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TheOriginalMyoko

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Posts posted by TheOriginalMyoko

    First time to Japan, driving questions too, experienced peoples enter please

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

    Driving would be fun and not really difficult. All of the main routes have English 'subtitles' and if you got an English map before you came you could really plan it all down to details.

     

    Seems that you do want to see a fair few places. If you don't want as much travel as what is being suggested you could get a lot of out of just Nagano - there's a lot of choice and variation all within reach.

    Politicians (what are they good for?)

    in General off-topic discussions

    Posted

    Anyone here have much respect for many politicians? I used to perhaps naively have some but it has all but evaporated with scandal after scandal. Their glib promises and the like just come across. Perhaps they go into it with good intentions... but what happens?

     

    There's a run of stories in the UK at the moment about claims that pols have made. Here's the list just take a look:

     

    Quote:
    Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty and Conor Murphy claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

     

    Douglad Alexander spent more than £30,000 doing up his constituency home – which then suffered damage in a house fire.

     

    Michael Ancram put the cost of having his swimming pool boiler serviced on his parliamentary allowances. He has agreed to repay the money

     

    James Arbuthnot claimed from the public finances for cleaning his swimming pool at a country residence. He has agreed to repay the money

     

    Vera Baird claimed the cost of Christmas tree decorations

     

    Norman Baker asked if he could claim for a bicycle and a computer so he could listen to music and email family and friends

     

    Greg Barker made a £320,000 profit selling a flat the taxpayer had helped pay for

     

    Margaret Beckett made a £600 claim for hanging baskets and pot plants

     

    Tony Blair re-mortgaged his constituency home and claimed almost a third of the interest around the time he was buying another property in London

     

    Hazel Blears did not pay capital gains tax on a property she sold despite having told the Commons authorities it was her second home. She has since agreed to paid the tax but denied any wrongdoing.

     

    Ben Bradshaw used his allowance to pay the mortgage interest on a flat he owned jointly with his boyfriend

     

    Kevin Brennan had a £450 television delivered to his family home in Cardiff even though he reclaimed the money back on his London second home allowance

     

    Gordon Brown's house swap let the PM claim thousands

     

    Andy Burnham had an eight-month battle with the fees office after making a single expenses claim for more than £16,500

     

    Stephen Byers claimed more than £125,000 for repairs and maintenance at a London flat owned outright by his partner, where he lives rent-free

     

    Vince Cable forgoes the second home allowance, but asked whether he could claim backdated payments of the London supplement instead

     

    David Cameron limited his claims to mortgage interest payments and utility bills. He will repay the only maintenance bill he claimed - £600 for the removal of wisteria

     

    Menzies Campbell hired a top interior designer to refurbish his small flat in central London at taxpayers’ expense. He will repay the £1,490.66 cost of an interior designer

     

    Ronnie Campbell claimed a total of £87,729 for furniture for his London flat

     

    Kenneth Clarke managed to avoid paying the full rate of council tax on either of his two homes by effectively claiming that neither is his main residence. He has agreed to pay the full rate in future but defended his past behaviour.

     

    Nick Clegg claimed the maximum allowed under his parliamentary second home allowance

     

    Harry Cohen claimed thousands of pounds for redecorating his second home before selling it and charging taxpayers £12,000 in stamp duty and fees on a new property

     

    Stephen Crabb claimed his “main home†was a room in another MP’s flat, after buying a new house for his family at taxpayers’ expense

     

    Alistair Darling's stamp duty was paid by the public

     

    David Davis spent more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on home improvements in four years, including a new £5,700 portico at his home in Yorkshire.

     

    Pat Doherty, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew and Conor Murphy claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

     

    Alan Duncan spent thousands from his allowance on gardening, including repairs to his lawnmower. He has agreed to repay £5,000

     

    Caroline Flint claimed £14,000 for fees for new flat

     

    Barbara Follett used £25,000 of taxpayers' money to pay for private security patrols at her home

     

    Andrew George used parliamentary expenses for a London flat used by his student daughter. He also claimed hundreds of pounds for hotel stays with his wife. He has said he will repay £20 for a hotel breakfast

     

    Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, and Conor Murphy claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

     

    Cheryl Gillan bought dog food using her allowance but agreed to pay it back after being contacted by the Telegraph

     

    Julia Goldsworthy spent thousands of pounds on expensive furniture just days before the deadline for using up parliamentary allowances. She has promised to pay back £1,005 for a leather rocking chair

     

    Michael Gove spent thousands on his London home before "flipping" his Commons allowance to another address. He has agreed to repay £7,000

     

    Chris Grayling claimed for a London flat even though his constituency home is only 17 miles from the House of Commons. He has agreed to stop doing so

     

    John Gummer's gardening, including the removal of moles from his lawn, cost the taxpayer £9,000

     

    Fabian Hamilton declared his mother’s London house as his main residence while over-charging the taxpayer by thousands of pounds for a mortgage on his family home in Leeds

     

    Nick Harvey had to be reminded twice by parliamentary officials to submit receipts with his expenses claims

     

    Alan Haselhurst charged the taxpayer almost £12,000 for gardening bills at his farmhouse in Essex, his expenses claims show.

     

    David Heathcoat-Amory’s gardener used hundreds of sacks of horse manure and the MP submitted the receipts to Parliament

     

    Nick Herbert charged taxpayers more than £10,000 for stamp duty and fees when he and his partner bought a home together in his constituency

     

    Douglas Hogg included with his expenses claims the cost of having the moat cleared, piano tuned and stable lights fixed at his country manor house. He has agreed to repay £2,200 for the moat clearing

     

    Geoff Hoon established a property empire worth £1.7 million after claiming taxpayer-funded expenses for at least two properties

     

    Phil Hope spent more than £10,000 in one year refurbishing a small London flat. He has promised to pay back £41,000 to the taxpayer

     

    Kelvin Hopkins claims just a fraction of the available second-home allowance by taking the train to Westminster from his home town

     

    Chris Huhne regularly submits receipts for bus tickets and groceries including pints of milk, fluffy dusters, lavatory rolls and chocolate HobNobs. He has promised to pay back £119 for a trouser press

     

    Stewart Jackson claimed more than £66,000 for his family home, including hundreds of pounds on refurbishing his swimming pool. He has agreed to repay the costs associated with his pool

     

    Julie Kirkbride's husband Andrew Mackay resigned as David Cameron's aide after it emerged that the two MPs were making claims that meant they effectively had no main home but two second homes, both funded with public money.

     

    Andrew Lansley spent more than £4,000 of taxpayers’ money renovating his country home months before he sold it. He will repay £2,600 of decorating fees

     

    Oliver Letwin repaired a pipe beneath his tennis court using taxpayers' money. He has agreed to repay the money

     

    Lord Mandelson faces questions over the timing of his house claim which came after he had announced he would step down

     

    Andrew Mackay resigned as David Cameron's aide after it emerged that he and his wife Julie Kirkbride were making claims that meant they effectively had no main home but two second homes, both funded with public money.

     

    Bob Marshall-Andrews claimed £118,000 for expenses at his second home, including stereo equipment, extensive redecoration and a pair of Kenyan carpets.

     

    John Maples declared a private members’ club as his main home to the parliamentary authorities

     

    Michael Martin used taxpayers' money to pay for chauffeur-driven cars to his local job centre and Celtic's football ground

     

    Francis Maude claimed almost £35,000 in two years for mortgage interest payments on a London flat when he owned a house just a few hundred yards away. He has agreed to stop claiming for a second home

     

    Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty, Gerry Adams and Conor Murphy claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

     

    David Miliband's spending was queried by his gardener

     

    Austin Mitchell claimed for security shutters, ginger crinkle biscuits and the cost of reupholstering his sofa. He has offered to donate his old sofa coverings to make amends

     

    Margaret Moran switched the address of her second home, allowing her to claim £22,500 to fix a dry rot problem. She has agreed to repay the money while insisting she acted within the rules. She could face an investigation for allegedly using Commons stationery to keep neighbours away from her fourth property in Spain.

     

    Elliot Morley claimed parliamentary expenses of more than £16,000 for a mortgage which had already been paid off

     

    Conor Murphy, Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty and Gerry Adams claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

     

    Paul Murphy had a new plumbing system installed at taxpayers’ expense because the water in the old one was “too hotâ€

     

    Lembit Opik had to pay £2,499 for a 42-inch plasma television after purchasing it while Parliament was dissolved

     

    George Osborne was rebuked by the Commons authorities for using public money to fund his "political" website. He also claimed money for a chauffeur-driven car which he has agreed to repay

     

    John Prescott claimed for two lavatory seats in two years

     

    Alan Reid claimed more than £1,500 on his parliamentary expenses for staying in hotels and bed-and-breakfasts near his home

     

    John Reid used his allowance to pay for slotted spoons, an ironing board and a glittery loo seat

     

    Angus Robertson successfully appealed to the fees office when they turned down his claim for a £400 home cinema system

     

    Alex Salmond claimed £400 per month for food when the Commons was not even sitting

     

    Michael Spicer claimed for work on his helipad and received thousands of pounds for gardening bills.

     

    Jack Straw only paid half the amount of council tax that he claimed on his parliamentary allowances over four years but later rectified the over-claim

     

    Don Touhig spent thousands of pounds redecorating his constituency home before “flipping†his allowance to a flat in London

     

    Kitty Ussher asked the Commons authorities to fund extensive refurbishment of her Victorian family home

     

    Keith Vaz claimed £75,500 for a second flat near Parliament even though he already lived just 12 miles from Westminster

     

    Theresa Villiers claimed almost £16,000 in stamp duty and professional fees on expenses when she bought a London flat, even though she already had a house in the capital. She has agreed to stop claiming the second home allowance

     

    Tom Watson and Iain Wright spent £100,000 of taxpayers' money on the London flat they once shared

     

    Steve Webb sold his London flat and bought another nearby, while the taxpayer picked up an £8,400 bill for stamp duty

     

    Shaun Woodward received £100,000 to help pay mortgage

     

    David Willetts, the Conservatives' choice for skills minister, needed help changing light bulbs. He has agreed to repay the bill

     

    Phil Woolas submitted receipts including comics, nappies and women's clothing as part of his claims for food

     

    Iain Wright and Tom Watson spent £100,000 of taxpayers' money on the London flat they once shared

     

    wakaranai

     

    Suginohara & Myoko

    in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry

    Posted

    I have lived in Niigata (and a short time in Yamagata) for 23 years now and remember Myoko when I first came. It sure was different. Seeing it now is actually quite sad in many ways. Like Yuzawa during the boom years it was just flying off and people were making more money than they could fit in their pockets. I know some lodge owners who flew to the US for 5 days trips in first class and spent ridiculous amounts of money, often simply wasting it. Unfortunately, a real complacency set it. People thought it would carry on forever without actually putting much effort in. It didn't. And thats where lots of people go unstuck. Those people taking the first class trips to the US now -- I know one guy who is unemployed, sold up his pension as is basically in a sorry state.

     

    Answers? No idea. It's hard to see where a big proper impetus is going to come from.

    But a lot of places/towns are in similar situations.

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