The Eye of Patrick

This is a great story about the Japanese Justice Minister and how he got caught up in a lie. He was trying to justify finger printing and the taken of photos of all foreigners entering Japan on the grounds(initially) that he knew that an known terrorist in the bali bombing had entered Japan. Do you know how he knew he entered? Well he said initally that he was friends with someone who was friends with a member of bali bombing terrorist group. But later goes on to retract it when people start to question the story.

I find this article amusing considering it is the justice minister harboring information about terrorist attacks. This is the person trying to create a credible argument for the use of ID. But instead shows that the government is willing to say anything to create a false sense of need.
Highlights from BBC story:

- Justice minister Kunio Hatoyama said the man was a “friend of a friend” who was involved in a bomb attack on Bali.

- The minister also claimed his friend had warned him of the Bali bombing.

- Later, Mr Hatoyama cast doubt on all of these claims, saying he had been “unclear and misleading”.

- “I myself am not a friend of anyone who is thought to be a member of [al-Qaeda] and I don’t know them personally. I can’t verify the authenticity of what my friend said.”

Source: BBC News

Christopher Johnson
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
TOKYO–An estimated 4,000 foreign teachers, including about 660 from Canada, are without jobs after Japan’s largest school chain, Nova Group, closed its 900 schools and declared bankruptcy yesterday.

Many teachers are owed $4,000 in salary for September and October, said Catherine Campbell, a Cape Breton native who has taught English at various schools during 13 years in Japan.

“For many people, their rent has not been paid either, if they live in Nova housing,” said Campbell, who now represents teachers in Japan’s National Union of General Workers.

Read more: Toronto Star