You commit negligence and someone dies? Go to prison. The police commit negligence and someone dies? Go on vacation - with pay!

Let's talk about the "Good Ol' Boys network" of corruption and a corrupt government and the police...

What would happen to you at work if you shirked your duties and went off on a vacation leaving important matters unattended?


You'd most probably lose your job because your boss would fire you immediately upon your return (if he didn't fire you while you were gone).


What would happen to you if, in the course of your daily affairs or duties, you made a serious mistake in judgement that resulted in someone getting seriously injured or crippled for life?


You'd most probably would get sued in court and be paying money for the rest of your life and go to jail.


What would happen to you if you made a mistake driving a car and hit someone by accident and injured them or killed them?


Depending upon the circumstances, you might lose your driving license, go to jail or even lose your house, family and your job. 

What would happen to you if, in the course of your duties at work or at home, you committed negligence that resulted in death? 


You would probably go to jail for a long time... No matter what, you'd lose your job and be sued in court and be paying money for the rest of your life. You'd probably lose your house and family too.


How about if you knowingly committed negligence that resulted in the death of, not one, but two people? What would happen to you then?


Oh, you'd lose your job in disgrace, go to prison for a long time and lose everything you owned and cared for....


How about if you worked for the police department and knowingly committed negligence that resulted in the death of, not one, but two people? What would happen to you then? 


Nothing much. You'd get "disciplinary action." A slap on the wrist or two. That's it. You wouldn't lose your job. You wouldn't take a pay cut. You would basically not have to face any of the penalties that the rest of us would face in the real world.


That's how it goes in Japan (and most countries today) as, you see, there are different laws for the peasants (you and me) and the ruling classes (politicians, rich, and government workers). That's what has happened in Chiba, Japan after the facts came out that when a father reported a stalking case to police in December of last year the police were too busy to take care of it. You, see, the police were busy planning a drinking vacation up north so they told the father to come back after they were back from vacation... While the cops were away, partying on the public dime, the man's wife and his mother-in-law were murdered by the stalker.


The Mainichi News has the story in Disciplinary action taken against Chiba police superintendent in stalking probe case

A police superintendent and 20 other police members were subjected to disciplinary action on April 23 over a case in which officers put off the handling of a stalking complaint and went ahead with a pleasure trip just days before a related double-murder took place.

Chiba Prefectural Police Superintendent Satoshi Kamada was handed a National Public Safety Commission warning, after his supervisory responsibility was questioned. Action was also taken against 20 other police members including then Narashino Police Station head Hitoshi Oba, who was served a reprimand. Police officials said Kamada had not received a report on the pleasure trip, but they judged that as a superintendent heading a probe into the series of events, he bore responsibility.

He was given a "warning"? Heavens! Is there a heavier penalty? Perhaps a handwritten note? It will say something like, "Next time we'll be serious!" And then, gasp, his "supervisory responsibility was questioned"? My god!


How about firing his a*s or serving up his head on a platter?

The double-murder took place on Dec. 16 last year. Mitsuko Yamashita, 56, and her 77-year-old mother-in-law Hisae were fatally stabbed, and police arrested 27-year-old Gota Tsutsui, who had been in a relationship with Yamashita's 23-year-old daughter, on suspicion of murder.

The daughter and other family members had earlier approached police in Chiba, Mie and Nagasaki Prefectures, seeking assistance and filing reports. On Dec. 6, 2011, they visited Narashino Police Station in Chiba Prefecture to try to file a report, but police put off questioning the daughter until Dec. 12.

The police pleasure trip took place between Dec. 8 and 10 last year, leaving the section chief of the station's criminal investigation department and the head of the department's life safety division absent from the station. However this fact was not mentioned in a report on the police probe into the case. Because of this, police apparently judged that the superintendent could not avoid punishment.

"Police apparently judged that the superintendent could not avoid punishment"?! Punishment? What's that? Did they make him sit in the corner for a day? Or did his friends ignore him in the police cafeteria? How about e loses his chance to buy raffle tickets at a discount for the end-of-year policeman's ball? 


It has been reported that the police chief has been "dismissed." But don't misunderstand what that means, folks. He was dismissed from his post. He wasn't fired, nor will he lose his job or pay or retirement pay. He was dismissed from his position.


He'll be back as station chief, at that station or another district, in no time. That's how it works. This sort of thing has happened many times.


That the people are not in an uproar over this is just astounding. I've spoken with several Japanese citizens about this case and, while they are disgusted, they shrug their shoulders and basically all told me the same thing: that this sort of episode happens often. 


The basic story is as I have related: The in-charge person is "disciplined." This "discipline" is announced in the mass media... Later on, it is revealed that the extent of the discipline is a 3 to 6 month transfer to another section only to be transferred back to their former job after that time. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.


It's all a part and parcel of the "Good Old Boys network."


Though dealing with the police in Japan is not nearly as dangerous or risky as dealing with the police in the USA, it basically comes down to the same thing, ultimately: There's different rules for our rulers and for us.


As the economy worsens and the government drains to lifeblood out of the working public to pay for unsustainable government spending and debt, one has to wonder just how long this will go on until something breaks.


The people shouldn't have to tolerate this. This is Japan, not the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany or the United States.

My Son Died Yesterday

Have you ever stopped to wonder just how close  - just how many seconds away - you or a loved one are from total and complete disaster? 

Specifically, I am talking about the disaster of death. The death of a loved one, a child, or even yourself? How often do you think about how different your world would be without that child or loved one? 


Perhaps I am strange because I think about these things often. Perhaps it's because I think I shouldn't be here and am very lucky to be here - I should be dead. I think this way because of past experiences and I often wonder what my purpose in life is.


I probably think about life and death more often than would be considered "healthy."


This might sound morbid, but I have a point to make to you, so bear with me: Have you ever stopped to appreciate how many times during the day that you or your child are just inches or seconds away from death? Really! Have you ever stopped to consider that accidents might be occurring all around us? The near miss, the "almosts" the "very lucky" near escapes? Some of these "missed" accidents should have happened but, by some miracle, large or small, didn't? 

I do think about these things a lot. In fact, I did just yesterday and I certainly didn't want to, nor did I expect to. I thought about it as we were having fun...


Yesterday, I saw my child's death not ten meters (yards) right in front of my face and there wasn't a thing I could do to stop it. He was dead on the spot. A truck hit him from behind and dragged his body 25 meters down the road under the tires...


Well, that's what could have happened. That's what did happen, excepting, by some twist of fate, by the grace of god, the truck was seconds past us and hurtling down the street. That's what I saw happening in my mind...


It was an ordinary Monday afternoon. We had just came home from school and my son wanted to ride his bike down to the river. He rarely rides his bike and I want him to enjoy sports and the outdoors more so I always encourage him to walk more and ride his bike more.

Yesterday was very close to being the last day we ever did this

Right now, though, it's the middle of winter here in Japan, and quite cold, so it seems strange that my son wants to suddenly ride his bike all the time. But, I didn't want to deny his wishes especially when I can't get him to ride enough.


We came home from school and bundled up in warm clothes and he put on his bicycle helmet and off we went. We usually ride down to Tamagawa river through a wonderful park trail that we call "the magic trail." We call it that because I haven't bothered to find out what the real name of the trail and park are.


It was a fun ride down to the end of the trail down by the river.


We headed back towards home. On the way back, we have to cross a busy street named "Tsutsumi Dori." This is a street that is cursed with quite heavy traffic. The speed limit is 40 kilometers per hour (about 24 mph) but, as drivers are wont to do, most people drive 50 to 60 kilometers per hour (between 30 ~ 40 mph). This doesn't sound too fast but trust me, in Japan roads are very narrow, and when a 8 ton truck rumbles by you not one meter (3 feet) from your head, you can feel their force and power. The trucks are there because there is a cement factory up the road so these large cement mixer trucks are often barrelling up the street to load up on cement there. 


It is a busy street and dangerous.


It is dangerous enough that there is a crosswalk, not far from the magic trail, that we use to cross that street. Seriously, folks I am one to not usually wait for green lights at crosswalks, but this street is so narrow, and the cars are going so fast, and there are so many side street tributaries that anyone really has to be careful when crossing this street. I always use the crosswalk to cross this particular street.


Usually, it's not the car that you see that is dangerous, it's the ones you don't see that are dangerous.

A rare photo of Tsutsumi Dori when there are no cars on it. Anyway, from this photo you can see that this is a narrow street and if a child jumps out onto it, and you are doing 40 mph, you can't stop in time.

I was walking behind my son as we were on the return trip. We had just come out of the magic trail and onto the side of Tsutsumi Dori. That's when it happened; not 80 meters (yards) before the red light that marks the crosswalk, my son on his small bike, abruptly made a very sharp right turn and started crossing the busy street! I couldn't believe my eyes.


My world stopped and began turning in slow motion. He entered the busy road without even a glance to his right rear where cars would be coming up, at great speeds, right behind him. Within a eighth of a second, he was 1/2 way into the lane. Even if a vehicle had seen him enter the lane, he did it so suddenly that they could have never stopped in time. I expected to hear screeching tires....


The sounds blurred. The seconds were going by as if they were minutes. I wanted to shout "Stop!" but I couldn't, he was already in the lane. I thought, "He's dead!" In slow motion, I looked behind me to my right, where I expected to see a truck or car slamming on their brakes... Never in time to stop... It would be impossible to stop.


That's when I saw what should have happened. The truck hitting my son from behind and hurtling him dozens of meters in the air and under the wheels of an oncoming vehicle... His life and the crying of my wife and her parents flashed in front of my eyes... The guilt... My fault.... 


But....... thank god....... there wasn't any vehicle there. The lane was clear.


As my son was nearing the middle line dividing the lanes... I looked towards the oncoming traffic lane and there was a motorcycle coming up at high speeds but the driver of the bike saw my son from a distance and slowed down.


I screamed!


.........


After the motorcycle passed, immediately, as fast as I could, I crossed the street and quite angrily began berating my son for crossing the street without even looking for cars... I was shouting at him furiously! He knew I was very angry and began crying. 


He crossed busy street on his bicycle without even looking! I was so angry that I could feel that I was losing control of myself. I wanted to slap him in the face but I only whacked him on the back - he was wearing a heavy jacket so it was light - but when I kicked him in the ass (literally) and kicked him pretty hard, he was bawling. I am ashamed to say that it was the third time in his life that I have ever spanked or struck him.

Japanese cement truck. See the narrow space on the right. Imagine this: The truck is doing 40. A kid abruptly turns a hard right a few feet in front of this truck. Is the truck going to be able to stop?

Last night, I was drained. I realized just how close I was to having my life turned upside down. I realized just how close I was to losing one of the big motivations and purposes in my life. I'm sure that, if he had been hit by a car, he'd have died or been permanently scarred or crippled for life.


How many seconds did we miss that one by? Two? Three?


If that had happened, I probably would have drank heavily last night and been totally useless for the next six months. I'd probably lose my job and want to kill myself. And all for what? Because of an accident that could have been avoided and because of carelessness.


Oh how close these things happen to all of us and our children everyday. I think we must all appreciate that fact. We must be thankful for the truly wonderful things we have.


This morning, I had a nice talk with my son. I told him that "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." I think he definitely understands just how lucky he was yesterday. 


I certainly do.


There are two morals to today's story. First: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." I feel my son was given a chance (me too). Actually that's the second time something like that happened to him. The first time was when he was 4 or so, and, suddenly, without any warning, he dashed out and ran onto a busy road. I was furious then too and spanked him.


We cannot hold our children on leashes or in chains all their lives. We cannot be sure what fate awaits us or them. All we can know is that today is the first day of the rest of our lives. Let us all live for today and appreciate the things we have.


The second moral is this: Driver's remember that there are children around like my child, who, for some completely unexplained reason, will do things like jump out into traffic. If you hit one of these children, your life and the life of your family life could be ruined. 


Remember that speed limits are not targets. Slow down and drive carefully. 


If you have the time, do yourself a favor and watch this short video:

Shocking Video of Little 2-Year-Old Girl in China Getting Run Over by Truck... and Why China Can Never Be Number One

This is a video that has shaken Chinese society to her roots. It shows what China has become. A two-year old girl is hit by a truck and run over. The truck doesn't bother to stop. A second vehicle also runs over the child. A total of eighteen people walk by the critically injured tyke yet no one stops to help until a cleaning lady happens by.

This is a very shocking video. Parental discretion is advised.

That poor dear child. This tears my heart out.


I have been to China several times and have seen how people will not lift a finger to help someone laying in the road. It is truly shocking. Some westerners who go to China and do help people in the streets are often celebrated on TV as some sort of heroes!


Some people have told me that China today is that way because of years of poverty and the government doing little to help so that people have come to think that they must fend for themselves and that other people do not matter.


In 2010, I was the marketing director for a Macau based airlines and, one day, the government of China revoked the airline's license causing nearly 5,000 Japanese to be stranded. That's just one example, but that sort of thing would be impossible in Japan. The Japanese government might revoke a license, but they'd make damn sure the people were taken care of and could get home first.


The Chinese government? I don't know what to think.


It is for this reason, and the related causes and symptoms, that I do not believe China can ever be number one. The social fabric of that country has come apart and there is no respect for private property and the concept of social responsibility has virtually disappeared. 


Mish Shedlock has his own comments about this video. He wrote:

There is quite a difference between failing to act out of 


fear for yourself or life vs. complete indifference as to 


what happens to a little girl run over by a van. 


The video represents the tragic state of everyday affairs in China.

The Yuan will not become the new world reserve currency.

China does not have deep enough capital markets or deep enough bond markets. China does not respect human or property rights, and contrary to popular belief there are so many problems with being the world's reserve currency that Chinese leadership does not even want it.

Mish has more at: 

Must See Heart Wrenching Video of Moral Deterioration in China

and 

Feedback on China Video Story from Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Sculptor Hopen, Others

Japanese people say that China is a very "恐ろし国"

　(very scary country). Things like this video do 

nothing to dispel this kind of thinking. 

I am also very saddened to report that this little

girl has died due to her injuries.

May god bless her soul.

More details: http://duke1.tbo.com/content/2011/oct/21/210905/chinese-toddler-dies-after-getting-run-over-ignore/news-breaking/

My Best Friend Died

This is a very difficult post to write.


My best friend's name was David. His picture was on the front page of the newspaper. The newspaper said, "David, Father Die in Boating Accident." 

"That's impossible!" I thought. I didn't want to believe it. I read and reread the newspaper article over and over in the hopes that I was misunderstanding what I was reading. I was hoping it meant that 'David's father died. But not David.' 


Forgive me for wishing such a morbid thing, but that's what I thought.


...But there was no misunderstanding. David was dead.


I cried and cried. How could that possibly have happened? I just saw him the day before and we talked and had fun. We always had fun. David was my very best friend.


I think David was everyone's best friend because he was such a nice guy. 


When I heard the news, and realized it wasn't a mistake, I cried all day. I desperately wanted to know how it happened and why it happened. I wanted to know the exact details. I called my friends and, a few days later, they had a school meeting for classmates and explained to us about the accident. 


But I still wasn't satisfied with the details. Besides how and what, I wanted to know "why"? Why did god allow this to happen to my best friend? Why did god allow this to happen to such a good person? 


After all the questions I asked and all the details I found, I found out that they were fishing in the Lake of the Woods. The boat was overloaded and slipped under water and that the dad had tried to save David but the water was too cold and they both drowned.


That's how it happened. That still didn't answer the question for me as to why it happened. 


I was upset. "Why did god allow this to happen?" "Why does god allow bad things to happen to good people?" 


David was 7-years-old and he was boating and fishing with his dad in a lake in Minnesota. The photo of him on the front page of the newspaper was the class photo they took of him from our second grade class. I recognized it immediately.


That was 47 years ago. In 1964.


What a waste. He was a handsome kid. I think I was jealous of him because I thought he was more handsome than me. I wonder what he would have become had he lived? 


I have thought about David off and on over these past decades. Yesterday, memories of David suddenly came back to me like a shot to the head.


My own seven-year-old son was off to a friend's house to play with some other of his friends. I was sleeping on the sofa in the living room when my wife returned from the friend's house and she was very flustered. She woke me up. Her face was all red and she seemed like she was about to cry.


I was still half asleep. She started rambling on about something and it was difficult to follow what she wanted to say. It was concerning one of the boys who was supposed to come and play with my son and the others but couldn't make it that day. When my son's friend's mom had called that boy's father to ask about his absence, the father had said something like "He can't come to play as he is, 'no more.'"


He is "no more?"


My son's friend's mom is not a native English speaker so when my son (and her son) heard this "no more" they were sure she merely misunderstood and laughed about it. Why not? They were just playing with him at school yesterday and kicking the soccer ball around together.


This boy was happy as can be and as fit as a fiddle and had the whole world and his entire life in front of him... He was one of the top students in class. He was one of my son's best friends; he was everyone's best friend. He couldn't be "no more." That couldn't happen.


My son goes to a school with a large international enrollment. There are children at that school who come from all over the world. Some of their parents do not speak English well so sometimes there are miscommunications. My wife told me about this conversation and asked me to confirm if, "...he is, 'no more'" means what we think it means.


I called the boy's house, there was no answer. Then, against my better judgement, and against common courtesy, I called a cell phone number that is listed on the class schedule given to parents to be used in cases of emergency. I talked to the father.


I knew immediately from the tone of his voice what the meaning of "No more" was. It was exactly what you or I would fear it meant.


The poor boy had died the night before. I said, "I'm sorry" and "God bless you all" and hung up the phone. 


I thought immediately of my friend David from so many years ago. Here he was visiting me again. 


I also immediately thought of what I was going to tell my son and his other seven year old friends. Like I said, they didn't believe it. Why should they? It is unbelievable.  


How did this wonderful little boy die? We don't know yet. We will know how someday soon, I reckon. But we will never know "why."


Maybe the "why" is for each of us to decide for ourselves. I'm not sure.


I went to my son's friend's house to report the news. When the mother saw my face, she knew the news. I asked that she sit down and the kids playing to sit down also. I didn't beat around the bush. I told them the truth. 


There was stone silence. 


I'm not a priest, minister or man of the cloth so I didn't know what to say, but everyone was looking at me expectantly so I knew I had to say something. I spoke,


"I'm sure you will find out at school next week what happened to your friend. Now, I don't know. But, even when we find out what happened, it will always be difficult to understand why it happened.... 


When I was a little boy, I had a similar experience; my best friend drowned in a lake. I was so sad. I found out later how he died, but I never found out why. That's been many years ago and I still don't know why....


...All you can do now is to pray that he is happy and in a safe, warm place. And you must thank god for giving you the time you had to spend with this wonderful friend. Of course, you are sad and will miss him, but always thank god for the time you had and shared with your wonderful friend.... he will always be with you in your hearts...


Also remember that life is very short and we have to be very careful everyday. Accidents happen and, even though I am happy and healthy today, I could be hit by a car and killed or put in the hospital tomorrow, so we must be very careful when crossing streets or when walking near cars. It's always the car you don't see that is the one that hits you....


Pray for your friend and his family and always appreciate your friends that you have now. Give them a hug; give your parents a hug and thank god that you have such good friends and a mother and father who loves you very much."


I stuttered and stopped... I looked at their faces and they seemed to be thinking, "What is he talking about?"


I wanted to say, and should have said, something profound but I couldn't. I wanted to say something that would have made it all alright and set things straight. But I couldn't. What I said was lame. It was the minimum that had to be said, I suppose. 


Still silent, the kids all stared at me, eyes wide open and expressionless. The silence filled the room.


I sighed, paused and awkwardly looked at the floor. I didn't know what to do or say. I lightly slapped both hands on my knees and stood up. I meekly told the mother that I'd be back in a few hours to pick up my son as the kids held hands.


The kids were sad but they weren't crying. I think they still found it unbelievable that their friend could actually be gone so it hasn't sunk in what exactly has happened.


It may not sink in for 40 or 50 years. It didn't for me. Even then, as with me, they might know how, but they will probably never know exactly, "why"? 


Come to think of it, is there really ever a reason "why"?


There are lessons, I suppose. The lesson for me is that bad things do happen to good people. That can't be stopped. The only thing we can do is to try to learn something from it that can help the survivors to lead happier lives and become better people.


Later on when my son comes home, I'm going to hug him and try to explain the saying my good friend Ken always lives by. Ken says,


"Dream as if you will live forever. Live as if you will die tomorrow."


I hope the lesson of David and my son's friend helps my own son and his friends. I also hope it helps others as it has helped me, to become, if even a little bit, a better person (I hope). It has taken me nearly 50 years to write down this tribute to my dear friend David. Now, his death taught me a lesson that I can teach my son.


Remember to hug your kids today and tell them that you love them and that they are beautiful. And, of course, teach them to dream and to live each day to the fullest and to appreciate all the wonderful things this earth and god has given us.


They say that tomorrow never comes, but tomorrow, I think, tomorrow often comes much too quickly.