happylife

A strange article

I found a very strange article in the newspaper which says that a sexual offender has come out of the jail and plan to live in Vancouver. The offender's name and photograph were published in the article which seems to be very strange for us Japanese. Of course the sexual crime itself is bad thing and he had to be punished, but he should have been punished in the jail and therefore should have come out of the jail. Why is he still punished in the newspaper like this? Where is his fundamental human right? Anybody will commit the same offense if he was treated like this; surrounded with lots of cold eyes of people. I think that If he is still dangerous he should not be released in public and should be sent to a mental hospital or some other facilities.

Teachers' walkout

It has become my daily routine to read a newspaper. Every morning as I got up, I go downstairs in the elevator, and get today's Vancouver Sun from the vending machine in front of my apartment. Today's top news was about the teachers' walkout in the British Columbia. The B.C. public schools are to be closed because of the teacher's indefinite strike on their right of negotiation. I read a small article which reports that some students are making a banner in support of the teachers' walkout. It says "WE SUPPORT OUR TEACHERS!" I doubt them they are really supporting their teachers. If I were in their shoes as a high school student, I would do the same things because I don't have to go to school for a while. It's like a festival. Anyway, in Japan, public servants including teachers do not have the right to strike and public schools would never be closed because of strike. I think it's quite natural because If they were allowed to go on strike the most basic social function would be endangered. Is it acceptable if the police man didn't do anything in case of criminal?

Burns bog fire

These couple of days in Vancouver, the air is smoky because of burns bog fire in Delta. No one was killed by the fire but it smells a bit, just like a smell of camp fire. According to the radio news, quite a few people are complaining about their troubles in their breathing and eyes. I don't think it's so terrible because I was born and grown in Tokyo. The cause of the fire hasn't been revealed and the fire hasn't been ceased. My pilot friend said that a lot of water bomber, large seaplanes for fire-fighting, were flying busily around the Delta area. I'm worrying much about my flight lesson is interfered by the air traffic congestion.

Flags flying at half-mast

For couple of these weeks, most flags in Vancouver were flying at half-mast. I didn't know the reason and my friend told me that they were the expression of condolence to the terrible affair happened in London. It was an unexpected answer for me because In my daily life I rarely mind the relationship between England and Canada. The relationship with U.S. seem to be greater whether Canadian people like it or not. So, I'm interested where the flags were flying when the 9.11 shocked the world. Today the flags got back to the ordinary position and time flies day by day like this.

A strange regulation in Japan

I read a strange news that Nara prefecture, the center part of Japan, is considering about a new regulation about child protection. "Any children without their parent should not be talked to on the streets" is the outline. On the back ground of this idea, there are series of tragedies occurred these past months around children, who were kidnapped and some of them were killed in a cruel manner. But, even for them, this regulation looks so funny that many papers are playing it up. I think the more communications between adults and children contributes to the safer community and this new bylaw runs counter to it.

Local news in Tokyo

I watched a funny local news on television. Last evening, an old apartment house in my neighborhood was broken in its second floor. The resident of the room was an old man who had stored too many magazines and newspaper. They got too heavy for the floor to endure and it was eventually broken. The old resident of the second floor was injured but not seriously. And the residents of the first floor were fortunately outside the room because they perceived the abnormal bending of their ceiling and just went to police to report it. I was impressed by the female newscaster who seemed to be a little bit chuckling.

Tsunami disaster

The tsunami wave caused by the earthquake in Sumatra two days ago killed a lot of people including foreign visitors who were enjoying their vacation. The number of death reported in TV news is still increasing. As I was planning to visit Thailand this month, I cannot say the disaster is none of my business. The most shocking news was that Mare the capital island of Maldives was attacked by the tidal wave and more than two thirds of the island got soaked. When I visited there five years ago, the small, flat and coral island was filled with people. I can easily imagine how much fear they felt when the enormous wave came up and there's no place to evacuate. The year 2004 was full of disaster; typhoon, earthquake, and backache.