'I was too busy to feel I was doing something wrong.'

[maraboutslim]

Got anything constructive to say, maraboutslim, or just the snide comment? Some Japanese, doctors as well as patients, say that shielding terminal cancer patients from the reality of their condition is an act of compassion. What do YOU think? Man up and provide some positive input.

What was constructive about your original comment? My comment was designed to point out the unreasonableness of you being "amazed" that the Japanese may have a different approach to the issue of cancer. I feel that was positive input. Discussing that attitude is more important than the actual issue of cancer patients access to information on their condition. (which in my experience doesn't make a hell of a lot of difference anyway: people die in the end).

[dingosatemybaby]

Got anything constructive to say, maraboutslim, or just the snide comment? Some Japanese, doctors as well as patients, say that shielding terminal cancer patients from the reality of their condition is an act of compassion. What do YOU think? Man up and provide some positive input.

What was constructive about your original comment? My comment was designed to point out the unreasonableness of you being "amazed" that the Japanese may have a different approach to the issue of cancer. I feel that was positive input. Discussing that attitude is more important than the actual issue of cancer patients access to information on their condition. (which in my experience doesn't make a hell of a lot of difference anyway: people die in the end).

Thanks for the clarification. Maraboutslim doesn't think it makes a "hell of a lot of difference" whether terminally ill cancer patients know they have cancer.


Most people I know, Japanese and gaijin alike, think it WOULD make a "hell of a lot of difference" to know whether they have metastatic cancer. Witholding the diagnosis from the patient robs the patient of the ability to seek alternate diagnoses and alternate courses of therapy. How extradinarily elitist. Not telling a patient his/her condition because it wouldn't make a "hell of a lot of difference" to them. Bullshit. Let the patient be the judge.

I don't want to further hijack this thread, so I'm bowing out of this fatuous debate.

[maraboutslim]

We were talking about "terminal" patients, were we not? If so, they're dead soon regardless, by definition. Sure, in the west we would throw hundreds of thousands of dollars of last minute tests and treatments at them, and then they'd die. I've had to go through it twice with both of my parents and if I get that shit too, I ain't having a single fucking treatment. So precise knowledge of my condition wouldn't matter to me either because it's not going to alter my approach to daily life. Hijack over.

[Greji]

-snip-Discussing that attitude is more important than the actual issue of cancer patients access to information on their condition. (which in my experience doesn't make a hell of a lot of difference anyway: people die in the end).

I can see by your knowledgeable comment you have never had cancer. Access to the information makes a helluva lot of difference if you have to make decisions about treatment and/or operations. Even most teminally-ill people would like to make plans for the future of their families and other matters of immediate importance.

I suggest you limit your "doesn't make a lot of difference anyway" to the bar hookers in kabuki-cho. To people who have had cancer it makes a diffenece.

I'm a cancer survivor who had the chance to choose the operation that probably saved my life. I might not have been able to make that decision if I had not have been told.
FWIW

[maraboutslim]

I'm a cancer survivor who had the chance to choose the operation that probably saved my life. I might not have been able to make that decision if I had not have been told.

I'm reminded of why I find cancer "survivors" to be the most annoying humans on earth. (not gboothe particularly, but 'survivors' in general). They tell you their story of how what they did saved their lives. Be it eating certain foods, or "thinking positive" or having a certain surgery, or whatever. The underlying message being that if others only did what they did, and fought as hard as they did, they'd be alive too. Well, that's just terribly insulting to all of us who have lost loved ones to cancer. So knock it off already. You are alive today because you are one lucky son of a bitch. Period. End of story. To say/believe otherwise is an insult to all the unlucky people who didn't make it.

Both of my parents asked how long they would live without any treatment whatsoever. Both decided to go through all the best treatments recommended by specialists at the best university hospitals in california. Both fought like hell, thought positively, ate right, prayed, etc. and suffered terribly through all the "treatment" and had absolutely miserable last months of their lives. Both died in less time than they were told they'd have lived without any "treatment". That's why I don't care what they tell me and why I'm not going to have a single fucking treatment.

As for being told so you can prepare for those that will be surviving you, shit, we could die in a car crash any day. So we'd best have that shit taken care of ahead of time anyway.

[Greji]

That's why I don't care what they tell me and why I'm not going to have a single fucking treatment.

You gotta a great outlook there Slim! I'm sure that's the right choice for you!

I prefer not to lose by giving the game away (if I have another choice)!

[Mulboyne]

"Let's try taking one more out"

[Captain Japan]

I'm going to pull a quote from Mulboyne from the Mizuho thread...

To protect themselves, Mizuho did input a massive buy order to limit the damage and managed to get over 400,000 shares. Funnily enough, the buy order was clearly illegal but nobody is bothering with that issue amidst the chaos.

I think this case is similar. I'd really like to know what exactly Aneha was hired to do. Was he just designing the internal structure?

Typically the architect makes the design on behalf of the owner. The contractor (Kimura, or whoever) then builds it. Aneha continually pleads that the contractors forced him to cut corners and reduce the steel reinforcements. This doesn't make sense. He's supposed to be the boss, not Kimura. Who is Kimura to tell someone how to design a building? They aren't the owner or the architect.

Or might things be a little more complicated than the standard situation? I think that's the case. Amid the chaos I think this point is being lost as well.

[Captain Japan]

Non-Aneha-designed hotels also short on reinforcements
Japan Times

Hotels built by Kimura Construction Co. but not designed by disgraced architect Hidetsugu Aneha also have less reinforcing steel than required by law, Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa said Friday.

Kitagawa said his ministry will give priority to investigating these buildings.

The government has also announced it will subsidize rent payments for people forced to move out of defective buildings. Some will get up to 200,000 yen per month for two years....more...

[GuyJean]

Did anyone notice the logo for the company in trouble, HUSER - Human User Company, looks stingingly similar to HUSTLER?

I couldn't find the HUSER logo online, but I've seen it on the news, and it looks strikingly close to HUSTLER!

Or.. Maybe it's just me..

GJ

[IkemenTommy]

[quote="GuyJean"]Did anyone notice the logo for the company in trouble, HUSER - Human User Company, looks stingingly similar to HUSTLER?

I couldn't find the HUSER logo online, but I've seen it on the news, and it looks strikingly close to HUSTLER!

Or.. Maybe it's just me.. ]
No, I was along the same page as well

[Greji]

[quote="GuyJean"]Did anyone notice the logo for the company in trouble, HUSER - Human User Company, looks stingingly similar to HUSTLER?

I couldn't find the HUSER logo online, but I've seen it on the news, and it looks strikingly close to HUSTLER!

Or.. Maybe it's just me.. ]
Not bad for a gaijin, guyjean!

[Buraku]

Japanese buildings fraudulently designed
link


Ground floor of a scandal
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?ed20051225a1.htm
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Chiba and Kanagawa prefectural police launched a joint investigation Dec. 20 into Japan's building-design scandal, raiding more than 100 locations in Tokyo and five prefectures -- Chiba, Saitama, Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Miyazaki.

[Captain Japan]

Not bad for a gaijin, guyjean!

Speaking of gaijins, this story mentions an FG architect...

CONSUMER TRUST NO LONGER CULTURAL GIVEN
Condo scandal shakes engineering industry
By KAKUMI KOBAYASHI
Kyodo news via Japan Times

As people begin to feel that they can no longer trust their streets to be safe, they have discovered that even the roofs over their heads may also not be secure.
Architect Hidetsugu Aneha's confession in mid-November that he fabricated earthquake-resistance data for condominium complexes and hotels sent shock waves across the nation.

"No one thought anyone in this industry would ever do such a thing," said Takeshi Inoue, a 43-year-old architect who heads an office in Yokohama. "Architects and structural engineers have a social responsibility to design safe buildings."

Riccardo Tossani, an Australian architect who has his own business in Tokyo, said the scandal will lead to a "loss of confidence" in Japan's building technology in the international community...more...

riccardo tossani architecture

[Captain Japan]

I was talking to a colleague about this case the other day. He used to work for a home builder. He said the Aneha situation is not unusual. The big difference is that Aneha just went too far.

My colleague said it is very common for builders to exploit, what is called in the industry, the Factor of Safety. It goes like this...

If the design of a column calls for a diameter of 1 meter, a factor of safety will be added as a kind of insurance. What that might be varies on what the structure is, where it is etc. Typical designs will call for factors of safety of 1.5 to 2. What this means is that the column diameter will be boosted to 1.5 meters or 2 meters (or whatever). What I have written is a very simple case but this is the idea.

My colleague said oftentimes builders will then cut back from that point. They reason that if the extra .5 to 1 meter is there is just for insurance, why not make it .2 or .5 less? Who'd know? There's just slightly less insurance involved. He also said sometimes entire columns would be removed if they were deemed to be there just for insurance.

My colleague went on to say that Aneha just went too far. He was cutting back to a point that was just plain dangerous.

Now, I don't know exactly what Aneha was doing. (Heck, he might have been cutting back on the original design as well. I don't know.) But my colleague's point is that these kind of cutbacks are not unusual. For what it's worth...

[IkemenTommy]

My thought is that these cons who built the apartments figured that when the big one hits-- catastrophic M7+ and beyond-- everything else will collapse along with thousands or millions of deaths and so they will not be the only that will get shafted from the insurance claims. The cons at Huser, Aneha, and others figured that when there is a huge earthquake, it won't be a mere M5.. but guess what happened last year? There were a whole shitload of M5 earthquakes in Kanto area alone doing some minor damages.

Those dumb fucks deserve to lose all their cash and their corrupt companies can take a dive into hell as well. Their reputation should be so tainted that they will never find another employer or start another company in their lives.

[cstaylor]

They should all take their own lives.

[IkemenTommy]

They should all take their own lives.

Actually, didn't one of the company presidents gracefully take his own life? At least he died with honor leaving the blame on his comrades

[Captain Japan]

My thought is that these cons who built the apartments figured that when the big one hits-- catastrophic M7+ and beyond-- everything else will collapse along with thousands or millions of deaths and so they will not be the only that will get shafted from the insurance claims. The cons at Huser, Aneha, and others figured that when there is a huge earthquake, it won't be a mere M5.. but guess what happened last year? There were a whole shitload of M5 earthquakes in Kanto area alone doing some minor damages.

This article has an interesting bit about Kobe at the end...
POINT OF VIEW/ Masaharu Ebisu: State laid foundation for quake-data scam
The Asahi Shimbun

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport intends to move as swiftly as possible to extend whatever support it can offer to residents of condominiums that were built based on falsified earthquake-resistance data. The intention itself is quite commendable.

However, the question is: Is that really enough?

The "support" measures that have been hammered out by the land ministry at this time all fall within the scope of the existing system that has been designed to cover scenarios such as devastation from natural disasters--cases where responsibility can't be attributed to the central government, nor local governments.

By rights, if the court confirms that indeed the governments were responsible for bringing about the building scam fiasco, we should be talking about "compensation" here, rather than "support."
...snip...
Residents of Kobe, including myself, witnessed many condominiums that had been built before May 1981, according to the old earthquake resistance building codes, go down in the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.

But few people died from building collapse.

My feeling is that if a condominium is built properly, the building will protect the lives of the people who live there.

Maybe some condominiums collapsed in the Great Hanshin Earthquake due to building defects.

But the catastrophe was so enormous in scope that liability and related issues simply got bogged down, lost in the deafening discussions pertaining to reconstruction assistance measures....more...

[Taro Toporific]

They should all take their own lives.

:spin:


Huser head admits to selling condos after told of data fabrication
TOKYO, Jan. 16 KYODO
The president of Huser Ltd., a condominium developer, admitted Monday the firm concluded condo sales contracts and handed over units even after being notified of the falsification of quake-resistance data for its buildings in late October.
''It is true,'' Susumu Ojima, the 52-year-old president, said. But he added that he had not recognized the significance of the fabrication of the data at the time.

[Taro Toporific]

Huser head admits to selling condos after told of data fabrication
TOKYO, Jan. 16 KYODO

Mass murder wannabe sues Tokyo area government authorities for failing to prevent crime spree.:wall:


Huser sues governments for missing falsified data
The Japan Times, Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Condominium developer Huser Ltd. filed a lawsuit Monday seeking damages totaling 13.9 billion yen from 18 local governments for their alleged failure to spot fabricated quake-proofing data despite screening the building plans of its condominiums, company officials said.
The damages, demanded from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and other Tokyo-area governments...
...The company said the 18 local governments overlooked the data fabrications or failed to enable government-designated inspectors in the private sector to detect Aneha's wrongdoing even though they are "obliged" to prevent the construction of illegal buildings....

[Greji]

Huser sues governments for missing falsified data[/B]
The Japan Times, Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Condominium developer Huser Ltd. filed a lawsuit Monday seeking damages totaling 13.9 billion yen from 18 local governments for their alleged failure to spot fabricated quake-proofing data despite screening the building plans of its condominiums, company officials said.
The damages, demanded from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and other Tokyo-area governments...
...The company said the 18 local governments overlooked the data fabrications or failed to enable government-designated inspectors in the private sector to detect Aneha's wrongdoing even though they are "obliged" to prevent the construction of illegal buildings....

What a colossal set of balls! They'd probably get away with it. The bureaucrats are probably running around right now, screaming "Pay the money, let's settle this quick, my career is at stake"!

[Captain Japan]

This is pretty good...
Ex 'office lady' for tainted condo firm shakes, rattles and rolls in penance flick
Mainichi

A young woman has taken it upon herself to atone for her links to a scandal rocking the country over the past few months, according to Shukan Gendai.

Rina Noguchi is a 19-year-old former OL at Grand Service, a company under the umbrella of Huser Management Ltd., a contractor embroiled in a scandal over the falsification of documents regarding the earthquake resistance of residential apartments.

People were forking out millions of yen for apartments they believed would stand up to strong temblors, only to learn that Huser's buildings were literally on shaky ground and likely to crumble in the quaintest of quakes.

Having played a minor role in Huser's affairs, which have largely dominated Japan's news coverage for months, Rina is racked with guilt.

But, because she's also racked in other ways, the 19-year-old decided to make up for her company's wicked ways by getting wicked herself, albeit by performing as an adult movie actress....more...

[Greji]

This is pretty good...
Ex 'office lady' for tainted condo firm shakes, rattles and rolls in penance flick
Mainichi

She also stated that besides being able to show penance, it was fun! BTW Capt'n, you and Marvin weren't involved with the auditions, were you?

[Captain Japan]

She also stated that besides being able to show penance, it was fun! BTW Capt'n, you and Marvin weren't involved with the auditions, were you?

I quickly fired off an email to Paradise asking why I wasn't informed beforehand. No response yet.

[Captain Japan]

[dimwit]

I dunno, the name kinda fits; they designed something, not up to standards but it is something.

[Taro Toporific]

More condo fun...

The Captain and I have sat in Starbucks and counted the egregious building code violations just for fun but this article states that truth more bluntly: " systematic deceit is entrenched in the country's construction industry."

[INDENT]Japan's Killer Condo scandal widens
FT.com, February 8 2006 11:05 | Last updated: February 8 2006 11:05
Scandal escalated on Wednesday when it emerged a second architect had falsified earthquake safety data on at least three apartment buildings in a southern city.
Earthquake-resistance data was found in December to have been faked on close to 100 buildings throughout the country by one architect. Wednesday's findings will compound public fears that systematic deceit is entrenched in the country's construction industry.
The land ministry said an architect in Fukuoka prefecture had tampered with data on buildings in the city of the same name. The findings came to light after an investigation into Kimura Construction, a now-bankrupt company that was earlier implicated in the scandal.
The burgeoning scandal has already reached the upper echelons of Japan' ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has long enjoyed cosy relationships with construction and real estate firms, one of their biggest traditional support bases.
Analysts said the crux of the problem was that Japan's construction industry had not undergone consolidation, leading to a glut of smaller, unprofitable companies that are under pressure to cut corners to make ends meet.
"Construction is a sector full of zombie companies that have had their debt forgiven multiple times, sometimes with taxpayers' money," said Yoji Otani, real estate analyst at Credit Suisse...more...
[/INDENT]

[dimwit]

I doubt most people have even the slightest clue about building codes in Japan. I am sure they have them and they are probably just as strict as they are in North America but the only time they are ever enforced is when someone has a Kabuki-cho style barbeque. The main reason they don't enforce them is that if they tried I'd guess 3/4 of the building most CBD's would be condemned.

Solution. We need Godzilla

[Taro Toporific]

I doubt most people have even the slightest clue about building codes in Japan. I am sure they have them and they are probably just as strict as they are in North America but the only time they are ever enforced is when someone has a Kabuki-cho style barbeque.

Japanese earthquake and fire* codes very strict compared to North America. Generally, to handle the high winds in Colorado I draw house plans with double the bracing that US code requires (to make the house quieter to live in). I once showed my plans for a duplex I had built in Colorado to my Tokyo city planner friend (Wasada grad in architecture) showed me where I would have to double my already doubled specs.


*Aside from the lack of proper smoke detector laws, overloaded amperage, and no groundfault breakers.