in front of an audience of about 15,000.


"I am happy for winning the title especially for people who have supported us," said 43-year-old Giancarlo Di Pierro after winning the competition with 30-year-old Luca Buzzi.

Wait a minute! The winner was a 43-year-old dork from Italy!? Gimme a break! 

Girls from last year's Cosplay Championships... Well, OK... If everyone who entered looked like these  two, I guess I'd get a front row seat 

The article goes on:

Hundreds of cosplay enthusiasts including the finalists of the championship took part in the event which began Saturday. The 15 countries were Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,Italy, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand and the United States.

You know it is the end of western (and eastern) civilization when the entire world gets into Cosplay and then, on top of that, a 43-year-old wins!

Heck, for a bonus, here's a video of this year's contest too: 



See original article here. I need a drink. What's the world coming to?

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Keywords:
Cosplay, championship, Italians, otaku, geeks, nagoya, Marketing Japan, Mike Rogers, holograms, Mike in Tokyo Rogers